writing good copy - egenie

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Writing Good Copy

© eGenie www.egenie.biz

Who are eGenie?

© eGenie www.egenie.biz

How do you do that?

We fix two problems that all website owners face:

Visitors do not come to my site…

Visitors do not convert into Customers…

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eGenie is a one stop shop:• Define goals• Define KPIs• Keyword Research• Write copy• Build website• With SEO and conversion in mind!

• Market• Email• Social Campaigns• Referrals• PPC• Organic SEO• Offline Marketing

We analyse and test everything.Change what isn’t working and repeat.

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Introduce yourself

Name Company What copy do you write? What are you looking for today?

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Copy for what?

Website Blog Email Sales Letter

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Structure - AIDA

Attention Interest Desire Action

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Understand your reader

“The aim of marketing is to understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself”.

Who are your customers? What do they want? What motivates them to “buy”? What are they scared of? Do they have their own vocabulary?

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Understand your Objective

Is it the right objective? What’s in it for the reader?• Benefits, not Features

Why wouldn’t the reader take the “CTA”?

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Your Headline

Must grab attention• On average, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline

copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest Spend as long on this as the rest of the copy! Is it strong enough to make the user want more? Do it first! (N.B. Twitter is just a headline!)

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Good Headlines - UrbanDaddy

Headlines that make you want to open your emails

Straight to the point

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Your Headline

The “How To” Headline• “How to craft perfect headlines”

The “Secrets” Headline• “The secrets to crafting a perfect headline”

The “7 steps” Headline• “7 steps to crafting the perfect headline”

The “Guarantee Headline”• “A perfect headline every time, guaranteed!”

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Power words

• You• Free• Money• New• Help• Guaranteed• Fast• Easy

• Love• Discover• Proven• Save• Results• Increase• £15,312 (an exact amount!)

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Tone of voice

Must be you A mixture of:• Personality• Character• Humour

Unique

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Humour

Keep it lightPleasing the majority

On rare occasions the absurd humour works…

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eBays Used Wetsuit AdHow much would you pay for a used wetsuit?

I bought this wetsuit brand-new last year and have worn it a fair bit. When I say 'fair' I reckon about 20 times, but then probably more like 30…

… I take care of my body and shower at least once a day and always moisturise

… it has no creases and looks lovely. My friend Gaz has got a wetsuit that he doesn't look after and it looks like an Elephant's arse, all wrinkled, a bit like an old man's testicle…You're probably thinking "People p*ss in wetsuits, I'm not sure about a second hand wetsuit", but believe it or not I have NEVER urinated in this suit…I've included a picture of a bear using a urinal, this is how I normally use the toilet, notice that the animal is not wearing a wetsuit. Although I am not a bear…

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eBays Used Wetsuit Ad – The ResultCompanies and magazines donated more items to

the auctionHad 113 bids on his used wetsuitWinning bid £8,999

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Tone of voice - hints

Write as you would say it• Imagine a chat with a friend• Common, everyday words• Ignore the writing conventions you learnt at school!• Read it out loud – is it you?

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Avoid sounding like a Thesaurus

“Wanted: a hollow place in a solid mass of hard, fibrous substanceCarpenters, with one little boring unit made from the 22nd element of the periodic table you can create a precise aperture in any piece of wood. And, behold, with the ergonomic grip zone constraining is done with amenity and gratification. Visit any one of our facilities if you are predisposed to acquiring a unit.”

Can you tell this is a sales copy for a cordless drill?

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Personality

Contractions• Don’t, you’ll

Involvement• Less “me”, more “you”

Slang• Gunna, 24/7, thx, cheers

Grammar

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Use Stories

Relevant Interesting Correct length? Use Your Testimonials Create Case Studies

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Benefits, not Features

“People don’t want to buy a hole” Make a list of benefits for each feature

Be specific

Benefit…

Feature…

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Appeal to emotions

To be healthyTo be wealthyTo be secureTo be popularTo be good lookingTo have free timeTo have funTo have inner peace

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Establish your credibility

Testimonials•With names and photos

Before and after• Again, pictures

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What path does the reader take? Headings Sub-headings Image captions Bullet Points Emboldened / italic text Highlighted areas

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Use bullets and lists

Why?• Look better• Easier to read•More understandable

How?• Put most important at the top

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Make the offer

Stand out and grab attentionDead simpleProve what you are selling worksHave a deadlineMake you a profit!

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Close the copy and get the sale

Summarise Tell them what to do

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Edit your copy

Leave it for a while and come back to it Read it out loud Give it to other people to read

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Checklist

• Understand the reader• Understand your objectives• Think of the reader’s path• Establish credibility• Appeal to emotions• Benefits not features• Close!

• Headlines• Highlighted text• Stories• Bullets / Lists

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Any questions?