OK, so the other morning I had a few minutes to spare, and I decided to cruise one of the marketing forums I sometimes visit.
On this particular morning, a newbie marketer asked a question I’ve seen more than once, about writing sales copy.
Well, like I said, I had a few minutes to spare. So this time I answered the call and tried to help this guy out with a quick (beginners) primer on the mindset you should have when writing sales copy.
And even though I only gave the guy a basic answer, I still think the answer might serve anyone who has a similar question.
So I’m posting it here for your enjoyment? (Education? Advantage? Benefit?)
Anyway, here’s the exchange that took place (slightly edited, to remove the askers personal info)…
[Start post]
Question: I have my lead magnet and know my niche very well, but I’m stumped on what questions I should ask myself on paper to help me create the best copy for my squeeze page, is there a proven formula?
Answer: Hey, to answer your question… there is no one size fits all answer. But here’s a basic mindset formula for writing sales copy to get you started…
Step 1: Ask yourself who your target market is (without this, nothing else matters)
Step 2: Ask what they want, or need, that relates to what you have to offer. (if you don’t have anything they want… then pick a different audience, or pick a different product to sell)
Step 3: Ask why they want it (drill it down to the main benefits they’re looking for. The more you can understand your audiences desires, the better)
Step 4: Ask how your product, or service, can help give them their desires (or at least bring them closer to a happier life)
Hopefully you’ve already done these first steps? (If you haven’t, then you can simply write the alphabet on the page in random order, and it will probably give you similar response rates as trying to write sales copy)
Step 5: Write your squeeze page copy explaining how your service ties into, and will help them get, their desires (talk “to” them about benefits. Don’t talk “at” them about features)
Step 6: Edit your copy and delete around 20% of it (20% is just an arbitrary number. But for a squeeze page, you need to get to the point, and don’t bore people. Edit the copy to thin out the extraneous adverbs and passive voice, while streamlining your message)
Step 7: Revisit your copy and see if you can use any simpler words, to make it easier to understand (like my word “extraneous” from the last step could be replaced with “needless”)
Step 8: Put it out there… run a couple hundred sets of (targeted) eyes past it, and see what you get for a response (see what your numbers tell you)
Step 9: Start split testing variations to see what gives you the best results.
I’m sure I left some stuff out. (But it’s 6:30 am and I haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet) Besides, like I said at the beginning, this is just a “basic” mindset formula for writing sales copy to get you started.
But if you grasp this basic concept, it’ll put you ahead of about 90% of the “copied and pasted, hyped up crap” that people try to pass off as sales copy these days.
[End post]
So there it is. Basic question… Basic answer.
Now, dear reader, if you have any specific salescopy questions you’d like to ask me, by all means… ask away. I rather enjoy helping people out (when I can) and since you’ve just given me a few minutes of your time, I feel like I at least owe you a few minutes of mine.
Until next time…
All the best,
SAR
