How to write persuasive sales copy

With so many businesses buying and selling their services via a website, the online marketplace is becoming increasingly crowded. This makes possessing a good website essential for businesses to maintain a good online presence, which will allow them to appeal to potential customers and compete with rival businesses. As their copywriter, it’s your job to help them achieve this.

Your Words are Powerful

The words you and your fellow web copywriters create are arguably the most important things on the web. Research shows that in most cases, a simple, text site with no graphics and a plain white background will prove to be much more persuasive to potential customers than a site boasting dazzling graphics and a small amount copy. Maria Veloso believes that this is because “the web is text driven, nothing happens until someone writes the words to get someone to click. ”

It’s a Science

Mark Joyner, a Marketing Wizard from Aesop.com, tested and analysed every aspect of sales copy produced in his company. By establishing a team of mathematicians, researchers and statisticians to test every element of copy from email subject lines and guarantees to the overall format, Joyner developed a real feel for the things that appeal to potential customers.

How to Do it

Research by Joyner and others clearly shows that there are lots of different ways to craft persuasive sales copy. However, the best place to start is almost certainly the headline. By creating a snappy headline, you’ll succeed in engaging your reader. In order to retain their attention, you should keep copy as concise as possible with simple yet persuasive vocabulary and no clichés, slang or corporate jargon. Generally, longer copy is more persuasive than short because it gives you more time to sell. After all, the more a customer knows about your product or service, the more likely they are to buy it.

Stick to the Truth

It may be tempting to make outlandish claims about your product in order to boost sales. However, making false claims can have a devastating impact on business in the long-term. In Writing to Sell, John Philip emphasises that customers should be convinced, rather than conned. While he admits making false claims about your product or service can be handy in the short term, the long-term effects can cause the customer to, “end up with a loss of confidence and trust.” Andy Brocklehurst is also keen to stress the significance of using factual information in Twelve steps to Writing Words that SELL. Andy advises: “Never twist the truth in the hope of an easy sale.”

A Genre Unlike any Other

While writing to sell may be different to many other literary genres, it certainly takes no less skill. Like any other genre, Writing to Sell has conventions to adhere to and if followed wisely, you’ll create some brilliant copy that will sell, sell, sell!