Intelligent Copy – “Words on Your Website” or the Key to Successful Online Marketing?

There are three keys to online marketing success.

• Traffic to your website.
• Converting traffic into buyers.
• Maximizing lifetime customer value.

I’m going to focus on a specific part of numbers two and three: copywriting. If you want to convert readers into buyers and you want to maximize what a client or customer will spend with you, you MUST have the right copy on your website—and in all your online marketing.

What is copy? It’s the words on your website, in your brochures, and in everything that’s marketing what you sell.

Great copy IS NOT flowery language that makes you feel good about your company; great copy persuades as many readers as possible to take the next step in the online marketing process. Testing has proven that copy written by a professional copywriter sells more than ‘words on a page’ written by someone at the company.

I like to go one step further and include ‘direct response’ copywriting on all websites and in all online marketing—including emails written to persuade current clients and customers to buy again. Direct response copywriting uses a set of proven techniques to maximize response.

The six characteristics of direct response copy written to produce ROI.

• It’s a conversation between the seller and the buyer—and nobody else.
• Direct response copy sells benefits more aggressively than features.
• The copy includes a guarantee, an offer, testimonials, a P.S., and a good story.
• The offer is especially important.
• A strong headline that arouses strong interest and desire is vital. You have less than three seconds to get the reader’s interest or you lose the prospect.
• Direct response is readable and conversational and not academic or complicated.

If you want to write your own copy, start with a simple and proven formula: AIDA. This stands for:

Attention.

Interest.

Desire.

Action.

• Get the reader’s attention with a sensational headline, a superb offer, or the lure of a stunning revelation.
• Arouse their interest through empathy, a compelling story, or by promising a solution to a pressing problem.
• Arouse their desire through the benefits—and the offer, guarantee, and testimonials.
• Get action by…get this…telling them the reader to take the next step.

I’m constantly amazed by the number of websites that completely fail when it comes to the extremely simple step of directing the reader to take a specific action. If you want to take a simple step right now to improve your online marketing, go through everything in your arsenal and make sure there’s a call to action to stimulate response in everything.

If you look online, you’ll find well over 100 books written about copywriting—it’s a complex subject. Direct response copywriters are highly specialized professionals who can execute all the techniques necessary to generate a response in different media. And direct response copy is proven to improve response significantly—and quickly.

So you have a choice when it comes to your online marketing—and even your ‘offline’ marketing like direct mail. You can write the copy in house and put ‘any old thing’ on your site…or…you can maximize response by using direct response copywriting techniques (or hiring a direct response copywriter).

If you’re serious about your online marketing then you’re investing in driving traffic to your website through SEO, PPC, or even direct mail. It makes total sense that when visitors come to your website, you want to convert as many visitors/readers into buyers. This can happen when you have direct response copy on your website instead of ‘words on a page.’