How to Write Persuasive Sales Copy

By Claire Winter.

In any field of business or creative endeavour, there will be countless opportunities in which you must create sales copy, writing with the express intention of directing your readers to take action. From selling a product to suggesting following your socials, sales copy will be the key to keeping your consumers engaged and your business relevant. As such, figuring out the essential skills to persuade your readers into taking action is integral. To start your journey into sales copy on the right foot, here are some of the essentials of persuasive writing to ensure that your sales copy is effective:

Engagement

Audience engagement is one of the most important aspects of sales copy. You need to ensure reader attention and retention. Do your research, interact with your audience and get to know the people you address. In your sales copy, be sure to speak to them specifically, ensuring that you fulfil their wants and needs. Based on what you have learned about your audience, this can simply be with relevant products or pertinent information about your services. If you can entertain or entice them whilst also persuading them to act, you will also improve your chances of keeping them engaged. Your tone of voice and even your use of images and design in your sales copy can aid in persuading an audience by creating a coherent and approachable brand image.

Clarity

It may seem obvious, but it is worth mentioning that cohesive and accurate use of language and clear grammar should be paramount in any piece of writing, especially if you intend to persuade your readers. The basics of good, intelligible writing should always be on your mind when you write, and those skills you picked up early in your writing life will always go a long way. Always proofread your work to ensure its quality, and even get someone else to read it before publishing it, as mistakes can always slip by if you rush the process. On the other side of this point, it is worth mentioning that overly complex language can be similarly confusing. Some writers assume that taking every word to the thesaurus will make for a more intelligent product, but it tends to achieve the opposite, making for garbled and pretentious writing. Aim to make your sales copy easy for anyone to understand, and don't drown your readers in jargon. If you keep it simple and compelling, you will better be able to persuade a broad audience.

Concision

Building on the last point, it is also worth keeping your sales copy short and sweet. Long, dragged out copy is likely to overwhelm plenty of readers. When a piece of writing is long and difficult to parse, you can lose your customers' engagement and thus decrease your chances of persuading them to take your desired action. Be pragmatic and conservative with your words, and get to the point. This way, you won't be wasting your or your reader's time, and they will be able to address your aims succinctly, without being bogged down by an unnecessary block of text.

Integrity

Your credibility as a business and as a writer is crucial to your ability to persuade your audience. After all, if you don't believe in your products and content, then why should anyone else? Any sales copy that attempts to be disingenuous will likely be seen through by readers and will ultimately backfire, potentially leading to permanent damage to your reputation. Remember that persuasion is not equivalent to trickery. Instead of exaggerating or embellishing, simply demonstrate why your products, content, and brand are necessary and beneficial for your prospective customers. This can be achieved by writing honestly about the benefits of your business or by showing endorsements and testimonials from brands and happy customers.

Call To Action

At the root of all persuasive sales copy is the call to action. Getting your audience to act upon your suggestions is the ultimate goal of any sales copy, from buying a product to following your social media accounts. A direct request to engage with your brand and use your business is one of the simplest and yet most effective tools in your arsenal when it comes to convincing your customers to keep interacting with your business. Whether you are actively selling a new product, or just informing your readers of news about your business, always give the readers a call to action. This will provide a continuous reason to stay invested in your business or brand and ensure that customers frequently return.

It's a cliche, but people buy people, so don't be afraid to show your personality when creating sales copy. The commonly used templates for short or long sales pages no longer work as they used to; try and be disruptive and use things like video testimonials to back up your sales claims. Hopefully, these tips will help you write compelling sales copy and set the stage for your successful persuasive writing.

Claire Winter is a trainer, coach and host of the award-winning Cracking Content podcast. She is passionate about helping coaches, and creative entrepreneurs amplify their expertise through storytelling, content, and PR to get more sales and make a bigger impact.

Claire uses a blended coaching and mentoring approach to ignite her client's creativity so they can share their authentic voice and story. She is a trained NCTJ journalist and started her career at ITN in radio and television. She also runs a Facebook community called Cracking Content, where she shares writing, content and PR TIPs. You can read more about Claire and her work here.