Moving on from part 1 of this series, where we explored how to clearly define all aspects of your offering, we’ll now delve into the details of writing targeted sales copy.
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For many potential customers, your landing page will be the first point of contact with your business. This means it should balance information between detail and overload well to persuade the visitor to opt for your service or product.
Although your site will probably contain graphics, images and perhaps even video, copy still plays a really important role. Clear, concise and easy to understand copy that addresses the pain of your target audience is one of your most important marketing assets.
Because you know it’s so important, the task of choosing the right words can seem daunting. We’ll walk you through what we’ve learned about what types of statements and call to actions you will need, and how to write effective sales copy in this part, and explore writing longer copy for information blocks and FAQ sections in part 3.
Main headline
The main headline describes what your business is doing. Use simple language, and make it short, ideally less than 10 words. It’s good practice to include your unique selling proposition here.
Some examples:
- Basecamp: Chaos, Organized
- DripDocs: Hassle-free Drupal documentation
- Contently: Make content that matters
Supporting headline
The supporting headline explains the main headline in more detail. It can be an extension to the main headline, like finishing it as a sentence, or applying an additional persuasive message to support the primary statement.
Some examples:
- Evernote: For everything you’ll do, Evernote is the workspace to get it done.
- Airbnb: Rent unique places to stay from local hosts in 190+ countries.
- Basecamp: Basecamp helps you wrangle people with different roles, responsibilities, and objectives toward a common goal: Finishing a project together.
Reinforcement statements
The reinforcement statement sits about halfway down on the page, and serves to add a mid-experience message. It’s like a second headline that explains the header from a different point of view.
Example:
- Main headline: The Easiest Way to Build, Publish and Test Landing Pages Without IT
- Reinforcement statement: Create beautiful landing pages in minutes with no HTML
Closing argument
We found that more than another reinforcement statement, the closing argument should be formulated as a repetition of the opportunity — an offer that the potential customer can’t refuse. It should encapsulate the whole story, not just add another argument.
Example:
Call-to-action
This is your conversion goal, make it clear and simple. What would you like the visitors to do? How should potential customers interact with your landing page?
When you are still developing your offer, it is a good idea to try to get a visitor to sign up for a mailing list instead of trying to sell them your product directly. That way you can capture potential future customers, who might not be ready to buy, with a free info product (this is sometimes referred to as a mafia offer). You can then use this mailing list for a nurturing campaign with relevant emails that help you build a trust relationship while you learn how you can achieve product-market fit.
Make sure to keep the form as short as possible: in many cases even one field for the email will suffice. Don’t forget to include a privacy statement near the button.
Example:
We hope we could help you start finding the right words to bring your message across. Remember, it’s a continuous process, so feel free to experiment, collect feedback and rewrite accordingly.
See you soon for part 3 of the series, where we share our experiences about writing longer copy to educate your customers for an informed decision — in favour of your product.
