It’s all in the copy, isn’t it? Without sales copy that converts, you have nothing. You can have the best product in the world, but without copy that converts readers into buyers you are lost. What, then, makes great sales copy? How do the master copywriters manage to command $10,000 or more for writing one single sales page?
What are the triggers that fix a visitor to your copy and lead them to the all important part–the “click to order” button? These are the questions we will address here.
Let’s begin at your favorite restaurant. Me, well I’m a sucker for prime rib. When it’s cooked properly and plated up with garnishes and side dishes it’s a hard thing to resist. So let me ask you, if someone were to set a plate of prime rib on your table, crackling hot and steaming away before you, how long does it take for those salivary juices to start flowing as in one of Pavlov’s dogs? In my case it’s about 2-3 seconds.
Now, if you’re a vegetarian this may not do it for you, but the sight, sound, and aroma of a properly cooked prime rib puts me a my good place! So in just three seconds I’m ready to dive in. I can’t wait to get started. And this is a good analogy to what makes a great sales page work for me.
ITEM 1: The Headline Must Pull Me In Within 2-3 Seconds
Put a cold bowl of soup in front of me and I’m unlikely to very excited. I’ll likely push it away and wait for something a little more palatable. The same is true with a sales letter. If the headline doesn’t grab and tug me in within three seconds it is very unlikely I’ll continue reading.
I see sales pages every day with headings like, “Get Top Google Rankings Fast”. It doesn’t tell me much other than that the person who wrote that headline doesn’t know much about sales copy.
Changing just the headline to something like, “What Would It Mean To You To Have Every One Of Your Blog Posts On The Front Page Of Google For The Keyword You Target?” Now that gets my interest up. The headline asks me a question, and yes, I’d love to know how to do that.
So I stick around a few more seconds to see what the product vendor has to say. The key point here is that without a powerful headline, you will lose the vast majority of your visitors in a matter of seconds. Spend some time on it. Your headline is the most important part of your page. Engage the reader with it!
ITEM 2: Make Your Sales Page Benefits Driven
Beginners often get so attached to their product that they dwell on the quality of their product rather than the benefits the product delivers to the potential buyer. What problems will your product solve for the buyer? If your product doesn’t solve a specific problem it’s going to be tough to promote. The key here: Stress the benefits, not the product!
ITEM 3: Remind The Reader Of Their Problem
Make sure the reader of your page is painfully aware of the problem they have and how painful that problem is. The more they are aware of the problem, the more likely they are to invest in a solution–your solution.
ITEM 4: Develop A Relationship With Your Reader
It’s not enough to remind your reader of a problem they are looking for a solution to, you need to take the opportunity to let them know you once had the same problem yourself. Make a connection! You want them to feel as if you have experienced the same problem they now face in order to form a relationship with them.
ITEM 5: Hit Them With The “Ah Ha” Revelation
Yes, you once were in the same boat they are in now. Go on to explain that you reached a seminal point in your crisis when the solution became clear to you. You had an epiphany, which brought everything into focus. Suddenly, your problem disappeared and life became wonderful again.
ITEM 6: Bridge Between Your Epiphany And Your Product
Now lay on the reasons why your product was responsible for the dissolution of your crisis. What specific things did your product do that resulted in the disappearance of your problem? Lay on the benefits of your product. Explain how it made your life better.
ITEM 7: Employ Some Social Proof
Bring in some testimonials from previous buyers of your product. You want the reader to not only take your word for the value of your product, but the word of a number of end users. In a courtroom trial this would be where the attorney brings in the evidence–the collateral proof to back up their claims.
ITEM 8: Ramp Down The Price
You’ve seen this used countless times on television infomercials. When it comes to establishing a price point, the seller starts with some outrageous price sending a chill up the spine of the viewer. But they begin ramping down the price and ramping up the bonuses. The deal starts getting better and better in the mind of the potential purchaser.
ITEM 9: Offer A Rock Solid Guarantee
When you’re selling online the potential buyer can’t pick up your product and give it the once over like they could in a brick and mortar type store. They must be reassured that if they are not 100% satisfied they have the option of getting their money back. The stronger your guarantee, the more likely it is the reader will hit the buy button.
ITEM 10: Create Urgency With A Strong Call To Action
Why should the reader of your sales page buy today? Why not wait a while and think it over? You need to create a sense of urgency–a limited time discount, a limit to the number of units to be sold, an impending price increase. Give the reader a compelling reason to ACT NOW rather than later.
Copywriting is a combination of art and science. It may look easy to write good sales copy–it is not. It is a craft that must be developed over a long period. The more you write, the better you get at it!