5 Tips for Writing More Effective Copy

7 years ago

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2. Superlatives are the worst.

Do you really think that a customer is going to believe that your product is the best or most of any product on the market? No, of course not. Again, superlatives are used by lazy writers that have yet to come up with a convincing argument for a customer to purchase their product.

If you find that your copy is described primarily with superlatives, you may want to ask yourself, Why would a customer need this product? Develop at a few more compelling arguments and write up another draft of your copy.

Colton[/QUOTE]

Very true. Instead of using unnecessary superlative, you could settle for selling your benefits. Give customers a reason why they should buy your product. A few testimonials could also help.

[ 2 ] Thanks

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Chetr

7 years ago

Great tips that everyone should remember.

Thanks

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DABK

7 years ago

Despite the 2 cheers you got, I'm having the feeling you don't follow your own advice, to wit: you went against your 3rd point with your post (you do not understand your audience here); if your first paragraph consisted of only the last sentence, you'd have, indeed, been to the point, not wordy, not verbose.

I find that testimonials that start with, I was skeptical at first, are written by people who have a positive axe to grind. (Though you are right, you need specifics in the testimonials.)

Otherwise, Wow, what a super-elegant and extremely useful post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Colton Pomeroy

As marketers, we all know that the quality of our copy has a significant impact on whether or not we are able to effectively sell a product or service. Creating better copy is a simple, but effective method to help improve sales.

Below, Ive listed some of the most common downfalls I encounter when re-writing preexisting copy for clients. Take a moment to review your own copy and see if it contains any of these errors. You might be surprised how much impact a few simple changes in your copy can have on your sales.

Enough with the exclamation marks!!

You dont sound enthusiastic. You are making the product look and sound cheap. Exclamation marks are for bad salespeople and lazy writers. Are you either of those things. Didnt think so.

2. Superlatives are the worst.

Do you really think that a customer is going to believe that your product is the best or most of any product on the market? No, of course not. Again, superlatives are used by lazy writers that have yet to come up with a convincing argument for a customer to purchase their product.

If you find that your copy is described primarily with superlatives, you may want to ask yourself, Why would a customer need this product? Develop at a few more compelling arguments and write up another draft of your copy.

3. Understand what your customer wants and get to the point.

For example, your customer routinely visits your site to learn about online marketing. You would like for each visitor to sign up for your e-mail list. Instead of writing copy similar to

Enjoy the articles on our site? Sign up for our newsletter!

Consider

Sign up for our newsletter to learn more about online marketing.

4. Get Specific

Using exact figures lends additional credibility to your claims. For example Hundreds of happy customers will gladly tell you how great our service is could be rewritten as 971 small businesses have already seen a dramatic increase in web traffic.

5. Enough with the dramatic testimonials.

If you see words like amazing, perfect or awesome in a testimonial, are you more or less likely to take that review at face value? The fact is, no product or service is without its share of pros and cons.

As marketers, we need to be upfront with our customers. They arent expecting perfection. They do however expect a quality product sold by an honest company. When using customer testimonials in marketing, shy away from those reviews that paint an unrealistic picture of the product.

For example, avoid reviews similar to Super awesome product and company!! The more valuable review would sound something like I was a bit skeptical at first, but the Warrior Forum provided an excellent package of educational material that allowed me to slowly improve the copy on my site over the course of several weeks. The return was certainly worth my investment.

In conclusion

Did I miss any of the big do nots you look for in copy? Do you disagree with any of the points that I listed above? Be sure to reply to my post. I would love to discuss this topic further with you.

Thanks,

Colton