Persuasion

Persuasion Principles To Write Converting Copy

How To Use Persuasion Principles To Write Converting Copy

There is a lot noise in the world. 

And it can be deafening. 

That’s why you as a business owner need to be more persuasive and more engaging in your conversations with your target audience to rise above the noise. 

How do you go about doing that? 

You use persuasion principles to write converting copy

What Are The Persuasion Principles?

Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, developed these persuasion strategies to influence people to do, think, or say certain things. They’re easy strategies to use in your business writing that help customers understand exactly how valuable your services are. With the right persuasion tactics, you can give your potential leads clear vision for how you can improve their lives. 

Before you get into a mindset of persuasion is simply manipulation, I want to reframe that thought. 

With your copy, I don’t want you to force anyone or manipulate anyone to purchase your offering if it isn’t solving a real problem (whatever that problem will be). For example, we offer copywriting services. However, if a person is dead set on not producing any copy (for whatever reason), I am not going to manipulate or force them into something they are not interested in. That’s sleazy and is not the intent of this article. Instead, we’re just using these principles to frame your work in the best possible light.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is one of my favorite persuasion principles. Maybe it’s my people-pleasing tendencies, but I love giving something back if someone has given me something. Reciprocity is “a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence” (WordHippo).

BNI is a referral networking organization that exemplifies this persuasion principle really well. They rely on the principle of “Giver’s Gain”. In other words, if I give you referrals, I will receive referrals in return. In my personal experience with BNI, this rings true every single time I pass qualified referrals to another member. 

Commitment & Consistency

This may top reciprocity as my favorite principle. From an early age, I remember being frustrated when people would say “yes” and then say “no” when a better option came along. As a result, I developed a mentality that my “yeses” will be 100%. There is no turning back. No returns or takebacks. When you commit and remain consistent, you build credibility with the other party. 

In simple terms, this is best displayed when you make your vows to your spouse to love them through sickness and health. But it could also show in your public pursuit of a conspiracy theory (even if the evidence stacks against it). 

Social Proof

Social proof might sound like a foreign concept, but we all know it by a more familiar term – peer pressure. When you employ social proof in your writing, you’re using the age old tactic of “C’mon! Everyone else is doing it!” 

While we’ve all heard we shouldn’t jump off a cliff (even if all our friends are doing it), social proof is surprisingly effective. 

Likability

You know what they say… It’s critical to build your know, like, and trust factor with your audience. And that’s because people buy from people they know, like, and trust. 

Recently, I talked with a salesperson who retired from a company after 30 years. His clients stuck with him over decades not because he had the best product or even the best price. It was because if there was ever an issue or if they ever had a question, they could pick up the phone and talk with my friend. 

 After my friend retired, the company’s relationship with the client strayed. It got to a point where the client called my friend directly to help solve the problem. Turns out, the new salesmen at the company approached the relationship as a transactional one. 

If you can, approach every client relationship (prospective or otherwise) with a relational perspective. Be likable. Get to know them. Build a friendship. 

Authority

Let’s say you don’t have a likable personality, don’t have social proof, don’t want to give back, and lack consistency. Even then, we have a persuasion principle for you!

Establishing authority is a great persuasion tool for all business models. Even if your business was founded this year, you have one employee on staff, and you’ve never made a large sale, you can still establish your authority in your industry. It might not be easy, but it’s possible!

It’s like resume building right out of college. You’re not going to lie, but you’re going to focus on your business’s strengths.

Scarcity

We’ve all done it. We’ve all been at a super sale of our favorite stores and bought something we shouldn’t have. What drove each of us to temporarily go insane and ignore our carefully constructed budgets? Was it the “Don’t miss out! This sale is ending soonsigns that elevated your heart rate? Perhaps seeing that thing you wanted so badly sitting on an empty shelf put you in a panic. 

We’ve all bought into the idea of scarcity. The thought might have crossed your mind that if you didn’t grab it right that second, you might never find such a good deal again. Finding a way to frame your own products or services in this mindset will create an urgency for clients to take action and will ultimately close deals.

Persuasion Principles Applied In Copywriting 

So now that you know about the persuasion principles, how do you actually go about applying them in your copywriting? 

Reciprocity in Copywriting

“So, what’s it in for me?”

Buyers today expect to receive something in return for their business. It isn’t a case of giving payment and receiving what you asked for anymore. You, as a business, must do more. Think, “How can I reward loyal customers? How can I show clients that our partnership will be mutually beneficial?” 

The easiest way to do this is to create some sort of high-value offer like a guide, template, or cheatsheet. Something that your audience will find valuable without requiring even more from them. 

For example, we created a bunch of resources over the last year. One, in particular, has been really effective for us in giving value away for free. It’s our How To Answer The 6 Most Important Questions On Your Home Page Guide. If you look further down this page, you’ll find what you can discover inside the guide without having to fill out your contact information. 

Download this free guide here.

Here are a couple more ideas for how to write out this reciprocity principle. 

Ashlyn Writes
Jenna Kutcher
ClickUp
Persuasion Principles To Write Converting Copy
PandaDoc
Amy Porterfield

Commitment & Consistency in Copywriting

At FocusCopy, we exist to build up and support female entrepreneurs. Now, we don’t exclusively work with female entrepreneurs; however, we want to find opportunities to help those women, create custom offerings to grow their businesses, and generally cheer them on as they grow their ventures. 

We are committed to our mission, and we make that commitment known in our writing. If you read any of our blogs or even just peruse our website, this mission is consistently visible. Make your commitments known to your audience!

You can demonstrate your consistency through helpful statistics. Do you know how much money you save your clients in the long term? Do you have 100% customer satisfaction? If there is solid evidence that your business can achieve a consistent result, let your customers know. 

Amy Porterfield

Social Proof in Copywriting

No one likes to feel like an outsider – especially when being an insider has so many benefits! Call out all the ways your potential customers would “miss out” if they didn’t decide to work with you or buy your product. More importantly, highlight all the benefits that are waiting for them if they decide to say yes. 

Show off glowing reviews from favorite past customers, highlight impressive brands you’ve worked with, and lean on the tangible data that proves just how good you are at solving your customers’ problems. Social proof is all about making a customer wish they had worked with you sooner. 

Savvy Chic Design
Keap
AWAI

Likability in Copywriting

You can be more likable in your writing by being more personal and vulnerable. The About Page on your website is an awesome place to tell your story and build connections with potential customers. But you can be personal in any and all of your business copy. 

If you’re worried this might make your copy seem unprofessional or too touchy-feely, try looking at it another way. You’re just a human being talking to another human being. You want to help solve your customers’ problems and make their lives easier. Being professional does not mean acting like a corporate robot, so don’t be afraid to show a little bit of who you are in your writing.

ClickUp

Authority in Copywriting

If you have credentials – whether those are awards, certifications, etc. – list those. For example, you may boast that you’ve worked with over 75 brands across 4 countries, are endorsed by some hotshot celebrity, or have completed your Ph.D. Maybe your product is super high quality and blows your competition out of the water in every demo. Before you start writing, create an outline that puts your greatest strengths front and center.

Keap
Hubspot
ClickUp

Scarcity in Copywriting

When you put pressure on your target audience through limited time offers, deadlines, or limited availability, you increase the value of your products or services in the minds of your customers. That’s why we saw a shortage of toilet paper at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. People thought they wouldn’t be able to get toilet paper, so they cleared the shelves of every grocery store. 

If you’re selling services, you only have a finite amount of your time to sell. Remind your customers that your time is limited and valuable. 

Learn How We Persuade Your Potential Clients

If you don’t have time or struggle to write your own copy, we’re here to help. Whether you need a persuasive website, newsletter, or blog, we can turn your copy into a powerful sales tool for your business.

Contact us today for a free discovery call and get back to running your business.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Copywriting Help Your Business

How Does Professional Copywriting Help Your Business Grow?

You have your product, a clear idea of what it does, how it helps people, and the price of sale.

And you have all the numbers, figures, facts, and marketing strategies all brainstormed and laid out. 

Even though you keep seeing recommendations to hire a copywriter or are studying writing techniques yourself, you aren’t placing too much stock into the idea. 

After all, words are just words. Right? They’re easy enough to put down. Even though it’s been a while since high school English and freshman composition class, you send texts and emails every day. So putting together a few sentences about your product and uploading them to your website should be plenty. 

You’ve also budgeted for social media ads that you’re feeling confident about writing yourself. After all, isn’t it really the product that matters most and not the advertising attached? 

So, you move forward with your launch. It’s an exciting moment! You’ve been working your way up to this point for quite some time, and you’re ready to help people and change the world. 

However, after a few months, you aren’t making many sales. In fact, it doesn’t seem like your web traffic is even breaking more than a few visitors a day. Or maybe you’re having the opposite problem. Maybe your ads are getting a lot of clicks, but no one is making the purchase.

What gives? 

It’s Not What You’re Saying – It’s How You’re Saying It

Believe it or not, you do need more than a few sentences on your website or advertisement to actually convince people to buy your offer. 

Now, you’re spending extra hours in the morning and late into the night learning about copywriting because it keeps coming up as the missing piece to your success

But, “what even is copywriting? Isn’t that like a trademark?” You think to yourself. 

Copywriting is a powerful form of marketing that has been used for more than two centuries. Even if the practice has looked different throughout the passing of time, copywriting’s goal has remained largely the same. 

The end goal? To close sales, of course! But when done well, copywriting can even position your business and brand as leaders in your industry – making you stand out from the competition and rise to the top. Your customers’ problems are solved, and your dream of having a successful business is accomplished. 

Therefore, it’s really no surprise that copywriting can help your business thrive. Because no matter its form, the aim is always to move prospective customers closer to hitting that “Order Now” button on your website. 

4 Ways Professional Copywriting Can Help Your Business

Copywriting – not to be confused with copyrighting – encompasses many different parts of a marketing strategy. So, it’s easy to understand how you might feel a little unsure at first how it can actually help your business. 

At the most basic definition, copywriting is any piece of writing or content you might find on a website, billboard advertisement, newspaper ad, and even a flyer you receive in the mail. 

Copywriting is also part of commercial advertising (if you’re still watching cable television these days), as well as slogans, catchphrases, and infomercials. 

Really, copywriting is everywhere, and has been for quite some time!

Nowadays, thanks to so many businesses moving online, it’s especially beneficial for businesses both new, old, large, and small. In the digital realm, copywriting takes the shape of sales letters, email newsletters, social media posts, blog content, video scripts, and more. 

From coffee roasters to law firms, no matter your industry, product, or service, copywriting acts like support beams to your entire foundation. It helps you solidify your mission and message, connect with your audience, and grab the attention of those who’ve never heard of you. 

1. Copywriting Improves SEO & Increases Organic Traffic

Recently, you’ve been looking for new desks through Google. So, you’ve been searching for things like, “best desks for home office” and you immediately have a wide variety of beautiful desks in front of you. 

You click on one of the first few websites that come up because they grabbed your attention. 

Well, that’s copywriting (and a little SEO strategy) in action. Not only does copywriting help your website actually show up in search results from Google, but that brief little description underneath the website link was written by a copywriter. You knew almost exactly what you would find before you even clicked on the link. 

But, maybe you want to learn more about this specific brand’s furniture. You might not find it featured prominently, but if you dig around a little, there’s a good chance you’ll find a section dedicated to Blogs. 

Why is that, you might wonder? Well, blogs are a form of copywriting that actually serve two big purposes. 

Blogs Offer Free & Valuable Information

First of all, blogs are a way for brands to provide valuable information to their customers – which often leads to better B2B or B2C conversions. 

Maybe you want to know how the desk you’re thinking about buying was made. Look through their blog, and find the piece that covers their whole assemblage process! 

Maybe you care about the environment and you want to be sure the desk is constructed with sustainable materials. In their blog section, you’ll probably find articles detailing their commitment to sustainability. 

See what’s happening here? You had questions and their blog has already provided you with the answers. So, essentially, the goal of blogs is to address your questions, needs, and concerns in greater detail. 

What kind of business would you most likely purchase a desk from? The one that has a lot of information available about their desks and products? Or the one that has nothing but a desk and a check-out button? 

This example can be applied to a lot of different kinds of businesses and industries. 

Need to schedule a dental appointment but you can’t choose between two different offices to call? 

While one has good reviews, you can’t find anything about their services, pricing, or commitment to providing you a good, pain-free experience. The other office, however, has full-on articles and FAQs about ways in which their dentists help you through dental anxiety – which, (we know the feeling, believe us) is something you’ve struggled with since you were a kid. 

So which office has closed the deal and earned your call? I’ll let you decide! 

Blogs Boost SEO 

The value of blogs doesn’t end with informational content for your customers. You see, the only reason you clicked on that website with all the desks in the first place, was because of a little thing called SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is like putting up highway markers leading to your business. Picture the interstate highway system lined with every furniture store on the internet. If you just type in “furniture store online” into Google’s search bar, you’re going to find a lot of results. 

That’s because all of these businesses have put up signs that say something like, “This is a furniture store. We sell furniture here.” 

But let’s say you type in “furniture stores near me.” Now, your search is going to be more localized. You may have fewer results, and the stores will specifically be in your area. 

Can you guess why? 

The furniture stores near you have indicated to Google that they sell furniture in a certain area. They probably have a physical storefront, as opposed to furniture stores that sell exclusively online. 

But how did they get Google to register their business in a certain area, and understand what it is that they sell? 

For this part, look through their website! 

What words do you see on their page? If they have a blog, what kind of topics are they writing about? 

When a business wants to show up on search engines for certain phrases or search queries, they use copywriting to incorporate those words into their web pages or blog content. 

This signals to Google to show their business for the keywords people are searching for. 

Simple enough, right? 

Well, good SEO doesn’t quite end here. 

Word Count & Quality Content 

You see, the more content a business uploads each month, the more web traffic it generally will receive – which makes sense if you think about it. 

The more signs they put up on the highway, the more road trippers start to recognize their brand and offers. 

We won’t get too technical here. Generally speaking, blog content with a word count of a thousand words or more is thought to be “quality content” in Google’s eyes. While word counts of two thousand words or more will yield even better results for your website. 

In fact, there have been several studies from notable content marketing agencies over the past two years that have done deep dives into the correlation between word count and SEO results

However, the content must be quality. This means well-researched, well-formatted, and well-written! You shouldn’t expect grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or incomplete thoughts to bring in much organic traffic. 

Additionally, you should never copy and paste someone else’s entire work onto your website or blog content. Seriously, don’t. 

Google has ways of recognizing bad content that’s just trying to game the system and will punish your website link by making it more difficult to find or remove it from its results completely. 

Ready to have a steady stream of quality content up on your website? Schedule a discovery call with FocusCopy, and we’ll take the content process off your plate. Freeing up your time to focus on your clients, business, and personal life. 

2. Copywriting Builds Relationships With Your Audience & Fosters Community

Brands and businesses benefit a lot from having an active online community. 

For example, do you want constant feedback on your offer? Having an online community to engage with on social media allows you to easily take stock of customer opinions. 

Additionally, you can get to know your customers on a more personal level, which helps you better serve their needs (more on that later). 

Copywriters can help your business build an online community by creating email newsletters, content pillars, and by giving away free information such as the content on your blog. 

Content pillars are like ebooks or in-depth articles about specific topics in your industry. The goal is to provide value to customers even if they don’t all make a purchase. 

Encouraging visitors to sign up for your newsletter allows you to communicate directly with your customers through their email inboxes. But you need a persuasive subject line and copy to really convince customers to take action on your promotion or offer. 

3. Copywriting Speaks To Your Customer Needs 

Understanding your customer needs is a big part of having a successful business. And it can mean several things. 

For example, your customers are more likely to respond to brand voices that they connect with or relate to. Copywriters are effective at capturing brand voices and speaking your customer’s languages

And once you’re speaking your customers’ language, you know their goals, problems, and where they are mentally and emotionally. 

Because even though copywriting is about closing more sales – it does this by solving customer problems. Effective copywriting does this by making your customers feel heard, understood, and that your business cares about helping them. 

Let’s solve problems together. Schedule a discovery call with us, and we’ll help you make your business vision a reality.  

4. Copywriting Strengthens Your Power Of Persuasion 

The purpose of copywriting is ultimately to drive customers and users to action. 

Whether that be signing up for your newsletter and email list, following you on social media, or of course, choosing to buy one of your products. Good copywriting leads your customers through a funnel. Until, eventually, you close a sale! 

The more effective your copy and research, the more likely you are to generate revenue. However, good copy still needs a quality product or service to offer potential customers. 

The most persuasive copy won’t help you if customers are leaving bad reviews about your product and telling all their friends and family about their horrible experience. 

Increase Your Conversions With Focused Copy 

Your business deserves to be on your customers’ radars. You’ve put time, money, and a lot of effort into making a service and product that actually helps people and improves their lives for the better. 

Don’t you want the best team of copywriters at your side, supporting you each step of the way? Contact us today, and together, we’ll develop a plan to tackle each one of your business’s objectives.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words