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Answers to 'How
Good Is Your Sales Copy?'
QUESTION 1:
"Clearly identifying an intention for my sales copy
is as important as the actual copy itself."
TRUE
"Begin with the end in mind"
---Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People"
This may seem like an obvious point, but it's
surprising how many people forget it.
It's extremely important to know exactly what you
want to realize with your sales copy before you
write it. Whose attention do you want to grab and
then what action do you want them to undertake? If
they take the desired action, what's the next step?
What's the ultimate goal?
QUESTION 2: "When selling to technical people,
one should avoid appealing to the emotions."
FALSE
This is baloney. Technical people are no different
from anyone else. For the most part, they buy based
on emotions then justify their decision based on
reasoning. By the way, have you ever been in a room
of "techies" discussing the relative merits of a
particular technology? Though their arguments may be
couched in logic, emotions run pretty high.
QUESTION 3: "My sales copy will be more
effective if I hold a 'conversation' with the
reader."
TRUE
A lot of people seem to think that to sound
"professional" they have to sound "stuffy". Nothing
could be further from the truth. Your tone should be
appropriate to your audience. But above all, you
should strive to establish a rapport with your
prospects. Talk with your prospects not at them.
QUESTION 4: "Sales copy should always be
grammatically correct."
FALSE
As a closet grammarian and punctuation freak I
sometimes struggle with this one, but no, sales copy
does not always need to be grammatically correct.
It's OK if it's grammatically incorrect for good
reason - it accomplishes a purpose; it's not OK if
it's grammatically incorrect out of pure sloppiness.
QUESTION 5: "Sales copy that targets a
technical audience is more effective if it's written
in a dry, technical style."
FALSE
I guess this is kind of the same as #2. You can
still write your copy to take advantage of the
psychological triggers of technical people.
"Techies" typically have a high need to be right,
feel appreciated for their knowledge and skills, and
like to spend their time upgrading their skills
(a.k.a. playing with new technologies and gadgets).
QUESTION 6: "The 'voice' of my copy should
always be authentic, even if it makes me or my
company seem less than perfect."
TRUE
It's weird, but it almost seems as if sales copy (or
any writing) is imbued with the emotions of the
people who wrote it. So, people can "smell" a fake
from a mile away. You should not only be authentic,
you should believe in what you're writing about.
And sometimes admitting weakness (being vulnerable)
actually gets people to trust you. You come across
as the honest person that you (hopefully) are. Also,
if you admit to not being perfect then your reader
doesn't have to be perfect either.
QUESTION 7: "Anyone who can write reasonably
well can immediately start writing effective sales
copy."
FALSE
Let's face it, to write really effective sales copy,
you have to:
- Understand the prospect
- Understand the offer
- Know the product or service
Know something about the
industry/competition
- Know how to sell
- Be able to write comprehensible English
- Be able to write copy that 'sings'
A great copywriter is not just a 'writer', a
copywriter is also a marketer, product manager,
psychologist, market researcher and salesperson…all
rolled into one.
QUESTION 8: "The 'call to action' is the most
important part of any sales letter."
FALSE
The call to action is very important, but the
headline is more important. If you don't grab the
reader's attention with your headline, they won't
bother reading your call to action.
QUESTION 9: "Matching the offer to just the
right market segment is even more important than the
sales copy."
TRUE
Even with the most brilliant copy in the world, if
your offer doesn't appeal to your audience then,
well, you have no audience!
QUESTION 10: "It's impossible to measure the
effectiveness of sales copy."
FALSE
You can measure the response rates to your direct
mail, obviously. You can also track visitors to your
website. If you use your brochures as part of a
campaign you might be able to measure their
effectiveness, as well.
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