This blog post is continued from my last post, “I Have Call-to-Action…Now What?” In that post, we discussed how SEO and a great call-to-action don’t do much to convert sales unless you also have a clean, sleek and intuitive design to match it. The main thing to take away from that post: don’t make your readers think. They should be able to navigate your site with minimal thought.
I Have Design, Now What?
Now that you have successfully created a call-to-action that transforms casual visitors into active participants, you should turn your focus to the third element of sales conversion: killer sales copy.
3) Informative, enticing and compelling sales copy is, in my opinion, the most important element of marketing. If I had to pick one thing to show up on someone’s screen when they visit my site, it would be sales copy. That is the one element that is either going to convince them to continue clicking through or to click off. The right sales copy has the potential to compensate for a horrible design or lack of call-to-action. Newspapers don’t underestimate the power of the written word and neither should you!
The first thing to concentrate on when you write your sales copy is remember to sell. If you know anyone who works in retail, then you know that there is a definite art in selling. It certainly takes the right kind of salesperson to convince you that the brightly colored comfort clog that resembles a smurf’s shoe (also known as a Croc) actually makes you look cool.
But that salesperson probably wasn’t telling you how the pink Croc brings out your eyes and makes you look taller. Fortunately, consumers are not that gullible.
Instead, the salesperson probably explained to the consumer how the design of the Croc was engineered to help with back pain and to ease the tension created in the spine from walking on concrete. They probably touched on the cushion-like material and how it eases the pain in one’s foot. One thing is for sure: they did not rely on its stylish fashion to turn this oddly named shoe into a must-have trend of the moment.
What is the lesson learned here? The consumer never wants to be sold. Instead, the consumer wants to be related to. The benefit that your Web site has over a store front is that you probably have a good idea of what kind of audience visits your Web site. The employees in a store have to take a guess as to what kind of person you are and, hence, what kind of items to sell you.
Your sales pitch starts there, at determining your target audience. Once you know who you are talking to, start selling your products/services by stating the facts, not fluff! I ask simple questions before I get started:
- What is your company slogan/motto?
- What makes your products/services the best?
- What makes your company the better than others?
- What are your most frequently asked questions?
The answers to all these questions should be in your sales copy. The bottom line is that consumers want to hear why they should put money down for a purchase. How will it make my life easier or better? Give the facts.
After you sell your product or service, sell your company. What sets you apart from the others? Do you have free shipping? Do you ship on the same day? Do you offer warranties or guarantees? How is your customer service? Have you won awards?
Remember that selling your product is not enough if there are other vendors that sell the same product as you. Your consumers want to know why they should buy from you and not the other guy.
The most important factor to remember is to give the facts! The finesse comes into play by making the facts sound amazingly enticing. Treat every fact as a sales point and a huge deal. Let them build upon each other.
Your facts should make people begin to think about their foot pain or about how terrible concrete is for their feet. By the time they reach the last sentence, they should be wondering what kinds of styles of Crocs are available. That is when you have the link to the Croc inventory page handy. Once they find a style that they love, you have successfully completed a sales conversion! Congratulations.
Final note on writing sales copy is make sure you have impeccable grammar and punctuation, which conveys professionalism and trustworthiness. This is where hiring an editor to give it a proof read can be a great idea if English class wasn’t your forte. No one wants to put down a credit card number on a site that looks and sounds amateur.
Also, don’t make your copy too long. If you are passionate about the product or services that you sell, you undoubtedly have a lot to say. But no one wants to read a novel, which is why I’m trying to wrap this blog post up soon. Just remember that you have unlimited space on your Web site, so use it. If you can’t fit everything on the homepage, create a special page that only talks about the kind of material used for a Croc.
If I had to sum up the secret to killer sales copy, I would say that the more information the better, just make it sound good!
This is extremely inciteful and applicable in so many scenarios! Thanks!
Really very interesting story. I have read your previous post also.
This is so appropos. I’m setting up a site right now and the info is a big help in writing copy. I have to read the other posts.