Is your website getting the results you expect? How many visitors stay and how many of those who do are taking action?
You hope they will subscribe to your list or, better yet, buy something. Instead, many say “Ho-hum” and walk away, never to be seen again. To do?
Improve the writing on your website. Or set up special sales pages with powerful marketing copywriting, also known as copywriting.
How I discovered the power of marketing copywriting
About 10 years ago, I was a professor of linguistics in an English department and the resident grammar guru. And then… I discovered internet marketing.
More specifically, I found that when I read certain sales letters, I couldn’t get my credit card out of my wallet fast enough to buy whatever they were selling.
“That…?” I thought.
Since my area of expertise was studying the language used for persuasion, I was intrigued. These writers were masters of persuasion, far beyond what I had ever imagined possible.
And right around the same time, I was getting letters in the mail from AWAI, about their 6-figure copywriting course.
And yes, those letters were very persuasive. So much so that I soon became the proud owner of said course and started working on it.
I thought that since he was skilled at crafting language, this would be something he would be good at as well. And it turned out that he was.
I landed my first paying client, a legal marketing firm, shortly after finishing the course. Eventually, I dropped out of academia to go into marketing full time.
What is copywriting, also known as marketing copywriting?
Copywriting comes in several categories, and they all work together. Here are five of the main ones:
- sales letters
- Website Marketing Copywriting
- subscription pages
- Lead Magnets and Presales Reports
- Email Marketing Copywriting
Is that how it works:
Sales letters or sales pages are self-contained web pages with highly focused persuasive writing that strives to sell a product or service.
The key is to keep the visitor reading until they have the product or service being offered.
Website marketing copy is a little less “salesy” and more personal, and is designed to engage the visitor and keep them reading…preferably until they decide to take some kind of action.
Signup pages offer your readers a type of action that is relatively low risk. In exchange for an enticing “gift,” also known as a lead magnet, visitors provide their email address so you can follow up and build a relationship with them.
Some of these lead magnets are pre-sale reports – special reports that provide information on a specific topic that the visitor is interested in.
They also make the reader aware that they need and want to take “the next step,” conveniently suggested in the report, usually with a link to a sales page.
Email Marketing: The Crucial Next Step
Once your visitors have signed up for more information, you can send them a series of carefully crafted emails. They will help them get to know you, like you and trust you.
Eventually, these emails will persuade many of them to become your customers and purchase what you offer or recommend.
Will everyone buy? Not quite, but a much higher percentage of visitors will buy than they would have without follow-up emails.
Obviously, the better the emails, the more people will take action!
More marketing copywriting
In the meantime, there are more ways to harness the power of marketing copywriting or copywriting.
Have you ever watched a (sales) video that seemed absolutely endless and you really wanted to do something else, but you just couldn’t stop watching? And when it was over, could he even have bought what was offered?
Guess what! That is also writing. Someone crafted the text that was narrated in the video!
The same is true for social media posts and ads.
How can you benefit from marketing copywriting?
If your website isn’t bringing you the leads and customers you expect, it might be time to look at ways to supercharge your marketing writing.
You can use the tips above to work on it yourself. Or you can get some feedback from an experienced copywriter.