Copywriting: The Successful Marketer's Secret Weapon

Picture this! You're sitting around brainstorming a sales page strategy for the new product you're planning to launch. Suddenly an idea pops into your mind. It's as clear as crystal and intuitively you know it's the best one.

This "eureka" moment sends a spontaneous surge of energy and excitement flooding through your body and you're overcome with joy. So you pounce on your computer keyboard to start crafting your promotional page, and that's where you encounter the big challenge.

See, you've got to convert your flash of inspiration to simple, ordinary words, and then you must select the most compelling ones to infect readers with the same level of enthusiasm and conviction you have for your product.

This is where the super successful marketers outdistance the rest of the field, and the marketing weapon that gives them the edge can be identified in one word — copywriting!

What's it all about

Copywriting is a critical aspect of any online promotional campaign. It's an art that cleverly uses words to paint a picture, create a mood, tell a story, and ultimately persuade people to take the precise action the writer desires.

If you're selling a product, building a subscriber list, going after affiliates or just promoting yourself, your words must be presented in such a way that they grab attention and resonate with people emotionally.

Achieve that, and you'll have less resistance when you encourage them to do what you ask.

Here are some useful pointers:

• Involve the reader from the outset by targeting your headline and opening statements to what's in it for her.
• Keep your tone relaxed and conversational, as if you are talking one-on-one to a close friend.
• Use third-party information such as testimonials, surveys and statistics to support your claims and demonstrate credibility.
• Present your offer clearly, firmly and without reservation.
• Stress the benefits to be gained from using your product or service.
• Always offer a guarantee or some reassurance that you stand behind your offer.
• Give the reader reasons to act on your offer immediately. Be bold without being pushy.
• Explain what the reader should do to take advantage of your offer right away.
• After your formal presentation, add a postscript (P.S.) that summarizes your main points and makes a final call to action.

At the end of the day, your level of success is tied to how consistently your copywriting delivers respectable results. Those results will be reflected in the conversion rate. The higher the conversion rate, the more effective the copy.

Once you've refined a copywriting formula that works for your niche, the model can be easily tweaked and adjusted for use in other niches to deliver predictable results like clockwork.