Writing Best Selling Sales Copy.
The Sizzle, The Steak The Sales
How do you write sales copy that actually sells?
Being a copywriter that has delivered well over one hundred million in sales (and more). And being a copywriter that has written far too many multi-million-pound selling sales pieces to list I am more than well qualified to share this.
The biggest mistake any copywriter will make is to believe it is all about writing - it isn’t. So what I will share with you is off-the-cuff but it will have most of what you need to know and more.
22 Best Tips Preparing To Write Best-Selling Sales Copy.
Yes, you must prepare. Never think you can just sit down and write. That’s not going to happen. Be ready and prepare properly.
Tools required in preparation.
Clear mind
Intended outcome
Well researched
Swipes
Mind Foods
Ad Books
Notepad
Cards
Pens
Computer
No interruptions
Ability to keep going
Write
Leave
Edit
Leave
Edit
Patience
Persistence
Belief
Conversation transference (?)
Cognitive ability switched on
Some writers think writing well is the key. Well, that depends on what you feel is writing well.
In my opinion and experience, most copywriters are way too formulaic for my liking. They write stiffly, predictable and badly.
They do it like this.
Pre-head
Sub-head
Intro
Body
Bullets
Bonuses
Make an offer
This is not enough to get sales from good copy. The reason for that is it fails to tap into a mental conversation or circumstantial or periodical mindshifts.
Sales letters aren’t just THE ONLY copywriting.
Good copy isn’t about just sales copy.
Good copy starts like this.
It’s about understanding your customer, getting inside their heads, understanding how they feel, how they think, what their habits are, what makes them purchase, why they purchase and listing each word carefully like a careful yet obsessed scientist until you have a list of thoughts, feelings, words and actions that will converse with your buyer. And look how the pandemic changed the way buyers buy or react. To say it has been dramatic is an understatement.
It’s also about knowing what the perfect outcome will be and then crafting a conversational piece in harmony with the desired outcome. This is where you have to decide on what format your copy should take. I will say I prefer a mass approach where the messaging is multi-formatted.
So your copy formatting can be
Letters long and short
New customer letters
Thank you letters
Referral letters
Direct mail letters
Web letters
TV ads
Classifieds
Google ads
Social ads
Space ads for magazines or newspapers
Labelling
Sandwich wrapping
ANYTHING with words that have to sell … this is COPY that you write … copywriting
A single word
Two words
Four words
ANY words
I’ve seen adverts with 3 words and adverts with 3000 words – it’s all copy that has to sell or get a response.
A real story from a copy real project from a real client of mine.
I got asked to write a piece for a TV company based in London. They rent out their brilliant services to the big channels and film almost everything and anything for the TV shows we watch.
They wanted adverts for a glossy trade magazine that would blow the phone off the hook with new enquiries and hopefully sales.
So the TV guys got in touch with me and asked me to write some ads for them. In fact, they asked me to create higher response adverts for them, as the adverts they had been running in trade magazines were getting zero responses.
So I did just that.
As always I tell the client I will be around 8-12 weeks on delivery. They pay 100% up-front; I then send them over a long detailed question sheet and ask for all historical adverts and materials that did and didn’t work. Until I get the sheet back I do not start the project, it’s up to them to move forward.
In the meantime, I begin to look at the overall picture of the customer, the product, the client and anything else relating to the project.
I write notes on pads, create large sheets A1 size on my office walls and also write endless notes on my iPhone notepad. For ideas, I look through swipes. I rarely look through adverts by copywriters unless I am really stuck for brain food. I prefer to look at the industry outside the field of copywriting for my samples and swipes.
For example, I have a lot of books on advertising movies. Why? It’s a billion-dollar business so I like to take ideas from the big guys rather than the same old stuff that most copywriters swipe.
The Copywriting Angle For Interest, Attention and Desire.
I always dig and search for an angle for the project, some unique information about the product or the company and then finally a strong offer that is to be woven through the copy. I also like to think about the imagery for a response.
Why? Images have never been more important in copywriting and. advertising. With the mass use of social media like Instagram and literally dozens more social channels there are times when you get literally seconds to get a response. Writing a letter or advert as long as war and peace won’t get the result.
For example, again have you noticed the adverts at the start of YouTube videos? After five seconds you can switch off the advert yet here is the crazy thing. I am yet to see an advert that tells me what it’s about in that five seconds. I personally have never watched any advert at the start of a video. - have you?
So your copywriting has to ‘sometimes’ be one or two or three words and that’s it. And if that’s the way you write an advert, it better be good!
After I have spent time researching I then leave it to move around in my head. I allow time to pass and get on with other work in the meantime.
The reason I create my copy this way is I believe my experience and my mind will come up with a great angle and great result.
After a few weeks (and sometimes hours) I begin to formulate the advert and build in the mindset, products benefits, the unique angle, create a great offer, formulate a headline, create a really strong story, add a strong call to action and more than ever today, great eye-catching design.
So that’s what I did for the TV company. Their series of adverts increased their takings to around £250,000 per month.
Researched customer mindset
Research client mindset
Research product
Research angle
Research offer
List power words
Buzzwords and triggers
Formulate a headline around the angle
Create a powerful story
Add a strong call to action
Create a great but simple design
Here are more things you can do and I do to create great strong copywriting.
Interview people, the seller or the buyer
Study the buyer
Think how the buyer thinks
See how the buyer sees
Find the emotional triggers
Find the fear words
Find the comfort words
Find out the colours the clients think in
Research any imagery they would think of
Research the competition
Write cards with keywords on them and place them in some kind of order around
Create a brainstorming session with a trusted team (NOT the client)
Think away from what everyone else is doing
Think the same as others but add a success twist
Study ONLY success models not new or untried models
Speed is the key to the read
Write the copy until the story is told
Keep it conversational
Don’t joke in sales copy
Write to the audience with an appropriate conversation
Don’t use words no one has heard of
Make the reading easy
Headline eye-catching
Curious?
Fear?
Instant
Feed the customer’s brain
Enter an ongoing conversation
Keep the offer clear
Make the call to action very simple
Tell the customer what to do next
As you can see it takes more than you might think to write strong copy that sells.
I hope the notes above have helped you.
Copywriting Mentor
Alan Forrest Smith