If you include this in your sales copy, you’ll get people knocking down your doors to buy from you.

But sadly, it doesn’t get used near enough. And the result – weak, wimpy copy that gets poor response.

And nobody wants lousy results…

So what can you do to get more successful ads and sales copy?

You use emotion as the key to unlock the door to advertising success.

It’s been shown over and over that people make purchases based on emotional reasoning…then look for logic to support their buying decision.

For that reason – make sure your sales materials such as ads, sales copy, and web copy appeal directly to the emotions of your reader. Get into their head (I’m not saying to be dishonest) by getting their emotions riled up. Make them feel something…angry, excited, scared, whatever – but trigger some sort of feelings.

Then, back it up with some logical reasons they should buy. Then they’ll be able to justify their purchase to their spouses, friends, or bosses.

Of course, in order to do this effectively, there are a couple of other tips you should keep in mind.

1. Think of your marketing copy as a personal conversation with only 1 person
2. Write in a simple language your readers understand
3. Write your copy using the same words you use when you speak
4. Get straight to the point
5. Be yourself

Let me know your comments!

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Here’s a quick story of two different local businesses that mailed out sales letters to potential clients in their city. They both offered the same service to their clients, but…

Company 1 talked about how great the company and the service is, and included a decent offer to get the reader to respond.

Company 2 took a slightly different tact. Their letter had an attention-getting headline and described a problem the reader most likely had.

Then…they included a quote by John Doe from XYZ Company, a well known local business, explaining how Company 2 had recently solved their problem by reducing expenses by 32.5% in less than 60 days.

They talked about how their service would help reduce expenses and the benefit it would have. And two paragraphs later, they included another testimonial from a happy client.

The letter from Company 1 didn’t include even one testimonial.

Think about it – if you received a letter from 2 companies selling the same thing, assuming you needed their service, which one would you respond to?

The one that talked about themselves, or the one that included “proof” from actual satisfied customers that their service was great?

These days, advertisers can say anything, which makes people super skeptical. But the testimonials are the proof that people need. And many times, that proof is what’s needed to convert your prospect to a customer.

So the moral of this story is this:

Always include specific, actual testimonials in every marketing or sales copy you write.

Any thoughts? I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

It’s crucial to the success of your ad or marketing materials that your sales message is laser-focused to a specific market.

Think about it, you wouldn’t (generally speaking) try to sell dirt bikes to an audience of 65 year olds, would you?

This topic came to mind recently while listening to a conversation between my 52 year-old wife and my 85 year-old neighbor (we’ll call him Bob for security reasons).

My wife was singing high praises to Bob about how much she enjoyed Dr. Oz’s new TV show. She likes his topics about maintaining a healthy lifestyle so you’ll live well into your 90s.

Then she asked my neighbor Bob, a friendly old soul, if he watched and liked Dr. Oz.

His response shocked her:

“HELL NO, I can’t stand the guy!”

So she asked him why.

“I’m 85 years old and he keeps talking about ways to live till your 100. And I don’t want to live till I’m 100. He’s got no idea about how us older folks feel about that topic, and obviously he’s never bothered to find out or he wouldn’t keep harping on it.”

The light bulb flashed in my head.

It’s just like marketing – you need to intimately know your audience to successfully capture and hold their attention.

In this case – the show seems to be more focused towards 53 year old women than 85 year old men. And my guess is that’s how the good ole’ doctor planned it.

Obviously, Bob hated the guy – but then again – Dr. Oz didn’t really have anything to offer that was important to him.

So the moral to this story – KNOW THY AUDIENCE and FOCUS YOUR MESSAGE ACCORDINGLY.

What do you think?

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Think back to when you were three or four, maybe five years old…

Did your parents read stories to you each night?

Mine did, as I’m sure many others did.

All those bed-time stories were always so interesting, I couldn’t wait for them to read to me each night. And I think as we grow up, we’re predisposed to listening to a good story.

Which brings me to this…

You may have heard the story of the 6 year-old Colorado boy who held much of the nation glued to their TVs for two hours while watching in horror as a runaway balloon, with the boy supposedly inside, flew 7000 feet in the air for over 50 miles.

One person commented: “For two solid hours, I was completely captivated by this story as it unfolded”.

So you’re asking – “What’s this have to do with writing powerful sales copy that gets results?”

Actually…Everything!

You see, because people love a great story, some of the best sales copy ever written uses a story lead to command readership.

The key when using a story lead is to get the attention with your headline, then hook them with a story that literally captivates them, so much they can’t put it down until they’re done reading the copy.

Once they’re emotionally involved, you can literally persuade them to do what you want, as long as the offer and call-to-action is relevant and powerful.  

So – next time you’re trying to figure out what kind of lead to use in your copy, think about using a great story, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Any thoughts? I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Last week, a friend of the family, who happens to be blind, stayed with me and my wife for a few days.

During her visit, we talked about many things including family, politics, and life in general.

I had just finished telling her all about my wife’s company’s summer outing aboard a chartered boat in Boston Harbor. I explained in detail all the highlights and even some of the non-highlights.

Then she said something that hit me right between the eyes. I call it one of my “duh” moments.

She said “Wow, Merrill – what a great time you must have had. As you told the story, I felt like I was there experiencing it for myself.”

Now, to be honest, I try to include a tad more detail about things when talking with her anyway, but her statement floored me.

What she said also applied to writing sales copy.

Engaging stories are proven to sell and generate interest, and one key to successful sales copy based on a story lead is to make your reader feel the experience and details just like they were there themselves.

People love stories, especially when they include vivid details, because it engages their feelings and emotions, then encourages them to take the action you want.

So get writing your next sales story today.

Any thoughts? I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Dunno about you – but I hate to read anything that bores me to tears.

However, I enjoy reading material that has a little pizzaz. You know – written by a person with a real personality, not a computer brain.

And most of people I know are in the same boat. It’s kind of nice to read an article, book, or newsletter that’s entertaining, and at the same time provides useful and valuable information.

Ding -Ding-Ding- Tip Alert***** Did you pick up on the valuable copywriting tip I just gave you?

If you didn’t…that’s ok. I’ll clue you in, anyway, just cuz I want you to succeed.

The tip is:

The truth is… nobody likes to read anything boring and this is especially true when it comes to reading sales copy.

I’m talking about copy in your space ads, postcards, direct mail, web copy, email promos, and whatever other media you might use.

So…keep this fact in mind every time you write any sales copy for any media.

Remember – it’s your prospects that read your ads, not robots, but real, honest to goodness people. Don’t be afraid to inject a little personality in your materials. Your prospects are people, too.

Good stories are a great way to engage your prospects.

Plus, it’s been proven that people who enjoy reading sales copy have more of a tendency to act on your offer. Obviously, if it’s too boring, it won’t get read at all, and if that happens, you definitely aint getting a sale!

Some of you are probably wondering about using humor.  You can use humor, too, just be very careful when you do. Some experts say when you offend people, you lose them for good.

But other copywriting experts find that if you’re so careful with your copy to not offend anyone – your copy will be weak because it won’t engage anyone. Personally, I tend to favor this point of view,

Think about it…no matter what you do or say, there’s always going to be someone that doesn’t like you, or what you have to say. And you don’t want those types of people for clients anyway.

Promise yourself – Just say NO to Boring Copy!

So starting today write your headlines and sales copy that sing with excitement and personality. (Not to be confused with boring stories or never-ending babble)

What do you think about this technique?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

The only goal of any ad or sales letter or website copy should be to persuade somebody to take a specific action!

It’s to sell the reader on calling you, visiting your shop or website, giving you their contact information, or some other specific action.

An in order to accomplish that, the copywriter needs to know a little bit about selling, in addition to writing persuasive sales copy.

Many, many years ago, famous copywriter John E. Kennedy (no…not the President), once said that all advertising copy is “salesmanship in print“.

And that’s why some of the world’s best ad copywriters were as good as they were – because they had past experience and success in sales. They also knew if they put the successful thoughts and tactics used to sell in writing, they would sell even more.

Effectively creating an army of thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of salesmen.

That, my friend, is where your business can take advantage of direct response marketing, by taking advantage of numbers. One salesman can’t effectively sell to 10,000 prospects by himself, but by golly, a masterful sales letter or ad sure can.

Now you could call it  –  “salesmanship in print multiplied”!

Just keep in mind, to create a successful promotion, you must cater to your market, and use the art of persuasion, not branding, in the sales copy to sell them your product.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit  www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC