Suave Selling: Write Smooth Sales Copy that Converts

Salesmen often get a bad rap. Practiced in the art of hyperbole, these pigeonholed hustlers of the consumer age make their living on the want/occasional need of others. For anyone not in the sales industry, they conjure up memories of Arthur Miller’s 1949 play, or the subpar experience that consistently surrounds the purchase of a used automobile.

Buy this! Buy that! Enroll here! All turn offs for the interested buyer. As the old cliché goes: you catch more bees with honey than vinegar. So how do you turn your sales copy into sweet honey for your buyers? Here are a few pointers for your consideration.

This blog post is part of “Your Definitive Guide to Lead Generation” blog series and "Your Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing" blog series.

What’s The Big Idea?

Your readers will first notice the headline on your website or brochure or magazine ad. So focus your headline around one clear big idea. More importantly, focus on your most important benefit. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes. What is their need and how does your product or service address this need? Write it out. Make it catchy. Then condense it as much as possible without losing the meaning.

Interested in more inbound marketing strategies for your business? We have you covered with this article. 

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Understand People Respond to Convenience

You’re a sales writer, not Charles Dickens. Write short, broken sentences. The readability of your marketing and sales copy plays a large role in reader response. They don’t have to read your sales copy. But you want them to. So make the experience as user-friendly as possible. Break-up sentences. Use bullet points. Short paragraphs. Even shorter sentences. Learn it. Live it. Write it. Earn it. Get it?

Get Memorable with Sound Bites

Any brand worth its salt mastered the art of sound bites. These proverb-like bits of information communicate one idea in a short and simple fashion. Often brands utilize three different methods for these advertising earworms: repetition, information in a group of three, and contrast.

• Everything you need. Everywhere you go. (Apple)
• Snap! Krackle! Pop! (Kellogg’s Rice Krispies)
• So much more than before. So much less, too. (Apple)

Present Problems to Persuade

Don’t just inform your audience about your product or service, tell them how it will make their lives easier. This piggybacks on the ethos of convenience. No problem is too small to exploit. Conduct the proper research to gauge common issues in your target audience’s day-to-day life and present your product as a beacon of light. It'll give them that “aha” moment. Even better if they identify a need they didn’t even realize existed.

Follow these basic steps to write hard-hitting sales copy that won’t commit the sin of sounding like sales copy. Don’t worry. It’s not manipulation. Just helpful information.

Did you find these tips helpful? Or do you have anything to add? Let us know by commenting below.

Also, do not forget to download your free buyer persona [workbook] to better understand your customers.