Creating the Sales Copy
That’s about all of the theory we’re going to cover ahead of time. As long as you’re trying to
think like your target customer, and picture exactly what situation they are in, you’re ready to
dive right into crafting the sales copy.
Let’s now look at the actual process of writing copy. This is the most important part of the
course, so ensure you read it thoroughly. You might even consider taking notes, and
skimming this section again once you’re done to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Without
further ado, let’s begin digging into the sales copy.
Any well-written sales letter roughly follows the following layout order:
- a. Headline
- b. Sub-headline
- c. Greeting
- d. Lead paragraph
- e. Body
- f. Closing
If there is a logo or graphics you have or plan on using, place them landing page only if they
are really pertinent to what you are offering. It’s important to remember that you are not
selling your logo, but the benefits of the product and what it will do for your customer. Any
images on the site should not be flashy, and shouldn’t draw the reader’s attention away from
the sales copy. The words will sell the product, not the pictures.
The Headline
The headline is the most important part of the entire sales letter.
If it doesn’t do its job, which is to immediately capture the reader’s attention, the rest of your
landing page is worthless because chances are good that it won’t be read in the first place.
Your headline isn’t meant to sell the reader on the product, however. That’s what the rest of
the page is for. The headline is simply what you use to grab the reader and pull them into the
rest of your copy.
Ideally, the headline should be less than 30 words long. It should be catchy, it should grab the
reader’s attention, and give them a general feeling of what the landing page is all about. The
job of a good headline is to list the product’s most important benefit, and often to make a
solid guarantee.
Most products will have many benefits to the reader. The key here is to identify the single
biggest benefit associated with the product you are promoting, and promise this benefit to
readers if they keep reading.
In order to know what your biggest benefit is, you also need to be aware of what is important
to your target market. For someone looking a credit repair book, for example, the biggest
benefit would obviously be improving their credit score. A great key benefit for an anti-aging
cream might be to “Look 10 Years Younger Overnight!”.
In addition to figuring out what’s important to your prospects, you’ll also want to consider
some more “universal” wants of people. For example, people want quick and easy solutions
to their problems. Words like “Free”, “Fast” and “Easy” always grab attention.
Also keep in mind some of the other power words that you can use to stop people in their
tracks. The word “You”, for example, is a very powerful word. It shows people how
something directly relates to them.
Additionally, words like “new,” “introducing,” and “break-through” tend to capture plenty of
attention. People like to be on the cutting-edge and have the latest-and-greatest.
Words like “secrets, “revealed” and “discover” are also very powerful words to use in your
copy. Most people want to feel like they’re about to be told something nobody else is aware
of.
Here’s a list of a few other proven “power words” that tend to be quite effective in attracting
attention and building interest:
- Breakthrough
- Discover
- Discovery
- Easy
- Free
- Guaranteed
- Hidden
- Incredible
- Love
- Master
- Money
- New
- Powerful
- Profits
- Proven
- Results
- Revealed
- Scientific
- Secret
- Shocked
- Shocking
- Ultimate
- Uncovered
- You
- Your
At this point, now that we have covered some basic headline-writing techniques, let’s jump
straight in to creating the headline. The best way to start out is not simply to write a headline,
but to write as many headlines as you can think of, then choose the best one from the list.
Since this is the most important part of your landing page, it only makes sense to spend a
good amount of time crafting the very best headline you can.
If nothing else, the additional headlines can be tested using multivariate testing techniques to
enhance your landing page’s performance (see the component titled “Split Testing &
Analytics” for more information).
For our example product, let’s use a cosmetic wrinkle cream. The product is designed to help
users smooth out laugh lines, eliminate crow’s feet, wrinkles, and so on. Perhaps you’d start
out with a headline like:
“Here’s How to Eliminate Crow’s Feet and Laugh Lines.”
This is far from a killer headline, but it has got to start somewhere. Reading this headline, the
first problem we can see is that it only lists a feature associated with using the cream, and not
a direct benefit to the customer.
To go any further, we need to make a list of some of the benefits of using one of these
creams. Overall, it’s safe to assume that smoothing-out and eliminating wrinkles makes you
look younger. It’s also common opinion that someone who looks younger is happier, more
attractive, and more likely to get attention from the opposite sex.
Using these benefits, we can tweak the example headline into this:
“Here’s How to Eliminate Crow’s Feet and Laugh Lines to Make You Look Younger.”
That’s progress, but it’s still far from a perfect headline. It doesn’t offer a lot of detail, and
doesn’t sound too compelling. Instead of simply saying “younger,” let’s say get more specific
and say “Ten Years Younger”:
“Here’s How to Eliminate Crow’s Feet and Laugh Lines Quick and Easy to Make You
Look Ten Years Younger.”
This is improving, but now it’s long, awkward to read, and the wording doesn’t draw you in. It
still needs work. Let’s improve on it by adding in some of the “power words” listed
previously.
Let’s take the word “Discover”, and the word “Secret” and see what we can come up with.
Furthermore, let’s try to refine “quick and easy” to the specific period of time it might take a
person to apply the product per day.
Here’s what we end up with:
“Discover the Secret of Looking Ten Years Younger… in Just 5 Minutes a Day!”
The headline we get is much more compelling, the wording is smooth, and it is very easy to
read. Let’s brainstorm a few more while we’re here:
“Here’s an Anti-Aging Cream that Makes You Look So Young and
Beautiful that Your Husband will Call You his Trophy Wife!”
“In Just 21 Days from ?ow, You’ll look so Young that People
Will Mistake Your Teenage Daughter for Your Sister!”
The key here is to come up with as many headlines as you possibly can before you quit. No
matter how silly and idea may sound, go ahead and write it down anyway. You can always
toss it out later.
Types of Headlines
We’ve looked at the core process of writing a good headline, but there are actually different
types of headlines. I’m going to describe the most common of these below, and although
some of them work best for specific products, you can use any of these in your copy –
regardless of what market you’re targeting, or what you’re promoting.
- Direct headlines. This type of headline is blunt and straight to the point. The reader should clearly know what is being sold and what the great offer is just by reading the headline. This is the type of headline we’ve been providing examples of so far.
- Indirect headlines. This type of headline raises a question, which can then be answered by the body of the sales letter.
- News headlines. This type of headline is laid-out like an announcement, like something you might read in a newspaper. For example: “Attention: Toy Poodle Owners! Groundbreaking New E-Book on House Training Promises To Discipline Your Dog in Just 2 Weeks or Less!”
‘How-to’ headlines. This type of headline is very popular. It works well at selling almost any type of infoproduct. Basically, the headline starts with the words ‘how to’ and goes on from there.
- Question headlines. Since you’re making landing pages, most of the people land on them after clicking on an ad of yours. This clearly means they have a burning problem or a question that they’re looking to have solved. A question headline attempts to reflect that exact same question that is going through the reader’s mind. Ex: “Who Else Wants to Make $1634.27 Every Week, Working Right from Home with Zero Investment?” This creates an “intuitive” feel and intrigues your visitors to read further.
- Command headlines. This type of headline basically tells the reader to do something. The trick to this type of headline is to use strong words that will trigger action in the reader. Ex: “Quick! Sign up to my “Poodle Master” list right now and get free instant access to over $400 worth of poodle-training material absolutely free! Only 4 slots left!”.
- Numbered headlines. These are usually relatively easy to come up with. Numbered headlines are basically meant to highlight a certain number of things the reader will learn or benefit if they read on, for example: ‘Here Are 5 Top Secret Ways to Lose 10 lbs of Belly Fat In 2 Month Or Less!’
Headlines should be printed in very large print (the largest font size on the entire landing
page), and should avoid being too long. The headline of no more than 30 words should fit in 2
to 3 lines.
The Sub-Headline
The sub-headline is optional, but will usually increase sales when used properly. It serves as a fill-in between the headline and the opening paragraph. It’s printed as a line or two of smaller font directly below the the main headline. The sub-heading is an extension of the headline.
The sub-headline doesn’t have to be as bold as the headline, since the headline needs to be the most noticeable statement on the page, but it should still grab the reader’s attention. Your goal here is to make the subhead as catchy as possible. It’s a note that grabs further attention and gives a hint that there is much more to come if the visitor will just continue reading.
To write a good sub-headline, think of it as a headline with a very specific point. The subheadline can provide more information regarding what the headline detailed, or it can be a very general statement, such as “Attention Toy Poodle Owners!”.
The Greeting
Below the headline, the sales copy should immediately open up with the greeting. At this
point, many copywriters let readers know who is writing the letter.
You’ll see notations like “From the desk of Alex Smith”. Sometimes the marketer will display
their picture here as well. Doing so is a great technique, since allowing the visitor to see who
is talking to them rapidly builds a great deal of trust.
Of course, this technique should only be used if you have a professional photograph that you
look nice in, that goes well with the product you’re selling. If you’re 16 years old and trying to
market a product teaching people to buy-and-sell real estate, you might do more harm than
good by posting a picture, since people would be more likely to trust someone who looks like
they have decades of experience in the industry.
The next component of a good sales page is often the salutation or greeting. It’s best to use a
salutation that identifies them as part of a specific group and captures their attention, such as
“Dear Internet Marketer” or “Dear Soccer Fan.”
It’s not a requirement to open your landing page like a letter, but it is a solid method to use.
You may instead opt to simply jump right into the body of the page, and that’s fine, but do try
to included at least a few paragraphs within the sales copy laid out like a letter from you.
The Body
This is where all the selling takes place. The headline, as you know, is a primer to the body of
your landing page copy. While the headline’s job is to generate attention to what you’re
saying, the body’s job is to capitalize on that attention to begin producing interest in the
product.
Essentially, the body copy has the following objectives:
- Use the same tone as the headline and elaborate upon it.
- Detail the benefits of the product, and if possible, offer proof of the claims made in the headline.
- Provide some details about the features of the product.
- Build credibility in who you are, and what you’re saying.
- Eventually, create a craving for the product being promoted, and make the visitor want to buy it.
The Opening Paragraph
The first part of the body copy is your opening paragraph. Ideally, this should be short and
concise. The first sentence and paragraph should be very easy-to-read.
If you haven’t used a direct headline with a big benefit in it, do so in your opening paragraph
– preferably in your first sentence. This is where you will begin to make the reader see why
he or she must read the rest of the copy and ultimately accept your offer. In fact, when done
right, the reader will be excited to read the rest of your sales copy!
Your starting paragraph is going to highlight the problem the customer is facing. It is going to
bring the focus to the benefits of the product and why the reader’s problem can be remedied if
they just take the right steps. Anything you say in your starting paragraph will later be backed
up by other areas of your copy. In many ways, it’s like a more detailed headline.
You should also aim to build a rapport between yourself and your reader in the lead
paragraph. Here are some basic rules to keep in mind as you begin to write it:
- Keep it conversational, focused and simple.
- Make it a one-paragraph story if you can. People relate well to stories. Stories have a way of drawing people in and making them feel “at home.” You should be able to evoke some reaction in them that makes them nod in agreement. It is a key sales tactic to get the customer agreeing — because once they start agreeing, it is easier to close the sale.
- Keep it very relevant. It should have a basic point to it that is clear. Don’t ramble on and confuse your visitor.
- You can also try answering a question. If your headline asked a question, your starting paragraph needs to provide the answer to that question. You can explain the situation, ask further questions, and then explain how the product you are promoting can help.
There is no rigid formula to a lead-in paragraph, and a think-outside-the-box approach can
work, but your landing pages will produce better responses if you follow these rules.
The Rest of the Body
After your visitor is done reading the lead paragraph, he will be very curious in the rest of the
copy. This is what you’re going to capitalize on at this point.
The rest of the body contains your sales pitch that’s backed by statements which emphasize
the features and benefits of your product, testimonials from satisfied users and other forms of
proof (such as screen shots of earnings, documents supporting the claim, clinical trials, etc).
You can also include additional sub-headlines throughout the body that emphasize other big
benefits, a guarantee policy (this is critical), and finally a call to action and an order button.
We’ll talk about these components in more detail shortly.
The aim of the body is to leverage your visitors’ interest (already grabbed by your headline),
pull them into your letter, and keep them reading until the call-to-action, where they can place
their order.
The Guarantee
Any product must have a great money-back guarantee, or you will miss out on a vast number
of sales. The money you will have to return by making good on your guarantee is nowhere
near as much as you will lose by not having a guarantee.
It’s good to hype the guarantee as much as possible. “Remember, you have a full 30 days to
return this, for any reason at all, and I’ll give you every cent of your money back. In fact, I’m
even going to let you keep my bonus product just for trying out the system!”.
30 days should be considered the bare minimum. Many people only offer a return period of
this length, thinking it will reduce returns. Surprisingly, return periods of 60 or 90 days often
provide a lower return rate. If someone intends on returning they product, they don’t feel the
rush to return it right away since the return period is so long. Then, by the time 60 or 90 days
rolls around, they have often forgotten about it.
No matter what the length of the return period, a guarantee is a requirement.