The Copywriter’s Arm Lock

The Holy Grail of business is the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

If you have a shop on the high street, you would use your shop window displays to draw the public in. Once they step inside your shop, your highly trained army of sales staff are there to convert their initial interest into sales.

This is also true for online businesses, albeit in a virtual way. Your website needs to draw visitors to browse before they start to buy.

Of course, in the online world your shop window display is effective copywriting. There is one advantage of having a bricks and mortar shop; if sales begin to diminish you can resort to loitering in the shop doorway, leaping on unsuspecting passing trade, dragging them into your shop and forcing them to buy.

That is not to say that I am condoning such strategies but it is not something that is available to the online trader. Copywriters, no matter what their calibre, are unable to drag in clients or herd them through your website using a cattle prod. But their copy will increase the flow of traffic to your site and encourage them to browse and ultimately buy by being persuasive.

Persuasive copywriting is a skill that requires the use for four techniques.

• Evoking an emotional response – emotion is the most powerful tool available to the copywriter as it is the most important factor in the decision making process.

• Persuasion – the hard well will have your customer running for the door. The key is to persuade them to make the decision you want them to make.

• Be familiar with the website – your copywriter will then be able to impart a confident tone in their writing.

• Understanding the products – the copywriter must understand the product thoroughly so they can convey specific instructions and descriptions.

Copywriting is therefore all about attracting and then persuading your customer to buy.  Persuasive copywriting is effective copywriting and therefore will be the hallmark of a professional.