Improve Your Sales Copy

Sales copy is description of products or services. They include catch phrases that spurn the customer into purchasing your product and not someone else's. Sales copy can be found in print media like magazines and newspapers, television commercials, movie theater pre-show slides, radio, billboards and other signs, and even the Internet through various means.

Search engines are the backbone to the Internet. Regardless of which search site that is used two things must be considered. First, keywords, yes you heard it again, are extremely important. Many companies go around and sell you a pitch and then tell you they have a list of keywords that will get you found by every search. Well, that's about as bright as a one watt light bulb. You have to be focused on your keywords. Keywords are considered sales copy.

For example: You business sells widgets, but to get customers you use gadgets in your keywords. As the search engines and human editors review your site for indexing they realize that you are using keywords that do not meet with the context of your page or site. Two things can happen: (1) the search engine or human editor considers the page inappropriate and does not provide a favorable review, or (2) your entire site gets banned for SPAMMING.

Second, your page description and page content is considered sales copy. If it were my goal in this article to sell you on a product, I would focus upon that product. By focusing upon that product or service I'm increasing my opportunity to rank higher in the search engines as long as they are search engines. Directories and pay-per-click directories provide a totally different formatted result upon searches.

Newsletter advertisements, the second avenue, more closely compares to print media advertisements. You have a short opportunity to describe your product or service and make your pitch as to why the potential buyer should purchase your product, what's in it for them, and more as described later in this article.

Banner advertisements, the third avenue, have been an interesting concept since the beginning. Typically, when I visit a web site I'm about as interested in banner ads as I am in the commercials that come on television. I don't remember one time that I have purchased anything from a banner advertisement. However, I do business with businesses that advertise through almost all the available media. The average click through ratio on a banner is ad is about 2 in a thousand. Depending on the price you pay for the impression or click-thru that may be a very expensive cost to bare for a potential customer.

Popup windows are the fourth avenue. Using this method of advertising does two things. First, it treats your potential customers as a doormat while you wipe your ad across their face. Second, it chases more potential clients away than any other means of advertising. I'm sure you have been on web sites where popup ads come up and believe it or not there are web sites that have popup ads popping up on every page you visit inside the site. Think for one minute how long you would stay on a site that does that and then consider your customers.

So, how can you improve your sales copy so it works across all media. First, you have to remember the rules. Second, you have to practice, practice, and practice even more. The finest advertising agent does not get that way over night, but starts out reading sales copy from the more active agents. Then they start getting their feet wet and move on from there.

Sales Copy Answers Four Questions

What's in it for me?: Paint a picture. Go beyond promoting the major benefits of your product. Paint a picture your readers can use to help visualize themselves enjoying the products benefits.
Bad Copy: "Save time and money with our widgets.": Good Copy: "Free! Four hours a week to read a book, walk along the beach and follow your dream when you use our widgets, the quickest Widget on the market today."
How can you give me this?: Explain why. People are not going to believe everything they read. They definitely are not going to believe something just because you say it's true. You must offer credible, logical reasons to support your claims.

"Our widgets achieve faster results because we incorporate not one, but two gizmos. In controlled tests conducted by XYZ corporation, our widgets consistently out-performed the competition in speed, accuracy and endurance."
Why should I believe you?: Give reassurance. During this step you want to present details about you and your company, provide information about your credentials, qualifications, and experience in the field. You can provide brief testimonials from satisfied customers. You will want to ensure you provide as much information about the person providing the testimonial as they will allow. An anonymous testimonial is virtually worthless.
What if I don't like it?: Eliminate the risk. The final stumbling block is usually the fear of losing their money if they don't like the product or find its not what they expected. So offer your customers an iron-clad guarantee. The longer the guarantee the better because it shows a strong confidence in your product.

Contact us today at 405-329-8500 or use our contact form to schedule a demo and learn if Merchant Metrix is right for your business.

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