Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.
Quality and consistency of sales copy is much of what sets the elite brands apart from the average. Many small businesses will forego the process altogether, in the interest of saving on start-up costs. Investing in a copywriter sounds expensive, with talented wordsmiths demanding sizable salaries. Thousands of web templates exist for all sorts of purposes, all promising passable results and generic readability with minimal expense. Cost-effective is better, right?
Rarely. If you've ever driven a Kia Rio, you'll know it's basically a go-cart with highway capabilities. It promises a no-frills experience that will probably get you from point A to point B with maximum road noise and possibly a couple bruises.
You might be asking, why would I drive a Kia Rio? Why would anyone?
If it's all you can afford, so be it... it's a car, which is a lot more than nothing. However, there are lots of vehicles on the market that promise a much better user experience. The same can be said for generic filler compared to professional copywriting- A poorly crafted web journey guarantees a poor customer experience and low sales portal conversion rates. In fact, the customer probably never made it to the sales portal, because they went to look at something more interesting instead. If generic is the only possible option within budget, it's better than nothing, but the vast majority of applications need much more functionality.
Rather than miss out on crucial web sales opportunities, we've outlined 5 key steps Uptrade uses to successfully unlock the secrets of copywriting- making your next product launch your best product launch.
1. Highly Engaging Content
Successful copy has to provide engaging content. A bored reader is no longer reading, so appeal to human instinct and keep their eyes on the prize. Efficient consumer level product copy is accompanied with visceral imagery or moving GIFs that relay information faster than a text block can achieve, ensuring maximum transfer of information in a minimal amount of time. For most business-to-business applications, copy is extremely comprehensive and only accompanied by imagery to enforce a point or set a theme.
2. Information
Stand near any television for more than 15 minutes a day, and you'll surely hear one or two commercials for revolutionary anti-depressants that promise to make you laugh and dance in the fields with your dog, but may have side effects that could include death or paralysis. Call your doctor to find happiness again today and hopefully you're okay tomorrow!
Federal laws demand proper disclosure, but proper presentation builds appeal. Despite seemingly devastating potential side-effects, advertising prescription medicine on television remains effective. Properly informing the consumer is one of the most demanding aspects of copywriting- given a matter of potentially just seconds, what are the most important elements of the product to convey? Depending on industry and market position, different information should be highlighted and minimized, but everything has to have a place. Taking the customer on a well defined journey through the necessary information will help them understand your message, and result in more sales.
3. SEO
Find and utilize buzzwords! Search Engines are constantly organizing, finding the most relevant products and pages to show interested searchers. Before writing product copy, run data analysis on the viability of key terms. Properly placed buzzwords will ensure your product is found by the right people, resulting in more views and higher conversion rates.
4. Branding
Never miss an opportunity to create or enforce brand loyalty in your prospective buyer. If your brand has a defining vision or unique story, brief the buyer on why they should choose your company for that specific product. In today's extremely competitive digital landscape, buyers look for minor differences to make defining decisions between otherwise similar products. If the company's ideals are known and align with the viewpoint of the customer, the customer is much more likely to choose and then promote the product and company with no additional marketing expense.
5. Persuasive Call to Action
Copywriting generates sales. Hiring an accomplished copywriter means deploying a salesperson to every potential customer on the web, and that means closing new business. You've attracted and informed the customer, kept them engaged throughout, now what? Define your call to action! What do you want them to do? If they need to buy now, offer a discount for a limited time. If they need to contact a sales rep to close, give them a chat bubble. No matter the means, demand action from the customer that can result in traceable results. Don't be afraid to experiment with different closing methods- regular analysis of sales data will pinpoint what is and isn't effective.