Copywriting - the Art of Selling

So, let's get down to business, shall we? What is copywriting and how can you use the power of the copy to drive more sales and make more money?

Copywriting has several major tasks let's say, it has to trigger a specific thing in your audience. It could make your audience download an E-book, buy a product, subscribe to a newsletter, you name it. There are many various things you could ask from your target audience.

But one thing's for sure...It has to be compelling because nobody will buy a toothpick from you if he or she is not emotionally compelled to do it.

Your copy has to excite and evoke feelings and emotions and you have to be able to deal with emotions that people are willing to experience or eliminate like - gain and greed; hidden pride and fear; lust and intrigue; trust and repressed anger; guilt, envy and jealousy; shame, respect and revenge; love, security and certainty and of course confidence plus the oldest trick from the book the fear of being left alone and scarcity.

You have to be able to guide people through the copy and tell them what they have to do, when they have to do it and why. You should also be able to showcase them what you have to offer, what this thing you're offering can do for them and tell them what to do next in order to obtain it and start benefiting from it.

...so let's start with the first thing from your copy...

The Headline

The headline gets the attention and it should have the newsworthy or curiosity factor weaved in it or it should imply or suggest what the strongest benefit is. It could provide credibility or a specific reward for having read the whole marketing copy let's say...or it can give a specific promise. Remember, you have to have a specific theme  for it or a central topic that will further be discussed and explained in the copy. Make sure you identify that thing first and stay with it for the rest of your copy.

Once you do so, you can use different tricks like word grabbers in both your headline and your story.

The Opener

In this part you are basically telling your reader what you have for him. This is the right time to get the readers' interest and get people excited and willing to read more. 

You have to sell people on reading your ad or letter if that is the case. You could achieve this by using the so called grabbers and attention hooks or just by tapping into their emotions. Remember it has always been about THEM!

Tell them what your promise is, that is your central benefit. You could do that simply by asking them to picture how life would be for example if they were to be getting that benefit you're offering. That is speaking to them on an emotional level. After having done all this you can support your words by proving every single  thing you have claimed so far and at the same time boost your credibility, build trust and create authority.

Let's get The Story Started

The storyline is what will make your readers interested like I wrote in one of my previous articles it is the storyline that will help you sell, persuade and even convince people...

"You always have to make sure that the things you are saying or writing about relate to your audience and this will make your readers easily relate to you and the characters in the story. Why? Because facts just tell...and stories SELL!"

This is the perfect stage in your copy where you can explain how things actually came about and this will allow you to connect emotionally with your readers through the rest of the story.

How It Works

The story shouldn't be the main part of your copy  it should allow you to connect with your readers emotionally and reel them in to read even more of your copy. The "How It Works" part of your copy has the task to raise the desire in your readers and show them what a specific product/services does.

Provide the benefits, showcase the goods and then tell them what this thing you're selling can actually do for them.

Walk the extra mile and make sure you take the readers right to the very point where they can absolutely positively imagine themselves getting the benefits you have displayed on the table.

The Irresistible Offer

You are one step closer to getting the sale, well, not quite yet...You still haven't presented your offer to the reader. In this part of your copy you basically tell people how to get your product/service or whatever that is you are selling.

The transition from the previous part could be handled by telling your reader how to take advantage of the benefits you have just disclosed to him/her.

You can also use pattern interrupts just when the reader thinks that he or she is reading the sales pitch to further explain why you are making this offer to him or her.

Tell them what they receive, what the value is, the price of course, and make sure to remove all questions and objections to make it an easy sale. And last but not least, you have to provide your audience let's say several more reasons for ordering your things right away, you can support this by listing several incentives for the early birds.

The CTA (Call to Action)

The call to action is the tool that will help you fulfill the desire that has already started burning in the reader. Before you use it you can mention the problem the reader probably has one more time, remove all other choices and options for him, remind the reader of the benefits again, summarize the offer and tell him what to do next.

This is what the backbone, blueprint and main architecture of a sales letter looks like. Some people use a P.S. at the end of the whole copy to restate again benefits, offers and all or just list an order for, telephone number etc. I personally believe that if the reader has had the nerves to read your copy up until that part and hasn't decided to by from you will not do so if you add a P.S. at the end of the letter, but hey, that is just me.