11 Ways To Convert Your Copywriting Into Sales

Are you tired of guessing which direction to take your copy in to convert your audience into paying customers? Start with these 11 easy-to-implement methods.

Copywriting is a skill that should be left to professionals. Like music, crafting, and design.

When you begin creating your own copywriting you'll quickly learn that there is a difference between good and bad sales writing. You'll also learn where your writing falls on that spectrum.

If you adhere to a basic formula, include all the right buzz words, and master SEO, your copywriting may still fall flat and fail to deliver the desired results your clients are after.

Here are my 11 specially curated tips to help you create sales writing that sells your product for you.

1. Avatar - not that one...

No, I'm not talking about the James Cameron film.

Your avatar is a profile of the ideal customer your business products are designed for.

You can't sell SaaS to soccer moms, or designer bags to young men in college. What makes the avatar a must-have piece of information for copywriting is the fact that it lays out everything you need to know about the consumer in one place. It might take some work to create an avatar for your client, but trust me it's something that will allow you to fine-tune their message and offer the best returns possible.

Find the target. Know the target. Sell to the desires of the target.

2. Make it about them.

How does this sound? You just created a lovely avatar for your brand, and then you sit down at your computer and write this:

"I'm writing to you today to sell you my brand new product that I've put tons of hard work into and I hope you can see that. Here are its three main features, and here are what colors you can get it in. Hope you buy it, thanks!"

Sad? Desperate? Cold? Okay, maybe that's a bit mean to say about my own writing. This isn't an actual example, but a way I've seen brand messaging laid out that does absolutely nothing for the consumer.

All of the subject matter addressed could be correct. But where is the personability? Your product would be nothing without your consumer, so write to them as such.

They have wants and needs. Do you know enough to address them directly?

Once you can do that, you're "in the money," as they say.

3. Tone-deafness is a thing.

If you think consumers will forgive you for being tone-deaf, think again.

If you're hired by a law firm to produce authoritative copy and you produce slapstick short humor because you think it will work... You may be dead wrong.

Depending on the business niche, taking the wrong tone with your copy can actually do more harm than good.

Would you want to hire a lawyer that is all fun and games about their practice?

No, you want to hire a lawyer who knows what they're talking about and is professional and knowledgeable.

Know when to embody the correct tone. That requires strategizing with your client.

4. Remove yourself.

This sounds similar to "2. Make it about them," but it's not. This is a skill that requires patience and care.

As copywriters, writing for certain brands can set off ethical alarm bells which can make the job challenging - especially if you care strongly about an issue one way or the other.

Listen. We're not paid for our objections. We're paid to understand the customer and the business' message and products, while bringing those elements together to form a self-selling machine: copy.

This situation is terrible - I've been there, but remember to finish the job you signed up for and kindly state that you now "have other opportunities," and wish them the best of luck.

Remember, you're not writing for yourself. Finish what you start before you get out of dodge, and do it gracefully.

5. Research 'til you drop.

How can you sell anything if you know as much about it as the average consumer? Your audience is also not under some magical veil that renders them blind to other products once yours hits the market (although I regularly wish this was true).

If you conduct the proper market research into your brand, and really dig to the core of your audience's pain points, your products and services will come out on top.

Once you know as much about the product that you're selling as you can within its certain scope, then you'll be able to move mountains.

By 'move mountains,' I mean make sales.

6. Be a headliner.

Not by starting a rock band or knocking people out. By writing damn good headlines that captivate visitors' attention.

Loud headlines that scream at your audience don't work in every instance. You're a consumer, I'm a consumer. Don't you hate when a headline screams that it's totally unbelievably bonkers? Identify the tone of your project and adhere to it throughout.

You don't need to write your headline first. And if you do, you can change it. I recommend taking the time to write your copy before crafting the headline.

This way your headline will perfectly match the tone and subject of your copy.

7. What is it good for?

Absolutely nothin', especially if you don't have a purpose.

Your customers deserve to be investing their time in reading sales stories with a purpose.

Isn't it annoying when you've sat down to read an ad in a magazine or online and it never gets to a single point...? What's that about anyway? Who's their copywriter?

Don't make the same mistake. You might not be able to make it twice.

Craft a beautifully executed delight your audience will be thanking you for reading. Even if its only goal is to sell gym socks. Sell the socks off that product, with purpose.

8. Provide social proof.

We all knew about the cool kids growing up (I wasn't one of them), and how everyone would talk about how awesome they were?

Even though some of them may not have been the nicest, if those kids were products today, they would be some of the best-selling goods on the market.

They had social proof. Even if they weren't super cool to begin with, their social proof made it so.

If you don't provide social proof to your consumer, they will proceed apprehensively.

If you don't have social proof, think about doing work for free or very little to gain it. This is the only time I recommend you charging zero, or close to it for your services.

9. Benefits, not features.

Have you ever heard of, "friend with features?" No, you probably have heard of, "friends with benefits." What am I getting at here?

Consumers want to know about how your product will benefit them, not how many buttons it has or what type of season it's meant for. They already know the features of your product because they're probably very similar to others on the market.

Focusing on the benefits of a product will show the consumer how well it will fit into their new amazing life.

You're fighting against the marketing of other similar products and services. Make yours stand out by inviting consumers to look into a crystal ball to see what their lives will look like once they have your product or service.

10. Call to what?

We're not going to make our valued site visitors read a whole page of copywriting, sometimes thousands of words, to tell them to "click here."

"Wow honey, I read this incredible sales letter today. It was going swell 'til it abruptly ended and I was fishily asked to "click here." I'm not someone who likes to take chances, but I really wanted to buy the product, so boy oh boy I just had a click. Now we own a timeshare, honey!" This will never happen, I'm sorry. And when it does, it's a scam. What are they clicking on, where will it lead them, and what can they do when they get there?

Your call to action should incorporate answers to all those questions.

If you leave your consumers hanging, they'll leave your brand hanging when they wind up doing business with someone else.

11. Tested methods.

When you sit down to write copy, does your brain go all over the place when you try to figure out where to start?

Have you considered using a formula?

Similar to algorithms, copywriting formulas come in many different varieties with the single goal usually being to convert leads into sales.

A copywriting formula will allow you to have a streamlined workflow. There are some great ones out there based on tested methods, great successes, and scientific research. Follow them as needed, or until you can develop your own working system.

Formulas are tools of the trade, especially when you're new. You wouldn't plumb without a wrench.

Final thoughts.

These are all methods I've learned through experience, by reading tons on copywriting and advertising, and through my official studies.

Experience is something that will improve your copywriting with time and it's something you'll gain at your own pace.

Educating yourself is very important, especially with something as technical as copywriting. If you are constantly learning something new you'll be writing better copy in no time at all.

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Read my article How To Follow Your Talents, Not Other Peoples' Lives which offers tips on how you can make it in today's freelance copywriting climate while maintaining your sanity.

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