How To Write Copy That Sells Without Being Salesy As F8ck
If you’re reading this, you probably need to write a sales page for your business. It’s not easy and it can be hard to come up with the right words. I’m here to help you do that without feeling salesy or pushy.
Sales copy is an often overlooked, but necessary part of any business.
People think that they need to be master copywriters to produce content that converts.
Or that the only way they could sell through copy is if they are aggressive and salesy. When you’re thinking about it, it makes you feel dirty, doesn’t it?
While you do need some good copy to catch the interest of your customers, getting your audience to buy from you instead of someone else is not about writing the world’s best headline — and it is definitely not about being a sleazy salesperson.
It’s all in your head
In all my years as a marketing consultant, I don’t think I’ve ever met a business owner who wasn’t afraid of sounding salesy in their content, emails etc. I’d say it’s actually the biggest objection I hear when it comes to tactics that would get them more clients and revenue.
I hear this from coaches, agency owners, consultants, online course creators, artists, retailers, designers, makers etc. When it comes to selling, so many business owners have so much head trash that they get stuck for years and years doing the same things, and seeing very little growth.
As soon as they get to the point in the strategy that implies running sales calls, reaching out for referrals, running an email promotion, they get nervous, shy, struggle with imposter syndrome and would rather give their right arm than have to do it.
Emotion beats logic
You must have heard this before. The thoughts you have create emotion, which seem so real to your brain that they beat logic. It’s one of the reasons I’ve added mindset and NLP coaching into my business consulting practice — to help entrepreneurs reframe that negative emotion so they can clear their head trash and think of their business and growth tactics with a clear, logical mind.
The secret is in reframing what you think is salesy and what your role is as a business owner.
Because, here’s the thing your marketing is about you helping ONLY the people that you can help. It’s not about convincing anyone who wouldn’t benefit from what you have to offer. And it is definitely not about using gross sales techniques or any false benefits to sell your stuff.
Your role as a business owner is to help your people take action towards achieving their goal. It could be moving away from a pain they have in life (losing weight) or towards pleasure (fit body).
Your marketing is guiding them towards their goal. You’re not forcing them to do anything. You are however educating and doing your best to give enough information, benefits and examples of how your product or service is an option that could help them achieve their goal. It might not be for them, and that’s fine.
But it is your responsibility to give them a nudge forward so they can achieve their goal. That is your primary responsibility as a business owner. If you serve your people, money will come. If you go at it just to make money and disregard what you audience needs, you are going to be disappointed very fast. People nowadays know when they are being sold to, and they definitely appreciate a brand that caters to them, rather than sells at them.
Sales copy is not like any other type of copy.
The sole purpose of sales copy is to get your people to take action and hit the purchase button. It might make you feel very uncomfortable writing it IF you are not aware of what your customers actually want. In fact, it’s going to be almost impossible to write something that gets them to say yes, if you don’t know who they are, what are their pain points, and what is the language they use to talk about their frustrations, desires etc.
The secret weapon of good sales copy is the customer avatar.
— Monica Badiu
There’s an insightful article right here about this. I suggest you don’t even attempt to write a sales page without having this. It helps you create better sales content because you’re not writing for yourself anymore — you’re speaking directly to your ideal audience with their needs as top priority.
Make it about the benefits — not about the features
The easiest way to write good sales copy is by using the benefits-driven approach. This technique helps you highlight how your product or service solves a problem for your customers.
When writing this think about how what you are offering is going to help them achieve a transformation or experience a benefit. Because in all honesty, nobody cares that your online course has 100 video lessons, or that your book has 1000 pages, or that your mugs are made from kaolin clay and fired at temperatures as high as 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why should that matter to your client? Spell it out. Here are two examples:
This online course has more that 100 video lessons which were designed to take any guesswork out of your learning experience. If you have a question, we have an answer. Plus, we’re taking all the overwhelm out of the picture, and guiding you through all the important milestones so you don’t have to waste any time figuring this out by yourself.
This amazing mug is made from kaolin clay and fired at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit so you can get fine, thin porcelain without rough edges that make you feel like you’re drinking coffee out of a $1 ordinary mug. You are sure to impress any guest with this delicate bright white piece of porcelain that feels as soft as silk in your hands.
The easier way to explain writing benefits-driven copy is to employ the FAB formula, which starts with features, mentions advantages, and then spells out the benefits to the client.
Feature + Benefit + Meaning
Benefits are usually used in bullet points or short sentences that try to summarize the most important reasons your people should take whatever action you want. You can use them in a product description (Amazon really stresses out the importance of these on their product pages), you can use them right under the headline of your product or service so you can draw curiosity.
The formula I like to use is based on something I learned in “Copywriting Secrets: How Everyone Can Use The Power Of Words To Get More Clicks, Sales and Profits . . . No Matter What You Sell Or Who You Sell It To!” a book written by Jim Edwards, who has developed Funnel Scripts. Here’s the formula:
It — — — — — — — — so you can — — — — — — — — — — — — —
— Jeff Edwards, Copywriting Secrets
This post just scratches the surface of writing copy that sells. But it’s a good start. For more tips, go visit my website, at www.monicabadiu.com.
