12 Steps to Creating Great Online Sales Copy

Now that you know what sales copywriting is and why it is an important skill for anyone to learn, whether you are new to sales copywriting or need to up your game, here are 12 important steps to follow to create the best online sales copy. You have your product and you need to promote it. Try to keep your sales page to one amazing product. By focusing on one product you can really engage with your reader and have them concentrate on the greatness of that product.

Step 1: The Killer Headline

• A customer has landed on your sales page through whatever means. The first thing they will see is your headline. This headline needs to be amazing and get the reader’s attention enough so that they will not leave your site immediately. Having a great headline can greatly reduce your bounce rate and increase their time on your page.
• Your killer headline needs to be direct and to the point. You need to reveal just enough so that the reader is enticed to read on. You have such a short amount of time to capture your reader and your headline will make or break whether they stay on your sales page or continue onto something else.
• The headline is where you should pull out your power words. You need to command and captivate your audience. Focus your headline on the reader, make it talk directly to them. Be vivid and tell them exactly what it will be like to use your product or how it will benefit them. Use action words such as, find, discover, get, learn, top and join. Words such as these encourage and guide your readers to want to learn more about the product.
• For example, see how the following headline evolves from being bad to killer with the addition of a few power words. Now this is a generalized example and your headline should be more unique and concisely related to your products best features.

Bad: Product X Will Save Your Day

Okay: Learn Why Product X Will Improve Your Day

Good: Top 5 Ways How Product X Will Save You Time and Money

Killer: Discover the Top 5 Ways Product X Will Stop You From Wasting Your Valuable Time and Money

• With headlines there is an 80/20 rule, meaning that 8 out of 10 people will actually read your headline and a further 2 out of 10 people will go on to read the body text of your site. This shows why it is super important to create a killer headline. Make sure you spend a good amount of time to plan out your headline, do not just write it and be done.
• Taking the time to really plan out and evolve your headline from being average to killer will make all the difference. You can use A/B testing to sample two different headlines for a specified period of time to see which is getting the better response. Once you know which headline is working best for converting to sales you can use it permanently because you know it works.
• Your headline can make or break your sales page so make sure you are putting in the time to make sure it’s perfect. The same goes for writing subject lines of emails and newsletters. You want the receiver to actually open your email and click on your products.

Step 2: Introduce Yourself

• Introducing yourself is important because you need to sell yourself before you can really sell your product. People like to buy products from sellers they feel like they know and can trust. You need have add a small section to quickly introduce yourself. This section should be short and sweet and really show off who you are and your personality. With everything online people want to be able to make a human connection to sellers behind the product.
• Create a little space about yourself below your headline so that your reader will know who you are. You want to be as transparent as possible about yourself, your company and your product. Putting a face behind the product is necessary to have a higher conversion rate.
• Even though you are selling your product online, you want to treat the reader’s experience as if it were a store in the street. The headline is the stores sign outside and as soon as they choose to enter the store, the sales person would greet them and introduce themselves. It is an important step in online marketing to tell your reader who you are by introducing yourself to them.
• Start off with a simple ‘hello’. You want to create a short little biography about yourself that shows the reader you are a genuine and trustworthy person. Indicate any expertise you have, business-related or not, so that the reader will see you are someone to trust. Add in any information about yourself that the reader can relate to. Maybe they are from the same state or are in the same demographic. Know your target audience and speak to them on their terms. Provide any credentials or awards that will show the reader can trust you right away.
• Introducing yourself also helps to build your brand and reputation. By introducing yourself right away you are starting a conversation with your reader. You are directly communicating with them by telling them who you are. The more the reader wants to know about you, the more they will start to trust you and the products you are offering. If appropriate, invite your reader to connect with you on your social media platforms so they can get to know you even better. Keep your introduction upbeat, friendly and personal.

Step 3: Tell Your Story

• Going hand-in-hand with your introduction, you need to tell your story. How did you end up with this amazing product that you are hoping to sell to them. You want to show your passion for your business and how it came about. Storytelling will be your most powerful technique in building a relationship with the reader. They need to feel connected.
• Telling your brand’s story will keep your readers engaged and interested in what you have to say. You need to show what it is that you do what problems you can solve, how your product is unique and how it can benefit your reader.
• Storytelling is a very important marketing tool and can greatly improve your sales copy. Readers can see through any lies you might tell and will catch inconsistencies in your writing. So be honest and tell them how your product came to life. Do not add any fluff to your story to make it sound more compelling. The reader will see right through it.
• Tell your readers about a problem that you were having that you fixed by coming up with this great product that you intend to sell to them. The result to your problem is your product and you need to convey your story in a powerful way that shows the reader that they too can solve their same problem with your product.
• You want to highlight the kind of customer that will benefit from working with your brand. You want to show that all your employees are behind your brand and they too embrace everything your brand stands for. Show your team is motivated and believes in the products your brand sells. By demonstrating that not only you stand strong behind your product, but you also have a team that is willing to stand by the product helps to build trust with your readers.
• Do not tell the long version of your story. You want to be short and to the point and capture everything you need to say in a few sentences. You do not want to overload the customer with too much information directly on your main sales page. Reveal just enough that they want to learn more and can trust what you have to say.
• Telling your brand’s story is not about your company. It is really about the customer and the value they will get out of engaging with your company and product. Remember that any good sales copywriting makes everything about the reader and what the value they will get, not the value the company will provide to them. It is a subtle difference, but an important one. Make your problem seem like it is their problem and you are speaking directly to them about their problem.
• You want to touch people’s emotions with your story. You’ll need to explain not only the story but how you felt about having the problem and what you did about it. Telling them about your problem should have the reader think that’s exactly how they feel about the problem.

Step 4: Reveal The Discovery

• This is the moment in your sales copy when you get to reveal the big discovery you made in searching for a solution to your problem you mentioned beforehand when you were telling your story. There needs to be a flow in your sales copy that follows through to the end. Here you can tie in what you found and why the solution to your problem was so amazing that you needed to share it with others.
• The section can really go into detail about the product. Talk about how you came to discover of the product. You already talked about the need for discovering the product, but now you need to reveal how it was discovered. How come this product was the best solution to your original problem compared to others?
• What is the product and why do they solve your problem so well. You get to describe the product and all its great features. Be sure to be succinct in your wording so that you do not overload the customer with too many words. Readers will glance over the entire sales page so you need to make sure you are highlighting the features and value that will be added to the reader in the clearest way possible. Always try to cut down the words as much as possible so your point goes across in the fewest words as possible. Using short paragraphs of one to three sentences will help the reader take in more information as they glance over your sales copy.
• Here you will be excited to tell your customers about your great new product. Be concise and clear on what your product has to offer your reader. Highlight one main great feature in detail or a couple of features depending on the product. You will want to show the reader how this product will solve their problem as well. What need of theirs will it fulfill? How will the benefits of the product be delivered to them?
• Simplify your product so that your message comes across clearly and it is easy to differentiate your product from others. Even if your product has several wonderful features, some will be primary features and other secondary. Be sure to highlight the primary features as much as possible. Be sure to list the secondary features as well with a quick sentence or point about what problem each feature solves. Do not miss out on any features, but do be sure to highlight a few main ones than list the others.
• Be as clear as possible about what the product is and why it will add value to your reader. Here you need to reveal to them what’s in it for them. It doesn’t matter if you have the most amazing product in the world if you do not reveal it properly to the world. You want to create excitement about the product.

Step 5: Show Results

• Here it is time to summarize and highlight all your biggest achievements were when you overcame your problem with the discovery of this product. You can reveal the results of the product by using numbers when possible to prove the validity of the products benefits. Display as many findings as possible without bogging your sales copy down.
• When you were searching for a solution to your problem you would have found other products that could have equally been a solution. Now is your chance to show why the other products are not as good of a solution to your, and therefore the reader’s, problem. You can discuss the top similar products and their faults. You can really make your product shine here and use evidence as to why it is the best possible solution to the reader’s needs.
• What was the biggest achievement in discovering this product? What was the greatest benefit? Reveal these results to your reader like you are revealing a big secret that you only want to tell specific people. Make the reader feel like that special person being selected to learn about this product that will add so much value to their lives.
• Be sure to do this without turning into a sleazy sales marketer. This is where your reader will see you might be over selling your product. Pick the most amazing results of your discovery and hint at the discovery of even more amazing results that the reader will only truly understand by using the product themselves.
• Be specific with the results, generalized comments sound like a marketer is talking to the reader and they won’t like that. Readers today are smart and know how to sniff out a marketer any day. If you use real numbers and real evidence rather than sweeping statements about the product they will understand that this is a truly valuable product. Being specific sounds more like facts.
• Also inform the reader about the manufacturing process of your product to show transparency and that they are getting a quality product. The more you can show off the quality of your product, the more likely they will be to take your offer. People look at quality from different perspectives, so use analogies for the quality that will speak to your reader.
• Do not be afraid to reveal any possible downfalls in the results section. You can discuss the possible downfalls of the product and why they will not happen because of your proven results. Address any hesitations the reader might have here. They will appreciate that you are taking time to find the faults in their product and proving them wrong. People naturally are critical of everything and often look for the negatives in a new product rather than all the positives. Get onto their level and reveal that you have considered these negatives and have overcome them.

Step 6: The Offer

• Now that you have captivated your reader about all the greatness your product will provide them, you can divulge what the offer is. You want to address the reader’s need to buy your product. How would your target audience feel about having your product in their lives?
• You need to get personal with the offer. You need to know who you want to sell your product to and you need to know why it will add value to their lives and how they will feel about having the product. Addressing these needs and their feelings will hit the reader on a personal level. They will feel like this offer is specifically for them and is something they have been searching for for some time.
• The reader needs to think this product will fill a need maybe they did not even know they had. They should feel as though they have had a revelation and if they do not act now on your great offer than they will miss out on having this product in their life.
• Creating a sense of urgency with the offer is important. You will want to break up your offer into smaller parts, if possible, to make the reader feel like they are getting more value in the offer. Even if it is just one product, breaking it into smaller sellable features can make the product seem bigger and better. It’s all about perception.
• The offer will back up all the problems you addressed and how each feature of the product addresses those problems. Compare your new product to a similar older model. You want to highlight all the benefits and why your product is superior. Here you can back up your offer with direct results and figures. This will reiterate the greatness of your product and remind the reader of what they are getting for this offer.
• Fragment your offer into smaller deals, and then add in bonuses that were not mentioned beforehand. Maybe keep a feature out of the main features and reveal it here as a bonus feature. Even though it might be a regular feature, calling it a bonus will help sweeten your offer. This bonus will add more value to the customer and they will think they are getting a special deal just for them. A bonus can also have be time sensitive, adding to that sense of urgency to buy now. Explain how they will benefit from acting now and receive this bonus offer.
• Only after you have broken down your offer and included bonuses should you include the price of your offer. You want to leave this to the end of the offer so in their mind they are building up your quality product to be more expensive than it actually is. By showing them how much they will receive from this product they will start to calculate in the mind how much they will expect it to cost.
• If you have written your sales copy correctly, then they will expect your product to cost much more than it does. By doing this, you will make them feel like they are getting an even better offer than you are giving them. You have to market your product to be the best and create that demand for your product so when the price of the offer is revealed to them they will jump on it immediately and think they would be stupid not to take the offer.