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Creating a comprehensive, detailed list of the benefits of your products is a must. The truth is, no customer wants to hear about how you decided to sell the product. They don’t want to see detailed descriptions of every single feature your product has. If for example, you’re selling a chair, the description should only list the features without getting into too many details. Instead of elaborating on the type of wood you used and listing all features of that material, you can explain what exactly makes that material better than any other. Explain how the wood is a better investment in the long-term. A feature makes a product useful and effective, and while it can make your company stand out from the competition, features are rarely the ultimate factor behind your sales....
Most conversion rate optimization experts you'll meet would agree: Copywriting first. Design second. The idea is that copy (and the message you're trying to convey through that copy) should dictate design – not the other way around. Now, this is in no way meant to underestimate the importance of design. Design can breathe life into the story the copy is telling, and done properly, great copy plus great design will always outperform great copy alone. The point is, it's not hard to find examples of "ugly" pages outperforming beautifully designed pages – and in those cases, it usually boils down to the copy....
To become world-class (the top 5%) takes only about a month of focused, intentional work. Breaking through those extra four percentile points to become a true master copywriter (the top 1%) will take you years, if not decades, of practice and dedication. However, unless your entire career is dedicated to copywriting, all that effort is unnecessary. If you can break out of the realm of good copywriting and become great, the extra four percentage points are simply not needed to run a successful business. Becoming world-class is completely achievable and can be done faster than you think. With that definition out of the way, let’s begin....
Here’s what I learned: There are WAY too many copywriting formulas.
The problem, as you’ll see if you click the link, is there are a ton of formulas for crafting good copy. Pretty much anybody who was a good enough copywriter to be successful was also a good enough to make money teaching it. And of course, they all claimed to be teaching something different. In keeping with the unwritten laws of branding, every copywriter has a system and every system has its own unpronounceable acronym.
What’s really striking to me isn’t the sheer volume of copywriting formulas, however. It’s how they’re all exactly the same. It’s particularly obvious when you see them all laid out against one another like this.
So at the risk of adding my own acronym to the pile, let me save you a lot of reading and summarize....
Optimizing your own copy is a bit like scaling Mount Everest without a Sherpa. It doesn’t matter if you’re in shape; if you go it alone, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up a crumpled human popsicle.
Well, help is here.
To save you (and your copy!) from a shallow, frosty grave, I’ve put together 51 bottom-line questions that will help optimize every element of your online copy....
People don’t read online; unless they’re about to spend money—then they scrutinize each word.Design, SEO, and advertising can only get you so far. If you want to accelerate sales online, you need persuasive copy. According to Harvard Business professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of our purchase decision occurs in the subconscious mind. Most marketers ignore how our brains work and fight against human psychology.With a few persuasive writing techniques, you’ll be able to write compelling copy and sell more products....
In my time as a copywriter, I’ve experimented with all kinds of methods that allow me to understand my audience. Recently, my favorite has been the empathy map.
This is a tool that allows your team to join the conversation that is going on inside your customer’s heart. It allows you to understand how they feel about you and your topic. It helps you uncover their pains, what they hope to gain....
You really need to stop using these phrases.
Some are blatantly self-inflating, some are too vague for their own good, and others just sound downright disgusting.x
We’re all familiar with those wrung out, miserably overused industry terms that have been leeched of their original potency.
They’re the ones repeatedly (and often inaccurately) applied to such a broad variety of subjects and situations that they’ve taken on undesirable connotations as a result.
And they’re the words I’m now promoting replacements for in an effort to abolish their exhausting reign over modern marketing discourse....
“Members only” – “limited offer” – “guaranteed” – “discover” – “check out”…
If you wonder what these terms have in common, here is the answer. Brands consider them to be top performers. They are effective because they create a sense of urgency and pique people’s interest.
The other reason why these words and phrases sell has a lot to do with their simplicity. We recognize them instantly — and are more likely to take action as a result.
Not convinced? Check out this infographic created by Uberflip. You will find an interesting list of the most persuasive terms used in marketing over the years....
It's okay to give readers a little something extra with your headlines ... when the something extra serves a real purpose and isn't fluff.I love a headline that just comes out right and smacks you in the face with its promise.This one does just that:Here’s why Netflix streaming quality has nosedived over the past few monthsPart of the reason this headline hit me so hard and fast was timing....
If you work in an SME you are always looking for new ways to increase your sales and grow your business. Gone are the days of cold calling – now small businesses can unashamedly take advantage of digital marketing and the newest kid on the block: content marketing.One of the great ways to attract new prospects and solidify your brand is to communicate your offer effectively and reach out to communities that might be interested in your services. But how do you make sure the content you create meets the standards of the industry and beyond?...
When faced with creating a conversion-focused SEO landing page, what should our copy focus on? There are so many things we can do — so many directions we can go — that it becomes hard to know what to choose. Do I go with statistics or stories? Facts or feelings? Data or discounts? If one of these is good, isn’t a mix of all of them better? Blending Content Types Doesn’t Work We know we’re blending when we start adding adjectives to our sentences. “Our solution is the most cost-effective, easy-to-use, colorful, highest-intensity, waterproof, process-oriented available on the market.” We know we’re blending when we want to put one more “value proposition” on a webpage, even when we don’t have room. “Hey, let’s use a rotating hero image!” The beauty of it all, though, is that search marketers don’t have to blend. We can use keywords as a guide to help us get started on our copy....
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As you can probably imagine, text ads appeal more strongly to the logos-oriented hemisphere of our brains. However, as we know, addressing only the rational side of an argument is never going to entirely convince someone. You need the emotional as much as the rational — most times even more so. Display ads, for this reason, tend to be more successful than text ads because they are more engaging to the user. They also are great for disruption — grabbing the user’s attention as he or she passively scrolls down the newsfeed. We as human beings have a naturally selective attention span — how you play to the strengths and weaknesses of that selective attention can make or break your campaigns....
My father-in-law recently offered to take me to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but apart from that, I know next to nothing about the world’s largest country.
As such, you might be wondering why I’m spending so much time on Russian dolls. It’s a fair question, but truth be told, there’s a simple reason for it – content pillars.
Still scratching your head? That’s what I thought.
Trust me – the similarities between Russian dolls and content pillars are easily identifiable once you know what a content pillar is....
Copywriting is hard. (That’s why everyone says they want to write yet very few actually do.) Creative fear and distraction most often get in the way, which is why it takes inspiration, energy, and discipline to get something good on the page. Luckily, you’re not Thoreau, sequestered in the woods. There are blogs, books, plugins, apps, and a ton of other resources available to help you up your writing game—and we have them all here for you. From style guides to grammar hacks, here are 101 tools to help you be a better writer....
We’ve pulled together every single copywriting formula we’ve ever seen to create the ultimate guide – the most complete handbook – to copywriting formulas.
This one post will help you write all your copy faster and with greater likelihood of success.
You should be using copywriting formulas whenever you write anything.
They eliminate the guesswork that makes a lot of bad copy bad copy. They will help you face the Blank White Page without cowering. They’ll help you generate A/B test ideas faster. They’ll help you pinpoint what’s going wrong in a button… in a headline… or even in a video script....
Considering the amount of content that marketers put out there and the investments that goes with it, how great is their ROI? I mean, how many of them generate more visitors to their site, as well as increase sales?
Persuasive copy that converts boils down to understanding how to trigger the right emotions that will induce a potential customer to want to buy from you.
In this article, I’ll show you how to use five proven copywriting strategies to drive both search traffic and rankings to the top....
Some claim that the best way to learn a craft is by imitating -- studying and copying the authorities of your industry with the intention of adopting their techniques. But too often, we rely only on the current lanscape of creative to inspire us. You need a dose of history -- in a modern format, of course!
We created a "social profile" for 10 icons of the advertising industry to guide you in discovering more about his or her creative work, famous words, and life.
Be inspired and challenged by these masters of creativity.
Richard Levitt, who worked in communications at Oracle for more than seven years, originally published this post on LinkedIn. It started off right
…Around 1984, Rick Bennett convinced Larry to start running ads. Rick’s approach is highly aggressive and confrontational. And, as it turned out, highly disruptive and successful.In an essay about his time working with Larry, Rick wrote, “I once asked Larry if maybe we ought to run some ad copy by legal. His response surprised me. He said, ‘Hell no! I’ve got a litigation department. Let ’em litigate.
’”That relationship lasted until about 1990. Soon Larry started writing his own ads. Larry is a brilliant tech guy, powerful leader and businessman. But he’s not a copywriter. And without anyone to guide or challenge him, that edgy positioning diminished into self-referential statistics. Worse, ads crumbled under extreme legal oversight....
Price still rules as an online purchase influencer, but basic brand assets should not be ignored in online product presentations.
Clear, concise, and pertinent product descriptions make online shoppers press the “Buy” button more often than do favorable reviews. In fact, only price topped persuasive product copy as a purchase influencer, according to a survey of 500 consumers conducted by Markettree for HookLogic.
Price remains king, with 84% of consumers designating it as one of the top three factors that cause them to buy. Sixty-three percent named product descriptions, and 49% listed reviews. Bringing up the rear were videos, named by only 12%. Fundamental brand assets like product names, images, and features, maintains HookLogic's survey report, are the bottom-of-the-funnel items most likely to turn browsers into buyers....
We’ve all experienced content like this. But do we know how to create it? That’s the question. Because consistently creating remarkable content over time is what it’s all about.
You’re aiming to create content that makes people pay attention, think, and feel.
I believe that remarkable content takes a three-step journey. And as content creators, if we keep this journey in mind, we can craft an experience that will have a profound effect on our readers.
Your vs. my. Do vs. don't. Dollars vs. percentages. Minor modifications can have major mojo.
Attend a Life is Good festival and you'll notice that security staff wear "Safety" T-shirts rather than "Security" T-shirts, writes David Meerman Scott.
This friendly idea is a typical tweak from a brand focused on giving customers a good time—another example is its internal ban on the phrase "I have to"—the preferred phrase being "I get to."
It sounds fun, but simple, one-word copy tweaks can make a huge difference to your marketing ROI. Here are five...
When you're frantically trying to stay in your marketing prime, remember: Some marketing advice stands the test of time.
... But sometimes, it's helpful to step back and remember that some marketing advice is timeless. Tools change, methodologies develop, but there are some core marketing truths that can stand the test of time. And sometimes, one person can be the source of a ton of timeless marketing advice.
Today we wanted to highlight one such person: David Ogilvy. Widely considered the Father of Advertising, Ogilvy was the founder of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and a prolific writer. Even though his books were published decades ago, his advice is still applicable today. So we rounded up his best advice for marketers to help inspire you on this dreadful Thursday morning. Here's what Ogilvy has to say...
Sonia Simone of Copyblogger: "We think persuasive writers — content marketers and copywriters — are as worthy of cheers and accolades as our fiction-writing brothers and sisters. So today I put together a list of 15 writing blogs I think you’ll get a lot out of."
Via Liz Wilson
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Product descriptions play an important role in your goal to achieve more sales. Want more sales? Start working on your descriptions. Here are several strategies you can rely on if you want to boost your sales by writing better product descriptions.