Copywriting is the language of sales. Good copy is essential for an offer to reach is sales potential – but if you haven’t got the funds to hire a professional, need to revamp an old offer or want to try and tackle the copy yourself, it can be daunting to know where to start.
Copy just comes in so many flavours, and the type of copy you write depends on where you put it, who you’re targeting, and much more.
Here are 5 of the most important types of copy that will help sell any offer. Master these, and if you have a weaker copy elsewhere it won’t matter as much.
1. Headlines
It’s easy to spot a bad headline. Too overblown and hyped-up, or too factual and boring. Way too long, or not long enough.
Use simple, powerful language in your headline, including power words such as “free”, “you”, “now” and “never”. Include the action you want the reader to take, such as “click”, “read” or “download”, and don’t make things too complicated, e.g. don’t write “utilise” instead of “use”. Focus on the biggest problem, benefit or surprising fact associated with your offer.
2. Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a short introductory paragraph that can be used on your website, in your sales page, in real life: anywhere you need to quickly introduce yourself and your product or service, who you help and how you solve their problem.
Short but memorable is key here. Sometimes this copy can be condensed into a slogan, but it’s worth taking a short paragraph to adequately describe everything you need.
A great elevator pitch formula is this:
“Did you know, [PROBLEM] leads to complications such as [PAIN POINTS]? My name is [NAME], and I’m a [OCCUPATION] who has developed a method that helps [CUSTOMERS] achieve [SOLUTION] with [BENEFITS].”
3. Features And Benefits
It’s easy to confuse the two, but features and benefits are very different things. Features are the technical specifications of a product or service, and benefits are the positive effects it has on the purchaser’s life.
The best way to describe features and benefits is with a bullet point list, which is easily digestible for skim readers. It also gives the reader a sense of satisfaction, as the brain feels productive when it processes small pieces of complete information.
4. Social Media Ad
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn ads (along with others) all have different formats, but the general formula is the same. Once you nail one social media at format, you can reliably translate it for the others.
A general purpose social media ad can be easily assembled from the other parts of copywriting here:
Headline: [HEADLINE]
Text: [ELEVATOR PITCH]
Call to Action: “Download Now”, “Join Today”, etc
5. Email
Ignore everyone when they say email is dead – it’s more effective than ever! If you have an email list, messaging them is one of the most direct and powerful ways of marketing.
However, if your list has gone cold or you only have a few subscribers, it’s not easy to know what to send them. This email template will introduce any offer so you can make the sale in a non-spammy way:
Problem — identify a pain point, calling it out with a question or informal statement (“Don’t you hate it when X?”)
Agitate — go on to describe the problem, explaining the negative impact the reader may be and making it larger in their mind
Solve — bridge into your solution by stating these are the circumstances that led you to develop your offer
Features and Benefits – give a bullet point list of your product or service’s best points
Call to Action – let the reader know where they can find more info or purchase the product
Copywriting doesn’t have to be complicated: it just needs to sell. Mastering these elements of copywriting will help you sell your first products, so you can fund hiring a professional or continuing your journey to copywriting mastery.