Sales copywriting is the art of writing persuasive copy that aids in convincing people to buy a product or service.
This blog post will share some of the phrases of the most common sale that work and words that sell. We will also explain what they do and how you can use selling phrases that work in your sales copy.
What Is Sales Copywriting?
Sales copywriting is the art of persuading a customer to make a purchase. It’s a form of marketing that can be used in many ways, including email campaigns, direct mail, websites, and even advertising. Website Copywriting is writing that persuades people to buy something in its simplest form. It can produce positive results through solid calls to action, appeals to emotions like fear or sadness, and more. Sales copywriters are known as “the voice of marketing.”
By using a sales copywriting campaign, you’re telling your customers “you deserve to be heard” and that they matter. This can be a critical way of marketing.
“Why should you buy it?”
This is one example of many selling phrases that work. This question is asked to potential buyers to get into the mindset of people who like buying. It helps them understand why they want or need this product or service. And should be answered in such a manner that it makes the potential customer feel good about what they’re buying and makes them want to purchase the product.
Sales copywriting aims to get your potential customers to buy your product or service.
There are several different approaches that you can use in sales copywriting. Email campaigns are one of the most popular methods used. This type of campaign often includes an offer for something free, such as an e-book or trial offer for a product or service. This type of campaign is very successful because it’s personal and gets the customer’s attention more than other types of media do.
Sales copywriting is vital because it helps prospects figure out if they want to buy the advertised product or service. It’s also crucial because it impacts how well your company’s business will do and how much profit you’ll generate.
Where is Copywriting applied?
Sales copywriting can be applied in various situations, like; advertisements, marketing, public relations, sales, and even direct marketing.
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Print Media
The sales copy is usually presented in a box below the ad in print advertising. This text introduces the advertised product or service and shares its critical benefits in a clear and concise manner.
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Digital Media
On digital media, sales copy is often referred to as “content marketing” and can be found on company websites, blogs, and social media posts. You can even receive them in your emails.
How to Write a Sales Copy?
A sales copy is a type of marketing content written to persuade people to buy a product or service. Many elements go into writing a successful sales copy. It should be persuasive, engaging, and believable.
Sales copywriting is an essential part of marketing. Customers generally purchase products and services based on how well the sales copy convinces them. But how to write a sales copy, including words, to attract customers? Follow the guide, including words that sell below.
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Step # 1 – Prepare
The first step in drafting a compelling sales copy is to collect information regarding the audience and the ad. To know your audience, these are the three fundamentals questions you would want to ask:
- Who are your prospects?
- What do they want?
- What are their needs?
Furthermore, you may need a thorough questionnaire to collect data regarding the project. You must dig deep and collect as much data as feasible to thoroughly understand the project you will be working on. We’ve compiled a few essential pointers and questions regarding the project you want answers for.
- An in-depth description of the product and service
- The purpose of the product, and how will it be of any benefit to the customer?
- The suggestive in comparison to the asking price of the product
- The features of the product
- How will the product solve the problems of your customers?
- What is your competitive advantage?
- The reliability and authenticity of your product or business
- Do you provide after-sales services or any warranty or guarantees?
- What is your target market, and how do you position your product or service in it?
- Can your product be offensive to any individual?
- What is the objective of the ad? Do you want more orders or people to ask for information?
- What are you offering people, any deals? And when does it expire?
- Consider legal perspectives
- How can the prospect order and pay?
Know this information, and you will have the foundation for your entire piece of content.
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Step # 2 – Organize
Once you have the answers to all these questions, you will need to organize the gathered and scattered data to make sense of it. This is still just information in very raw form; however, it does give you copy a shape and direction.
Make sure you take your time to do so and do not go for any shortcuts because this is a pivotal point where the idea makes or breaks. Also, keep in mind that writing and then rewriting notes helps clear any confusion and is a beneficial approach to focus your mind and shape your ideas.
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Step # 3 – Write
After gathering and shaping all the information into an idea, now is the time to draft your copy. Start with writing the headline, review the data from steps 1 and 2, to choose and summarize the information you have to emphasize. Use the headline types below to select the best suitable for your copy.
- A direct headline states the primary purpose right out, for example, five ways to earn online.
- Indicating towards something new, with the help of words to attract customers like introducing, new, finally, now, etc., an example of such a headline is introducing a revolutionary new keyword planner.
- A how-to headline promises exciting information, or a problem’s solution, for example, how to fix your phone at home.
- A question headline captives the readers’ attention, like how can I earn from the equity market?
- A command question boosts your headline and sells immediately, like, book your dream car today
- An information question educates the audience while captivating their interest; for instance, you cant enjoy these features in your standard SUV.
- A testimonial question is great for convincing your prospect; for example, this app has boosted my career, it can boost yours too.
Once you’ve chosen the suitable headline type, write a few samples, and select the best one.
After finalizing the headline, move on to the subheading of your copy. For this, you will also have to review information gathered in steps 1 and 2, as well as the headline. The subheadings must be an expansion of the headlines while conveying the benefits of the product.
With the headline and subheadings sorted out, next comes in the body of the copy. Similar to the subheadings, the body is an expansion of the subheading. You will need to include all information gathered in both the steps earlier. Drafting the body may be a lengthy process; however, it is the easiest step.
If the audience is interested in reading the body, they are interested in purchasing your product or service. All you need to ensure is that all features and benefits are conveyed clearly, and as simply as possible. Try not to get fancy or gibberish.
Using persuasive language in your copywriting indicates using words to attract customers that evoke emotion in your readers, such as “happy,” “excited,” or “delighted.” This helps them feel like your product or service makes them feel these emotions and builds trust between you and the customer.
The conclusion of a sales copy is an essential part of sales copywriting. It is the final piece that convinces the audience to buy your product.
A reasonable conclusion should summarize the main points of your sales copy and emphasize its value proposition. An excellent way to do this is by using a call-to-action that prompts readers to take action and purchase your product.
A call to action gives the reader an idea of what they are supposed to do after reading it. The call-to-action could be anything from downloading a brochure, purchasing a product, or contacting you for more information. You may even take inspiration from similarly structured copywriting.
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Step # 4 – Edit
Though editing may seem like one of the toughest and least liked parts of the process that some sales copywriters tend to skip, this is the most crucial part of the entire process. Editing can help with improved results that you want.
To get this step done, you must be critical of your writing, make sure that every word adds value to your copy and has a message behind it. If you think any word may add confusion or is unnecessary, cut it off. A wordy copy is OK, as long as each word adds value.
While editing content, answer the following questions,
- Is the headline attractive enough to bring the audience to the body?
- Does the headline exploit the readers’ emotions?
- Is the headline crisp and clear?
- Does the subheading sound like an expansion of the headline?
- Does the body include all features and benefits? Is there anything unnecessary?
- Is the call-to-action clear enough?
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Step # 5 – Review
When you are done with the editing, place the copy aside for a couple of hours or days until you’re fresh to review the sales copy. You may use a few approaches to evaluate your sales copy.
1. The 5 Second Test
Place the ad in front of a couple of people, and if they fail to comprehend it within 5 seconds, you may need to revise a few things, like the headline, offer, or call-to-action.
2. List Down the Dismissive
Whatever you think is wrong with the headline, body, tone, call to action, list them down while being brutally honest. Don’t get too attached to your writing. If something needs a change, go ahead and change it.
3. Alternative Copy
Keep yourself open to other different approaches, too; even if you find one to be your success formula, experiment with other approaches too. You never know; the other approach maybe even better.
4. Stop or test:
Please avoid using the first person words, like I and we, instead switch to the second person, like you and your. To test this, circle the first-person terms with a red and the second-person terms with a blue pen; you’re good to go if the blue circles outweigh the red ones. On the contrary, stop and edit if the red outweighs the blue.
Now that you’ve learned the five steps on how to write a sales copy, you’re probably looking for some approaches to sales copywriting to get started. This is why we have listed a few approaches below.
What are some winning sales copywriting approaches?
A quality sale copy encourages the audience to take action hence vital for sales. While a sales copy is a powerful marketing approach, it must be engaging, persuasive, concise, and straightforward.
And if you apply the right approach, you can even spin gold!
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Approach # 1 – Story Telling
Stories have always been used as a tool to hypnotize readers. They educate us and help us understand events. And which human being who doesn’t like a good ole story? We all love sharing stories and connecting to the story via building a relationship with it.
If you’re part of the noise, you have failed as a compelling sales copywriter. Instead, you want to cut through it and hit the human connection, and the easiest way to do so is by telling a story. But to tell a good story, you need to know the art of storytelling.
A story consists of 4 elements.
- Character – the character will reflect and relate to the reader, so you will have to create a buyer’s personality, give it a name and an identity, and picture the character as a real person.
- Perspective – you need to decide and be consistent over the voice of the character, in the perspective of a first-person, i.e., I/We, second person, i.e., You/Your, or third person, i.e., He/She/Them/They
- Conflict – the reason behind the story is a conflict to propose your solution; without a conflict, there exists no story.
- Solution – a story without a solution would be of no benefit; hence present the solution while advertising your product or service to end the story.
With these elements in mind, the process of storytelling may have eased your task.
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Approach # 2 – Emotional Appeal
Triggering the audiences’ emotions and making an emotional appeal will help you sell more. You can stir words and emotions to persuade the audience to take action regarding your product or service. You may appeal in either or all of the basic emotions, that are:
- Happy
- Sad
- Fear
- Disgust
- Anger
- Surprise
Pick up on the readers’ insecurity, target them at their most vulnerable and offer them a solution.
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Approach # 3 – Research
Research is the most rational approach; you need to conduct proper research for successful and improved sales. Without deep research, executing a compelling sales copy is impossible—research about the buyer, product, and competitor.
You need to know the customer to make the product resonate with them via emotional appeal or problem-solving. The best approach is to fit in the prospects’ shoes and persuade.
Gather research about your product, highlighting features and benefits; you may even conduct a questionnaire or group interviews to enhance the product further.
Lastly, you will need to know your rivals better than your friends. Keep track of your competitors, evaluate your products, determine a competitive edge while identifying weaknesses.
To work on your sales copy, you need solid evidence and can’t just make up facts and figures, else the sales copy won’t be compelling and would fail to drive the expected results.
If you’re wondering whether this will even work for you or not, we have brought a few examples from real life to inspire you.
Five Examples Of Best Sales Copy
1. BarkBox
Combining cute puppy pictures with wordplay is all that BarkBox wanted to attract its audience.
Barkbox successfully gets its prospects through by using the buyer’s language to sell it directly to the dog of the buyer rather than the buyer. Though competitors have been trying to imitate BarkBox, however, they haven’t been able to duplicate it to date successfully.
The goal is to communicate to the buyer and make them feel heard because a prospect is more likely to invest in a brand that understands them. If you successfully exploit your prospects’ hopes and desires better than they can, you can sell faster, even before you can restock.
2. Bellroy’s
Bellroy entered the e-commerce marketplace in 2009 has was fast to make a statement. While customers may be fascinated by their products, this isn’t what fascinated the marketers; instead, their sales copies do.
Bellroy offers corporate gifting, a huge opportunity to bring in loyal customers. Bellroy successfully communicated the understanding of the buyer, offering a solution addressing their problems. They have it all covered, from showing gratitude to employees and clients to surprising them.
Understanding your customer is the key, and it may take time, but it is worth it. And Bellroy’s growth is well evident that they invested their time well.
3. Bombas
Many lucrative marketings jingles have been on top of the customers’ minds, and Beanz Meanz Heinz is one of them. The jingle has been so impactful and has been running for over decades, so much so that a large majority of the people could still recall it.
The fluency made the ads very popular. And even studies have suggested that jingles are easily memorable and liked by the audience and increase brand recall. Plus, they grab the audience’s attention and are processed quickly.
Rhyming cannot just be limited to a sales copy, evident by Bombas, who used rhyming over their homepage to engage traffic. Bombas’ Kids Socks that Pop’ rhyme isn’t just a random rhyme but reminds the audience of Bomabs’ core offering.
4. Chubbies
The audience often craves humour, hence the rise of memes. Chubbies has been running a humorous campaign; they have made a mark, from telling jokes in emails to sharing memes via sales copies.
Chubbies has always been inclusive of their customers, from making content that is relatable and well-liked by them, for example, their recent launch campaign via email sales copywriting while referring to Star Wars.
Chubbies has been daunting in such campaigns and crossing traditional marketing boundaries. They don’t just make their customers feel understood and heard, but they also reflect their brand personality via their movements, which are fun and brother branded frat brothers.
Humour isn’t easy and must resonate with the buyer; for a specific type of audience, you need big books, while for Gen Y, making them laugh is enough to take their money.
5. Tuft and Needle
With the rise of online retailers, copycats increased, who hope to gain market share by copying well-established brands. Hence, it gets difficult to differentiate between brands and stick out from your rivals.
The landing page of Tuft and Needle has been as exceptional as their homepage. Upon welcome, you are greeted with an email popup redirecting you to the landing page. The landing page consists of a sales copy that addresses the customers’ queries and gives them more and more reasons to purchase from them.
If you sell an expensive product, the customer is likely to ask many questions before investing a large sum of money in your product; hence if you have already addressed those queries, it’s easier and faster to convert visitors to customers.
This article showed you how to write sales copy, including a few approaches and examples for inspiration. We hope you took inspiration from the examples and are on your way to writing the best sales copy there can ever be. However, if things become too challenging for you to handle on your own, you can look for professional copywriting services and outsource your sales copy requirements. In this regard, Writing Services Hub is a great place to get in touch with. They have a team of professional writers that will help you with whatever writing-related task you have.