Killer Sales Copy — Killer Washing Machine
Converting Website Visitors article
Killer Sales Copy Cleans Up
If you’re selling a clapped-out 25-year-old washing machine with a $1 reserve on an auction site, would you describe it like this?
It’s the loudest most violent sounding washing machine I have ever encountered.viagra online It makes guests scared and children cry. I’ve lived with it like that for almost a year and it still scares me.
[…]
On heavy duty spin cycle it sort of sounds a bit like the tortured howls of 1000 undead writhing in the sulphury pits of hell mixed with a train with carriages full of scrap iron sliding down the road with no wheels, on fire, into a bell factory.
[…]
If your [sic] in a fix and need a cheap washing machine and are either completely deaf or hate your neighbours this baby is for you.
And if you did, what response do you think you’d get?
- A final selling price of over $5,000
- A spot on the TV and international press coverage (e.g. The Times Online)
- More than 800,000 page views
- Over 800 comments
- A spin-off website and new online business (scarywashingmachine.com)
No? Well that’s what Mike Whittaker did. So how did he do it? Through listing the amazing features, explaining the benefits and hiding all the bad stuff behind a glossy corporate-sounding sales pitch? Not exactly…
Mike described the thing in glorious and vivid ways:
…a porthole to another dimension open above it just for a second, there were dinosaurs on the other side…
…I drew a picture of the dinosaurs I saw in case people didn’t believe me, they are partly red because my green felt ran out half way through…
…I think it would be good to paint it matt black and put steel spikes all over it and draw demons on the front…
So what’s the secret to this killer sales copy?
In a word “engagement”. Through a spot of creative writing Mike gave the infernal contraption a vivid identity that caught people’s attention and then their imagination. This was the perfect sales copy for his audience, the ‘product’ and the sales channel he was using.
And don’t forget these stunning results were achieved for an old, battered and truly scary washing machine.
An Introduction to Converting Website Visitors
Converting Website Visitors article
Visitors aren’t what you want
With all the buzz around SEO it’s surprisingly easy to be lured into thinking that it’s visitors you need. You don’t. You want customers not visitors.
Copywriting helps you convert, not covert visitors.
Sales copy is about getting visitors to respond, whether that be to buy a product or service, to sign-up for a newsletter, to support an idea, even click on an advertisers link… however you define a ’sale’.
There are many other elements to a website — images and graphics, functionality, layout etc. All these are important in facilitating the buying process but the actual selling is done by words. At it’s simplest that is “click here to buy this for this much”. But there’s so much more to it than that.
Ever bought anything off Amazon? If so, how much copy did you see? Whenever I’m agonising over what product to buy it’s not Amazon’s design, the images or even the one-click ordering that actually sells to me.online payday loan After a quick check of the manufacturers’ description to ensure it does what I need comes hours of reading through all the reviews and comments to see if it’s something I want. That’s when I buy. It’s no accident that Amazon is so copy-centric or that it allows user reviews, they understand their customers.
Is your web copy working hard to get sales?
I see this all too often, websites that provide visitors with a whole bunch of information about who they are and what they do, some of it quite interesting. The trouble is it’s bloated and lazy, just passively filling the page. Every word you write should be working hard to ensure you have the visitor’s attention, to get your message across and lead him/ her to the response you want.
Don’t forget to sell!
“So we’re talking the hard sell and persuasive copy right?”
If that’s what works best for your target market then absolutely yes. But in most cases I would say absolutely not. High pressure, pushy sales techniques don’t tend to work too well online where there’s a back button.
And what is persuasion? For me it conjures up images of two largely built gentlemen in tailored suits inviting me to try on a pair of concrete boots. A better technique must surely be to provide the visitor with compelling reasons, appeal to their wants and build trust? It’s not about trying to steam roll resistance, it’s about making the visitor want to respond.
This is possibly the hardest challenge facing any business and any copywriter. But there are many ways in which you can increase your conversion rates through well written sales copy.
An Introduction to Understanding Customers
Understanding Customers article
viagra simple steps to success
Successful business is all about communication and to communicate takes just 2 things:
- Something to say
- Someone to listen
It’s really that simple? Yes, but I never said it was easy.
“And copywriting helps me with what I want to say?”
Yes and more. Copywriting is about communication and we know that takes 2 things so, for your words to be effective they need to be written to get heard. This needs an understanding of who they are being written for. Without this you face the biggest pitfall when writing for the web:
Trying to tell people what you want to say and not what they want to hear.
More than any other medium, internet users have incredible control over what, where, when and how they read. If what you’re saying isn’t what your target audience wants to listen to then it just won’t be read.
Know Your Customers
OK, this is a term I’ve pinched from anti-money laundering regulations but it’s what counts for any business and for effective copywriting. Without knowing who your potential customers are and what they are looking for you can’t hope to communicate effectively.
What does your target market want? What do they need? Who exactly is in your target market? What do they respond to? Where can you reach them and how? Are you missing opportunities?
Getting emotional
For optimal results this goes much further than logic and matching benefits to needs. Consumer behaviour is as much driven by emotional wants as it is logical needs. Knowing what drives purchasing decisions and what will tip a visitor over into becoming a customer gives your business and your words considerable power.
Now's not the time to cut interest rates
An article about Keeping Website Visitors
Getting website visitors to invest their time and keeping their attention means maintaining high interest rates. Well written copy gives a better return on investment for you and your visitors — don’t go devaluing such a valuable asset.
Credit Crunch Answers
An article about Understanding Customers
Times have changed and if your web copy isn’t providing the right answers then you’re missing precious opportunities. Copywriting makes sure your website is saying the right things and giving the answers people are looking for. It’s a timing of question…
Is your copy one-sided Velcro?
An article about Converting Website Visitors
Sales copy hooks readers and that’s what converts website visitors to customers. Copywriting is about turning fluff into effective web content that sells. Is your web copy all fluff? Fight the agoraphobic fluff explosion and hook customers.
PoFint — copywriting for a reason
An article about Copywriting Tutorials
Effective copy comes from copywriting for a reason. If that reason is missing the point, if everything you write doesn’t have the right purpose, then you have ineffective web copy. And that costs you customers. Copwriters make sure your web copy has an ‘f’ in point.
An Introduction to Keeping Website Visitors
An article about Keeping Website Visitors
Beating the back button’s gravitational pull means going beyond headlines and a beautiful website. It means keeping a visitor interested at every step. You never get a second chance for a first impression but you get many chances to lose a visitor on every subsequent impression.