Copywriting Strategies That Will Improve Your Conversion Rates

Writing copy that converts is all about having the correct balance.

Writing with a creative approach might make your copy sound good, but on its own, it won’t generate the leads you’re looking for.

On the other hand, being too focused on numbers can make your copy feel a bit mechanical and lifeless. So, what we’re looking to do here is adopt specific strategies that will help you strike the right balance between persuasion and value.

Build a Relationship with Your Customers First

Remember when you used to knock on your neighbours’ doors as a kid and try to sell them your poorly painted garden stones?

No?

Just me then.

In any case, I remember the ones who always used to buy from me were the ones that already knew me. The neighbours who didn’t really know who I was just smiled politely and closed their doors.

I liken this (somewhat questionable) analogy to how your customers buy from you.

If they already know who you are, they’re far more likely to trust you and buy whatever you’re selling. You can use copywriting to establish a relationship with your customers in the following ways:

Use a conversational tone

People react positively to friendly, simple language. Speak to your customers directly using ‘you’ and ‘I’ rather than ‘they’ and ‘us’.

Relate to your customers

The most effective copy empathises. Let your customers know that you understand their issue and that you’ve been there yourself or have met others in their situation. Follow this up by telling them about how you can help.

Keep in touch

Whether via social media or email marketing, staying in contact with prospects and existing customers is one of the best ways to remind them that you’re still there and that you care about their custom.

Stop Guessing and Start Measuring with A/B Testing

There’s nothing wrong with a little trial and error. In fact, most newly published landing pages aren’t based on anything other than existing copywriting knowledge and crossed fingers.

It’s not until your pages starts to provide you with insights that you can start measuring their effectiveness.

A/B testing is the practice of comparing two landing pages aimed at fulfilling the same action. By splitting your website traffic between two versions of the same page, you’re able to measure the performance of each and determine which one performs the most effectively.

You’ll want to focus on metrics like conversion rates, sales and bounce rates to give you a good overview of each page’s performance.

The Following infographic from Freestyle Interactive explains the 7 basic steps of A/B testing:

Here are three of my own tips to help you make the most of A/B testing:

Keep the process simple

Try to remove any barriers between your prospect and the call to action. Don’t make your form fields too long and use plenty of white space so your visitors are under no illusion about what you want them to do.

Stick to one call to action

If you want to effectively measure the success of your pages, don’t confuse things by giving the customer several options.

Don’t aim for perfection

At least not straight away. If you’re new to A/B testing it might take you some time to run an effective test. And remember, some tests don’t always produce the results you’re looking for.

Offer Incentives and Remove Risk

Creating a tone of urgency in your copywriting can really help encourage people to buy from you.

And nothing creates urgency more effectively than scarcity.

By explaining to your customers that your stock is limited or that your offer is only available for the next few days, you’ll improve the chances of them buying from you there and then rather than postponing the purchase.

A note of caution though – don’t make false claims. The last thing you want is customers complaining that your three day offer has somehow been stretched to three months.

Whenever customers make a purchase, they take on a certain amount of risk: they might not like the product once they receive it, it might not fit or perhaps it wasn’t what they were looking for after all?

One way you can remove this risk is to offer a money back guarantee or a warranty that ensures your customer won’t lose out if they don’t like your product. Here are three ways you can add incentives and remove risk from your copy:

Limit time

By placing a time limit on when your customers can buy your products or take advantage of your offers, you’ll encourage them to take action sooner.

Add extras

The ‘buy one get one free’ technique is tried and tested and can sometimes to be the very thing that encourages people to buy from you. For example, if you’re selling an eBook; give an audio recording of the book away for free. If you’re selling a product, include a useful accessory as a bonus.

Address objections

It’s the easiest thing in the world for a customer to convince themselves that they don’t need whatever you’re selling. Sometimes they’ll postpone, sometimes they’ll look for alternatives and sometimes they’ll just dismiss the idea all together.

By addressing the most common objections to buying your products and persuading your customers otherwise (by focusing on value), you should see an improvement in your conversion rate.

Don’t Believe the Hype

We’re not talking swear words here, we’re talking unnecessary adjectives and exaggerated claims. Over the years, people have become savvy to over-hyped products and services.

I don’t think it’s too much of an assumption to say that consumers are more sceptical than ever about any claims a company makes themselves.

The best way to capitalise on people’s interest is to avoid using any hype words at all. Try to keep your copy as transparent as possible and don’t make any outlandish claims.

Instead, let your customer testimonials do the talking by adding in elements of social proof to your copy. Here a few ways you can avoid an over-hyped landing page:

Only claim something if it’s true

This may sound obvious but it can be tempting to skew numbers in an attempt to make them sound more impressive. Whether your customers dig deeper into your claims or not, they’ll instinctively distrust anything that sounds too good to be true.

Let your existing customers do the selling

Testimonials and reviews are far more likely to persuade than anything you can say yourself.

Don’t use too many adjectives

Although words like ‘awesome’ and ‘ultimate’ have their place, try to keep them to a minimum or your landing page might come across as insincere.

By implementing these four copywriting strategies, you’ll ensure that you’re making the most of your landing pages and striking that balance between persuasion and value.

By focusing on building strong customer relationships, testing your pages, removing risks and getting your tone right, you’ll notice an improvement in your conversation rates.

Which of these points strike a chord with you? What experiences do you have of adjusting your copywriting to improve conversions? Do you have any points you’d like to add?