The How To Guide on Conversion Copywriting

So, you finally made a business website or social media account; great! Adapting to the digital landscape is a survival skill for every thriving business, regardless of size. Now you may ask, "what's next?"

Creating a platform for your business is one thing, but keeping your digital audience hooked to your brand is another.

If you want to generate a continuous stream of hot leads, establish a brand community, or reach your revenue goals in no time, then conversion copywriting is the perfect tool for you.

Conversion copywriting leverages influential and compelling words to hook your readers into taking your call to action and eventually becoming a paying customer. If you want to learn how to do it the right way and reap its multitude of benefits, keep on reading.

What Is Conversion Copywriting?

Conversion copywriting is a type of persuasive writing with a single goal: compelling readers to take action.

In most cases, copy that’s written to convert is typically short and straightforward, and it's usually seen in ad banners, commercials, sidebars, or even social media.

With modern applications and the creativity of copywriters, there are several techniques today where the components of a conversion copy are integrated into long-form pieces, such as blog posts, sales letters, email outreach, etc.

As mentioned above, conversion copywriting aims to influence readers to take your call to action, and this could be the following:

• To contact your business.
  
  
• To fill out your contact form.
  
  
• To follow you on social media platforms.
  
  
• To go to a different page.
  
  
• To checkout.
  
  

Your call to action could be anything you want. One thing to make sure of is that you're clearly and effectively conveying it to your readers.

What Are the Goals of Conversion Copywriting?

When you start writing a conversion copy, you might be tempted to target multiple goals in a single copy page. It's critical to remember that a compelling copy only focuses on one goal per page.

If you try to cover too many goals in a single page, your readers will get confused and lose focus. You want to keep them directed towards one goal at a time and then move on from there.

With that said, conversion copywriters usually follow the standard sales funnel structure when targeting multiple goals in their copy:

• Awareness: This stage is meant for potential customers or audiences with a problem you can solve. Your goal here is to make a copy introducing your brand, specific product or services, and your unique selling point.
  
  
• Interest: Once your audience clicks on your "awareness" call-to-action, they want to know more about your product or brand. Your audience is still not sold at this point, and your goal is to connect with your audience and show them why you are the perfect option they're looking for.
  
  
• Desire: Once they have more information about your brand, read reviews about your product or service and compare your brand with your competitors. You can leverage sales pages, free trials, free resources, or phone calls at this stage.
  
  
• Action: This is the final and ultimate goal of conversion copywriting. At this point, your audience will willingly pay for your services and products since they are already converted into a paying customer.
  
  

This is the general structure of conversion copywriting. Depending on your product, audience, and target market, you might add or tweak some of these stages.

Basically, the essence of conversion copywriting is to motivate your readers to take small, actionable goals leading them to the bigger objective of buying your product or services.

Applications of Conversion Copywriting

Traditionally, conversion copywriting is only seen in commercials, ads, and brochures. However, with the advent of technology, its applications have extended to digital marketing materials.

Here are some of the instances where conversion copywriting can be applied.

Blog Posts

As previously mentioned, conversion copywriting is typically only used on short ads, banners, and sidebars.

However, many experienced and creative copywriters found a way to integrate conversion copywriting elements to blog posts, making them effective digital marketing material.

Before, blog posts were meant to be informative and entertaining, but with the help of conversion copywriting, they became a medium to bring awareness to certain problems and introduce a product, service, or brand to readers.

Landing Pages

Another application of conversion copywriting is creating landing pages. These pages are focused on one goal — to have readers heed your call to action with a short and effective copy.

Landing pages exist in various forms, including a welcome page, a "thank you" page, a squeeze page, and more.

Video Scripts

Using copywriting frameworks to create entertaining and informative videos is also a great way to introduce your brand, products, and services. It's more engaging because it can combine visuals and audio in one platform, ensuring that the audience will hear your message.

White Papers

White paper is usually long-form copy that introduces a problem and explains a solution, involving research, collecting data, getting feedback, and more.

In this sense, you can use conversion copywriting to ensure that your readers are convinced of your provided solutions.

Apps (Notifications, Description, Etc.)

Have you read those app descriptions in the App Store or Google Play Store? Conversion copywriting played a huge role in creating those short but effective pieces.

It ensures that readers looking for a particular application can quickly find and understand its primary purpose by reading just a few sentences.

Welcome Messages

When you subscribe to an email newsletter or download certain software, you usually get welcomed by an automated message.

This is another application of conversion copywriting as it quickly introduces the company's offered services, products, and even discounts they can use.

How To Write Copy That Converts

Now that you have a foundational understanding of conversion copywriting, its goals, and applications, let's learn how to write it. Grab your pen or boot up your online document file and start typing!

Understand Your Customers or Audience Deeply

First things first, you must know your audience well. Knowing your audience is crucial because it allows you to craft a copy that speaks their language, connects with them, addresses their pain points, and inspires them to take action.

You can start by asking the following questions:

• Who are they? Demographics, hobbies, occupation, inspiration, etc.
  
  
• Where do they live, and what are their living standards?
  
  
• What type of content do they usually consume?
  
  
• Where do they spend most of their time online?
  
  
• What are their goals and motivators?
  
  
• What are their problems that you can solve?
  
  
• How familiar are they with your product or service?
  
  

These are just some of the questions you must answer before you start writing. Another great hack is to go through your competitor's Google or Yelp review pages and read through the comments.

This way, you can learn what your customer loves about their brand and what they don't like, so you know how to make compelling copy despite the tight competition.

Other ways you can gather data from your audience are through:

• Interviews
  
  
• Questionnaires or survey forms
  
  
• Focus groups
  
  

Create a Persona From Your Research

Once you have all the information from the last step, you need to make it sensible on your end. You can do this by creating a reader or buyer persona that you can use as a guide to creating your copy.

Creating a persona is like building a book or movie character. You have to give your persona a name, provide a backstory, develop a personality, and more.

Use all the data you gathered from the last step to build a background for your character. Take this as an example:

• Joseph is a 25-year-old entrepreneur running a 13-man digital marketing agency specialising in digital marketing for the medical industry, and he's regularly earning $50k a year. His goal is to bring in more new clients this year and increase his annual revenue by 10%, but he's so reliant on AI writing tools that he can't create powerful copies to convert readers to customers.
  
  

This is a basic example of a reader's persona, and you can be as detailed as you want.

Having a solid persona makes it easier for you to create copy that speaks directly to your target audience and resonates with them emotionally.

Know the Different Stages of the Buyer's Journey

Once you have a robust persona for your target audience, it's time to understand how you should target them.

As mentioned in the former sections, conversion copywriting aims to guide readers through the buyer's journey and turn them into customers.

To do this, you must know each stage of the buyer's journey and how they move from one to another.

Awareness Stage

Audiences from the awareness stage are mostly unaware of their problem. At this point, you want to help them realise that there is a gap in their lives and your product or service can fill it.

From your reader's persona, figure out where your target audience spends most of their time online and what type of content they regularly consume. Then, create content or ads that address their pain points and offer solutions to them.

It could be a punchy social media post, your brand's rendition of a viral TikTok reel, a blog post with a compelling title, or a simple email newsletter.

Consideration Stage

At this point, your readers are aware of their problem, and they're now looking for solutions to fill the gap in their lives. This is where you get creative with your conversion copy.

Make sure that you present the features of your product or service clearly and concisely. Show them how it's different from competitors and prove that they should trust you.

You can also include customer reviews or quotes from happy customers. This will add credibility and trustworthiness to your copywriting and help you stand out from the competition.

Some content ideas you might consider for this stage are case studies, comparison charts, or client testimonials.

Decision Stage

At this stage, your readers are already hooked and ready to purchase. This is where you close the deal and seal it with a powerful call-to-action (CTA).

Your CTA should be concise, clear, and direct, so your readers know what action to take after reading your copy. Make sure that the CTA is easy to spot.

You can also add a sense of urgency with phrases such as "buy now" or "limited-time offer" to encourage readers to buy your product before it's gone.

Start Writing

Now that you know what stage of the buyer's journey you should prioritise, it's time to start writing your conversion copy.

Remember that conversion copywriting is about understanding what makes customers tick and how to get them to take action.

Understanding your audience, creating personas, and knowing the different stages of buyer's journeys are crucial if you want to craft a powerful copy.

Make sure that you write your copy according to your reader's persona. If your target audience doesn't like expensive options, you wouldn't want to add words such as "luxury" or "premium" to your copy.

Write as if you're speaking to them and use their jargon and language. This will make it easier for them to relate to your copy and take the desired action that you want them to do.

Another great tip is to focus on presenting the benefit of your product rather than its features. Instead of talking about how your product is made from thick, sound-neutralising materials, talk about how it can boost their focus and lengthen their attention span.

Kill It With Your Call to Action

You must create a powerful call to action to end your writing process. Generic CTAs like "buy now," "sign-up," or "download" still work, but they're not as effective as they used to be.

One of the growing trends in CTA writing is "no-risk" CTAs. These CTAs only benefit the readers, such as "Sign-up today and get 25% off. Cancel anytime."

Try to be as creative and unique with your CTA. Keep it short, punchy, and clear, so your audience will know what you want them to do after reading the copy.

Monitor Conversion Results

One way to determine if your conversion copy works is to set up a monitoring system. The results you want to see depend on the type of your copy, your goal, and what platform you publish it on.

For social media posts, you want to track the likes, comments, and shares that the post has received. This usually determines the engagement level of your post and how many people have interacted with it.

For websites, you want to track the time spent on each page and visitors' click-through rates. You can use tools like Google Analytics to measure conversions, traffic sources, and page views.

For landing pages, you want to measure how many people signed up for the offer, how many people completed a purchase, and other metrics related to your goal.

By monitoring your conversion results, you can determine what works and what doesn't, so you can make necessary changes and improve your copywriting in the future.

Different Copywriting Formulas You Should Know

There are various ways you can approach copywriting, but the general formulas that you should know are the following.

AIDA

AIDA — which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action — is a common copywriting framework used to capture readers' attention, build interest in your offer, create a sense of desire, and prompt them to take action.

This framework is the oldest in the book and inspired many other copywriting formulas.

Here's how AIDA works in practice:

• Attention: Make a bold statement that will capture your reader's eyes.
  
  
• Interest: Once you have their attention, you need to keep their interest by proposing a solution to a relatable problem and showing that you have an in-depth understanding of their situation.
  
  
• Desire: Once your reader is hooked, you can start giving them the benefits of your product or service and detail why they should choose you.
  
  
• Action: Last but not least, make sure to include a call to action that is clear and concise for your reader to take the desired action after reading your copy.
  
  

PAS

If you've been in the digital marketing spiral for a while, you've probably heard of PAS. This formula stands for Problem, Agitation, and Solution and is a favourite option by countless content marketers.

This formula is straightforward, easy to execute, and it works!

Here's how PAS works in practice:

• Problem: Start by introducing the problem. Explain the issue thoroughly and make it relatable to your audience.
  
  
• Agitation: After identifying the problem, you need to agitate your readers and make them feel eager to solve it. Use facts, data, case studies, or stories to illustrate the urgency of solving their problem.
  
  
• Solution: Finally, you need to provide a solution specific to your product or service and why they should choose you over the competition.
  
  

4P's

There are many variations of the 4P's formula, but we'll discuss its original abbreviation and what it was meant to achieve. The original 4P stands for Picture, Promise, Prove, and Push.

• Picture: Create imagery of the reader's current or future situation using clear and vivid descriptions. You can either focus on the problem they're experiencing today or the relief they'll encounter in the future.
  
  
• Promise: Now, connect the imagery to your product or service. Show your readers how you can solve their problem or help them achieve their goals and find relief with your offering.
  
  
• Prove: You should be able to support your promise by providing a source of proof. This could be through data and statistics or user testimonials.
  
  
• Push: This is the CTA. Ask your readers to take the desired action and provide them with all the necessary information or steps they need to follow.
  
  

QUEST

The QUEST formula is effective because it specifically singles out your readers from the general audience. Here's how this formula works:

• Qualify: This statement should separate your ideal audience from the general pool. Statements such as "Do you always feel bloated after eating a light meal?" or "Is it late this month? Should you start worrying about it?" effectively target a particular audience.
  
  
• Understand: Once you successfully qualify your audience, you must build a connection by demonstrating that you understand their underlying issue and why it's worth solving.
  
  
• Educate: This is where you'll start educating your readers about your product or service and why it's the best fit for their problem.
  
  
• Stimulate: You should stimulate your reader by demonstrating the benefits they'll get from using your product or service. This section is where you start to "sell" your product, and you should be careful because hard selling often deters potential customers.
  
  
• Transition: Finally, provide a smooth transition to the call to action. You can do this by expressing urgency, offering special discounts or bonuses, etc.
  
  

5-Point Copywriting Formula

The 5-point copywriting formula is one of the most straightforward frameworks aside from PAS. This is often used when crafting a landing or lead generation page.

This formula is composed of five questions from the perspective of a customer that you should answer, and these questions are:

1. What can I get from listening to your offer?
   
   
2. How are you going to make your promise?
   
   
3. Who is responsible for the promises you make?
   
   
4. Have you done this before, and what are the results?
   
   
5. What will it cost me?
   
   

More Tips and Tricks To Improve Your Conversion Copywriting Skills

Here are some practical tips to sharpen your copywriting skills and keep on converting readers into loyal customers.

Continuous Writing; Aggressive Editing

Writers, in general, are conscious creatures. They often overthink what to write next and end up failing to finish the work.

Overthinking kills inspiration, hinders productivity, and disrupts your creative juices. When you're writing your copy, you must be free-flowing and never stop yourself from writing.

Once you're done with your first draft, set it aside for a few minutes — or even days — and come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. Then you can start editing aggressively so that your message is crystal clear.

Feel free to eliminate fluffy paragraphs and phrases that don't add value. You must also ensure that most of your sentences are in active voice and only use passive when necessary.

Don't Be Afraid To Use Negative Words

Many copywriters steer away from negative words, like "can't," "won't," and "don't," because they think it might affect the reader's emotion over their services or products.

However, when used correctly, these words make your copy more persuasive by emphasising the importance of making a change.

For example, instead of saying, "You don't have to wait in line anymore," you can say, "Never wait in line again."

Use More "You" Words

Your copy is meant for your readers to read and relate to. If you bombard your copy with "I," we," and "me" statements, you'll quickly lose your readers' attention.

Instead, focus on words such as "you," "your," and "yours" to make your readers feel like you understand them and their needs. It will also help them feel more connected to your product or service.

If you have to refer to your company or team, you can use "our" statements because it effectively humanises your business and makes it easier for your readers to relate.

Make Sure Your Copy Is Skimmable

There are only a few people in the world with an expansive attention span, so you must ensure your copy is written so that readers can scan or skim it quickly.

This means using short sentences, avoiding long paragraphs, and incorporating bulleted lists or numbered points.

Using this approach will significantly increase the reader's experience as they'll be able to quickly identify what your offering is about and why they should invest their time, money, and effort into it.

Specificity Sells

If you can, you must include numbers, data, and facts in your copy to make it more persuasive. This will help you build trust with your readers and show them that your product or service is valuable.

Instead of saying "many years of experience," you can write "56 years of criminal defence experience specialising in domestic violence defence." This will make your copy more credible and show readers the value they're getting from you.

Practice Makes Perfect. Now It's Your Turn!

Writing copy that effectively converts is an art; mastering it takes time, consistency, and practice. Without patience, you won't be able to create copy that resonates with your readers.

Take it slow, take risks, and remember the tips discussed in this blog post as you refine your craft and grow your business using carefully curated words.

Now that you know the basics, it's your turn to apply your learnings and write a powerful, converting copy that sells.

Start by identifying the product and services you want to offer and finding your target audience. Your first assignment is to conduct in-depth research to fully understand your audience.