- How can you make your copy more persuasive?
After all, dry, dull writing can cost you
conversions and cash.
Hmm, but good copy is like the best salesperson
you could ever imagine.
They never sleep, they never take time off,
and they never have a bad day.
Good copy doesn't just sound appealing or feel nice to read.
Copy is designed to elicit action,
and the best copy maximizes the chances
of that happening every time.
So here are some tips plus a few business examples
to help you nail your copy.
Number one, poke the pain.
People tend to buy things for one of two reasons.
It's either make something good, get better,
or make something bad go away.
And we, as humans, dislike negative emotions
more than we enjoy pleasant emotions.
Think about the last time you found a $10 bill
on the ground.
Felt like a nice surprise, I'm sure.
Now, think about a time you realized that you lost $10.
I bet you weren't too happy about that.
In fact, I bet you were way matter than you were happy
when you found the money.
Humans are more motivated to remove negativity
than they are to enhance things that are already good.
Copy needs to target a pain point
that's specific to your reader.
It needs to illustrate the pain in vivid detail,
and show that you relate to it.
Most importantly, your copy needs to prove
that only your product can solve that specific problem.
Say you sell home cleaning products.
Now, of course, you'll want to talk about the features
and the benefits of each product,
and don't worry, we'll get into that later.
But you also wanna make the reader imagine life
without your products.
Get specific, show real emotions and pain.
If you wanna sell your all new ultra powerful vacuum,
strong copy would focus on the unique problem it solves.
Say removing every bit of dirt from your floors.
It could sound like no crunchy crumbs left
for you to tread on.
Hit fast forward on your cleaning routine
with our most advanced vacuum cleaner yet.
It's not just that your product or service
will make the buyer's life easier, it's that it'll remove
a bunch of unwanted problems as well.
That's what ends up selling.
Make that pain a common enemy, a cause to rally around.
When you tap into those pains,
it makes the audience feel more connected to you
and what you're selling.
People need coherence to belong to a group
that sees the world in the same way.
It's why you should always avoid being too universal
or mainstream.
When you try to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.
Okay, so we've seen why we want copy that causes people
to imagine how their lives would change
by using your product or service.
But your reader has also probably gotten pretty good
at seeing through the allure of copy,
which is why you need to make sure your copy
is backed up with number two, social proof.
Remember how people want to belong to a group?
We trust others' opinions,
particularly those who we feel are familiar to us.
Social proof is what people use to validate
their emotional decision to make a purchase.
In fact, the average consumer reads 10 online reviews
before making a buying decision.
So make sure your copy is supported by rave reviews,
ideally from credible people or brands.
It's a good idea to have social proof
on the homepage of your website.
It immediately lets a reader know that you're credible,
have standing in your market,
and have customers confident enough
to recommend you to others.
That social proof can include things
like a customer evangelizing the value of an ebook,
a homepage testimonial singing your praises,
or a case study that goes deep on the nuanced response
to a tough challenge.
People are also far more likely to buy into things
when they're endorsed by an authority.
It's why companies pay millions to celebrities
to plug their product or service.
If you can, use specific numbers and statistics
for credibility.
People are wary of over exaggerated marketing.
Numbers will help you quantify your value.
Now, let's talk about how your copy can encourage
your readers to move towards clicking that buy button,
and that's to get a yes early.
This is something all sales folks use,
and your copy should too.
Getting your reader to nod along or agree to something tiny
what we call a micro-commitment,
is the first step to getting them to agree
to something bigger, and then scale up
the level of commitment as you go.
Encourage prospects to make tiny commitments
that gradually increase in scale.
So by the time they arrive at the point of purchase,
you've allowed them to build up their own momentum
towards making a sale.
That's why quizzes work so well.
We have an inherent need to finish things we've started.
If you really wanna get all psychological
and scientific here, you can also experiment with priming.
Priming is the idea that exposing someone
to a certain stimulus can subconsciously influence
their response to a subsequent stimulus.
For example, you could ask visitors that arrive
on your website whether they live in a small flat
or medium size house, whatever the answer,
when they arrive on products designed
for those kinds of homes, a small cordless vacuum for flats,
a heavy duty vacuum for larger spaces,
they've already tacitly acknowledged what they need
and are more likely to buy.
Another really powerful way to increase your odds
of getting that yes is by making sure
your copy uses cognitive fluency.
All that really means is making sure your copy is easy
to read and understand what to do next.
Remember, we're in the business of persuasion.
We want the reader to flow down the page
towards an end goal.
So I have a simple font that's easy to read.
Break up your copy with clear and descriptive headings
and subheadings.
Make sure that if a reader skims the page,
that all those headings form a coherent narrative
that makes sense.
It sounds basic, but fluency subconsciously guides
our thinking in situations where we have no idea
it's at work.
How easy or hard we find it to process information
impacts our likelihood to engage further.
So make sure your copy is easy to read and easy to follow.
We recommend the Hemingway app,
as a way to check how readable your content is.
It's completely free and will help you catch
any copywriting, fluency, boo-boos.
Ouchy.
Next, we need to make sure our copy avoids
falling into a classic mistake,
confusing features with benefits.
Here's the difference.
We know that humans make emotional decisions first,
then justify with logic afterwards.
Admit it, expensive shirt that you really wanted,
but also really didn't need to buy it.
Well, I guess it is your partner's birthday in 11 months,
so maybe you can wear it then.
Yeah, we've all been there and it's the same for lots
of other purchasing decisions as well.
Features are what allows the buyers to rationalize
their purchase after the decision.
Let's say, you're writing copy
for your top of the line vacuum cleaner.
An example feature would be our new Suck-o'matic
has a larger bag that's disguised by our slick design.
Benefits tap into emotion,
AKA, the impact this can have on you.
For example, this vacuum lets you clean
for way longer without having to pause and empty the vacuum,
which means you get the housework done faster,
and you can get back to actual fun stuff.
Both features and benefits are crucial
to including your copy.
Too much of one, your copy becomes dry and lifeless.
Too much of the other, and it sounds like marketing fluff,
and nobody wants that.
A simple way to make sure your features and benefits
are tallying together is to ask some questions
of each of your products or services.
Why is this feature important?
What problem does it solve?
What's the pain caused by this problem?
Why does your customer need this?
Another key part of persuasive copy is scarcity.
Or to put it another way, scarcity = value.
That's why you've got to dial up the urgency.
When you're offering appears finite and coveted,
it make hums more valuable.
If you know there's an unlimited amount of the thing
you want to buy, why rush?
Maybe the price will go down.
Persuasive copy doesn't let prospects fall
into that mode of thinking.
Make it clear that your product is in short supply.
Doesn't need to be pushy, otherwise, your reader will feel
like you're giving them the hard sell,
and potentially pull out of the transaction.
Some simple examples that you've probably seen.
Five people are looking at this product right now.
Only three left in stock.
Want it tomorrow?
Order in the next hour.
Don't mislead your customer.
If you use scarcity tactics,
make sure all your statements are true.
Give the reader more information about the state of the item
they're considering buying, and urge them to make a decision
soon to seal the deal.
Finally, your copy needs to do everything it can
to get personal.
People want relevant content all the time,
and have a really low tolerance for anything superfluous.
Remember what we said about avoiding being too mainstream?
Speak to their needs.
Your copy should speak to audiences
based on their actions and preferences.
Back to our favorite Hoover,
you could say get your house clean quickly,
but a more specific example,
make every floor surface spotless and do it speedy.
By including these simple additions,
you've dialed up the specificity to suit a targeted buyer,
someone who wants to clean every surface in their home
as fast as possible.
If you wanna dive deeper into that,
check out our video on personas here.
Use first names in sales pages,
email headers, and subject lines.
Personalized emails are 26% more likely
to be opened according to campaign monitor.
Offer personalized reports.
Let users create their own profiles.
This gives them a sense of agency and belonging
in your little corner of the world.
This isn't an exact science, so test what works.
Test your hooks and headlines, ads and emails.
Find out what resonates with your audience,
and get rid of what doesn't.
Run paid ads with different hooks,
and see which gets the best click-through rate.
Remember that copy, like all good marketing,
is about reciprocity.
You're offering a value exchange that both parties
are happy to be a part of, whether that's offering
a really helpful piece of content or discount
if they sign up to your newsletter.
Use your copy to demonstrate early
that you're a business of substance and value,
and you'll earn the most precious of commodities.
Your customer's trust.
And the nice thing is that after you've paid someone
with an active kindness, they're usually inclined
to repay you with something in return.
So incentivize prospects to take action
by giving them something of value first.
If you're feeling ready to craft beautiful content
packed with copy that absolutely sings,
check out our collection of content creation templates.
It'll help you get started quickly,
so you can focus on getting your copy just right,
like baby bear's porch.
You can check it out in the description below.
And don't forget to subscribe,
so you're the first to catch up on every new release
here on the channel.
Now if you excuse me, I've got some copy to craft.
I'll see you in the next one.
- I can't find this client info.
- Have you heard of HubSpot?
HubSpot is a CRM platform,
so it shares its data across every application.
Every team can stay aligned.
No out of sync spreadsheets or dueling databases.
HubSpot, grow better.
(upbeat music)