The internet world is filled with fierce competitors, with the number of new competitors seriously increasing day by day. And in such a huge and ruthless jungle, if we don’t stand out enough and in time, we can easily end up with (very) few results on our online business and leave all our potential customers to smarter competitors…
I think this has happened to you before.
You know…
These moments when you launch an offer, being sure that it will produce an avalanche of sales, or when you write your own sales page, with the ambition of reaching a nice sum in 48 hours of launch.
But that there … the drama occurs.
You are LIGHT YEARS away from your goal set at the beginning.
Even worse: you have no idea how to fix the situation.
But rest assured, these frustrating moments have happened to all of us (yes, even your fiercest competitors) so in this article, you will discover:
12 copywriting techniques proven and applied by the best copywriters, to increase your sales in an inevitable way.
1 – Tell (very) good stories
“As long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster…”
“I was 12 and 13 the first time I saw a dead human being…”
“People always ask me if I know Tyler Durden…”
If you’re a movie buff, you’ll recognize all of the quotes above. These are memorable lines from films that have cemented their place in the consciousness of movie-going audiences.
Movies like these are memorable , not because of their ability to entertain, although that’s a given. Rather, because of their ability to move audiences of all ages through storytelling.
A lot of people make the mistake of only wanting to entertain through their story.
They forget that while storytelling is so powerful in sales,
This is because the story told has a very specific objective and must have two essential elements to fit perfectly with your sales text.
Here’s how to craft a story that mostly sells (not entertains):
(Even if selling + entertaining = winning combo)
1.1 Create a sense of identification with your reader
The most powerful level of persuasion is, and will remain: identification
If your prospect identifies himself in your story, he will think that your product is made for him.
Think carefully about creating a story that will make the prospect identify with the main character.
And he won’t hesitate for a second to buy from you,
This is exactly what you are looking for when selling a product/service.
(Any story that sells has followed this rule)
1.2 By creating emotion
We have just seen that identification is an essential element when you want to sell through a story.
But there is another – equally important – element that should not be overlooked.
The emotion.
When you tell your story, take care to accentuate the emotions by describing with (great) precision what is happening in the scenes.
If you emphasize the precise description of the scenes
(Such as: “He climbed the mountain, and came face to face with the majestic sunset overlooking the whole valley … etc.”
It will only heighten the emotion,
And your prospect will therefore be more inclined to buy.
2 – Direct mental films
You experience reality through your five senses: taste, sight, touch, smell, and hearing.
Whether you’re reliving a favorite memory — like walking on a beach — or imagining a future desire — like eating a hot fudge sundae, our senses make that experience real.
It’s no surprise, then, that savvy marketers often try to create images and even movies in the buyer’s mind to trigger – and reinforce – certain senses when selling their goods and services.
One of my favorite examples of creating “mental movies” as Drew Eric Whitman calls them,
is the British chocolate brand Thorntons?
In their Product Description:
They know taste is everything when it comes to chocolate. So they add descriptive adjectives to their copy to make the reader salivate at the thought of savoring their chocolate.
At the end of the line? Telling stories, as we have already learned, engages readers.
Telling emotional stories engages readers on a deeper level.
Telling emotional stories that trigger a sensory response?
An absolute game changer.
3 – Speak the language of your customers
A powerful but often overlooked principle of writing is to write as you speak.
But if you really want to connect with readers, you have to write as they talk.
And that makes sense: if you’re not joining the conversation that’s already going on in the buyer’s mind, how are they supposed to identify with you and buy from you?
Using phrases that your ideal buyers use will build familiarity and hopefully increase the chances of them buying from you.
4 – Transfer of authority
If you’ve read Robert Cialdini’s highly influential book, “Influence and Manipulation,” you know that authority is one of the six “Weapons of Influence.”
However, exploiting it correctly varies depending on the market you are in and the marketing channel you are using.
If you’re in the health and fitness industry, for example – a market rife with quacks – you might be wondering, “How can I show expertise when my buyer has already been duped ? countless times? “.
One solution, if you are a brand like Ritual, is to combine multiple authority sources. On their product pages, Ritual features the doctors they consulted when creating their products.
And if that’s not enough, they also include badges from major news outlets that have covered them, like the New York Times and Health.
Granted, you won’t always need to trust people whose names are followed by letters, but in industries where buyers are in disbelief, it can be useful.
5 – The appeal to the ego
In the aforementioned book, “ Cashvertising,” Drew Eric Whitman describes eight biological desires we all have.
One of those eight desires, “To be superior, to win, to keep up with the Joneses,” involves positioning your products and services for buyers who want the best of everything.
Whitman writes:
“Appealing to people’s vanity and ego is most effective when it focuses on characteristics that society considers desirable, such as physical attractiveness, intelligence, economic success, and sexual prowess. »
This can mean inviting shoppers to differentiate themselves from others, as Happy Socks does in its email marketing campaign.
The text says:
“Pack animal? Lone wolf? Great! Follow your instincts no matter where they take you. Stand out from the herd with wild individual styles or keep your team close with the 3-pack gift set.
Buy now “
We all have an ego and your buyers are no exception. Do with this information what you want.
6 – Use an “engagement” tool
Using an implication device is my all-time favorite persuasive writing technique.
And it’s child’s play to take advantage of it online.
You do not believe me ?
Click here.
If you clicked on the link above, you just got “engaged” with my article…
And if I were to sell you something, this innocent act would have transformed you from a passive reader to an active prospect .
Joseph Sugarman is famous for including typos in an ad selling…
… a spell checker.
Why ?
To engage the reader. For every typo the reader found and mailed in , they got $2 back on the product.
Great.
If you’re looking to grow your list, or offer a discount like Joseph, this isn’t a bad place to start.
7 – Let your customers sell for you
I have already spoken of one of Cialdini’s “weapons of influence”, authority. Now I would like to tell you about another familiar weapon, but with a little twist.
Every marketing blog in the world has written about the importance of social proof. And we are no exception.
So, to avoid repeating myself, I want to show you a brand that uses an updated version of this proof in the digital age.
Fabletics is an online retailer that offers “affordable, high-quality, and stylish workout clothes for women. »
However, rather than sharing customer reviews on their product pages — like their competitors do — they repurpose their customers’ Instagram posts on their homepage.
Not only that, but they are continually adding more social proof by inviting new customers to submit their own images:
Incorporating customer tweets and Instagram posts is a great way to add legitimacy to a product’s value, and for time-strapped e-tailers, it’s never been easier to make the most of it. left.
As Bill Gates says :
“ The best advertisement is a satisfied customer. »
Another reason why social proof through social media works well is that potential buyers can see what the product looks like on “real” people. This is especially true if you are in the clothing market.
By showing images of past customers wearing your products, you reassure potential buyers that the product looks just as good on “real” people as it does on supermodels.
8 – Raise (and resolve) objections
It doesn’t matter what you sell, or who you sell to…
Not everyone will buy from you.
It’s obvious. And that’s a reality you can’t change, despite what marketers want you to believe.
But for those who buy from you, there are certain objections – price, delivery, etc. – that prevent them from going ahead and making a purchase.
I’ve written before about handling objections in the form of reverse testimonials, asking a client to address an objection they had, in their testimonial, and overcome it for you. It’s a way of doing it.
But a simpler approach is to raise and resolve issues on a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
I recently found a great example at Orabrush , which addresses a common objection to buying their product:
Make no mistake that an FAQ page is unnecessary;
This is a necessity when it comes to raising and resolving buyer objections. And it is a necessity that you cannot do without.
Conclusion
Learning how to influence potential buyers with persuasive copy is an essential marketing skill. Without it, you can only rely on the merits of a product. And that’s rarely enough to get the sale.
But with a little practice and some, if not all of the strategies above, you can turn your sales pages into an invisible salesperson that sells more of your products and services, without your intervention.
Which of these persuasive writing techniques will you try first?
Are you going to show authority? Or will you raise objections (and resolve them)? Leave a comment below.