Copywriting That Will Boost Your Ecommerce Sales: A Crash Course For Novices

Copy can be the difference between making a little money or striking it rich. It is everything. Seriously? Absolutely. And here’s why: There is a massive difference between writing well, and writing effective copy that gets people to take action.

Bad writing can make you look silly and unprofessional. Effective writing can make you rich.

Every word written for your business should be intentional. What are you trying to accomplish? If done correctly, your blog, website content, emails, and social media posts could all potentially make you a lot of money. If done poorly, you’re wasting time and losing out on a lot of money.

Do you need a professional copywriter? It’s definitely an option.

It’s not about punctuation or grammar. A professional copywriter knows how to sell. The job of a copywriter is to understand people, relate to them, and appeal to the clients’ emotions. Good copy inspires customers to DO something RIGHT NOW.

Copywriting is about understanding what people want or need and giving it to them:

“Never Suffer In A Cubicle Again! Get The Job Of Your Dreams In One Easy Click!”

It’s about finding your customers pain and giving them relief…for five easy payments of $19.95.

Examples Of Great Copywriting

 

PINTEREST: He Used Pinterest To Dive Deep

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SQUARE: The POS software that’s simple, powerful, and free

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How to Write Effective Copy

 

Research everything before jumping in

Learn everything about a company’s other customers, the product, and the competition. You can’t sell something if you don’t understand why people might be interested in buying it. Research isn’t fun because it feels like you’re not working but it’s arguably the most important part of writing copy. This is also the best way to avoid writing myopic copy, or copy that is written based on your personal preferences.

Identify the value proposition

What is the value of the product and how will it benefit the people who purchase it? On a webpage the value proposition is usually one strong headline that grabs attention, describes the value of the product, with a subhead of what you offer, to whom, and why people should buy it. Sometimes this is followed by bulleted points listing the benefits. This example below shows how a good value proposition can get right to the point. The headline explains very clearly what the company does, the subheading tells you that it’s not for programmers, rather it’s for everyone because “no coding” is required.

Write the copy

Try to step away from the product. Write the copy as if you’ve just learned about the product and what it does. Avoid business jargon, avoid phrases that are only known in your industry unless you’re a B2B, then it matters a lot less.

Edit

Move things around. Your value proposition should be above the fold. The flow of the page should be very simple, easy to follow, simple language, minimal wording. Organize everything with direct headlines. Make your call-to-action stand out.

Test

Test a few variations of your copy against each other. Test the length, the wording, and the positioning until you find the combination with the highest conversion rate.

Practice, test your copy, fix and repeat. Eventually you’ll get it and once you do, you’ll be producing gold.

OR…

Trust the Professionals: Hire a Copywriter

If you’re short on time, you should consider hiring an experienced copywriter to take care of your ad campaigns, website, and other copy needs. A professional copywriter knows how to trigger that primal part of the brain that persuades people to make a purchase. They know how to write headlines about the customer and his/her pain, they produce content that gets shared. Headlines like, “The ONE Thing You Can Do To Lose Weight Right Now!”

If you’re short on time and money there are cheaper options to outsource your copy. Find a freelancer who can do projects for you here or there, or find someone on Odesk, Freelancer or Elance. You can also try Fiverr, although there’s no guarantee on quality if you’re only paying five bucks. A good copywriter doesn’t come cheap but should be seen as an investment in your ecommerce company’s success.

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