Copywriting Techniques to Start Converting Like a Pro

Whether a person is a complete novice or expert copywriter, working on copywriting skills is an excellent way to build a business and get more conversions. Many techniques never go out of style and can help sharpen copywriting. Keep reading about a variety of methods to master effective copywriting and start converting like a pro!

For starters, Writtent offers two killer ways to improve copywriting, which includes organizing content and avoiding long paragraphs. Here’s what they suggest to make that happen.

Another vital copywriting technique is to make your content readable. Readers should be able to ingest key points at a glance. Use bullet points and subheaders to highlight critical information and help your readers locate the information they want.

Novelists can get away with page after page of long, drawn out paragraphs, but you’re not writing a book. Internet readers are scanners. Limit your paragraphs to 3-4 well-structured, succinct sentences.

Offering visitors exclusive content is another way to rope them in. Cognitive SEO also says that building a relationship with your readers is also essential for blog growth. Continue the relationship, stay consistent with your brand and they’ll be more likely to come back for more. Just make sure whatever you’re offering is relevant and compelling!

Another technique you can use to boost your engagement is to offer content your readers couldn’t find elsewhere. Make them feel important; they will start to appreciate you more. Don’t you love it when someone is sharing with you a piece of information that has never been said to anyone else?

Exclusive content comes in different forms: a webinar with a script for those who sign up, training opportunities, e-books for subscribers, news from conferences and events in the industry turned into blog posts.

Think copywriting is all about following grammatical rules? Think again. Compelling copywriting means breaking the rules… and being creative while doing so. Splash Copywriters lays it out in a way that makes perfect sense:

Academic writing doesn’t prepare us for developing business copy at all.

Grammar and spelling are obviously important, but in terms of writing technique, school teachers encourage elaborate vocabulary and structural conformity.

And how can a brand create individuality in that environment?

Great copywriting isn’t about following rules; it’s about knowing when to break them. Here’s how to do that:

Close your eyes and think back to the English lessons from your schooldays.
Make a list of all the guidelines you remember. If you get stuck, go online and explore the search results for terms like ‘essay writing tips for school’.
Highlight the ones that you think would inhibit the creation of good business copy for the digital arena.
       A couple of examples to get you started are:

       • Never start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’.

       • Your copy should always have a beginning, middle and end.

Print the list out – now you’ve got your own checklist to keep forever.
Compare the list against your website copy.
Copywriting isn't about following an archaic set of rules. Quite often, it's about breaking them.

Neil Patel adds to other writers’ sentiments that it’s all about storytelling. He believes this is the case because telling a story is a wonderful way for an audience to get to know you and your blog. Plus, a compelling story sets you apart from other blogs out there because storytelling is not used nearly as much as it should be in copywriting.

There is a serious lack of story in copywriting nowadays.

No, stories aren’t just for fiction writers. They belong in every piece of copy you create, no matter how big or small.

All throughout human history, stories have been used to create deep connections and make sense of the world.

Just look at how storytelling impacts the brain!

Source: www.educatorstechnology.com

Stories can evoke a variety of potent emotions in readers. A good story can change how someone looks at life and even how they view themselves.

If you leverage the power of story in your copy, you’ll be able to create those strong emotional connections and make your offer irresistible.

To understand how to do this, let’s take a look at exactly what makes up a story.

Simply put, a story is a transformation.

All of the best stories involve some sort of radical change in one of the characters.

In this case, your reader is the character. (Ideally, you should have a buyer persona.)

We’re dealing with a specific type of character here: a dynamic character.

Dynamic characters change over the course of the story.

The change happens when the character (your reader) realizes that he or she has an opportunity to have a better life (by choosing you).

Cognitive SEO also offers an incredible tip and recommends using powerful words to your advantage. Using ordinary words on a website or in content gets boring, which is why it’s important to spice copy up!

Another valuable copywriting technique is taking advantage of powerful keywords in your content. Persuading words can have a stronger impact compared to other types. When talking face to face, it is easier to make a point due to the use of intonations and body language. In writing, it is a bit harder. The best call will be to use strong keywords to point out key notes in your content.

You can take advantage of powerful words in order to convey emotions. For example, you could use:

ridiculous instead of stupid;
entertaining instead of funny;
delightful instead of nice;
magnificent instead of beautiful.

Beside using vivid adjectives, you might try having verbs that are more expressive. It is recommended to use first person pronouns such as “I” and “you” to give the impression of having a dialogue with your reader. Also, try to use causal prepositions such as “because” or “due” to give arguments and demonstrate your affirmations. It was proved in a study where people have shown more will to heed to a request after the word “because” was used.

Words like “new”, “now” and “free” can also have a strong impact on the audience if they are used at the right moment.

And of course, identifying your customers is also vital to achieving conversions and applying the appropriate copywriting techniques. Just ask the author on Usilbily Geek who offers some powerful suggestions on how to do just that.

This first tip does not start with putting words on the page. It starts before you have written a single word and it is important because it will guide you to know what to write.

Martin Stellar discusses this step in his article on UXMatters.com. He says:

The most successful copywriters spend days on research, trying to figure out who the ideal customer is. Then they create a profile of that ideal customer that is as detailed as possible — age, income, type of breakfast, number of unmatched socks, average time behind a PC, number of kids, flavor of toothpaste. They want to know everything

And guess what? It results in copy that is completely relevant to your website visitors.

This is a tough step to understand at first because it is likely that there are many different types of users visiting your website. You might wonder how your copy can resonate with all of them when you are only focusing on one user.

While this is a good point, Stellar points out that there is only one ideal user, “the one who completes the task that you want him (her) to complete.” If you speak to just one person, you end up telling a concise story that will speak to others as well.

So decide who you really want to talk to. Give this person a fictional name, job, family and picture him/her when writing your copy. In other words, create a persona that represents your user. Don’t try to please everyone, because when you do, you end up pleasing no one.

Last, but certainly not least, Neil Patel reminds copywriters that most people don’t read all of their content, even if they’ve tried their hardest to make it sound amazing. Since the majority of people skim through a blog post or promotion, it’s up to you to use the below techniques to make the content stick.

You probably read a lot less online content than you think you do.

What I mean is that you probably don’t thoroughly read much at all. If you’re like 79% of users, you scan.

That’s no typo. As much as 79% of your readers aren’t actually reading your content.

So we know that people scan online content, and we know how they scan.

This knowledge has major implications for copywriting. It tells you exactly where to put your focus.

We can learn a few important things from all of this.

First, put extra effort into your headings and subheadings.

Readers tend to pay more attention to headings and subheadings more than any other content on the page.

Second, make the important sentences bold.

Sometimes, you’ll have a sentence or two that you really want people to remember, and it’s not always fitting to turn a sentence into a heading or subheading.