Copywriting Hacks for Headlines and Sales Copy that Converts!

It’s been said that copywriting is not about how well you write… but rather, understanding the psychology of effective marketing.

How successful you are, is ultimately determined by your conversions. To convert best, you do need to understand your target demographic… their needs, wants, desires, and know how to invoke emotion by painting a picture and relating to your reader by using a story.

If you are not able to get into the head of your potential customer, then the less effective your copy will be. It is as simple as that. So it’s important that you apply the mental hacks below to engage your readers and motivate them to take action, by showing them that you understand their plight and have the solution for their pain.

Headlines

Headlines are critical. A lot of the time it is the first and only thing that people see when looking at an ad, or the subject line of an email, or even on a sales page to entice them to read on. So your headlines or subject lines need to be compelling enough to encourage the person to want to know more.

1. Using numbers is a very common way that get people clicking on articles or headlines. Ever seen articles like “The Top 3 Ways To…” or “5 Ways to Improve Your…”

In a fast paced world, quantifying your tips or main points, lets the reader know that this is an easy read, and that they can scan through the artilce and get the tips that they are interested in knowing.

Most people would say, but I want my article fully read… but most people scan, it is a simple as that. So having a title without that qualification, will get less clicks simply because the title does not imply the simplicity of the read. 

The other use of numbers comes into quoting income figures, or the number of subscribers gained, or number of views, etc. Usually used more in making income claims or for more statistical type content, accurately defined numbers to the penny or last denominator, works wonders to increase click-through rates.

“How I made $254,678.14 last month” is much better than “How I made 200K last month.” One is specific and therefore interpreted unconsciously as being accurate and truthful, rather then 200K which is nebulous and could be a number you pulled from anywhere.  Of course, having the proof to back that up is important.

2. Adjectives & Verbs are very useful in creating optimal headlines. They are summarize the main benefits of your headline and help entice the person as to what the they will get from reading or viewing your content. Remember that people are always asking themselves… “What’s in it for me?”

Your headline needs to summarize the most important point or benefit or result of whatever your content is about. Adjectives can help the consumer quickly ascertain the main benefit that they stand to reap and verbs what actions are taken.You will always have an adjective in your headline, but not always a verb. It just depends.

Some commonly used adjectives and verbs that convey emotions include: 

• beautiful
• best
• brilliant
• epic
• essential
• excellent
• fails
• fantastic
• free
• gorgeous
• great
• horrific
• horrifying
• important
• inspire
• kick-ass
• killer
• know
• lousy
• mind-blowing
• most
• persuasive
• simple
• success
• ultimate
• useful
• valuable
• hidden
• secret

You can combine them, and find others more suitable to your topic, but be enticing and compelling in the few words used in your headline.

3. Keywords are usually the main word or phrase that someone is searching for to find your content. Depending on the headline, and its use, will depend on how important the use of the right keyword is in your title.

If you are running ads, then the search-ability of your title is less important. Though it still needs to be compelling.   But if you are writing the title for an article, or a video, or a product, that you want to be found in Google, YouTube, or on Ebay/Amazon, then keywords are important.

Yes, you can add keywords and tags to your content, well get to that shortly, but your main headline should use the most important keyword if you want to rank and be found by the right audience in organic searches.

The main keywords used in your headline, will always have the most ranking power in general. So make sure you use the right one, that you can rank for, and ideally is a buyer keyword or phrase if you are selling something.

Sub-headings

Much like the main headline, similar rules apply to the sub-headings. The main benefit of the sub-headlines is to break-up the content, and they can be used to emphasize the main points of the article or content.

So having powerful sub-headings makes it easier to scan the content and ascertain if it is worth reading. For this reason, be very attentive to the subheadings that you use, and how you break up your content, especially if you intend to use the copy for marketing purposes.

1. Ask questions. An interesting way to write sub-headings it to phrase them as questions, ideally questions that a person might be asking them selves and want to know the answers to. Readers are trying to find out whether you can solve any of the issues or problems that they may have.  The use of questions as the subheadings make it so much easier for the your audience to tell what the content is about and if it will help them.

2. Adding Quotes or Callouts is a very effective way to highlight specific sentences or important facts in your content or adding famous quotes related to your content to make it more relatable. This makes the article or content look more professional, well-researched, and having a famous person quote, also ads an unconscious social proof by associating your content with someone that has more credibility or fame. Have fun with this. It is worth it.

Body copy

The body of the copy should be a magical place and it is where most of the readers reach a decision about what to do with you and your brand. The words used can persuade the audience on the best course of action. The best way to go about creating the best body copy include:

1. Support the information with data: when you have the most relevant links, then the copy will be taken seriously. Testimonials and research data also make the copy look very authentic. You need to incorporate such data. You can also use the Socratic Method. Instead of asking the readers’ questions meant to stimulate thought and an affirmative response, you can try adding statements that the audience can agree with.

2. Active verbs: to encourage people to buy, power words need to be used. With this, I mean the active verbs. Verbs are a great engine for copies because they explain and also add some action to the content. This makes it very strong, engaging, and compelling.

3. Negative language: this is with reference to Meta language. Using negative language may help you to win an audience. Fear can be a great friend and it is what makes people keep on reading. It actually triggers people to act. When you appeal to fear of loss, missing out, and so on, you get an amazing technique that can help in conversions.

Conclusion

Copywriting should always be applied in a way that it offers persuasive language and patterns to create a marketing copy that is brain friendly. When you write with some psychology in your mind, you will be able to motivate consumers and engage them. When you achieve this, it becomes so much easier to actually get them to trust you. They can then make a decision to choose you as their preferred brand. It is a situation that can bring some of the most fascinating results. When you manage to get to the head of your audience, you will see some desirable results and this can reflect on your ROI in a very positive way.

By concentrating on different parts of your copy, you can deliver something that will make people stop and read. You need to capture the minds of everyone, even those who tend to be easily bored or distracted. Concentrate on the things that will capture people’s attention and keep it long enough for them to be convinced and converted.

Copywriting is very important in the digital marketing world. As such, you should treat it with the kind of seriousness that it truly deserves. This is the only way you will find success.

WANT FREE ACCESS TO COPYWRITING TRAINING?

Click the image below to create your free account and to receive other bonuses…

Originally posted 2021-04-05 15:18:46.