When you think of user experience you first probably think of website functionality, customer flow, and improving ease of use but what about effective copy?The truth is, you can have the best website design, products, value propositions, and customer experience but if you do not have persuasive copy throughout your customer journey, none of that will matter. Good copywriting is probably the fastest and best way to increase your sales and conversion rates, but many times it is seen as an afterthought when mapping out UX.So, if you feel you need to revamp your copy or you are just getting started, this article will show you how to strategically write copy that will entice readers and develop loyalty to your brand. Compel and SellIf you are an ecommerce business, mastering good copywriting gives you a full arsenal of tools that can help you stand out amongst the many businesses in your industry.Although copywriting does take time to master, we are here to give you impactful and data-based tips to improve your website experience today. Below, read through 6 foundational copywriting practices that will help you improve your bottom line while nurturing a better relationship with your potential buyers.
1. Always Have Purpose
With the content marketing boom, lots of marketers create content for the sake of having content.To be effective in 2021, you need to do more than just create quantity, you need to create quality. To stand out, you must be intentional about what you are writing about your business and its products/services. Each piece of your copywriting needs to have a purpose that fits into your overall marketing plan.As David Ogilvy said, “In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.” Creative content by itself doesn’t do you any good if it does not serve a purpose. Make sure your content always points back to a business objective.
2. Make the Customer the Heart of Your Writing
What's the story and why behind your ecommerce brand? How does that story connect to your audience’s life, needs, and pain points?If you can answer those two questions thoughtfully in your copywriting you will engage potential customers and guide them along their customer journey.As potential customers begin to feel an emotional connection and find personal solutions to their problems through your writing you will make a memorable impression. Be sure to always use copy that emphasizes that the customer is the center of the story, not you. Your focus should be to create content that connects, interests, and builds a communication relationship.
3. Be Concise and Strategic
Believe it or not, the biggest challenge in copywriting is not necessarily writing a lot, it’s saying a lot with just a few words. Many people know how to drone on, but many do not know how to get the same message across but in a short and concise way.To help with this, try to do the following things:Cut the Fluff Always go for short, to-the-point sentences. Website copy must have short sentences, with a maximum of 3 sentences per paragraph. A good test would be, “would someone new to my site know what I’m offering and why I’m good at it in the first 5 seconds?”A great way to accomplish this is to pull out the main value propositions you want to highlight and put them in the bulleted format above or below the regular paragraph of body text.Use Punchy VerbsAs with resumes, punchy verbs really make a difference. Loading up your sentences with powerful action verbs shows results in a much more effective way.Create Nice FlowRead what you’ve written out loud. Are there awkward sentence flows? Do you struggle to understand the sentence, let alone spitting it out?Reading your business copywriting aloud is one of the best ways to make sure your copy flows nicely and is written well. If you’re stumbling on sentences or being lost when reading, your customers will too.
4. Pack in Keywords
While your primary audience for your copywriting should always be actual shoppers, you’re also writing copy for an entirely different audience: search engines. With each page, you have an opportunity to target specific keywords that will get you to the top of Google search results pages and bring in more organic traffic.Direct Customer ActionLike anything in marketing, the end goal is to drive sales. To do this, you need to create strong calls to actions and use action-based phrases to increase urgency, highlight value propositions, and emphasize scarcity. There are countless ways to get potential customers to act but here are common things to consider when creating urgency and calls to actions on your website:
- The best calls to action need to grab the user's attention through good design. Look at color, font size, and placement.
- Stating a clear benefit that the user will get from completing the transaction is an effective way to get them to click.
- A good call to action should be a short phrase, not a sentence. Most are no longer than five to seven words.
- Create FOMO! Users are easily distracted on the internet, so a strong sense of urgency such as a limited-time offer can help compel users to take action immediately instead of putting off taking action.
5. Make Copy Inviting
Make sure the copy is designed and presented well on your site. This concept is that much more important today as visuals have been key factors in marketing success. In fact, 38% of people will leave a website if they find the layout unattractive or difficult to navigate! Another study found that “given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain.”People will scroll away if your content does not have “curb appeal.” Work on design, because it is more than just “pretty stuff,” it is your business brand experience.
6. Test Copy Consistently
It is not enough to write quality content and let it sit for months.Superior marketing requires active testing and A/B testing to see what copy performs best for your target audience. The trick is understanding your audience, what they are looking for and how to appeal to the logical and emotional sides of their brains. Once you’ve done that, you can write out different variants on how to position your message and test them to see which performs best.In a recent test, we were reminded of the power of copy.Here we experimented with copy and offer. The control spoke to the users' tribe, and the variation clarified the message and gave an incentive. In this case, the variation beat the control and increased opt-ins by 155%.Control
Variation
BONUS: Look At Your Competitors
Call this marketing low-hanging fruit, but you can reverse engineer your industry to find effective strategy, messaging, and positioning by studying what is already being done! Studying the competition is one of the most important things you can do!By figuring out the angles they are marketing with, what content they are sharing, price points, and how they are engaging with customers, you gain powerful information to build upon. Take advantage of seeing competition copy and aim to make yours more refined, direct, and helpful.Copywriting Done Right: You Got ThisLike anything that will move the needle for your business, good copywriting takes time and effort but that does not mean you can't be making improvements now! We hope the tactics above help you improve your user experience and help you take advantage of the power words have for online sales.And there’s no better time than now! If you need some more help on how to draft more effective business copywriting, reach out and sign up for our ecommerce newsletter. In it we provide tips, tricks, and data to help businesses who are ready to increase their impact.How do you use copywriting in your e-commerce business? Leave a comment below. If you’d like to mention other copywriting methods, comment below!