Written by Jade Bloom
Successful copywriting is based on many factors that essentially boil down to one of two main things – capturing the audience’s attention and gaining their trust.
Failure almost always occurs when brands or companies use their own opinions of their products to create the copy. It is not about how companies view what they are selling, but rather about how the target audience feels and what makes them tick.
It is important to understand the customer’s thoughts and how to use these thoughts to your advantage.
Create Audience Personas
The human mind is a very complex thing. Yet, when it comes to marketing and selling products to people, most are quite predictable. Target audiences can be divided into many subcategories and each product or service will have potential customers in each of these subcategories. Creating audience personas allows you to establish the needs and desires of the target audience.
Do this in an in-depth, personal way. Create actual characters and map out their personalities, their desires, their lifestyles, and their grievances. Figure out what attracts certain people to certain products and how you can enhance this. Have a look at different types of people that might be interested in your product.
What are their responsibilities? What do you imagine their average day would look like? Why do you think they would need this product? Answering these questions and using the information together with facts that have been gathered from audience data collection, is a good way to get to know your audience.
Conduct Surveys To Collect Data
An effective way to delve deeper into the customer’s thoughts is by using a survey. Surveys have proven to be one of the strongest forms of data collection for marketing purposes. When creating a survey, one needs to be mindful that visitors do not want their time to be wasted.
Ask basic personal questions and questions that will give you an idea as to what they are looking for and not looking for. Make sure the questions are short, easy to understand, and have a clear objective. Ask the right questions.
The following should be the main objective of the survey:
- Obtain basic information about the visitor: demographics, age, gender, etc.
- Find out visitor’s desires and motives.
- Establish what visitor’s complaints and concerns are.
Use the information obtained from the survey and compare this to your audience personas. Make amendments where necessary.
The purpose of the above methods is to identify your visitor’s or customers’ desires. Bear in mind that one is unable to change the consumer’s desire. One can, however, use this to advertise the product and grab the customer’s attention. This is one of the main techniques that professional copywriters use, and it’s super effective when done properly.
For example, your product or service the way it is, may not be the consumer’s exact desire. By finding out what they want, you can create a copy that will appeal to them. Convince visitors that you can not only fulfill their product desire, but you can also do it uniquely.
Identify Key Phrases
Most consumers use similar wording when performing a search. By identifying these key phrases and using them in copy, you will ensure that when consumers search for a product similar to yours, they will be matched with your product quicker. You can use an online tool to view what your visitors are searching for while on your website. Keep these key phrases in mind when choosing headline and content wording for your copy.
Use key phrases in your heading. Make use of words that you know will spark interest, but avoid using clickbait, as this instantly creates a sense of distrust among your visitors. Headings must be simple yet unique and catchy.
Take a look at these examples:
- 5 Essential Baby-proofing Products to Purchase
- Your Guide To Buying The Right Holiday Home
The words in italic are the common keywords that customers search for. Emphasizing these make the heading stand out to the reader. Those are the words they used, therefore they must have found what they were looking for.
Including numbers in a heading has been proven to give readers a sense of trust. Numbers mean solidity and stability in the eye of the reader.
Study Customer Reviews
Have a look at some reviews from customers about products or businesses similar to yours. What do they like? What are they unhappy with? What changes would they like to see? All of this information will help to understand your customers and to avoid making products and advertising mistakes. Customers will notice that you are aware of and understand their grievances, furthermore helping you to connect with them. 97% of consumers claimed they are more likely to be loyal to a brand if it implements their feedback, so take note of customer reviews and feedback they share with you.
Be Personal And Inviting
Effective content makes people feel positive emotions such as joy, inspiration, and hope. If you can successfully cause your readers to feel this way, you will inspire trustworthiness and reliability, ultimately boosting your sales.
Be sure to use personal wording such as “you” or “your.” This kind of language generally makes the reader feel as though you are speaking directly to them. Customers want to know that you care. They do not want to feel like they are just another transaction. Avoid using commands that will cause them to feel as though you are telling them what they need. Instead, use flattering and complimenting terms such as “You’re worth it” or “We value you”.
Any professional copywriter would tell you that captivating copy comes from making your reader by making them feel like you know them personally.
Study your target market by gathering information, use this information to get an emotional reaction, and make sure you have a unique approach that will set you aside from competitors. Be different, be trustworthy, and be compelling.
