Posted by No matter what you’re selling or where you are selling it – ads, webpages, video sales letters, email campaigns and so forth – these 3 techniques will help you sell more products with less effort. And they’re easy to learn and implement, too.
Persuasive Copywriting Technique #1: The Elephant
Back in the days when a circus would roll into town, they would walk an elephant down the main street to grab everyone’s attention. Notice they weren’t walking 10 magician’s rabbits or a hundred trained mice down main street, but rather one very large, impossible to miss elephant.
In copywriting one good idea or benefit, clearly and convincingly presented, is better than a hundred little ideas or benefits.
Readers can’t grasp a hundred or even just ten ideas or benefits. It’s too much, causes confusion and prompts the prospect to “think about it later” when it doesn’t hurt so much.
And later never comes.
But one great idea or benefit, told with one captivating story, stirring one emotion, and offering one clear way to achieve a goal or overcome a problem will direct the prospect to one inevitable response – buying the product.
To use this technique, decide on your core idea before you get started. What is the one benefit you’re going to extoll?
Once you have the core idea, weave it through the entire promotion, from the ad or email to the sales page and even on the checkout page, too.
Persuasive Copywriting Technique #2: AIDA and The 4U’s
I’ll bet you already know the first half of this headline writing formula. A great headline is crucial for success, which is why you want your headline to:
- Grab Attention
- Arouse Interest
- Create Desire
- Motivate Action
Yup, that’s the old AIDA formula and it’s as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
But today if we want our headlines to be super effective in all the noise of the internet, we need to go a step further and employ the 4U’s as well. This is a review technique that will tell you if your headline is going to hit sales out of the park or if you need to make some adjustments to it first.
The 4U’s Formula
1: Useful – does your headline offer something useful to the prospect? For example, if your target market is salespeople, then “7 Magic Words to Close Any Sale” would be useful to them.
2: Ultra-specific – does your headline employ specific details to make the promise real, believable and achievable? Instead of, “Make More Sales” you can say, “Improve Your Conversion Rate by 36% Overnight.”
3: Urgent – does your headline indicate this message is time sensitive and cannot be left until later? “5 Stocks that Will Double by May 29th” is a good example.
4: Unique – does your headline sound like nothing else out there? For example, instead of saying “How to Lower Your Cholesterol,” your headline might be, “3 Kitchen Ingredients that Lower Cholesterol by 33.3%.”
Persuasive Copywriting Technique #3: 4Ps in the Body
Okay, we’ve handled the overall concept of the copy and the headline, but what about the body of the copy?
This is where the 4P’s come into play. They act as the framework to build your sales message and persuade your reader to take action.
1: Picture – here’s where you get the reader to visualize the positive benefits your product will have on their life.
Paint a picture with words that illustrates the dramatic difference your product will make for the reader.
2: Promise – this is the specific promise of the best benefit of your product. This single promise needs to recur throughout your copy.
For example, “New breakthrough in heart health could help you feel that you have a brand new heart in 60 days.” The benefit is improved heart health, and the promise is feeling like you have a brand new heart.
3: Proof – to make your copy effective, you’ve got to prove you can deliver on your promise. This means you need to offer solid proof of your claims to create believability in the prospect.
Use things like quotes, expert testimonials, user testimonials, track records, charts, diagrams and so forth to boost credibility and convince the reader this product really works.
4: Push – this is where you get your reader to take action. Remind your reader of the urgency to solve the problem, tell them exactly what to do and remind them of how easy it is to take action.
Top it all off with reasons for them to act immediately, such as scarcity, a limited time offer or an external deadline (such as Christmas).
Finally, reverse the risk with a guarantee that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by acting now. Tell them about your trial offer if you have one, let them know about the return policy or money back guarantee, and also give them methods to contact customer service if they have a question or need help.