Writing Saleable Copy

When the word “sales” comes into business conversation, many people claim that they do not like it or that they are no good at it. Writing copy that closes the sale can make some people uncomfortable. Unfortunately, if you aren’t selling something, you are out of business. Here are some tips to make your copy saleable.

If people aren’t reading your copy, your copy won’t close any sales for you. Make your copy interesting and attention grabbing. Hook the reader with a catchy headline and keep your reader interested throughout the copy.

When people surf the web for information, they will quickly scan a web page to see if it offers what they are looking for, and if not, they move on to the next website. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention. Keeping your copy clean will also help. Use easy to read fonts, and apply bold formatting to your headlines.

Keep each paragraph limited to a few lines. This will increase the amount of “white space” on your page. If your words are spaced too small and close together, your reader will skip over your page entirely.

You may have noticed that many magazines use numbers on their covers. Some examples include “5 Ways To Lose Weight Quickly”, “Top 10 Chicken Recipes”, or “30 Holiday Gifts Under $20”, etc. You can use this same trick to write your headlines and grab your readers’ attention.

As mentioned above, many people will only scan a web page. To make your page easier for your reader to scan through, use bulleted lists when writing the content of your copy. Your readers’ eyes will be drawn to them, and having the information separated into small chunks will make it easier for them to read.

Many people base decisions on emotions. Write your copy to pull out your readers feelings. Fear, for instance, is a powerful motivator. If your reader fears what will happen if they don’t buy your product, they will be more apt to buy. An example would be “7 Out Of 10 Americans Won’t Have Enough For Retirement… Will You?”

Create an urgent call to action. If you want the sale, you have to ask for it. When you make the offer, if the reader feels that they need to act fast, they will. If they feel that they can sit around and think about it, they will. An example would be “Click Here Now To Get This Limited Time Offer”.

When your reader is scanning your copy, they will be thinking “what’s in it for me?” If you want to close the sale, you will need to answer that question. Let your reader know how much better, easier, or more productive their life will be when they use your product. If they feel that they can’t live without it, they won’t want to.