• By michelle
• In Copywriting

5 Pillars of Copywriting that Converts

Effective copywriting strategies boil down to two elements. Does the content promote a reaction from the intended target audience? While getting a reaction (instead of a shoulder shrug) is paramount in good copywriting, it’s only half of the equation.

The second part of impactful content is whether or not you produce copywriting that converts. In other words, it’s important to have enough emotional resonance and edginess to give your target market a “gut feeling,” but it’s equally crucial to compel the audience toward the conversion point.

To give you that “double whammy” of copywriting that converts and produces a reaction, we’ve constructed 5 pillars of profitable content.

Create a Customer Avatar, and Write to Her

Persuasive copy happens once you understand your target market’s general psychology. If you’ve formed a customer avatar, you have a copywriting audience of one.

It’s a spectacular advantage to only write for one person, because the technique allows for the warm but concentrated tone that your audience needs before forking over their Discover card.

How robust should your customer avatar be? If you don’t know what kinds of books your customer would read, what their favorite foods are, and the specific WHY behind their actions, head back to the drawing board to consider exactly who this person is.

What keeps him up at night? Answer that question, and you’ll craft copywriting that converts.

Write Emotional Marketing Copy, then Back the Content Up with Logic

Our professional copywriters like to use a funny metaphor when discussing what constitutes emotional marketing copy. Effective copywriters tickle the audience with a feather, and then kick them in the gut.

In short, consumers purchase for emotional reasons, so you’ve got to grind the pain, but also splice in elements of surprise and wonder. But your target market is not solely an emotional audience; they’ve also got a logical side that may cancel out the dramatic feeling you’ve created.

Once you show you understand their pain and pleasure points, outline the benefits that appeal to their logical sense of self.

To do that, we recommend using only four words: so that you can. It boils down to a very simple copywriting formula:

Purchase [your product], so that you can [enjoy the benefits and conquer the pain with greater ease.]

Show with Storytelling

Show versus Tell.

It’s that age-old piece of copywriting advice that remains true no matter which industry you serve. To clarify, copywriting works when you reveal the benefits with visceral/real-world methods.

If the reader/customer avatar, doesn’t see themselves in the copy, then your content will fall flat. You can bypass that with storytelling in your marketing copy.

In doing so, you’ll highlight the visceral conflict your target market struggles with. And that factor creates higher conversions.

Split Test. Split Test. Split Test

Split testing is the only ironclad way to test your audience’s responsiveness to your marketing copy. You might be surprised at the results, but once you have behavioral analysis data, you’ve got action steps.

Related: Why Split Testing is Like Marketing Crystal Ball

Make Copy Easy on the Eyes

As copywriters, we’re lucky, because our audience (you) need the strategies we deliver. In other words, you made it to the end of this blog, but that behavior is not likely the case with your target market.

To resonate and convert with your audience, your content that must grab and keep attention within a few seconds. If you don’t hook the audience immediately, you risk losing them.

So make sure that your website copy or blog can survive a quick scan.

Not sure if your content can do that? Get all your questions answered…

Sign Up for Your Website Conversion Analysis