The Conversion Scientist™

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eMarketing Principles: Words that Convert

February 24, 2010 on 7:46 pm | In Effective Copy | No Comments

Persuade with passion. Engage with the unexpected.

His face was slightly ashen, and had clearly fallen since he first entered the conference room. I felt a lump in my stomach as he reviewed the revisions to the copy he’d written just a week earlier. I was a bit sick at being part of this, but it was… inevitable.

I marveled that he still held out any hope to begin with. The work before him was little more than a carcass of the original. Of course, he’d been in this position before.

Eager to bring some excitement to a new client’s Web site, he’d spent more time than he should have crafting a story for our business. His work communicated what the visitor needed to know, and did so using the tools of the persuasive writer.

The heading invited the reader to read the first sentence, as it should. The work started with a story. It generated an emotion, if only a slight one. Details were held back so that the reader’s interest would mount.

Juicy words were chosen in favor of posing adjectives. Simile and metaphor were scattered here and there.

These are the tools that engage those parts of the brain that ask the reader to remember what they’re reading.

I’ve said it before. You can create more engaging images with paragraphs than with Photoshop.

 

The Tyranny of the Managing Amateur

What I delivered to this beleaguered writer was the internally edited version of his work.

It had been squeezed dry, like a lemon.

Those within the company that edited it down meant well. Sadly, they were not writers, but they had the privilege of position. The “rules” that they had heard in passing were to be the undoing of this prose:

“You only have 8 seconds to engage your reader,” and, “brevity is the soul of wit,” and “No one reads below ‘the fold.’”

Unfortunately, all of this is true. Ironically, it is only true for writing that is bereft of storytelling, diluted of color, and opaque with hyperbole.

Here are the quotes business marketers should be spouting:

“Web visitors will give you as much time as you have the talent to muster.”

“Brevity without wit is soulless.”

“You can entice anyone to scroll by entertaining or educating.”

 

I was young. I didn’t defend his work. I didn’t stand behind the very thing that was going to make this new Web site successful. I just didn’t know any better.

Can you recognize and defend writing that will set you apart from your competitors?

Can you identify copy that increases conversion rates? Do you have the knowledge to say “NO” to hack editors, though they may hold the key to your paycheck?

We’re going to be talking about this and much more at the eMarketing Principles Conference on May 9 and 10.

The talented writer Amy Lemen will be joining me for a session called “Writing that Turns Visitors into Buyers.”

We will show you how to avoid the pitfalls of the copywriting process. You can expect more leads, more sales and better branding as a result.

You will also learn from champions of online marketing including Brian Combs, Mike Chapman, Joshua Baer, Lani Rosales, David J. Neff, Dave Holston, and Dave Evans.

Act before Friday, Feb 26 and you and a friend get in for $99. Use the promo code “INSIDER” when you register.

We’re going to learn a great deal about growing our business with the Internet.

Science by Email

10 Ways to Know If Your Copy Will Convert Visitors to Customers

August 10, 2009 on 4:52 pm | In Effective Copy | No Comments

You don’t have to be a copywriter to know crappy copy when you see it.

If you read this article and then go out and read your Web site, odds are very good that you will be embarrassed. You probably should be, but that isn’t really a helpful response. The proper response is to change the copy on your site. It works. You can completely revamp your Web site without changing one pixel of the design.

Please, for all of our sakes, change the copy.

How will you keep from simply writing more of the same boring Styrofoam flavored copy that you’ve already got on your site? By knowing bad copy when you see it. Here are 10 ways to know that your copy is going to convert visitors to buyers and one bonus tip.

Thanks to Amy Lemen at Writeous Words for helping me compile this.

1. It Speaks Specifically to Someone

If you can’t tell who the copy was written for simply by reading it, you are probably in trouble. Who are your customers? What happened in their lives that made them come to your site at this particular time? Profile your visitors, understand their motivations, and write to their issues. Personas help.

2. It’s Written Naturally

Do people talk like your copy is written? Does it convey meaning with the kinds of metaphors, euphemisms and engaging omissions that are used in speech? Or are the words straining to persuade the reader, attempting to touch on every point necessary to make the reader buy?

“Clarity trumps persuasion,” says Flint McGlaughlin of MarketingExperiments. Stop persuading. Start communicating.

2. The Copy on the Page Matches the Offers in your Ads

Your visitors didn’t get to your site by magic. They got there from one of your ads, from a search engine or from a referral. Does the copy on your home pages and landing pages pick up where your ads started? Does your "Meta Description," which the search engines display on their results page match the copy on the page itself? If not, you are breaking what the Eisenberg brothers call the "Scent Trail."

At each step of their journey to and through your site, there should be something familiar, something related to the previous step. Nothing provides scent better than headings and copy that draws on a common thing. Images and color are also affective, but that’s another article.

One of the most expensive mistakes is made in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on search engines. If you offer a discount in your PPC ad, the page they come to should have the discount clearly visible. Too often, great offers in ads are defeated when the visitor is taken to your homepage, on which the specific discount cannot be found.

Yes, to do this effectively means that each ad should have its own landing page on your site.

3. It gives the Reader Information They Can Use

Is the copy persuading or being helpful? It’s not about who you are and what you do. How can the visitors to your site solve their problems with your offering? Do you present a good value proposition?

When I come to your site, does your copy answer any of the following questions for me:

• How does it work?
• How will I use it?
• Which features should I care about?
• What should I be cautious about?
• When does it make sense to try something different?
• How do I justify the cost?
• How do I sell this internally?

These are just examples, but you need to understand that they are fundamentally different from telling the reader that you will give them "unparalleled visibility, divisional support and alignment."

4. An Experienced Copywriter Wrote It

Don’t look at copy as filler on your page. In the hands of an experienced professional, your copy will increase the effectiveness of your Web site and this will translate into more leads and more sales. Unlike design, though, we can all create copy. And unfortunately we do.

As I have said before, treat copywriters like designers. Get two or three “sketches” of the copy. Choose one. Correct the errors. Leave the rest alone.

5. It is Efficient

Long copy is OK. Rambling copy is not. Use efficient copy of any length to engage your reader.

Amy Lemen recommends using copy indexing formulas to help you measure the efficiency of your copy.

6. Your Analytics Tell You It’s Working

Google Analytics is free, easy to add, and relatively easy to learn. Use it or something else. Then ask someone to show you how to check the following. If copy changes don’t make these better, try again. The company that knows grows.

1. Bounce Rates: How many people leave immediately when they come to my pages? You want this to be low, at or below 30% usually.

2. Site-wide Conversion Rate: How many people visit the site? How many people take action by completing a form or buying something. When you divide the latter by the former, you get your site-wide conversion rate. You want it to be higher over time.

3. Exit Percentage: Which pages most often cause people to leave the site? These pages are either solving their problems completely or turning them off. Take a look at them. Try to get the exit percentage down.

4. Page Conversion Rate: For those pages that really count, the pages where people buy, find out how many people took action and divide that by how many people visited. This is your conversion rate for this page. You want it to be higher over time.

5. Web sales: How much stuff are you selling via the Web?

7. You had an Individual Edit it, not a Committee

Having a whole Web site go through a committee is a bad idea. Just because your marketing manager developed the product messaging doesn’t mean she should write or edit the copy. The product manager should only look for errors, not rewrite. The CEO needs to know the end result.

8. There Are Links Throughout the Copy

When someone reads your text, they are engaged. In fact, they are probably less likely to see supporting information in the left or right columns of the standard Web page. Use links within paragraphs to get readers into the site. Don’t over-do it, however. Too many links or links that encompass lots of text will make the paragraph difficult to read.

This is great for SEO, too. It provides an internal linking structure that helps search engines understand what the site is about. Your copywriter should be using important keywords for these links.

9. You Got Someone from Outside the Company to Participate

Internal writers are often too close to the material. Consider a copywriter from outside the company. This also requires that you go through the process of communicating what your company does. You’ll be surprised at how difficult this will be, even with a sophisticated copywriter.

This process should help you refine your messaging, and maybe delay updates until you’ve got a coherent story that the average human will understand.

10. You’ve Tested Your Headlines

Your heading are critical to scanning readers. Try different headings, font sizes and colors. Be patient. Watch your analytics for benefits that last.

Litmus Test

Do you enjoy reviewing the copy for your Web site? Do you feel pride when you read it? Is it something you’d consider adding to your portfolio should you find yourself looking for work? If not, imagine what your visitors think. "Good enough" just doesn’t convert as well.

If you can’t write like these guys, please let someone else do it.

Copywriters Round Table Blog
http://copywritersroundtable.com/

CopyBlogger Blog
http://www.copyblogger.com/

Nick Usborne’s Excess Voice Newsletter
http://www.nickusborne.com/excess_voice.htm

Here are some resources to grade your copy.

Fog Index
http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/fog-index.html

FutureNow, Inc. WeWe Test
http://www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

Photo courtesy http://www.sxc.hu/profile/iwd.

Brian Massey is The Conversion Scientist. He shows businesses how to turn visitors into leads and sales. Brian is the author of The Conversion Scientist blog, is a ClickZ Behavioral Marketing Expert, and author of The Market for Me: Surviving Job Loss and Building Your Lifetime Career Network. Brian lives in Austin, Texas, where life and the Internet are hopelessly intertwined.

Science by Email

Relate to Four, Connect with Thousands

December 9, 2008 on 8:43 am | In Developing Personas, Effective Copy, Humanist | 1 Comment

You can connect with thousands of visitors to your site by understanding only four of them.

Communicating is connecting. If you’re communicating successfully, each of your readers will feel that you are writing directly to them.

I’m going to introduce you to a method of writing that will forge strong connections with your readers.

You will understand your readers when you understand the four “Modes of Persuasion.” Every visitor fits into one of four modes, and, as will see, each mode describes a different way of connecting. If you can master each of these modes, you can effectively draw anyone closer with your words.

 
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The Four Modes of Persuasion

Each of your visitors will come in one of four modes: Competitive, Methodical, Humanist, or Spontaneous.

COMPETITIVE visitors are looking for information that will make them better, smarter or more cutting-edge. Use benefit statements and payoffs in your headings to draw then into your content.

METHODICALS like data and details. Include specifics and proof in your writing to connect with them.

HUMANISTS want information that supports their relationships. They will relate to your writing if you share the human element in your topic.

SPONTANEOUS visitors are the least patient. They need to know what’s in it for them and may not read your entire story. Provide short headings for them to scan so that they can get to the points that ore important to them.

When you understand that every visitor consumes information differently, you can build empathy with more of your readers. In time, your content will appeal to a wider audience making your Web site more enjoyable and accessible.

We’ll be talking more about the four Modes of Persuasion and how this knowledge can be applied to your Web site at The Conversion Scientist. Don’t miss a post.

You can learn more about these four Modes of Persuasion in the book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? by Brian and Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Photo courtesy konr4d via stock.xchng.