Lots of people who are involved in advertising or writing sale letters in internet marketing don’t have enough good copywriting skills. Copywriting skills are essential and they have so big impact to your copy that it brings you only two different ways, either you will success or not success, end of story.
You can write a good copy but when coming to writing outstanding copy it needs much more than understanding basics of copywriting. Here we have listed very important tips to write outstanding copy. It has huge difference from good copy.
Tip #1 – Copywriting purpose is to get first sentence read and the purpose of the first sentence is to get the second sentence read and so on.
Tip #2 – Keep it simple!
Tip #3 – Outstanding copy is written in clear, concise, simple words that get your point across. It’s conversational.
Tip #4 – You can fracture the occasional rule of grammar if it helps to make your writing more digestible.
Tip #5 – Sentence fragments, one-sentence paragraphs, beginning with conjunctions and ending in prepositions are all fine, even desirable.
Tip #6 – Use bullets and number lists!
Tip #7 – There are following headline types:
- Direct Headline – go straight to the heart of matter, for instance “Pure Silk Blouses – 30 Precent Off”.
- Indirect Headline – It uses curiosity to raise a question in the reader’s mind, which the body copy answers. For example “Fresh Bait Works Best”.
- News Headline – is self-explanatory, as long as the news itself. “Introducing Flickr 2.0″ or “My Exclusive Interview With Steve Jobs”.
- How To Headline – is everywhere, online and off, for one reason only – it works like a charm.
- Question Headline – must do more than simply ask a question, it must be a question that the reader can empathize with or would like to see answered. “Do You Close the Bathroom Door Even When You’re the Only One Home?” or “Who Else Wants to Get Rich Online?”.
- Command Headline – boldly tells the prospect what he needs to do. “Put a Tiget in Your Tank”. Bly (famous copywriter) indicates that the first word should be a strong verb demanding action, such as “Subscribe to Copyblogger Today!”.
- Reason Why Headline – Your body text consists of a numbered list of product features or tips, which you then incorporate into the headline, “Two Hundred Reasons Why Open Source Software Beats Microsoft” or “8 Ways to Build Blog Traffic”.
- Testimonial Headline – is highly effective because it presents outside proof that you offer great value. This entails taking what someone else has said about you, your product or service, and using their actual words in your headline. ” ‘I Read Copyblogger First Thing Each Morning’ ” admits Angelina Jolie.
Tip #8 – 50/50 Headline Rule. Spend at least 50% of your time to write powerful headline and rest of time for rest of text.
Tip #9 – 80/20 Headline Rule. On average 8 of 10 will read headline and only 2 of 10 will read rest of text.
Tip #10 – Headlines, subheads and bullets should be:
- USEFUL to the reader
- Provide him with a sense of URGENCY
- Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE
- Do all of the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC way
Bonus Tip! – According to superstar copywriter Clayton Makepeace you should ask following questions before start to write headline:
- Does your headline offer the reader a reward for reading?
- What specifics could you add to make your headline more intriguing and believable?
- Does your headline trigger a strong, actionable emotion the reader already has about the subject at hand?
- Does your headline present a proposition that will instantly get your prospect nodding his or her head?
- Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed transaction?
- Could you add an element of intrigue to drive the prospect into your opening copy?
Here you have them. Remember to ask those questions that copywriter Clayton Makepeace recommends.
