I’m sure you’ve heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It lists the needs of a human being from basic (the ones that ensure our survival) to advanced ones that make that survival more pleasant.
There’s a hierarchy of copy needs like that, too, with the ultimate goal of making your prospects convert.
For your prospects to give you their hard-earned $$$, your copy needs to be clear, relevant, valuable, trustworthy and actionable.
I know, I know. You’ve heard this before. #eyeroll 🙄
But since I know you’re not putting it into action, I thought I’d show you how to apply these abstract concepts in real life.
Here’s how it works.
How to make sure your copy makes your prospects open their wallets
Imagine a prospect who wants to buy bananas.
He’s a big banana fan, and he knows you sell bananas, but he’s not sure if they’re any good.
He lands on your website and sees this:
“Yellow boomerang-shaped berries” 🍌🍌🍌
…which, despite being factually accurate, is not a clear sentence.
If you think no one in their sound mind would put this on their website, may I remind you of “we provide solutions for success“, “turning vision to reality” and other the real life equivalents of “yellow boomerang-shaped berries”.
But back to our bananas.
Let’s try again:
1) “Bananas“
🍌 Clear
…but bananas what?
You didn’t say what you do with them. Maybe it’s the name of your marketing agency. Or maybe it’s your take on the state of the world: “You all are BANANAS”.
In any case, this doesn’t indicate relevancy for the intent of our prospect.
2) “We sell bananas.“
🍌 Ok, this is relevant for your prospect’s intent.
…but not valuable enough to justify a buying decision. What’s the quality? How much do they cost?
3) “We sell fresh bananas. Just $1/kg.“
🍌 Ok, now he knows the price (valuable info).
But everyone says their bananas are fresh. Can you prove it?
4) “Fresh bananas flown in from Ecuador this morning. Just $1/kg!“
🍌 Although this won’t hold as a proof in court, being specific in your copy does make it sound more credible.
But how to buy them?
5) “Fresh bananas flown in from Ecuador this morning. Just $1/kg! [Buy now]“
🍌 Cha-ching.
Does your copy cover the main needs of your prospects?
I’m sure you have some paragraphs on your website you aren’t quite happy with. Or maybe a whole page that’s not working the way it should.
Check if your copy covers the needs of your prospects and is:
- Clear: Uses plain words and natural language. Each sentence can be understood only in one way – the way you intended it to be understood.
- Relevant: Matches the prospects’ intent. (Did they come to your blog post for copywriting tips? Don’t start it with a section on “What is copywriting?”.)
- Valuable: Matches their stage of awareness (Do you reaaaaally think someone looking for a copywriter needs to hear about “what’s copywriting and how it helps?”), lists important features, mentions benefits, anticipates and answers their questions.
- Trustworthy: Specific, rich in detail, uses social proof.
- Actionable: Tells them what they should do next.
Sure, there’s more things to consider when writing web copy. But this 5-point checklist makes any copy an 8 out of 10.
