Do you believe in Unicorns? No shame – me too. Have you ever dreamt of having one? The same here. It’s not just writing it takes. It takes copywriting. And most of all, it takes conversion copywriting that drives the astounding 11.45% conversion rate.
Conversion is a red-hot topic. Whether you’re a copywriter or you’re running an eCommerce, B2B, legal, or finance business, this is an important element of your marketing strategy.
Calculated as the percentage of visitors turned into actual buyers, the conversion rate is a key indicator of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. The average figure established across industries is 2.35% according to the Wordstream survey cited above.
How does it come then that nearly one-third of the accounts studied have a conversion rate of below 1%, while 10% of businesses – the Unicorns – achieve an almost five times higher rate than the average? What makes the difference?
The answer is complex and embraces multiple factors, such as the value proposal, the relevance of the offer to the website visitors, and the way it’s communicated. While the first one refers to what you’re offering, driving relevant traffic and dressing your offer in a clear, enticing, and impactful way largely relate to copywriting.
Why is it so important to master conversion copywriting and use it to improve your conversion rate?
The numbers are indicative: this year, 80% of U.S. consumers will shop online making their contribution to global eCommerce sales of $5.5 trillion. Furthermore, online shopping is expected to hold sway, with online shoppers surging past 83% and worldwide spending hitting $7 trillion by 2025.
Read on because we’re going to discuss how conversion copywriting can help you stay abreast with modern sales trends. You’ll also learn the ropes of crafting copy that converts and you’ll get inspired by the excellent examples we’ve compiled for you.
Ready to get started? Here’s the fundamental question…
What Is Conversion Copywriting?
Conversion copywriting is persuasive writing focused on convincing prospects to take a particular action, such as buying something on your site, signing up for email updates, navigating to another page on your website, and much more.
Just like copywriting in general, conversion copywriting is about selecting the right words and using them in the right order to achieve your goals. To put it short, this is the process of creating content that turns visitors into buyers.
Most people know that a sales page has to be good at making lots of promises about the product and how it will change lives for the better. That’s true, of course, but there’s more to conversion copywriting than just writing a good sales letter or landing page.
Copywriting is where you write an ad, a brochure, or a website so that people will take certain actions. The goal of your site (and each bit of copy you put on it) is to get people to sign up, click, buy – whatever you want them to do. After all, your main purpose is not just to explain what you do – it’s actually getting them to do something.
Take a look at the following example.
Image Source: CrazyEgg
Would you click on the “No thanks” button? Of course not.
There’s hardly ever someone who can treat the behavior of their customers the same. Also, that feeling of missing out is too strong. Everybody wants to convert visitors into revenue. So, if the heatmap will show the taps and movement on the website of their prospects, then why not click on the “Show me” button?
And here’s another starry example by VW.
This is an impressive blend of references and contexts that is crowned by an inspiring CTA. The goal of the copy is not to drive immediate sales but to entice prospects into taking a further look at VW’s product characteristics, leading to the “Get a good feeling” CTA in the subscription form below. Tempting, isn’t it!
So, conversion copy is part of every point of the content marketing funnel and every stage of the buyer’s journey.
- At the top of the funnel, it can help guide prospects by persuading them to sign up for your email list or download an ebook.
- In the middle of the funnel, it can convert readers into leads by convincing them to fill out a form and provide their contact information.
- And at the bottom of the funnel, conversion copy helps close deals by getting customers to complete their purchase
As you can see, conversion copywriting is the key to your prospects’ minds, hearts, and… pockets (I know it sounds blunt, but that’s the way it works.)
What Kind of Actions Can You Drive With Good Conversion Copywriting?
When we talk about conversion copywriting, we don’t always mean we want to make the prospect buy immediately. The particular goal of your copy depends on your visitor’s current position along the customer journey.
So, here are the actions you can persuade your reader to take.
Product Sales
If you’re selling products online, the chances are you should have detailed product descriptions for each item. Ideally, this should help customers understand what they’re buying and why it’s worth buying from you rather than somewhere else. This is where conversion copywriting comes into play to make your customer buy from you.
Let’s look at the Lily’s Kitchen example below.
The description of the product is so clear and appealing that customers want to buy it even before they read the ingredients in detail – they already know that a quarter of the composition is proper chicken. It’s a great example of longer conversion copy.
Apple’s Ipad page features a clear value proposition expressed through concise and powerful language and stylish impactful design.
The verse is memorable and emphasizes the most distinct and valuable product characteristics. It’s followed by a clear yet unobtrusive CTA button and a Learn more option.
You want to impress your prospect and induce them to make a purchase? Irresistible, engaging, and persuasive copy that’s not overaggressive and salesy is the answer. The more engaged they’re, the more likely they’ll buy from you rather than from any of your competitors.
Inquiry Submissions
Inquiry submissions are another form of lead generation that good conversion copywriting drives. An inquiry submission could be a form that collects the email addresses of visitors interested in learning more about your services or products before making a purchase decision. For example, if you sell software, you might ask prospects to submit inquiries by filling out an online form where they provide their name and contact details, which allows you to follow up with them later.
You can use conversion copywriting to drive inquiry submissions and encourage people to submit their contact details on your website. This can be used for a variety of purposes – from collecting leads for salespeople to gathering user feedback for product development and improvements. You can even ask for general information about the visitor’s needs and interests so that you can tailor future content offerings accordingly.
Email Newsletter Signups
Email newsletters are one of the most effective ways to build an engaged audience, which can lead to more sales. By signing up for your email newsletter, your prospects are opting-in to receive your promotional messages, which means they’re likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
Conversion copywriters can get people to sign up for your email newsletter. A good copywriter knows how to create a message that resonates with the reader and is able to create content that will persuade them to enter their email address. The best part is that you can use it over and over again to continually grow your subscriber list.
Image Source: widerfunnel
Didn’t you feel smart and good-looking, too? Flattery is a great tool when used moderately and intelligently.
Email newsletters are valuable for your business because it is an opportunity to expand your reach and connect with your audience. Conversion copywriters are great at using words and phrases that trigger emotions in the reader to get them excited and make them want to take action.
Enhanced Interactions With Your Social Media Content
Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are important channels as they help you build your brand, establish thought leadership, and connect with potential customers.
Here’s the deal: If your company has a great blog, you’ll be able to expand your audiences and thus potential customers by having your readers share it on social media. This gives you more exposure and brings in more visitors who might not have found you otherwise.
And this is when you have to give the floor to good conversion copywriting that will make the audience like, comment, and share your posts.
Let’s take a look at this Skittle’s post on Instagram that brings in fun and humor.
It really made my day. And judging from the number of likes and comments, not only mine.
The Airbnb post on Facebook below combines great copy with amazing high-quality images, making the reader dream of a rural getaway.
The effect? Plenty of likes, comments, and shares.
So, killer conversion copywriting will be able to increase your social shares and social media following. This means that you will get more exposure and traffic to your website, which will help you build your brand and generate leads.
Close Sales Deals
If you have an eCommerce store, copywriting is one of the best ways to convert visitors into customers. If someone lands on your store page, it’s likely that they have already made up their mind about buying a particular product.
The only thing left for them to do is check out their options and make a purchase decision. You need to be able to convince them that what you have is better than the alternatives.
More than just a sales pitch, conversion copywriting is a way to help your prospects and customers make the decision to buy.
Look at the Airtable example below.
Conversion copywriting helps close more sales by making the page look more professional, clearer, and trustworthy.
Get Clicks on Your Content
Offering clickable content translates into engagement. The more people who click on your content, the more likely you are to convert visitors into customers.
Conversion copywriting is a powerful way to increase your visibility in search engines. When people click on your content, it signals search engines that they find it interesting and worth sharing with others. This increases the chances that the search engine will display your website when someone searches for related terms.
It also helps build up an audience for your forthcoming campaigns, which can lead to even more people clicking on your content in the future.
Image Source: Sprout
When your copy is compelling, visitors will be more likely to click through and view more of your content. This can increase your leads, sales, or subscriptions.
What’s more, if you have a blog or website, using conversion copywriting can help you generate leads by encouraging people to subscribe to your email list or download an eBook or white paper they’re interested in.
This can be especially effective if you offer something valuable as an incentive such as exclusive discounts or special offers. That way, visitors who sign up become repeat visitors because they keep getting access to new information through email updates and articles posted on your website or blog.
Increase Ad CTR
The CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the number of people who click on an ad relative to the number of those who see it. A higher CTR means that more prospects are seeing your ad and learning about your product or service.
Conversion copywriting is critical as it has a direct impact on how many people click through to your site and make purchases.
One of the best ways to boost your ad’s CTR is by writing copy that clearly explains what your product or service does and how it will benefit customers. This is the strategy used in Sendinblue’s and Mailchimp’s ads below.
The short and clear ad copy highlights the benefits of the two solutions, such as effectiveness and professional outcomes. The sense of urgency created encourages prospects to click through the ads and learn more about the options offered.
When people click on your ads, they’re likely to see them again in the future. And when that happens repeatedly over time, it can result in better returns for advertisers because luckily, you don’t have to pay for each click if someone has already visited your site before.
Product Trials
Product trials are an excellent way to move customers from the consideration phase to the action phase. A product trial allows you to see how your customers use your product, giving them an opportunity to experience its benefits. You can use product trials to convert more of your website visitors into paying customers.
Image Source: insightsquared
The example above features effective copy that tells businesses how to identify customers who are likely to close new deals.
When people visit your pricing page, they are typically looking for answers to one or more of these questions:
- What does this product do?
- How much does it cost?
- What features does it have?
- Why should I buy here instead of somewhere else?
- Why should I buy now instead of later?
Using powerful copywriting tactics, you can answer these questions and drive traffic toward a free trial signup form.
Making a Call
Opting for a phone call is a great way to engage your prospect and get them to interact directly with your team. Persuasive copywriting can go a long way in motivating a visitor to seek a phone consultation.
Making your prospects feel comfortable and specifying that it’s a no-obligation call will increase your chances to get them to communicate with your brand and build trust.
Increase Profile Followers and Subscribers
As a marketer, you are always looking for ways to grow your business. You know that social media is a great way to promote your brand.
Conversion copywriting will help you increase profile followers and subscribers by speaking the language your target audience speaks, which is critical when writing copy for social media posts.
A superior copywriter can also craft headlines that grab visitors’ attention and create compelling CTAs that motivate potential customers to click through to the website or shop page. Take a look at the great example below.
Good conversion copywriting can also help you gain more followers by using the right hashtags that make your profile easy to find.
Another benefit of persuasive writing is that it helps get more views for your content. This can lead to more sales because people are more likely to buy from sites where they have found great information about products they want or need.
Now that you know what actions you can motivate your prospects to do, let’s move on to the next vital part that will help you master conversion copywriting. Ready to breathe in the essence?
How To Write a Great Conversion Copy?
To write effective conversion copy, you need to understand what makes people tick. You also need to know how to use language to get your message across clearly, effectively, and impactfully.
Here are five steps to writing a great conversion copy:
Clarify Your Copywriting Fundamentals
Before you start writing, you need to make sure that you have a good understanding of the basic rules of copywriting. This includes knowing what elements make up a good marketing message and how to acquire copywriting skills.
You also need to understand what makes people buy products or services and how you can use this information to improve your marketing strategy.
Make sure to answer the following questions:
- What is the purpose of my copy? Is it to sell something or get people interested in my products or services?
- Who is this copy aimed at?
- Do the target readers have any particular needs or concerns that can be addressed in this piece?
- Are there any objections that need addressing?
- How can I target prospects specifically?
- What tone should my copy have?
This is especially important if you have multiple audiences. For example, a piece of content may be aimed at new customers while another one is aimed at existing customers. The tone will vary depending on who you’re speaking with and what kind of relationship they have with your brand.
Also, make sure to write as clearly as possible so that anyone can understand your message. You want people to know what they’re getting into before they even click on your ad. By being clear, you’ll avoid losing potential customers because they don’t understand what they’re reading.
What’s more, you have to make your copy easy to scan and skim as this is what 79% of visitors do. So, offer content that allows them to find what they need quickly and easily.
Understand Your Medium
There are many different types of content, each with its own purpose and audience. Before you get down to writing, you have to understand the medium so that you can create copy your audience will read, share, and interact with.
Also, you have to know what each type of content is best for and how to craft pieces that resonate with your readers, ultimately leading to more conversions.
Let’s say you’ll be writing social media copy.
What social media channels are you going to use? What kind of content do people love to share?
For example, if you’re trying to reach your audience on Facebook, then you should focus on short, snappy posts that are easy to read. Or if you’re writing posts on Instagram, what hashtags are popular?
On the other hand, if you opt for a Google ad, you have to write three headlines of up to 30 characters each, two descriptions of 90 characters each, and optionally, two paths of up to 15 characters each.
Creating conversion copy to be delivered in marketing emails means writing subject lines of between 36 and 50 characters and body copy of up to 300 words.
In contrast, if your audience is more likely to read blogs on their mobile devices then text-based content will probably be more effective for you.
You need to know what kind of content is best suited for your audience, and where they’re most likely to consume it. How long do they spend on each page? What are their habits when browsing online?
All these factors will affect how your conversion copy performs.
Understand Your Audience
The second important element of writing conversion copy is understanding your target audience and what they’re looking for. Consider answering the following questions:
- Who are they?
- How old are they?
- What do they like?
- Where do they live?
- What do they want to know?
- Which social media do they prefer using?
- How do they read in general? Are they likely to skim or do they read every word?
- Do they prefer short paragraphs or long ones? Do they like bullet points or do they find them distracting?
All of this information will help you write copy that resonates with your target audience. If you don’t know this already, consider doing some research into your target market before you start writing.
Also, make sure to know their paint points. To help you get started with this, here are some questions to guide you:
- What are their problems and needs?
- What are they afraid of?
- What is the problem that your product or service solves?
- How can you help your customer solve it?
- What interests your audience about your product or service?
One way to get answers is by speaking with your team who interact with customers on a regular basis. Another way is by running surveys or polls on social media.
Think about how those problems make your visitors feel and then address them in your conversion copy. This will help ensure that your copy is relevant and effective.
If there’s something unique about your offering, make sure to highlight it. People want something special. They don’t just want another version of something they already have – they want something better, faster, easier, or more reliable than anything else out there right now.
Understand Your Conversion Goal
Before you start writing your copy, it’s essential to understand what you want your visitors to do once they land on your page. Do you want them to sign up for an email list? Do you want them to buy something or share an article?
Conversion goals are the end actions that you want visitors to complete when they visit your website. A conversion goal can be:
- Make a purchase (buying a product or service)
- Sign up for a newsletter (subscribing to receive more information)
- Subscribe to an email list (signing up for an email list where you will send updates about your business)
- Register for an event (signing up for a webinar, demonstration, or other events where people will learn more about your business)
Make sure that the action you ask your readers to take is aligned with your business goals as this will help you increase your revenue. This way, every word on your page will serve the purpose of making its contribution toward your overall objective.
Once you’ve identified the specific features and requirements of the medium, target audience, and conversion goal, it’s time for creating your copy.
Compose Your Copy
Want to master the art of creating killer copy? Follow these tips and learn how to level up your persuasive writing.
Use a headline that captures attention
The first thing that your prospects see in your copy is the headline. Make it easy for your visitors to understand what they get if they click through. You can include:
- A benefit that resonates with your target audience (like “save time, money, or effort”)
- The problem you solve for people (like “make more money from home”)
- Why this is so urgent (like “today only”)
It’s important to use this space wisely – you have to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to learn more within the limited length of the headline.
Note that the best-performing headlines are between 50 and 60 characters for blogs and around 6 words for websites.
Focus on benefits over features
People don’t buy products, they buy benefits. Once you’ve got their attention, write an opening that further entices them into reading. Focus on how people can benefit from your product rather than explaining its features.
For example, if you sell a weight loss program, don’t just talk about losing weight. Say how many pounds it can help people lose and then, focus on what those pounds will mean to them, and how they’ll look and feel. This leads us to the next point…
Be specific
Avoid being vague and generic. Think of yourself as an artist who has to draw with words. What’s more, this may be your only chance to engage this particular prospect – make it a sure shot.
Create a vivid and inspiring picture in your reader’s mind by being specific. Detail is what can make or break your copy.
For example, instead of saying, “Our [product] is made from a blend of ingredients that helps you lose weight,” go for something like this: “You can lose 20 pounds in just 30 days with our weight loss supplement made from ginger roots and oregano grown on our sunny herb farm in Ohio!”
You see how much more compelling that is?
Strongly favor the active voice
Active verbs make things sound more definitive and powerful than passive ones, which tend to sound tentative. Plus, they’re easier for readers to understand and interpret because they don’t have to try to figure out who did what.
Let’s take “We created our slimming gel to help you look and feel your best” vs “This slim gel was created to help you look and feel your best.”
Now, honestly, which one has a greater effect on you?
You can probably sense the personal touch of the first version and the vague, impersonal, and unconvincing sounding of the second one.
Use power words
Remember that your main task is to capture the reader’s attention and make them decide to act. And our decisions are actually emotional – a good point you shouldn’t forget.
Power words, also known as “magic words” or “attention-grabbing words,” are a collection of short, punchy units that help you persuade your audience. They create an emotional response in people, making them more likely to take action.
For example, if you’re writing an article about how to increase productivity at work, you might use words like “frustrating” or “exhausting” because these words will make your reader immediately understand the problem and why they should care about it.
Use subheadings that break up large blocks of text
This makes it easier for audiences to scan your content and find what they’re looking for more quickly than if they have to read through a long, dense block of text.
Also, use different lengths and styles of subheadings to enable the reader to distinguish between them. Note that white spaces are your friend. They make your content more easily scannable and digestible.
Highlight your most important points
Bold and italics can draw attention to the most important elements in your copy and make it easier for readers to skim through.
Note that you should use bold or italics sparingly so as not to overwhelm readers with too many formatting options. Also, you can use different fonts, sizes, colors, and spacing.
This will help you to highlight key points in your content, allowing the reader to get the gist of your message.
Make your copy credible
You need to build trust with your potential customers. Using numbers and statistics to back up your claims is a great way to do so. This will position you as an industry expert whose opinion is reliable and data-based.
The result? Your readers will be more likely to put their trust in you and take your word when deciding on your product’s value.
Keep it short and sweet
The shorter your copy, the easier it is for your prospects to read and comprehend what you’re saying.
A good rule of thumb is to keep your paragraphs between three and six sentences in length. Also, use bullet points or numbered lists, short words, and sentences.
Write effective CTAs
Include a CTA at the end of each piece of content that tells readers what they should do next. Use words like “now” and “today” as they create a sense of urgency.
Your CTA needs to be clear and direct, focusing on the ultimate goal of your copy. Tell your prospects exactly what you want them to do and do it in a straightforward, unambiguous way:
- If you want them to sign up for your newsletter, say “Sign up for our newsletter.”
- Do you want them to purchase something? Go for “Buy now!”, “Place your order now!”, or “Grab it today!” Other viable options are “Claim my deal!” or “Complete my purchase,” which make use of the first-person possessive adjectives to increase engagement and boost the impact of the copy.
- Are you aiming to drive them to get in touch with sales representatives? Then, opt for “Contact us today!” “Set a no-obligation call,” “Talk to our experts,” or “Let’s discuss my great ideas.”
You’ve gone through all these steps, applied all the tips, and come up with your copy. So, how do you know whether it works? Let’s take a closer look now.
Test and Measure
If you don’t have any data about the performance of your current conversion copy, then you’ll have to start with A/B testing. This is the best way to find out which elements of your copy work best.
You can run A/B tests on every element of your copy, starting from headlines and subheads, to body copy and CTAs. Make sure to test them individually, one at a time so that the results are clear and indicative.
Then, you divide your audience into two groups. One that will receive the original copy and the other one that will receive variation B. The goal is to see which version performs better and send it out to your entire audience.
After running a few tests, you’ll start getting some numbers showing which version of your copy is converting better than others. For example, let’s say that your first test showed that version A of your CTA (“Book my demo”) outperforms version B (“Book a demo”) by 10% more CTR. Make sure to use the better-performing CTA version consistently throughout all other pages of your website.
Keep running tests until you find a version converting at the highest rate. This will help you identify the best-performing option and further improve your copy.
Optimize Your Conversion Copy
Once you’ve conducted the A/B test, it’s time to optimize your copy, or increase your conversion rate.
Note that if you get a good CTR but fail to achieve a correspondingly high conversion rate, it comes to indicate that your offer is not appealing enough. And vice versa, a low CTR combined with high conversion signals that it’s your copy that needs optimization.
Here are a couple of tips for optimizing your conversion copy:
- Change the offer. The offer is what makes your prospects buy your product. Consider making the offer more attractive to buyers based on their behaviors and preferences.
- Change the flow. If there’s too much copy or too many choices, your audience will get confused and wouldn’t know where to look first or which option is best for them. Once you’ve changed your offer, make sure that there’s a logical flow between each step of your sales funnel that leads customers towards making a purchase decision.
Now that you know the name of the game, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start practicing.
Final Thoughts on Conversion Copywriting: Ready To Bring Your Unicorn to Life?
Much like anything else, writing effective copy is a skill that requires practice and hard work. Particularly so if you’ve set out to reach and surpass the staggering conversion rate of 11.45%.
The purpose of conversion copy is to get the reader to take action that benefits the business.
With the tips above, you’ll have the chance to get your foot into the door and develop your persuasive writing skills.
The final takeaway? Conversions are the outcome of two major elements: your value proposal and the way you market it. Identify the offer that best works for your potential customers and use your persuasive copywriting skills to attract, engage, and ultimately, persuade them to make a purchase.
The buyer’s journey passes through multiple actions prospects need to take, leading to the final decision. And it’s your copy that can help them transition from each stage to the next one. How can you make that happen? There’s just one answer: Practice, practice, and some more practice.
Then, test, optimize, and convert!
