How to Write Good Sales Copy, pt. 1

Everybody knows the quality of your sales copy can make or break the ROI of your landing pages. Writing well, and knowing when to write what (and what not to write) is a sweet mix of science and art.

So what do you do if you’re a newbie? Well you can outsource all the work to a good content writer. Or you can take it on by yourself. If you’re like me when I started, I wanted to try this for myself so I could learn every aspect of affiliate marketing “first hand”. I also believe that knowing how to write well will give you a big advantage over your competition.

On the other hand, some people hate writing or rather just pay someone to do it for them. When you start to make more money and push more volume - then outsourcing your work is pretty much a necessity to grow your business.

Who are you writing to?
This is the first question you should be asking yourself before typing a single word. Every niche has a demographic. A target audience. “But I’m promoting something everyone is interested in!” I hear you say. Really? Everyone? Think again. If you feel your demographic is “no particular demographic” and very broad, focus your attitude around what YOU would want to read if you were the one looking for the product/offer and you ended up on your page. Put yourself in the targeted reader’s shoes…

What can you use to your advantage in your writing style?

• do you think most of them have a college degree, or are they high-school
  drop-outs?
• are they experienced internet surfers with banner blindness - or internet
  virgins (easier prospects)?
• what age group are you promoting your offer/product to?
• are you writing to a majority of male or female readers? Without sounding
  chauvinistic, keep in mind that women DO tend to read and think differently
  than men. If there is enough interest, I will write up another post on this
  later.
• are you targeting any particular ethnic group of people?
• how about your readers’ religious and moral background? In most cases this
  is irrelevant, but it is worth considering. Miswording or certain language
  (even if YOU think it’s clean) CAN turn some people off if they feel offended.

Writing for the right demographic or audience is crucial. This should affect your writing style, the language used, the use of “bells and whistles”, and the whole attitude and approach of your letter.

Let us picture two examples;
- Niche/offer A, you’re promoting an offer for an ebook on “SEO Blackhat techniques”
- Niche/offer B, you’re promoting an offer for a “Free Spring Break Cruise”

Obviously - we have here two totally different target demographics we want to address. For niche A, we need to be aware that the people looking for such a book will be a very technically savvy, dominantly male (ages 18-45) group. These guys already know the ins and outs of what you are trying to do (which is presell them an ebook through an affiliate link), and naturally they are gonna have a very skeptical attitude.

They are also looking for facts and hard proof - not fluff and snake oil salesmanship. Tough crowd? Maybe, but any crowd can be played.

The other group (niche B), is represented more equally by both genders, ages 16-25, are on a limited college kid budget, but don’t care so much how this works - as long as they’re not smelling a scam. They probably won’t even know that you’ll get paid by the lead / sale.

So for niche A, do your research, and present facts and features they CARE about. Cut the b.s. For niche B, you can allow for a much more relaxed approach. Your language and sales copy attitude will change accordingly. This audience is more likely not gonna know what you’re trying to do.

Take a look at what your well-ranking competitors are doing for the niche. Chances are that they are onto something that works. And last but not least: ALWAYS test different sales copy on the same page as part of your overall split-testing. If your text is long, test blocks of paragraphs one at a time.

What do they expect when they get to your page?
Now that you have identified who your audience is - it’s time to consider what state of mind they are in when they come across your site. This ties together closely with your ad writing but I will save that for a later post.

I’m sure you have heard about “buying cycles” before and this is what we’re talking about. For example, you’re promoting a home theater surround system. You already did your research on who these people are (likely male-dominated, tech-savvy, feature-hungry, either single guys or established family fathers making enough money to spoil themselves a little).

Any visitor looking for home theater equipment is in one of several modes / states
of mind;

• Surfing. At this stage, they’re just looking around. Probably
  just reading about what they should consider before they decide on a model.
  Many of them already know kind of what they are looking for, but they wanna
  make sure they have read up on all the latest technologies and features available.
  They’re asking themselves things like "is brand X really better than
  brand Y?", "do I need an HDMI port and why?", "which models
  offer self-diagnosis?", "what brands are getting bad rep these days?"

  And now it is your job to provide a separate sales copy just for
  these visitors! Write up in article-style with general guidelines
  of what to look for. This is where articles like Top 10 things you should
  know before getting your next home theater system works great.

• Comparing. These people have already done their homework.
  They know they want either that hot Harman Kardon surround receiver, or the
  one from Denon. Hmmm….decisions, decisions.. They’re going "I really
  need to find a place that compares these models". And of course, you
  will lure them in with your "compare" keywords and your hard to
  resist ad copy!

  But what about your sales copy? Well, it’s time to get your review skills
  out. It helps if you are familiar with the products yourself. But if not,
  there is plenty of information out there you can use. Do some research on
  your product(s) - which you have anyways, right? Either set up a side-by-side
  comparison or write up a Harman Kardon vs. Denon review article. Be concise.
  Don’t use fluff words.
  Tell them exactly what they want to know.

• Buying. Now they’re sitting there with their creditcards
  in their hands, ready to buy. All they want now is just to find what site
  can give them the best deal. This version of your sales copy doesn’t talk
  about home theater coolness or 48 speaker Quadruple-THX support. No. Now we
  wanna move quick. Why should they buy through your site? Why now? Why not
  from someone else? Will they be getting any discounts/coupons? Free shipping?
  Money back guarantee? 24×7 phone support?

  Check out the merchant you are sending your visitors to and take note of every
  benefit they have. Bring this into your sales copy targeted at buyers.

In summary - prepare at least 3 different versions of your sales copy all different in the way they are targeting the buyer. All three versions have one thing in common; your target demographic. However, you have to make sure to give each visitors what he/she wants to hear at the time they find your site.

Next time I will talk more about good salesmanship. Find out why psychology should be part of your internet marketer skillset.

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