One day you might be minding your own business in the office when suddenly you inelegantly trip and fumble the stacks of paper you were carrying. As the papers, file folders, and pens sail through the air, you hear a coworker jokingly announce “fail!”
Calling out “fail” has become the seemingly light-hearted way to tell someone they messed up. With the instant communication that the internet provides, people are failing more than ever. The worst part is that these fails often occur in a company’s sales copy—one of the most important parts of any website. Follow these tips and you’ll not only avoid failing, you’ll have sparkling copy to skyrocket your sales.
1. Forgetting to include subtitles
People like information spelled out for them in the simplest way possible. When scrolling through a page, your reader’s eye will naturally be drawn to each subsection, usually one that’s in bold.
Don’t make them search for the content they’re looking for because they’ll either give up and move to another site or get frustrated having to read through each paragraph.
2. Providing no call to action
In college, professors often ask their students, “So what?”, basically meaning, "What does this mean for everyone else in the world?"
When it comes to sales copy, you need to provide the answer to, “So what?”. If you want your readers to buy your product or sign up for your newsletter, tell them to do it. Just make sure to say it nicely.
3. Lacking authority
If a mechanic told you that you need surgery because your life depends on having your kidney removed, would you listen to him?
Of course not.
The same applies when writing sales copy. You want your reader to know that you have the knowledge and experience that guarantees your solution is the best possible one for them, rather than a wishy-washy potential outcome.
4. Avoiding specificity
Hyping a product up is easy. Tell a few people that you have the next social media app that’s going to blow Facebook out of the water, and with enough enthusiasm, you might get people excited at first.
Before long, however, your customers are going to want to know what makes this app so great and what features make it special. When writing sales copy, make sure to show your reader exactly what makes your product or service unique and how it benefits them.
5. Crafting an ineffective headline
The headline for this post could have gone two ways. One option could have been “Top 8 Sales Copy Mistakes.” Sure, that headline would be an accurate description of this content, but would it really have drawn you in?
By replacing “Mistakes” with “Fails”, there’s automatically something more fun and personable about the article. Hopefully, as a reader you knew to expect content with a bit more humor than had the post been mistakes.
6. Slacking on proofreading
Maybe it’s the wee hours of the night or the last 10 minutes before 5 o’clock, but either way, you’ve reached that crunch point when you just have to churn out a few hundred words to meet your deadline.
Usually in an effort to get the copy assembled and sent out, the first thing to be looked over is spelling and mechanics.
However, it’s in these moments when you’re rushing that you have the potential to really hurt your sales. Your clientele isn’t going to trust someone who lets easy-to-catch errors populate their website. Also if proofreading isn’t your strong suit, you might want to consider brushing up on your skills.
So always have another set of eyes proofread your copy because everyone tends to glance over mistakes of their own work.
7. Overusing adjectives
There comes a moment in every new relationship when your significant other is unbelievably attractive with a mellifluous voice, silken hair, and eyes that have the depth no human has ever reached until now. At this point, everyone around you is probably gagging at the overwrought expression of affection.
Don’t treat your sales copy the same way. Your reader knows that you think your product is great, and while they’d like hear about how awesome it is, make sure to do it in a way that’s believable and not overly idealized.
8. Incorporating too much jargon
Similarly to using too many adjectives, overusing jargon can also be off-putting to your reader.
While you do want to be specific, keep in mind that while a term could be exactly what you were looking for, it could be too industry-oriented for your audience to truly understand.
9. Concentrating only on features
Now that you know not to use jargon, you probably can’t wait to describe all that your product or services has to offer.
Maybe you’re a coffee shop and want to share with your customers about your new Kona coffee that’s organically grown on the shores of Hawaii. While this information is important to your reader, they also want to know how the coffee is going to taste and how strong it will be. Will this type of coffee put a bit of zing in their step or be the perfect accompaniment to a decadent dessert?
Instead of focusing only on features, include how your product or service will make your customer feel and show them the outcome they’ll experience from using it.
10. Acting like social media
While it’s important to try to emulate the accessibility of social media in your copy, you also need to be aware that social media is its own beast.
For example, people who are already familiar with your brand and know its voice are the ones who will receive the 140 characters you tweet on Twitter.
Sales copy is about building a relationship with a customer and getting them acquainted to your brand. Avoid using language that’s too casual in order to show how seriously you take their patronage and then show more personality on your social media channels.
