I bet every one of you out there, at one time or another, has sat down to read what you thought would be an informative article, sales brochure or website only to be bored to tears within a couple of sentences. This might appear to be a rather strange thing to say but, when you are writing sales copy, the one think you don’t want your reader to know is what a great writer you are.

Of course that means that you have to be a great writer. Why? Because you can’t hide behind showman-ship. In sales writing there is no room for showy, flamboyant writing.

You are merely there to provide the vase in which the flowers go – it is the flowers you want your reader to see, smell and want. The last thing you want is for them to be distracted by the gaudy vase beneath them.

Here are three things to remember before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard:

• Forget the arty similes and metaphors, tell the reader what it is, what it does and why it will benefit them.
• Forget the jargon – no one is interested in it. If it is essential technical vocabulary, fine, but keep it to a minimum.
• Keep it short and concise – Why use ‘in the interim period’ when ‘between’ will do just fine.

You will effortless build rapport with your readers if you keep your writing simple and conversational.

Sally Ormond is a professional website copywriter, SEO copywriter and advertising copywriter with extensive experience in B2B and B2C copywriting markets. She can be contacted at +44(0)1449 779605 or sally@briarcopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have or for a complimentary webcopy analysis.

Hands up anyone out there who actually knows what a copywriter does? Go on, be honest.

If you are a little unsure then allow me to enlighten you. A copywriter is a business sales writer. Basically what they do is produce persuasive copy for all those brochures, leaflets, sales letters and websites that you see.

You could really call them the Uzi submachine gun of the marketer’s arsenal. It is through their mastery of the writen word that new customers are brought into the fold.

Do you write your own sales copy? A lot of businesses out there do. There is nothing wrong with that if it is working for you. But are your marketing materials really performing as you would want them to? Is the copy on your website drawing traffic to it and the right kind of traffic? Basically what I am asking is are you frustrated by the lack of success of your marketing efforts?

If the answer is ‘yes’ then you need to find yourself a good freelance copywriter. What they will do is produce a portfolio of effective copy (emails, newsletters, web copy, brochure copy etc.) that will increase your sales, create continuity in your marketing and therefore create an image of trust and credibility in the eyes of your customers.

Perhaps you haven’t gone down this route because you think it is too expensive. But just think for a moment. How much of your time have you spent trying to write good copy? How much is your time worth? Surely it would be better spent doing what you do best?

Good marketing writing will pay dividends. The initial outlay will be recouped by the increase in sales. Just think about that for a second…makes sense, doesn’t it?

By using the services of a copywriter you will give yourself the edge over your competitors. Remember, if you don’t use one, they will.

Sally Ormond is a professional website copywriter, SEO copywriter and advertising copywriter with extensive experience in B2B and B2C copywriting markets. She can be contacted at +44(0)1449 779605 or sally@briarcopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have or for a complimentary webcopy analysis.

Before you start shouting at the screen, I’m not being rude or trying to teach you to suck eggs. Just think about it for a second. A copywriter writes to sell a product or service – that’s about as glamorous as it gets. But you have to understand your product or service before you can sell it.

All too often you see writing about a particular product that is focused on what it is rather than what it does. But that is only natural, after all if you work with washing machines all the time you will end up thinking about them a lot. If you make high-end market shoes, you’ll tend to think about them a lot too.

The problem is that this leads to descriptive writing not powerful sales writing. You’ll be so in love with what you do it will be the only thing you will be able to talk about. So with our washing machine example all you’ll be able to write about is how they wash clothes – great, but a sales writer would see them as a specifically designed labour saving device.

The same goes for the shoes. If you are too close you’ll sell them as high quality, stylish shoes (which I am sure they are). But your sales writer will bill them as the must-have for the woman-about-town that will make her irresistible to all men.

I hate to say it but no matter how much blood, sweat and tears went into producing your product, your customer won’t give two hoots. All they want to know is what it will do for them – will it save time? Save them money? Make them look successful? Make them irresistible to the opposite sex? 

Knowing all the facts about your product is vital but what is probably more important is the ability to dramatise them in terms of their benefits. Make your reader believe they couldn’t possibly live without it and they’ll reach for their credit cards.

Whatever form of business you are in, the effectiveness of your marketing strategy is the key to success. If you are a high street store you would utilise your window display to draw the public in. Once inside the door it is then up to your staff to convert their interest in to sales.

 

This is true for online businesses too albeit in a virtual way. Your website needs to draw visitors to browse before they start to buy.

 

The online version of the shop window is effective website copywriting. Obviously having a bricks and mortar shop, if sales begin to diminish you can always resort to loitering in the shop doorway, leaping on unsuspecting passing trade, dragging them into your shop and forcing them to buy. Obviously I am not condoning such a strategy but that is not something that is available to the online trader. Copywriters are unable to bodily drag in clients or herd them through your website using a cattle prod. But written correctly, their copy will increase the flow of traffic to your site and encourage them to browse and ultimately buy by being persuasive.

 

Persuasive copywriting is a skill that requires the use for four techniques.

 

• Evoking an emotional response – emotion is the most powerful tool available to the copywriter as it is the most important factor in the decision making process.
• Don’t be pushy – the customer is a canny animal and if they get even the slightest whiff of coercion they’ll be off and running as far away from you as possible. The key is to persuade them to make the decision you want them to make.
• Be familiar with the website – sounds obvious doesn’t it but it is vital that the copywriter is familiar with your site as this will impart a confident tone in their writing. Buyers need to be directed so they know what they need to do therefore the writing must be clear and precise.
•  Know the products – the copywriter must understand the product thoroughly so they can convey specific instructions and descriptions.

Therefore a great copywriter not only produces copy that will attract visitors to your website, they will also attempt to convert them into potential customers. Persuasive copywriting is effective copywriting and therefore will be the hallmark of a professional.