Has your sales copy been failing to convert, no matter what you do, again and again?
You try different ways, changing the wording and adding discounts, but it just isn’t working. Your conversion rates remain low.
You send out emails, social media copy, web copy, confident that they’ll get people to take action, purchase from you, or sign up. But they don’t.
What could you be doing wrong?
What needs to change?
We have worked with numerous businesses just like yours. And we’ve learned what’s needed to create copy that converts.
And you know, there really is a secret formula to creating copy that converts! And we want to share our secret formula with you.
You’ll get a trusted method that you or your team can use on any copy you create, and we’ll start with the most important thing...
Understand Your Audience
Before crafting any copy, first, you need to understand your target market.
Who are they?
Where do they come across your copy?
How do they interact with it?
What makes them take different actions, such as clicking on your link — or scrolling past to other things?
Define Your Persona
Create a persona from the characteristics of the people you are targeting.
Be very specific.
Who are you selling to?
What do they do, where do they hang out, what problems are they facing? What do they need help with?
You may even give them a name to help see them as real people, not just numbers that you see on your end.
The more specific you are with your persona, the easier it will be to create copy that targets them.
Let’s say you are talking to Jane, for instance.
When Jane reads your copy, she needs to feel like you are talking to her personally. Your copy needs to address her specific problem and not some vague issue that loosely relates to her.
Once you have a persona, think of how they land on your ad.
It All Starts With an Interruption
Sales copy starts by interrupting your audience’s activities. Maybe they were scrolling through social media or searching for something on the internet.
Maybe they were just having a snack, and then your copy pops up as an ad, social media post, or email.
It interrupts their day.
And in the course of three seconds, they either decide to hear more about it or swipe and scroll past.
If they decide to give you some attention, then you successfully move to the next step.
Engage Your Audience
If the audience remains on your sales copy, then you have successfully managed to engage them.
You were able to raise their curiosity, and they decided to give you time.
If you failed to engage them, they would quickly scroll past your content and move on to other things.
However, once you have gotten their attention, you can proceed to the next level.
Educate Your Audience
This is where you give your audience some valuable content that shows them something they didn’t know before, or makes them aware of something they have been ignoring.
It could be a problem they are facing, and you are offering them a solution or some way to make their lives easier.
All three of these parts —Interrupting, Engaging, and Educating— happen in just a few minutes. And to convert this person that was casually living their life into a buyer for your product, you need to have great sales copy.
That’s where most businesses struggle and end up losing potential clients.
So how do you change this and create copy that converts?
The Sales Copy Secret Formula in Four Steps
Once you know the persona you’re trying to reach, you can start to craft your copy. The goal is to get them past that initial interruption and on to your final ask, using these four steps:
- Problem
- Promise
- Proof
- Proposition
Let’s see how to use these four steps to create copy that sells.
1. Problem
Your copy needs to describe the problem that your persona is facing.
What do they need help with?
And to go in a little deeper, what URGENT problem are they facing?
When you start your sales copy, highlight this problem.
As they read, they need to feel like you are talking to them directly. Like you are pinpointing the exact problem that they are going through.
Show that you understand them.
Once you have described the problem that they are facing, go in with a promise.
2. Promise
What are you offering them? And not just what, but what UNIQUE thing are you offering them?
Make it very clear what solution you are proposing for their problem. Maybe that’s a promise to completely change how they look at things! It could also be a way to fix their problem from the root and not just manage the symptoms.
As you add an explicit promise, make sure that it isn’t just a list of features or benefits. Instead, focus on an overarching goal that your service will achieve for your persona.
For instance, if your sales copy is inviting people to a master class, show the broader impact it will have on their lives. How will it change their lives? What will be the result?
Pro Tip: People scan through content and naturally try to disqualify a company through the content. If you only provide a list of features, they will automatically scan through to find areas they can discredit. Don’t give them this chance.
3. Proof
You’ve promised to give them something valuable that will fix their problems. But who are you, and why should they trust you?
This is where you come in with UNQUESTIONABLE proof.
Has someone else tried what you are proposing before? Did it make their life easier? DId their problem get solved?
One great way is to use numbers, such as citing that 43 people have already benefited from what you offer. If you have testimonials, that’s even better.
You can also use storytelling.
Tell them about your previous client who had the same problem. Show how you used what you are offering now and how they got the solution they needed. Humanize the story.
And once you prove to them that they can trust you and gain their confidence, go for the close!
Only then can you give your Call-to-Action. If it comes too soon, they may discredit you quickly and move on.
Check to see that you have not been losing sales by adding the CTA too quickly before creating rapport with your audience.
4. Proposition
At the end of your sales copy, you can finally ask what you aimed to ask. If your goal was to invite them to a webinar, this is where you add the actual invitation.
Make your proposition USER-FRIENDLY.
If you ask for something that your audience sees as hard to do, taking too much time, or simply asking too much too soon, they will quickly walk away. Or, in this case, close the tab or disengage from your content.
Make the ask a small and simple thing.
Tips to Make Your Proposition User-Friendly
- Sell only the next step. Don’t sell your products, for instance, in the same copy where you are asking people to subscribe to your email list. Take it step by step.
- Make it easy to do. Sign Up, Book a Call, Watch a Quick Product Demo. If they have to look for the proposition, then you will have lost them.
- Reduce the time factor. If it takes too much time for the audience, they’ll bounce. For instance, signing up for a webinar should also automatically add it to their calendar. Save them time.
- Make the proposition something small.
- Make it clear. The audience should immediately know what they need to do.
Try It Out
Reverse engineer your current copy using this formula. Pick out a piece of copy that you think could be more successful and try to find each of the four parts we mentioned.
How well does your copy do on these?
Use these techniques to revise your existing copy and increase conversion rates for your company. And when you’re creating new sales copy, follow our four-part secret formula to create copy that converts again and again.
