Let’s get some definitions out the way right from the get-go – because I’m aware some of you may be entirely new internet marketing, or even any kind of marketing. If you’re taking your first shot, you’ll need to get your head round writing copy for:
- Squeeze or lead capture pages
- Sales pages
A squeeze page is a one-page website with a free gift and an optin box, or webform. In exchange for your visitor’s email, you give away something like an ebook.
Why do you want your visitor’s email?
So you can start mailing him your offers. It can take between 5 and 12 times of seeing your offer before someone actually buys from you. If you only relied on a sales page and your visitor didn’t buy, you would have lost him, permanently. However, if you try him again with the same or similar offer a little later, once he’s got to know you and established that you’re not Mr. – or Ms – Con Artist, then he just might buy.
OK, so your visitor is on your page… You have approximately 7 seconds to grab his attention. Yes, just 7 seconds, on average. So you’d better make that headline a damn good one. Just because you’re offering something for free doesn’t mean your visitor will automatically go for it. He may already have a bunch of free gifts sitting on his hard drive he’s been thinking of trashing for some time now because he never gets to read them!
Your headline must be intriguing enough to compel the read to read on.
Don’t:
- Be generic or vague
- Too revealing
Do:
- Be specific
- A little mysterious
So a bad example would be:
Get My New Report Now To Make More Money Online
And a good example would be:
Amazing free report reveals how you can add an extra $733.56 per month to your income by adding only 3 extra sentences to your mini site
Being specific gives us an instant picture and feels real. We can also envisage 3 sentences even if we don’t know what they are. And, thirdly, we’re intrigued to know what those sentences are.
Oh, and convention has it that your headline should be in quotes, as though someone else is testifying on your behalf) and in red – to grab people’s attention. And each word starts in upper case. It was a strange one to me – as an adman copywriter I would be shown the door if I ever wrote such long headlines, but this is internet marketing so you follow convention or find yourself being overlooked.
Body copy
Body copy is everything but the headline and your bullets. For a squeeze page you can be – and should be – very brief. Don’t waffle on about how you’ve made money, or what your experience is, no stories, no fluff.
Just reassure your visitor that this particular gift you’re offering will be of use, it will, if applied, help him make money, even if it’s only an extra $100 a month. It’s got to be of VALUE to him if you want his email. So, 2-3 sentences will do it – and if your headline is a good one and your bullets precise enough, you could probably get away with one.
Bullets
After your intriguing headline you write a selection of 4-7 bullets. Again, you have to keep the intrigue running. Don’t spell things out, for now only hint at solutions and how they might be achieved.
Bad bullet:
Why not revealing the full secret in your bullets will make your sales copy more persuasive
Hm, cat’s out of the bag now, isn’t it. So how about:
A simple change to your copy that will instantly make your bullets more persuasive
If your visitor wants to know what that ‘simple change’ is, he has to sign up. And that’s all we’re doing here – no sale pitch, just grabbing an email.
Sales letters
Again, make that headline count, big time. Remember you’re aiming for that perfect balance between precision and intrigue. And how new does it sound? Has it got a usp (unique selling proposition)? In answer to that last question, it may not have, but it’s your job to create the illusion. A visitor buys on perceived value not actual value, unless he already knows the product you’re selling, in which case he’s probably bought it already;)
After your headline, get down your selling points. At least a couple.
You’ll need a guarantee. If you’re offering a 60 day guarantee (fairly normal with most digital products) get it in early, don’t wait until the end of the page, because your visitor might have flown by then.
Mid way down the page you can include what I’d call empathy copy. If you were marketing to the internet marketing niche, you might say, I remember when I first started out and how difficult it was… information overload… I was flat broke, frustrated, wished I knew someone who could help…’ and so on. Personally, I find a little of this goes a long way. Your visitor came to your page looking for a solution not to read your biography.
And as you write, continue to create intrigue and – if you can do it without resorting to stupid exaggeration – shock the reader. Emphasize your main benefit(s).
A good practice is to divide the sales copy up into chunks of 30 seconds’ reading time. So you test the coy on yourself as if it were a 30 second commercial. If you haven’t got your story laid out in 30 seconds, you’re losing your reader’s interest. That’s not to say you can’t go on for longer than 30 seconds, but the rest of your sales copy should be an elaboration of what you’ve just neatly outlined.
Break up the copy with subheads and, if you have screengrabs that prove the effectiveness of your product – e.g. Clickbank accounts – include them. But not too many – don’t clobber your reader with your success, that just turns off the empathy you want to establish.
Subheads
Build your page with subheads, which will:
- Allow your page to breath
- Tell the ‘story’
- And sum up your complete sales message
Your subheads should bring your reader along building the emotion to buy. In fact if you glance down the page, reading only the subheads, a visitor should have a clear idea of the kinds of benefits he’s going to get when he finally clicks on that order button.
Formatting
Highlight text in yellow or use bold. But don’t overuse formatting. It’s enough to highlight or just a few key phrases that help to make a complete sales message.
Don’t keep varying your font styles and sizes. Your main heading should be large, subheads about 20-25% of that size. A mixture of fonts and sizes just creates a mess.
Some economic use of graphics, such as ticks for bullets, adds weight and colour. Don’t use them in a gimmicky way, though.
Bullets
Again, make your sales bullets drive home the key selling points. Make them a mixture of intriguing and specific, but don’t reveal too much. The secret of your product can only be had on the next page.
Guarantee
With your guarantee, it’s a good idea to give it a name. E.g. My “Generous Entrepreneurs Training” Guarantee.
60 days is the norm. But if you’re dead confident in your product you can even offer a cash payment in the event the buyer fails to make money from using it.
Don’t forget your call to action! Needs to be compelling – but not shouting. Emphasize the urgency factor (e.g. ‘…only 16 copies left before I raise the price’) and reassure your reader he won’t be disappointed. Whether you say it directly or imply it, make your reader feel he is going to miss out if he doesn’t click Order Now.
A short PS
Your PS gives you one more chance to convince visitor to buy. Restate the CTA with a slight twist, perhaps using a more chatty style. Still tell reader what to do but emphasize a different aspect of offer and reiterate the guarantee and the sentiment that he’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain by buying now.
Final test
Finally, get a friend or two to read your copy before you commit to putting it up. You don’t have to be a copywriter to appreciate good or great copy. In fact a test of great copy is when any old Tom, Dick or Harry enjoys reading it.
