Most people hear the word copywriting and they immediately think of a skill that is only required for advertising. This is completely and utterly wrong. If you have a website, then you need to know how to master the basic elements of copywriting.
Copywriting plays an essential role in your website’s ability to increase…
- Page views per visit – From your call-to-actions to your navigation, the copy that you use can make the difference whether visitors bounce or stay.
- Email subscribers, opens, and clicks – Choosing the right copy for your lead magnet and even the sign up button can easily double and triple the number of subscribers you get. By mastering copywriting, you will also convince them to open your emails and click through to your landing pages.
- Revenue – Whether you are selling a course or coaching, the right copy on your landing pages can turn a little extra income into a six figure lifestyle.
From reading just about every book there is on copywriting over the last twenty years, I have found fourteen tactics that consistently deliver incredible results.
#1. Get active with your content.
Many copywriters are afraid to take risks. This is why the passive voice is used for so much copywriting today.
Active voice is what you’ll want to use with your content. Not only is active content easier to understand, but it also makes the content feel more personal to the reader. Here’s an example to convey this concept.
Passive Voice:
We wrote this article about powerful copywriting tips to help people improve their writing.
Active Voice:
This article on powerful copywriting tips was written to help you improve your writing.
The difference between the two is the emphasis placed on the subject matter. People naturally focus on the first noun offered in a sentence.
In passive voice, you are talking about yourself…
We wrote this article about powerful copywriting tips to help people improve their writing.
In active voice, you’re talking about what the reader can do…
This article on powerful copywriting tips was written to help you improve your writing.
So if you want your content to make a powerful impact, make sure it focuses on the reader instead of yourself.
#2. Make it emotional.
You’re watching a television show dedicated to funny videos. You see a kid walk up to his father, who is trying to teach him how to swing a baseball bat. Except the kid doesn’t hit the ball. Dad gets hit in a very sensitive area.
You sort of laugh. You sort of cringe. If you have kids, you might say, “Don’t ever do that.”
This is the power of emotion. When you are creating content, you must provide emotion through your words. The best way to do this is to show people what is going on instead of telling them.
Here’s an example to help illustrate this technique.
Telling people what to feel:
Todd was angry. He decided to do something about it.
Showing people what to feel:
Todd gritted his teeth. He needed to do something different.
Content that connects on an emotional level is able to establish a relationship between the writer and the reader.
#3. Include the Zeigarnik Effect.
You’ve invested an entire season’s worth of time into a TV series. The final episode of the season is airing. You’re into the plot. Then, just as there seems to be a resolution to the conflict you’ve been watching, three fateful words flash up on the screen: “To Be Continued.”
Of course you feel disappointed at first. Then, as the days pass, you start looking forward to the continuation of that series. You want to know what happens. When you’re only a week or two away from the season premiere, you can almost taste the anticipation. This is the Zeigarnik Effect.
Or to put it in a way that’s easier to pronounce: you’re experiencing an open loop.
People naturally want to experience the completion of a thought or idea. When that completion does not occur, tension happens first. There might be anger after the tension. Slowly but surely, given enough time, that tension and anger evolves into anticipation and desire.
Your copywriting can include this effect by refusing to close an idea immediately. Keep the idea of the pitch open throughout the entire piece you’re writing. This will cause more readers to engage with the content from start to finish because they want a resolution.
Here are three ways I have used an open loop in my business.
Email Open Loop
Many of my lead magnets take subscribers through a 10 day sequence of daily emails. Each email will have a primary call-to-action, and a closing sentence that hints at what tomorrow’s email will deliver.
Blog Post Series Open Loop
The series or themed set of blog posts are a great way to keep readers hooked on your content. The last two paragraphs should start into a real juicy solution. Right before you give them what they are yearning for, you wrap up the post and ask them to stay tuned for the next blog post.
Sideways Video Series
The three part video series is one of the most effective ways to come across as an expert and produce a tremendous amount of revenue. I use the open loop at the end of the first two videos by telling them what is coming up in the next video.
A single email, post, or video is only going to create a topical relationship between you and your audience. The open loop allows you to immerse your audience with your best content. By the time they are finished, you are a trusted commodity.
#4. Ask the journalistic questions.
When you go to college to earn a degree in journalism, one of the first classes will teach you to ask six basic questions during any interview: who, what, where, when, why, and how. By asking these questions, you can pry more information out of an interview subject.
When you can answer these six questions in your copywriting effort, then you’ll be able to convey a sense of trust to the reader. They’ll feel like your content is real. Personable. Accurate. Those feelings add value to what you’re offering, which makes the reader more likely to consider your call to action later on.
Let’s use my blogging course as an example.
Who
The course is taught by Brandon Gaille, who built his blog from zero to 1 million monthly visitors in less than 18 months.
What
The course is made up of 18 video modules, which walks you through Brandon’s proven system for growing and monetizing blogs.
Where
The video modules can be accessed online through our membership site, and you can ask Brandon questions directly through our private Facebook group.
When
You will be able to join the course and our exclusive community during a special seven day launch window.
Why
This course is not just a blogging course. By the time you are finished, you will have a virtual MBA in internet marketing.
How
After you watch Brandon’s free masterclass, “How I Got to 1 Million Monthly Visitors,” you will be able to sign up and get instant access to the course.
If you are ever having trouble creating an outline for a landing page, then I suggest you start by answering these six questions.
#5. Be accurate about what it is that you’re actually selling.
Have you ever heard a radio advertisement for a drag race, monster truck rally, or motocross event? You’ll generally get something like this: “This Sunday, SUNday, SUNDAY you will experience the best racing that you have ever seen!”
What is this advertisement selling? The idea that you’re going to see something you’ve never seen before.
This is also the attitude which most copywriters put into their content. The idea is that there is savings or value present that has never been experienced before.
But that leads to a natural question: what happens if that reader has seen something similar?
You’ll receive the same response as someone who bought a ticket to that Sunday event and was bored by it – the request for a refund.
Except when someone is reading your content, they can’t get a refund on their time investment. Since most people vote with their dollars instead of leaving negative reviews, the end result will be an eventual loss of traffic because your sales pitch was inaccurate.
Instead of trying to sell something extravagant [something never experienced], sell something realistic [something that is scarce].
Imagine if the race advertisement said this: “This Sunday, SUNday, SUNDAY we have just 10 tickets left. 10 TICKETS! Get yours now.” If the listener is interested in the event, they’ll grab tickets immediately because they are scarce.
This is what good copywriting does as well. Time is a scarce resource. It has meaning. So make that time investment reader worthwhile by offering them something that is also a scarce resource. This will add power to your writing for sure.
#6. Focus on your hook.
Words matter.
Every word a copywriter publishes must move the reader forward toward the call to action. This is the hook. From the very beginning, the words offered must encourage reader footsteps to the conclusion of the journey.
To do this, add precision to your words and sentences.
It starts with how you begin your content. Copywriting for the internet today is essentially a persuasive essay. This means your opening line must be a thesis statement. It is the value summary of what a reader should expect if they read the piece from start to finish.
Each sub-section of your content must then go back to this thesis statement in some way. Most copywriters get this done.
What adds power to your copywriting is the ability to continue the hook through each sub-section of your content. This is especially important with the opening line of each sub-section. More precision will equate to more value. This will keep the reader reading.
#7. Titles, headlines, and subheadings hold great importance.
Remember when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off in the third round of a boxing match? If you weren’t there, it happened in 1997. Some headlines that reported the news story the next day were better than others.
From the NY Times: “Tyson Disqualified for Biting Holyfield’s Ears.”
From the Las Vegas Sun: “Fight Disintegrates After Tyson Bites Holyfield.”
From the Daily News LA Edition: “A Bite to the Finish.”
All three headlines are reflective of the content a reader is about to enjoy. Which of these headlines makes you more likely to read the content?
That depends on your personality. If you love a good pun, you’ll read the Daily News. If you want in-depth reporting, then you’ll read the NY Times. For sensationalism, you might pick up the Las Vegas Sun.
So all the advice in the world about writing a good headline means nothing unless you know what your audience wants. If you write a funny title, headline, or subheading and your audience wants concrete facts, then your copywriting is going to land with a thud. And vice versa.
Once you know what your audience wants, then you can write magnetic headlines that will continue the argument you’re making within your content. If you don’t know what the reader wants, then you’re just biting random ears, hoping someone will eventually notice.
#8. Understand the difference between cost and value.
You walk into the grocery store. There’s a giant yellow sign that says “Bread – $3.” It’s normally $7. That’s a pretty good deal. You start thinking about whether or not you should purchase that loaf of bread.
Then you see another sign. “Fresh bread – $4.” You can smell the bread cooking in the ovens behind the glass display. Your stomach rumbles.
Which loaf of bread are you going to purchase? There’s a 20% chance that you’re more likely to purchase the fresh bread than the bread on sale even though it costs $1 more.
Why does this happen? Because the words we read engage our senses.
Even though the only difference between the two signs is “fresh” in the description, people are more likely to purchase the item which offers the best overall value to them. If you want immediate satisfaction, a warm loaf of soft bread is often better than day-old crusty cheap bread.
That doesn’t mean one loaf of bread has more value than the other. Each has value. It’s the consumer who decides which has the most value to them.
And that means in your copywriting, the smallest details matter when you are describing what you offer. You are competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of other writers promoting something similar. Your descriptive words will change how people picture what you’re discussing.
You want to offer fresh bread. Not just bread.
#9. Don’t walk briskly. Just walk.
Good copywriting is able to engage the imagination of the reader. Even if all you’re doing is selling something that is relatively boring, like boxes of nails, your content is still going to viewed within the scope of the reader’s imagination. For that reason, you need to rely on actions to promote that vision.
Far too often, copywriters fall into the trap of using adverbs instead. Or worse – overusing adjectives. Make your content be heavy on action verbs, light on adverbs and adjectives, and you’ll notice much more power within your final copy.
Why is this? Because good action verbs will hook someone as effectively as a great thesis statement. It makes the reader want to keep reading.
So don’t walk briskly down the street. Just walk. The rest is just fluff that the reader is going to ignore anyway.
#10. Let your readers save time while reading.
Most content today isn’t read word-for-word. Sorry writers. It’s not that your words are unimportant. It’s just that people are super busy today and feel like they can’t sit down to read 1,500 words of brilliant copywriting.
Modern readers want to pick and choose what they read. This means they will first skim content to see if it has value. If it passes that first test, they will pick out the key points they’ll want to spend time on.
From a copywriting standpoint, this means you have more power in your content when you make your key points easy to read when someone is skimming. There are a number of ways that you can do this without really changing your writer’s voice.
- Add bullet points or numbered lists that naturally catch a skimmer’s eye.
- Use subheadings within your content for every 150-250 words of content.
- Reduce paragraph sizes from 4-5 sentences to 2-3 sentences.
- Use formatting options, like bolded text or italicized text, to indicate a specific point of importance. Colored text can also work. Avoid underlining the text since hyperlinks tend to be underlined.
- Break up your content with infographics, video, images, and other forms of media.
“I’ve heard that one of the most effective ways to add power to my writing is to use single sentence paragraphs. Is that true?”
Single-line paragraphs can be very effective if you have one key point to make.
See that? The focus is on that one statement. When you write a single-line paragraph, a copywriter must understand that this will likely be the takeaway statement the reader remembers the most. It must be reflective of the topic, offer a strong opinion, while still have a basis in proven fact.
If you need to make several key points, then you’re better off using a different formatting option. That way you can make several key points stick instead of just one.
#11. Be yourself.
You can tell when a copywriter is “faking it to make it.” Their content seems hollow. When readers see this hollow content, they might skim it to see if there is any takeaway value. Many readers will simply stop skimming and move to the next bit of content they want to review.
Content which is not authentic is content that will fail.
From a copywriting standpoint, this means a writer must focus on what they know. If you’re writing about an unfamiliar subject, then research it before writing about it. Don’t try to pretend to be something that you’re not.
Since online content is essentially a persuasive essay, the goal of a copywriter should be to address the expected concerns that a reader may have. You must look at your content through impartial eyes, figure out if there are any holes in your argument, and then plug those holes up before your content boat sinks.
If you’re not familiar with the subject matter, then it is difficult to figure out if there are problems with your argument. This is why writers must write what they know. Anyone can point out common concerns. It takes an expert to point out the real value proposition of any product or service to prove there is nothing the reader should worry about.
So just be yourself. And if being you isn’t good enough, look for a different subject to write about if you’re unwilling to spend some time researching the subject.
#12. Get your AIDA shot.
Gary Halbert developed a formula which works well for sales copy, but is also beneficial for virtually all copywriters. It’s called the AIDA Formula and its goal is to keep the reader focused on your thesis proposition.
Here’s what this formula entails.
- A is for Attention. You grab the attention of the reader with a meaningful title or headline and a compelling thesis statement.
- I is for Interest. This is where your copywriting must enhance the purpose of your thesis statement so that readers can see the value of what is being offered to them.
- D is for Desire. This is the push you need to transition the reader from wanting to have what you offer to feeling like they need it.
- A is for Action. The second “A” is your call to action. It’s the prompt most readers need to actually act upon the information they’ve just read.
#13. Write naturally.
“I’d like to have content written about powerful writing tips that has a 5% keyword density for writing tips and a 3% keyword density for how to write powerful copy.”
If you’re a professional copywriter, that kind of order is your worst nightmare. It is virtually impossible to write natural copy if you’re forcing keywords into your content. That’s especially true if the keyword is grammatically incorrect. Like maybe “writing tips power copy.”
Content should be written for the reader first and the search engines second. Unfortunately, a lot of copy today is written with the priorities reversed.
It’s not just odd keywords that can kill content for the reader. Copywriters that use a lot of jargon, corporate language, and hype will also cause readers to abandon the content they’re reading.
Now that’s not to say that keywords are unimportant or that you must avoid all jargon. To add power to your writing, focus on simple, precise words. Be humble with your words instead of pompous.
This will convey more value, which is ultimately what the reader wants from your writing.
#14. Use a meaningful, realistic call to action.
Now you’re ready to become a powerful copywriter that creates great content. Just follow these writing tips and you’ll see immediate results.
The call to action works best when it can harness the overall value of what has been discussed throughout the rest of the previous content. It must offer a meaningful outcome, be easy to implement, and have a specific instruction.
“Just follow these writing tips.” That’s the instruction.
“You’ll see immediate results.” That’s the meaningful outcome.
“You’re ready.” That’s being easy to implement.
The best content in the world will fail if the call to action cannot be implemented in some way. This is because you’re instructing people to run right into a roadblock if they can’t do what you’re asking them to do.
“Buy a Rolex watch and you’ll be able to keep track of time.” How many households can afford a Rolex watch? Some can’t even afford a fake Rolex sold by the guy wearing a trench coat down on the corner. Telling them to do this will invalidate the rest of what you’ve written.
The best calls to action will be something that the reader can do immediately. This will give them a taste of success right away. Tasting success is addictive – you always want more. So the reader will implement the call to action again. And again. And again.
And then keep going until they don’t experience the same level of success. That’s great news if you’re selling products with your copywriting.
Focus on the call to action. It has more power than many writers realize.
By mastering these copywriting tactics, your website will seduce your readers into becoming buyers.
I will leave you with a quote from David Ogilvy, who is largely seen as the greatest copywriter of all-time…
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