5 Copywriting Tips for Increasing Conversions and Building Trust

The better your content, the more likely you are to get the conversions you want, and build the trust that is required to keep your audience coming back. The question is, of course, what can you do to write the kind of copy that accomplishes that? You already know that good copy gets people engaged, increases social shares, improves brand awareness, and leads readers to answer your calls to action. What you may not know is what you can do to produce the kind of content that gets those desired results. If you want to boost your copywriting skills, check out the following 5 tips.

 

Tell a Story

Telling a great story draws people in. They form bonds with the characters in the story, and they want to learn more. Better yet, when it is done properly, a story motivates people to take action. Think about it. Companies like Folgers (the brother returns home for Christmas), Geico (the saga of the traveling gecko), and Travelocity (The Roaming Gnome) have all built successful advertising campaigns around storytelling. In copywriting, you can use storytelling to draw readers in, so they can learn about your brand’s history, your values, what you have done for others, and what you can do for them.

The trick to successful storytelling in copywriting is to keep readers engaged while gradually driving them to answer your call to action. It isn’t enough to simply tell a great story, you have to make your audience feel compelled to do something. For example, if your goal is to get donations for a political campaign, your copy could be a story about your candidate’s history and the events that drove them to a life of public service. As you make your way through the story, you can eventually shift focus to the candidate’s goals for the future. This can be used to invite people to help create a great future by making a donation.

 

Become a Better Writer

If you want to write great copy, you have to develop communication skills through writing practice, and by finding other ways to boost your writing abilities. There are a variety of ways that you can accomplish this. To begin, you can use tools such as Grammarly and Hemingway to help you identify errors, and weak points in your writing.

You can also take a writing course, or join a writer’s group or workshop. If you don’t already have a copy, the AP Style manual is a great resource. Finally, to become a better writer, read. The internet is full of talented bloggers, copywriters, and content marketing gurus. Follow them, read their posts, and learn what makes their content so popular. Just be sure you don’t lose your own unique voice while doing so.

 

Customize Your Content

Content that converts is content that makes your audience feel as if you are speaking directly to them. One way to accomplish this is to write in the second person. Using the word you (the most powerful power word there is), has a very engaging effect. In addition to this, the content that you write should focus on your audience’s needs, interests, and values. If you spend too much time focused on copy that promotes rather than copy that educates, informs, entertains, and engages, you will begin to lose your audience. After all, who wants to tune into a blog or website to read what is essentially a commercial.

Another step you can take is to vary your copywriting so that you meet the needs of all of your targeted personas. For example, if you are a game developer, you might balance your content so that both advanced users and newbies benefit.

Personalization is also something that you should keep in mind when you curate content as well. Think long and hard about the content that you pass along as well. There’s nothing wrong with curating something on occasion simply because it is funny or trending. However, for the most part, shared content should be relevant to your audience.

 

Work on Your Headlines

The first thing people are going to see is your headline. If you haven’t written one that is attention grabbing or interesting, they aren’t likely to click to read any further. This is why crafting a great headline is absolutely imperative. After all, your content can have magical trust building and converting properties, but it’s all for naught if nobody is reading.

Here are a few characteristics of a great headline:

• A number at or near the beginning of your title
• Use of power words in the title
• Creating a sense of urgency or fear of missing out
• Communicating value instead of features
• Appeals to a sense of greed or desire to be part of an elite group

Another thing to consider is the way the title displays on various search engines and on mobile devices. If your title is too long, you could lose some of the impact that you desire. You might consider keeping your headlines six words or less.

 

Use Video And Images to Increase Impact And Build Trust

Using video and images in your content helps you to accomplish several things. First and foremost, if your content contains these elements, people are more likely to read what you have written, and to become engaged. Your use of content will also build trust. People find posts with images and videos more trustworthy than those without. This is especially true when it comes to product descriptions and demonstrations, where video is especially good at building trust. This combination of trust and engagement are strong motivators when it comes to increasing conversions.

Of course, simply inserting some images isn’t enough. You have to use images that are relevant, interesting, and high quality. You also have to find ways to get your audience engaged with the images that you use. ModCloth is an example of one brand who has done this with great success. Rather than using fashion models to display their clothing, the company invites customers to share pictures of themselves wearing the clothing.

About author: Julie Ellis is an entrepreneur, speaker and social media expert from Miami, FL.  Follow Julie’s LinkedIn and Twitter to get more recent data about CRO, social media and business trends.

 

 

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