Sometime in the last decade, the phrase ‘conversion copywriting’ bubbled upto the surface. It arrived flush with promises to sell out courses, increase leads by 10X and bring bucket loadsa money into a business. 

Conversion copywriting’s perceived power plunged it straight into the realm of Marketing Dark Arts where it landed alongside SEO. 

And like SEO where only gurus could achieve page one rankings, only conversion copywriters could magic up spectacular results  from this cauldron.

Let me just waft that mist out of the way

So while that all sounds  interesting and cool, I wanna take a moment to define conversion copywriting. Then, together, we can figure out if you can learn and apply the copywriting tips I’m offering here to craft your own business copy, or if you’re better off leaving the writing to the specialist Conversion Copy Conjurors.

What is conversion copywriting?

The origin of the term ‘conversion copywriting’ depends on which bit of the internet you read. 

One source will tell you  it was coined by copywriter Joanna Weibe, founder of Copyhackers. Here’s what’s written in the Copyhacker article, What is conversion copywriting? Definition from the OG.

“Conversion copywriting is data-driven copy that gets prospects and visitors to say yes.

It’s a science-based process that helps you determine what to write and how to write it.

So you get that yes.

The term “conversion copywriting” was coined by Copyhackers founder and original conversion copywriter Joanna Wiebe.”

Cool. 

The same article goes on to explain that conversion copy is a three-part process that involves:

1. research and discovery
2. writing, wireframing and editing
3. validation and experimentation 

Also great. And feels like the steps any copywriter should take to put a project together. But how do other leaders in marketing define it?

Hubspot says, ‘Simply put, conversion copywriting is copy with the ultimate goal of converting readers into buyers.

Conversion copywriting uses engaging and persuasive language to motivate readers to take a specific action.’

Convert Flow, a sales funnel software company, put it like this, ‘Conversion copywriting is all about writing copy with a specific conversion goal in mind. This type of copywriting hones in on a single action and harnesses familiar words, phrases, and value propositions to convince readers to take that action…’

Copywriting strategists describe it as ‘a specialized form of copywriting focused on converting readers into customers. While all copywriting aims to engage and tell a story, conversion copywriting is all about leading your audience to take specific actions—whether that’s booking a consultation, signing up for a membership, or something else you desire.’

I don’t disagree with these definitions. And the methods they suggest to get someone to convert (buy, sell, download, sign up, book now) are sound. But what’s the actual difference between conversion copywriting and, just, well… copywriting?

Cue one really fucking confused copywriter

Audience research, data and market analysis, tone of voice, positioning, creative production, editing and refining are all important parts of conversion copywriting. They’re also the methods you use when writing copy. 

The idea of conversion copywriting being ‘other’ baffled me for a long time. Especially when you’ve got long-in-the tooth copywriters such as Drayton Bird, giving examples of using these techniques in way-back-when campaigns for huge companies. And referencing other original marketing tycoons who did the same. (Sign up to Drayton’s emails or spend a bit of time on his blog and you’ll see what I mean.)

The conclusion I’ve come to is this.

The job of all copy is to convert. And ever since copywriting was coined as a term in the early 1900s (and considered a proper job), it’s been this way. 

So we can drop the ‘conversion’ bit. And agree that what we’re figuring out today is how to use tried and true copywriting techniques. Ones that contribute to landing the conversions you want.

Let’s focus the writing techniques on one medium 

The following copywriting techniques work across multiple marketing mediums: leaflet, email, print ad, etc. But I’m  narrowing our focus so I’m not jumping between examples or mediums. Plus, I think most of you who’ve  landed here want ways to improve your online, digital marketing copy.  

So let’s talk about that, and come at these techniques as if we’re writing copy for your business website.

When it comes to converting readers of your website copy, you’ve got a slight advantage. People have already found your business in the search engine results. And they’re interested enough to click through to your site. It’s great they’re looking. But there’s still work to be done. We can’t take the browsing for granted. 

If it’s going to  move people from barely knowing you to feeling empowered and confident enough to take up what you’re offering, your messaging must work hard. So how do we make it do that?

The starting point is knowing who you’re writing for.

When you know your audience, you’ll know what to write 

You can’t market a message if you don’t understand who needs to hear it. So before writing, decide on your target audience. Then look for what connects them to whatever it is you’re offering and create an ideal customer persona.

If you’ve got no idea what I’m banging on about when I say ‘target audience’ and ‘customer persona’ then take a read of HubSpot’s How to create detailed buyer personas. There’s a template you can download, and it looks like they’ve created a fun make my persona tool.

Know your audience’s pain points

A pain point is the challenge or struggle that your potential customer faces. It’s your copy’s job to communicate how the thing you do or sell will fix that pain. 

In Understanding customer pain points, I unpack the  six types of pain. 

They are:

1. financial pain – the need to know how your product or service saves money or protects budgets
   
2. risk and trust – the need to see they can trust you and be convinced that you deliver a solid ROI  
3. ease and convenience – the need to see how the thing your offering makes their life easier
4. productivity and time – the need to see how your products and services increase productivity or save time
5. processes and journey – the need to see how you might help them recoup money and sales lost due to their faulty internal processes
6. communication and support – the need to see you’re responsive and responsible if there’s a problem. 

Before writing your copy, identify the pain points your customer is facing. You can then pre-empt their questions and objections, and write with empathy. If your customer is facing multiple pain points, address them one or two at a time to avoid overwhelming your reader. 

Now you know who you’re writing for, what’s worrying them and how you can help with that. Next, figure out how to give them the information they need so they convert.

Guiding their journey from barely knowing you, to total convert

When someone lands on your website, they might not know your company, product or service. You’ve gotta bring them gently up to speed by giving them the information they need to confidently act in the way you want. Do that by thinking logically about the journey they’re going on, and the information they need at each stage.

The customer journey. (Yeah, it’s a wanky marketing term)

A customer journey is the sequence someone goes through when they encounter any company—yours for example. It starts at ‘I barely know you’ and ends at, ‘I fucking love you. Take my money and let me tell all my friends about this.’ There are tried and tested  marketing strategies for each stage of the customer journey to keep that person moving towards the end goal.

It’s a pretty wanky marketing phrase. But it’s really useful when it comes to planning which messaging and media work at each stage of an entire campaign. 

There are three parts to this journey.

1. Awareness. Someone has discovered your company, product or service for the first time. They’re aware of the problem they have and they know you potentially have the fix.
2. Consideration. This is the phase where the customer researches and compares the different solutions on offer. They’ll read about your product or service (and probably heaps of others), check out reviews and (inevitably) compare price and value.
3. Decision. They’ve weighed up all of their options and know where they want to spend their money. 

The marketing at each stage will look a little different. For example, at the awareness stage a company may use out of home advertising—marketing you don’t see in your house, such as billboards, store window displays, bus shelters, etc. Or have paid ads running on other sites. At the consideration stage, marketing may include persoanlised email interactions, showing case studies, and offering free trials. Marketing at the decision stage might include offering upsells at checkout, putting a ‘back to shop’ link after they’ve checked out, or sending emails asking for reviews. 

So that’s a brief overview for a a whole marketing strategy. Now let’s condense the same stages for writing a web page. 

Using the customer journey to structure your writing 

List all of the things the customer needs to know about your business, product or service. When I’m putting my list together for a new client, I:

• think about the things I’ve been told during the briefing session
• poke around the business’ other marketing materials (website, emails, socials)
• read any feedback that clients have left (reviews, emails, FAQs).

Once the list is complete, look at each point and ask yourself:

If I were chatting to someone about this product or service, what do I need them to know first, so they get the next bit, and then the next bit, and the next bit, and so on.

This is a great way to overcome the structure struggle. Ordering and linking your information logically and succinctly can be a tricky aspect of writing. And planning this way can help you clarify which copywriting techniques will work the best.

7 copywriting techniques to convert curious bystanders 

And now for seven practical writing techniques so your copy is as effective as possible. 

What I’m sharing here isn’t new. These copywriting techniques have been around for yonks. (Because they work.) So I’m not about to reinvent the wheel. In fact, hundreds of copywriters have written books that detail what I’m going to share in (roughly) 1,000 words. 

But first, a couple of these books

If you’re proper keen to do a great job of writing your copy, I highly recommend picking up The Art of The Click by Glenn Fisher, as well as Very Good Copy by Eddie Shleyner. Both books get into the nitty-gritty of writing amazing copy and make it super accessible. Even if you’re not a writer, you can follow along and put their ideas into practice.  

But ordering a book and reading it takes time. And you’re keen to get stuck into some writing now. 

Love your enthusiasm. 

Here’s a summary of seven strong copywriting techniques that help turn your writing from ‘nice to read’ into powerful copy. 

1. Find a single focus 

Copy that focuses on a single message or idea holds your reader’s attention better than a page that tries to cover a heap of topics, and veers off on too many tangents. 

Pick the pain point you want to address. Commit to solving that problem on this one page, hopefully in a compelling way that hooks the reader. Glenn Fisher refers to this as getting the reader to ‘lean in’ and have that feeling of ‘Oh, I’m listening.’

Here’s an example. 

Let’s say you’re a family portrait photographer. Your target audience are families with young kids. And young kids are notorious for not sitting still. Your ideal customer (the parents) are facing a couple of pain points: ease and convenience, and trust. 

The single focus: They need to know you can take beautiful photos of them. 

This is the idea you lean into, so the focus for the page is how you’re that charming, funny, skilful  family portrait photographer who gets even the squirmiest kid to sit still.

2. Always write a headline

The headline is the first bit of copy anyone reads on your website, so it has to pack a punch.

A strong headline will:

• set the tone of your site
• reassure people they’re in the right place
• say something about you/your business/the product
• highlight your difference and why you’re the best option.

Blimey. That’s a lot of responsibility for five to 10 words. No wonder it’s easy to tie yourself in knots trying to write the perfect headline. (Which doesn’t exist by the way. But there will be one that’s better than all the others.)

My tip: don’t get hung up on headline writing and let it hold you up. You’ll rewrite it (and probably everything else) a lot, which is very normal. Sit with it, because the right headline usually doesn’t show up until you’ve had time to refine all of your ideas through the drafting process and have written the rest of the page. 

3. Structure your page like a conversation

When I start working with a client, I ask what they don’t like about the words they’ve written. Roughly eight out of ten people tell me the problem is the flow. It jumps around too much, they say.

Flow (or the lack of it) comes from structure. A strong structure moves smoothly from one piece of information to another, linking the ideas together as it goes. 

Structure can be a ball ache. 

I’ve written stuff only to reread it and think, Moving from this point to that point feels weird. 

If this sounds familiar, then return to the earlier point about treating your copy as a conversation. Make a list of all of the things you need someone to know, then put them into a logical order so one piece of information builds on the next.  

Extra tip: Copywriter Emily Aborn told me she sometimes dictates her writing first. So if this conversation idea strikes a chord with you, but you still can’t see how it will come together on the page, test it out in a conversation with yourself. Or experiment with a business buddy. 

Record the chat, then listen back. Pick out the transition words and phrases you use to flow from one point to another. What questions pop up, and at what point in the conversation? Now use your recording as a guide to structuring your page. 

4. Tone of voice and audience language

Defining tone of voice (ToV) isn’t some fluffy yet flummoxing branding exercise. It’s how you communicate a message. 

ToV influences the words you choose and sets the rhythm and pace of your writing. And it drives conversions by:

• making sure your business is memorable
• keeping your copy consistent, which builds trust
• making sure your marketing connects with the right people.

Your ToV should feel natural to your business and your customers. Which is why I suggest that clients include words and phrases in their copy that their ideal customers are using. But there’s an added bonus to this…

Familiar language you’re comfortable with gets rid of that icky marketing feeling. Because no one wants to sound salesy.

Where to find your audience’s language

Read reviews and social media comments left on your posts. And trawl your customer emails. 

Any forums and Reddit threads you found during persona research are also useful language sources. Spend time on these to get a feel for how your customers write and talk.

5. Include persuasive writing techniques

This section might give you flashbacks to high school English lessons. (Sorry. Kinda.) 

Copywriting relies heavily on persuasive writing techniques so use a couple in your copy. 

• Repetition of sentences and ideas.
• Rhetorical questions.
• Lists, in particular the power of three.
• Hyperbole to capture feelings.
• Evidence that what you’re selling works. (Testimonials are a great place to start.)

Check this out: Fellow copywriter and colleague Emma Cownley put a great article together about how these devices work. It’s a quick read, too. 

Using rhetorical devices to turn your copy up to eleven

6. Personalise the piece. Use ‘you’ and ‘your’ 

One of the most powerful words in the world of marketing is ‘you’. Using second person pronouns pulls the reader in by aiming the message directly at them. This can be insanely powerful.  

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using a lot of ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘our.’ If your copy’s riddled with these pronouns, try to rewrite it to include more ‘you’ and ‘yours’ so the reader feels included and talked ‘to’ rather than ‘at’.  

Want to understand exactly why it’s easy to fall into this try and why this copy tip works? Read this: Conversational copy – using personal pronouns.

7. Add a call to action

A call to action (CTA) is a clear direction to the reader about what they should do next. Every piece of marketing should have one  

Skip the CTA and you leave  your reader in limbo. They’ve read your thing, and they’re interested, but then what? Should they call, email, send up a flare?  

Give them a clear instruction so they can convert.

Time to use the techniques and write some copy

Every piece of copy you write for your business should encourage someone to convert—by guiding them logically towards the action that you want them to take. 

Strong copy starts with knowing who your audience is and empathising with the pain they’re facing. Then understand and plan for each stage of their journey. This gives you a solid frame for writing so you can pick the strongest phrases, sharpest rhetorical techniques, and write a headline and CTA that draws them in and makes converting the most obvious, easiest thing in the world to do. 

Now you know how to write conversion copy, choose a piece of marketing (or look at the projects you’ve got coming up)and weave some of these techniques into the copy. 

Want a free conversion copy check?

Once you’re done writing, put your marketing through my free copywriting review service. I’ll treat it carefully and respectfully, provide ideas, and offer feedback and gentle suggestions if there’s anything you could do to make the copy stronger. 

Yes please. I’d like a free copy review.