Like many aspects of running a business, writing high-quality copy is an art. It takes time to develop your brand voice and the value propositions that will entice your audience to convert. We’ve got 7 tips to help you own your copy and convert those visitors into customers.
- Know Your Audience
For anything you write to be effective, you need to understand the person on the receiving end of your message. Think of your writing like trying to win a political campaign. If you’re trying to win the votes of middle-aged, working men, you’ll use completely different language than if you’re targeting college students.
Consider every aspect of your audience’s lifestyle – age, gender, socioeconomic status, habits, interests and dislikes. Knowing as much as you can about your audience will help you write engaging copy that highlights the benefits of what you have to offer!
- Keep It Simple
Have you ever read a scientific journal? If you have, then you know what I mean when I say they’re great bedtime reading. Scientific journals are full of industry lingo, specific and heavy-handed wording, and an exhausting amount of information. That’s the exact opposite writing style to what you’re aiming for in your copywriting.
Effective copywriting is easy to consume. It’s simple and only includes the most relevant information. It should feel as easy as sitting in a coffee shop having a conversation with an old friend, whether you’re speaking formally or casually.
- Write For Your Keywords (SEO)
While we won’t dig into the massive topic of SEO, it’s important to know your keywords and write with them in mind. If you can make natural connections within your content to your keywords, not only will that boost your rankings but it’ll also help you connect with your audience authentically.
Leaving your keywords as an afterthought of your copywriting leads to disconnected content and a poor experience for your audience. Identifying the key points you want to make, along with your keywords, in an outline is a great way to plan ahead and improve your writing quality!
- Include Clear CTAs (call-to-action)
One of the biggest copywriting mistakes you can make is leaving out a call-to-action. Make it clear what you want your customer to do next. Be specific, tell your customers what to expect and what they’ll get in return.
Using single-word CTAs is a common practice among many copywriters, but phrases can often be more effective when one word isn’t compelling enough. Don’t get wrapped up in the length of your CTA. Instead focus on the clarity of your communication – the easier the action is to take, the more conversions you’ll see.
- Leverage Social Influence
As social beings, and with the driving influence of social media, we are easily encouraged or discouraged to do something based on the actions of others. Including various forms of social influence, such as customer reviews, consumer behaviour statistics, or frequently asked questions, within your content will help new customers understand the value of your products and/or services.
Be sure to consider the type of content you’re creating and the objective before selecting the most effective form of social influence. Whenever possible, highlight feedback from your existing customer base to build trust with your audience!
- Use Value-Based Messaging
It’s pretty easy to focus on the facts, the tiny details about your product or service. But those details aren’t what convinces your audience to buy. What sells customers is their ability to imagine what it’s like to have your product or work with your business, and all the great things that come with it!
What positive feelings or benefits will your customer gain? More free time? Higher quality work? A superior product? Whatever it is that you bring to the table, and especially what sets you apart from the competition, should be front and center in your copy.
- Test, Test, Test
The last tip we’ll leave you with is the most essential to your success: test your copy. You don’t know what works, what reaches your audience, until you give it a shot. There are a ton of great A/B testing tools available that enable you to run two versions of your copy simultaneously and track which copy has a higher conversion rate.
Keep in mind that different types of copy will work to reach different objectives, and different audiences. That’s why testing is so crucial to your success! So, test everything and test often. Even when you hone in on what works for you, keep testing and trying new things!
Following these seven tips will level up your copywriting skills and help you bring in those conversions. Your audience will evolve, and so will your business. As long as you keep coming back to these core focuses of your copy, you’ll keep engaging your audience and turn those visitors into customers.
Need help getting started? Reach out to our team and schedule a consulting call today!
