The Three Questions of Copy Writing, Writing sales copy isn't easy, and most people who try to do it
on their own end up losing time that could've been spent selling their
product or service. In the worst cases, they lose their businesses
because they never truly understood the three most important questions
in copywriting. Having your copy written by someone who does could make
the difference between you prospering and suffering.
So, what are these three questions?
1. Why buy the product/service?
In some instances, this is pretty straight forward. For example, people buy cars for transportation. In other cases, such as those in which not many people buy your product/service, it takes some explaining.
Here's the key with this: you want to convey how the prospective buyer's life will be different with the help of the product/service. Use only the details of how it works that are absolutely necessary for the reader to understand. If it's backend stuff, that stays in-house. You know all those FedEx commercials about logistics? How often do you hear them go into detail?
2. Why your product/service?
You have competition. It's usually direct competition, but it might be indirect competition, i.e. when someone has something that offers some of the same benefits of what you're offering, but it's substantially different in some way. That's why advertising your product/service isn't enough.
Copywriting requires that you let your customer know why they should buy from you as opposed to from your competitor. Explaining all of the benefits of having a laptop computer without letting your customers know why they should buy your laptop instead of somebody else's is essentially covering half of the job of your competition for them without providing any significant advantage to you. I'm sure they'll be grateful, but it won't get you very far.
Effective copy must illustrate why your product/service is better than the competitions'. It could be based on price, quality, customer service, a warranty, a free gift... Whatever it is, you must provide a clear and significant benefit to buying from you as opposed to buying from anyone else. This is called your unique selling proposition.
3. Why buy now?
People forget what they read, hear, and see very quickly. Good copy gives its readers a reason to buy now. How many times have you thought about something that may have been a good idea, but you eventually forgot about it?
Don't let that happen! Whether it's through a free gift (even a digital one), a sale, or even the explanation of why the reader might regret not acting quickly, you must give readers a reason to act right away. If they fail to do so, the overwhelming likelihood is that they won't act at all.
Whether you write your copy yourself or you outsource it, make sure that these three questions are answered with every piece you send out. Fail to answer any one of them and you're not getting your money's worth.
So, what are these three questions?
1. Why buy the product/service?
In some instances, this is pretty straight forward. For example, people buy cars for transportation. In other cases, such as those in which not many people buy your product/service, it takes some explaining.
Here's the key with this: you want to convey how the prospective buyer's life will be different with the help of the product/service. Use only the details of how it works that are absolutely necessary for the reader to understand. If it's backend stuff, that stays in-house. You know all those FedEx commercials about logistics? How often do you hear them go into detail?
2. Why your product/service?
You have competition. It's usually direct competition, but it might be indirect competition, i.e. when someone has something that offers some of the same benefits of what you're offering, but it's substantially different in some way. That's why advertising your product/service isn't enough.
Copywriting requires that you let your customer know why they should buy from you as opposed to from your competitor. Explaining all of the benefits of having a laptop computer without letting your customers know why they should buy your laptop instead of somebody else's is essentially covering half of the job of your competition for them without providing any significant advantage to you. I'm sure they'll be grateful, but it won't get you very far.
Effective copy must illustrate why your product/service is better than the competitions'. It could be based on price, quality, customer service, a warranty, a free gift... Whatever it is, you must provide a clear and significant benefit to buying from you as opposed to buying from anyone else. This is called your unique selling proposition.
3. Why buy now?
People forget what they read, hear, and see very quickly. Good copy gives its readers a reason to buy now. How many times have you thought about something that may have been a good idea, but you eventually forgot about it?
Don't let that happen! Whether it's through a free gift (even a digital one), a sale, or even the explanation of why the reader might regret not acting quickly, you must give readers a reason to act right away. If they fail to do so, the overwhelming likelihood is that they won't act at all.
Whether you write your copy yourself or you outsource it, make sure that these three questions are answered with every piece you send out. Fail to answer any one of them and you're not getting your money's worth.
Sean is a freelance writer who provides high quality writing
services to clients in a variety of fields. While he is versatile enough
to handle just about any writing topic (no calculus, please!), he is
most passionate about writing on sports, politics, and travel. If you'd
like to know more about his services, you can contact him via the form
on his website at http://www.seanmcconeghy.com/contact/.
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