Copywriting is the art of creating compelling text that effectively markets products, services or concepts to a target audience. From captivating blogs and emails to compelling advertisements and marketing collateral, strategic copy has the power to engage, drive conversions and boost sales.
If you find yourself struggling to create copy that converts, here are 8 attention-grabbing techniques to reel your audience in!
Hook, Line and Conversion
What’s the most important part of copy? Is it the headline or maybe the call to action? It’s actually the hook. The hook is the first introduction that your audience sees, and it gets people excited and eager to read more. A hook isn’t just an introduction to your copy, it’s also the difference between copy that generates leads and copy that just doesn’t convert.
Get Personal
Speaking directly to the reader establishes a connection and makes your copy feel conversational. What better way to get personal than to not only discover your reader’s story, but to tell your own. Try these:
“We understand how you feel because we’ve been there too.”
Inserting yourself into the problems of your consumer gives them hope and it creates an emotional investment in your brand.
Make it Matter
When writing directly to your consumer, you should make it your mission to convince them that your product or service is essential to their lives. You might be trying to convince someone who has never heard of a particular service that there’s value to them and worth the money.
Ask a relevant question that challenges your audience or presents a problem that they may be facing. Focus on the benefits and how you can help make their lives easier.
Make Your Copy Skimmable
Studies show that the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. Time is money and your readers aren’t interested in fluff so keep your copy concise and straight to the point. One way to do this is by tailoring your copy to your audience and their goals. Creative compelling and meaningful headlines for your copy can help your audience skim through content that may not be as relevant and skip to points that stand out.
Shock and Awe
Adding in a shocking statistic or data point is a great way to capture the reader’s attention and leaves them wanting to know more. Adding in pricing, statistics and other numerical data can help the audience cut through the noise and get straight to what they want to know.
Picture Yourself Here
While some may not consider the imagination of their customers as a powerful tool, it’s an underrated technique when writing copy that converts. Paint a picture in your reader’s mind that helps them to see themselves in the situation that you create. Try using these buzz words:
- Imagine
- Picture
- Envision
- Consider
Using words that help readers to tap into their imagination can also make them either want to experience the situation in real life or avoid it all together.
What They Want vs. What They Need
Anyone can dangle the idea of a new product or a quick discount code in front of a consumer, but customers don’t want to be told what they want, they want to be told what they need. Consumers are looking to you to either help solve their problems or give them a solution to a problem that they didn’t know existed. Put the product or service in their hands and paint the picture of what their life could be like with your products or services. Get them excited about what your company has to offer and, more importantly, speak to their needs, desires and future dreams.
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
One of the quickest and easiest ways to lose your consumer is by having copy that is riddled with misspellings, missing text and grammar mistakes. Not to mention it can be detrimental to your brand and credibility. Even the more professional of copyeditors shouldn’t skip this step.
Read over your copy for any mistakes and ensure that your message is clear for the audience. Then, have someone else read through your copy. We want always to catch every mistake, so it helps to have a second pair of eyes. If you want your copy to be taken seriously, this simple, yet crucial step can not only help you become a more trained copywriter, but it can also help your audience take you seriously.
