Ecommerce Copywriting: Write Words That SELL
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What is Copywriting?
- The Importance of Copywriting on Your Website
- Understanding Your Target Audience
- Copywriting Best Practices
- Replicate Your Customer's Tone of Voice
- Sell the Benefits, Not the Features
- Easy on the Adjectives
- Tell Stories
- Replace Cliché Expressions with Numbers
- How to Apply Copywriting to Your Website
- Conclusion
- FAQs
The Power of Copywriting: How to Increase Sales on Your Website
Are you struggling to increase sales on your website? Do you feel like your content is driving people away instead of attracting them? If so, then it's time to improve your copywriting skills. Effective, well-researched copy can double or even triple your sales. In this article, we'll break down some proven copywriting best practices that will help you compose words that compel your customers to spend more time on your website and take action.
What is Copywriting?
Simply put, copywriting is writing that sells. It's a style of writing that persuades someone to take action. Great copywriting is clear, easy to understand, and customer-focused. It addresses your clients' deeper needs and explains how your products and services can make their lives better. In other words, even though copywriting is written with the intention to get a sale, it's never really salesy or gimmicky. Instead, it actually explains how your products and services solve a real problem or meet a real need. And it results in a sale because it shows that you took the time to understand what your client is truly looking for.
The Importance of Copywriting on Your Website
Every headline, every product description, and every page on your website is an opportunity for you to apply the techniques of great copywriting. As an online retailer, you don't have the advantage of standing face-to-face with your potential buyers or even guiding them to your products. This means your copywriting becomes kind of like the digital salesperson that leads your visitors to products or services that they need. It has to welcome them in, show off your products, answer their questions, and close the sale. Talented copywriters take this one step further. They don't just guide customers around the site, hoping they're bringing your visitor to the right products or services. They take the time to get to know the customer, or in other words, they do the research.
Understanding Your Target Audience
When we buy something, need is not our only motivator. Emotions are the fire of human motivation, and when you're marketing, harness those forces correctly, and you will generate an explosive increase in response. Good copywriters get to know and understand the true motivators of their customers. They use words to paint a picture of how their product is helping them meet those deeper psychological needs. To figure this out, start with customer research. Ask yourself what questions are most commonly asked, what frustrations are vocalized most often, what pains do visitors arrive at my site looking to solve, what benefits do visitors arrive at my site looking to gain, what objections to buying do visitors have, and how do I address those questions and objections successfully when I encounter them? Organize your copywriting research with the free template that we've linked in the description below.
Copywriting Best Practices
Now that you understand the importance of copywriting and how to research your target audience, let's dive into some copywriting best practices.
Replicate Your Customer's Tone of Voice
If you want your copy to resonate with your clients, then you should do your best to sound like them. When your target customer lands on your website, you want them to think, "Wow, this brand totally gets me." So what's an easy way to be more relatable? Well, you can start by learning how the demographic speaks and then create your copy to match their tone. Speak your client's language, and if you're wondering, "How will I know what they say or what they would say?" Again, this boils down to your research. Look at product reviews on your website or your competitor's website. Find out where your customers hang out online, join them, conduct customer interviews, send out surveys, analyze the data, and then look for patterns. What words are you seeing again and again? How does this demographic interact and express their anger, frustration, excitement? Would they congratulate their friend by saying, "I'm so proud of you," or would they say, "Yes, queen"?
Sell the Benefits, Not the Features
Don't bore people with the features of your products. People don't only buy things out of need. A mom isn't purchasing a camera because of its superior optics. She's buying it because she wants to capture those timeless moments of her children. Ask yourself, what job are people hiring my product for? Now, of course, features are important, but they should always be backed by a benefit. So if you're selling cameras to moms, the feature could be fast shutter speeds, but the benefit is capturing every step in full focus.
Easy on the Adjectives
When it comes to adjectives, less is more. Adjectives are great ways to explain how something looks or how something makes us feel, but we don't want to go too crazy with them. Too many adjectives can slow down your reader and even confuse them. Instead, why not say, "Energize your Monday with a smooth Arabica coffee"?
Tell Stories
Our brains are wired to think in stories. They engage us in a way that facts just never could. When we hear a story, we immediately fill our mind with visuals of what we imagine those people and places to be like. Facts, on the other hand, rarely incite imagination or inspire us. While they do increase credibility, they're not persuasive. If we were to liken this to people, stories are like Michael Jackson. They entertain us and make us want to dance. Facts are like your grade 11 math teacher (sorry, Miss Morris). They're true, but they're pretty boring. So if you want your client to forget they're being sold to, try telling them a story instead of listing a bunch of facts. Helping someone visualize your product in their life is one of the great skills of copywriting.
Replace Cliché Expressions with Numbers
How many times have you read things like "the global leaders in manufacturing" or "Canada's leading manufacturers of sunglasses"? What exactly do words like "leading" or "best" mean? Instead of using vague words that sound more like fluffy fillers, try quantifying what you're saying. For example, "Manufacturing sunglasses for 5,000 suppliers in Canada." That gives the reader a clearer picture of your market share. They'll start to imagine 5,000 shops lined up beside each other and think, "Wow, that's a lot of business."
How to Apply Copywriting to Your Website
With the tips we've just covered in this article, you'll be able to easily identify gaps in your copy and start to deliver that persuasive punch that will result in customers spending more time on your site and hitting that buy button. Remember, the art of copywriting really lies in how well you understand the needs of your target audience and then how clearly you can articulate the solution that you're offering to them.
Conclusion
Copywriting is a powerful tool that can help you increase sales on your website. By understanding your target audience and applying copywriting best practices, you can create content that resonates with your customers and compels them to take action. Remember to sell the benefits, not the features, and to tell stories that engage your readers. With these tips, you'll be well on your way to creating effective, well-researched copy that drives sales.
FAQs
Q: What is copywriting?
A: Copywriting is writing that sells. It's a style of writing that persuades someone to take action.
Q: Why is copywriting important on my website?
A: Every headline, every product description, and every page on your website is an opportunity for you to apply the techniques of great copywriting. As an online retailer, you don't have the advantage of standing face-to-face with your potential buyers or even guiding them to your products. This means your copywriting becomes kind of like the digital salesperson that leads your visitors to products or services that they need.
Q: How do I apply copywriting to my website?
A: Start by understanding your target audience and their deeper needs. Then, apply copywriting best practices like replicating your customer's tone of voice, selling the benefits, not the features, and telling stories that engage your readers.
