Do you want to learn the secrets to direct-response copywriting?
Direct-response copywriting is a must-have skill for any growing business. Often the words you choose will have a direct impact on your conversion rates (not to mention your sales).
That’s why it’s important to master the basic fundamentals of direct-response copywriting.
So, today, we’re going to share 7 expert copywriting tips to up your direct-response game.
Before we do, though, let’s get clear on what direct-response copywriting is.
What Is Direct-Response Copywriting?
Direct-response copywriting is a form of advertising that focuses on the sale.
Advertising like this typically has one call to action (or just a few simple ones).
It’s usually used when there’s something specific you’re trying to sell, and you want people to take action now before they forget about it. Instead of promoting a product, you’re promoting a sale.
Direct-response copy is effective when it’s clear about what the reader needs to do in order to get the desired result: buy your products or services now.
It can be as simple as telling people to make an appointment for a free consultation today, or advertising that there are just two items left in stock.
The biggest thing to remember is that direct-response copywriting is asking the consumer to take an IMMEDIATE action rather than building brand awareness, educating users, or other non-sales copywriting.
Ok… so how do we do this effectively? Let’s take a look at our 7 direct-response copywriting tips.
7 Direct-Response Copywriting Tips
1) Personalize the Message to YOUR Audience
You want to communicate with your target audience in a way that speaks directly to their needs and desires.
When you craft an email or advertisement, make sure it’s personal enough for people to feel like they’re getting something special just from reading it.
How can you go about this? By building a concrete buyer persona.
A buyer persona is a fictional person that embodies the qualities of your ideal customer.
Once you have this, it’s easier to think about what they’re looking for when reading any form of advertising or copywriting from your company and how you can better meet their needs.
This will help turn them into a loyal fan who’ll be more likely to buy your products when you release them.
2) Use Emotional Words to Connect With Your Reader
One of the best ways to create a sense of urgency is through emotional words.
For example, when you’re trying to sell tickets to your next seminar or conference for business owners, say something like: “If you have any hope in building an empire that lasts more than just one generation then this event isn’t for you.”
This will make your readers feel scared and desperate for what you have to offer, which in turn will drive them into taking action.
What are some other words that help evoke emotion?
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“You deserve“
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“Imagine yourself”
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“Share this with someone who needs it”
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“Reject“
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“Hurry, now!”
What do these words have in common? They all create a sense of urgency and need for your product or service.
That’s the power of emotional copywriting.
A good way to test whether you’re using enough emotional language is to read back what you’ve written and ask yourself: “Would I feel this way if I were the reader?”
If you’re not sure, try to imagine how your ideal customer would react. That’s a good litmus test for whether or not your copy is emotionally compelling enough.
When in doubt, it can’t hurt to add an emotional word that may have been missing.
Why? Because emotional words drive action. Period.
3) Focus on Your Products Benefits
In most cases, your copy will be much more effective if it focuses on the benefits of your product or service.
We’re already suggesting that you work in some emotional language–but when people are considering something to buy they need a reason WHY.
What do I mean? It’s not enough just to say “our products have these features,” because people are considering your products as a whole.
That’s why it’s important to talk about what the benefit of each feature is in terms of how it will help them reach their goals.
For example, “our cameras have high resolution so you can zoom in and still see all the details.”
Rather than saying, “our cameras have high resolution,” you’d say something like, “Share the moment with your friends as if they were there with our high-resolution…”
or…
“Relive every moment like it was the first time with our high-resolution…”
In this case, you’re trying to make the reader feel like they need your product because it’s going to solve a problem that they have (taking better photos to share with friends or for memories).
It needs to be as specific and realistic as possible so readers can empathize with what you’re saying – and then suddenly realize how much better their life would be if they made the purchase.
4) Describe the Benefit BEFORE the Feature
People are more likely to buy from you if they know the benefit of buying your product.
We already covered that. So what are we doing here?
Because I ALWAYS see copywriters list the feature first and then get to the benefit.
In the last tip, we reminded you to focus on the benefit. But a big part of that is loading the benefits at the start of your copy rather than at the end.
Consider this sentence: “Our product will save you hours of time!”
You can simply re-arrange the order of the sentence to get something more effective: “Save HOURS of time with our product.
Here’s another example…
Instead of saying, “our trimmer has a cordless battery,” you could say something like, “Don’t waste any more time waiting for your trimmer to charge–it’s cordless.”
You can also use this tactic if you’re trying to sell something that’s not a BIG problem for most people, but a problem nonetheless.
Take a simple napkin, for example.
Rather than saying, “our napkins are 100% cotton and absorb more liquid,” you could say something like, “The last thing anyone wants is drips on their clothes or tablecloth–these are the best paper towels for catching those spills.”
In this case, your copy might seem silly at first–but it’s actually going to be much more effective because you’re talking about what readers are trying to avoid, rather than simply listing features.
You could also say something like, “We’ve got a special on these napkins for today ONLY–get them while they last!”
This is an example of scarcity in copywriting–which is a powerful psychological motivator.
5) Keep Your Copy Short to Draw People in
The shorter your copy is, the more likely people are to read it.
That’s because our attention spans are getting worse and worse–especially with all of this social media interrupting everything we do in life.
But don’t worry about that too much right now (that’s a bit of a philosophical and “aging man” tangent)–just keep your sentences short so you can get people where you want them to go (usually a landing page).
And the more you can introduce urgency, the better.
Maybe mention a limited-time offer or even create one yourself like “Offer Expires in 48 Hours!”
That’s because scarcity is a powerful psychological motivator–it convinces people to take action when they otherwise wouldn’t have.
In other words: make it easier for people to say “yes” in under 5 seconds.
But remember: short copywriting isn’t ALWAYS best!!!
Short copywriting is perfect for emails and social media posts.
These are crucial components of redirecting people to your long-form sales page (where the direct copywriting is REALLY happening).
So while your social posts and emails aren’t really direct-response copywriting, they play a large enough role in your sales funnel that it needs to be mentioned here.
6) Make a Long-Form Landing Page
No copywriting is complete without a long-form landing page.
A lot of people cringe at the idea of making a long-form sales page because they think it sounds like work and takes too much time.
But the reality is: if you don’t have a landing page, then your copywriting isn’t complete–you’re leaving money on the table (not to mention potential customers).
Plus, long-form copywriting gives you more opportunities be more persuasive by highlighting the benefits of your product and showcasing all your social proof.
That last one is particularly important, especially in direct-response copywriting.
Social proof can increase conversions by up to 80%–so you want as much of it in your sales funnel at all times.
One final note: NEVER ignore this “social” aspect!
Social proof is just one way that makes copywriting more persuasive, but there are others too–like testimonials and reviews (which can also be on a landing page).
7) Shoot for ONE Clear Call to Action (CTA)
The more you boil down your marketing message to an action, the better.
For example, “shop now” or “learn about our program.”
Anything that doesn’t have a clear call to action might make people scroll on by and forget it ever existed–because there’s no incentive for them to take any kind of immediate actions.
Why only one call to action?
That’s because research has shown that people are more likely to take action on something when they don’t have a lot of decisions to make.
So choose one, and try it out for a while.
If you find that no one is taking the CTA (or if there are too many CTAs), then consider adding another.
For now, though: keep it to one CTA and see what happens.
And that’s all for today! These have been 7 proven direct-response copywriting tips.
But remember: this information is only effective when you use it. Lots of good copywriters already know the theory behind everything mentioned here.
It’s the GREAT ones that actually use it.
Once you start putting these tips into practice, you’ll see better results from your direct-response copywriting.