6 Secrets to Writing Copy That Boosts Clicks, Conversions, and Response
Copywriter Robert W. Bly shares six secrets to writing copy that gets you more clicks and broadens your audience reach.
As a direct response copywriter, my primary job is to write copy for my clients that beats their control. By that I mean it generates more inquiries and orders than their current promotion for the product.
Having been tasked for over four decades with the task of boosting response rates and sales, I’ve concluded that the following key factors are the ones that matter most.
1. Strong Credibility
Who is the mailer from? A Fortune 500 company? A local known and reputable firm? An MD or RN? Seller whom you don’t know personally or have never even heard of?
And don’t forget to market to your current customers. Most marketers don’t do that nearly enough, given that existing customers are five times more likely to order from you than strangers are.
2. Proven Track Record
How many customers does the seller have? How long have they been in business? How many systems have been installed—and how well have those performed in the field?
Does the seller have good online reviews? Have they been featured favorably in mainstream media? Any notable achievements or awards?
3. Clear Benefits
Does the product or service provide clear and specific benefits? Are these benefits ones that customers desire? Are they major benefits or minor ones? Are these benefits different and better than those your competitors deliver?
4. Superior Systems
What is the mechanism, system, or operating principles that enable your product to deliver superior benefits and performance?
Even if the methodology is complex, by describing it in a way that sounds right and seems to make sense, you can convince the readers that your product does what you say it will do.
5. Exceptional ROI
Your copy should present logical arguments, facts, and other credible proof to show buyers they will get a positive return on investment—and the bigger and faster the ROI, the better.
Say I have five employees each earning $80,000 a year performing a task manually, making my labor cost $400,00 a year for that function. If your AI software can automatically do the job without human operators and costs only $40,000 to license, I can stop paying the employees their combined $400,000 annual salary.
Which means within one year, my ROI will be 10:1.
6. Remarkable Offer
The offer is what customers get when they buy combined with what they have to do to get it. The ad or mailer’s reply mechanism is part of “what they have to do to get it.”
For instance, with a postcard mailing driving clicks to your web page, do customers have to type a long URL into their browsers? Or might it increase response to give them an easy-to-scan Quick Response (or QR) Code as a second online response offer?
Other important variables in the offer include:
- Products: brands, choices, configurations, options, models, colors, sizes, power, and accessories.
- Price: amazingly, the low price often does not produce as many orders as a higher price, as incredible as it sounds.
- Discounts and bonus gifts
- Terms: one payment up-front … installment payments … bill-me offers.
The items spelled out here are by no means all-inclusive; for example, I have made no mention of the mailing list, a critical factor that can influence responses enormously. But the parameters listed above are all, to some degree, things you, as a marketer, can usually control to one degree or another.
Robert W. Bly is a freelance copywriter with more than 4 decades of experience. McGraw-Hill calls Bob “America’s top copywriter.” He has written copy for more than 100 clients including IBM, AT&T, Forbes, and AARP. Bob is the author of 100 books including The Copywriter’s Handbook: Fourth Edition. His website is bly.com.
