Sales copy

Why read this? : We explore the role and execution of sales copy. Learn the key marketing jobs it has to support. Learn when to focus on facts and when to emphasise emotions. And learn where psychology comes into play with sales copy. Read this to learn how to write copy that supercharges your sales.

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Sales copy context

But driving this action via your writing is tough. You have to consider different contexts for the sales copy such as the :-

level of involvement and the informational needs of the target audience.
stage of brand choice funnel in the customer journey.
media plan context.

Sales copy - involvement and information

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to writing sales copy for every category. But you can use advertising planning models like the Rossiter Percy grid to shape your writing.

This grid suggests that customers will have different levels of involvement in buying decisions.

They’ll spend more time and be more interested in irregular and high-ticket purchases. Choosing a new bank or buying a new car, for example.

They’ll spend less time and be less interested in everyday and low-value purchases. For example, when buying groceries or alcohol.

But within these high and low involvement purchases, there will be some purchases that are more fun and engaging (the car and the alcohol, for example). And some will be more serious or habitual (the bank and the groceries).

Knowing where your category sits on this grid helps you decide how much information to share, and shapes your tone of voice. You focus on attention-grabbing headlines for low-involvement categories, but longer-form copy with more details for high-involvement categories. You use logical and functional benefit-driven copy for categories with high information needs, and more evocative and emotional benefit-driven copy for categories with more transformational needs.

The brand choice funnel

Another key factor to consider with writing sales copy is at which stage of the brand choice funnel the customer sits.

Most sales copy is aimed at driving trial. It’s when the customer tries the product that generates the sale, after all.

But for low involvement products, where the customer won’t spend much time on the decision, the sales copy might have to cover awareness, consideration and trial at the same time.

For example, direct response advertising where a promotion or offer might be “new” and only run for a limited time. The sales copy here would need to drive awareness, consideration and trial at the same time.

Other categories will have a longer gap between the stages of the brand choice funnel. For example, you might see a car advert, but not check out their website till 6 months later. And it might take another month after that to decide to buy.

These types of categories need advertising headlines to build awareness, and website or brochure copy to drive consideration before the customer ever sees the sales copy which will ‘seal’ the deal.

Sales copy and media context

Which brings us to our final context area for sales copy. That’s where and when the customer will actually see it.

You have to consider the media plan which defines the location and time the customer will ‘experience’ the copy.

For example, is the message delivered in a tangible and traditional way such as on a billboard or in a magazine?

If so, you have to make the process of completing the sale obvious and part of the copy. Your call to action tells them how to buy, and what you want them to do.

Or, is the sales copy being delivered digitally through a website, or via an email from your CRM program?

If so, you have to consider the timing of the sales copy. Will the customer read it at a certain time of day or day of the week? For digital channels, you’ve also got access to digital data and insights. You can specifically target key moments in the customer’s journey. And because online activity is interactive, you can also have your sales copy call to action link directly to the check-out. To Buy Now.

It’s important to identify how, where and when the customer will see the sales copy. Are they just browsing, or are they ready to buy?

This helps clarify what you need to focus on. And how to make the sales copy more relevant and motivating.

E-Commerce example

For example, in e-Commerce, there’s a lot of research about what online shoppers want from online shopping.

As per our what online shoppers really want article, they consistently look for benefits like ease and convenience, range and price comparisons.

You can see these in this eMarketer example on why US shoppers use Amazon, for example.

You can use these insights to write more relevant online sales copy. It makes it sharper and more effective because it’s based on what customers are looking for.

You use it to decide how many and which selling messages to focus on. It helps define the order you write them in.

In fact, online shopping is a great area to learn how to write sales copy. When you manage your own online store, you can easily test different options. You can check the data to see what type of sales copy works best with customers.

Types of sales copy

These different contexts require different types of sales copy.

At its simplest level, there’s sales copy which gives factual information about the product. This type has the most impact with low involvement and rational purchase decisions.

Then, there’s sales copy which creates a more emotional connection to drive a purchase. Sales copy which evokes an experience to resonate more strongly with customers and drive them to buy.

And finally, there’s sales copy which uses psychological triggers. These come from behavioural science which looks at what drives buying decisions. You apply these to your sales copy, to make it more likely to drive a sale.

Factual information based sales copy

When you share detailed information about a product to a customer, it’s a way of building trust that the product will do what you claim it’ll do.

You can make this factual information available at different parts of the customer experience as it’s needed.

You have to include it in areas like packaging, and to appear on product pages with e-Commerce retailers, as you have to fill this detail in on their product information management systems.

You can also include it on your website, and include highlights in your advertising or social media.

When shoppers look for specific features in a product, it’s a way for them to validate your product has those features. How much of an influence this information has, depends on the category and the customer.

In some categories, it’s a hygiene factor. Customers want to know it’s there, but won’t check it. But in other categories, it’s needed so customers can fully evaluate your products, and compare them to competitors.

You need to be clear, consistent and comprehensive when you write factual information-based sales copy.

Clear

Clarity comes from how you show the key points. Don’t aim for fancy or clever. Use words customers understand.

For example, on your packaging or website product pages, create a short list of key bullet points of what the product does. Include any relevant specifications which helps make the sales copy clearer.

The specifications depend on the product, but could include :-

size and weight
colours
flavours
ingredients and materials.

Other, typical information you should include, especially in e-Commerce, is the Manufacturer Name, the Brand Name, the category the product should appear in (e.g. ‘baby food’ or ‘biscuits’), the EAN barcode number, and usually some limited descriptions of the product which would normally come from the packaging.

Depending on the category, you may also need to provide other information like shelf life, whether the product is affected by temperature, if the product is glass or fragile, and if there are any usage warnings or restrictions. e.g. allergy restrictions for food products.

Consistent

Consistency means applying this information in the same way on all the different touchpoints where it appears.

It’s especially important with product information. You should make it easy for customers to find the right product. For example, if your product comes in different colours or sizes, make sure these are clear in the sale copy.

Consistency helps the shopper find the right product and be sure it’s the right one when they buy it. Online shoppers expect to be able to find the right product right away. If you aren’t consistent, you may lose the sale.

Comprehensive

Finally, comprehensiveness comes from making the widest range of information available. Not every shopper will want every detail, but you can progressively disclose the information, so they find what they need. (see our design psychology article for more on progressive disclosure).

Information gaps run the risk of you losing the customer by not making that information available. For example, think about, allergy information on food products. Or material sourcing information for customers worried about environmental impact. If you miss this information out, the customer assumes you’re hiding something, and you won’t get a sale.

The good news about this type of sales copy is that :-

you probably already have the information available, so you don’t need to create it from scratch.

you can automate much of the process of managing it, especially for e-Commerce channels.

For example, in our product management information systems article, we cover how the likes of Amazon and Google set up standardised templates to hold these types of product information details for individual products.

Their systems are set up so you can access and manage the information directly.

This also means you can make this product information available to the shopper just when they need it.

It’s also worth checking out this great article on how to write better product information for Amazon.

Emotional based sales copy

Though most people would say they make purchase decisions based on fact and logic, in reality, it’s often more emotional and irrational factors which drive their decisions. Tapping into this helps you write better sales copy which influences customer decisions.

This is because emotional connections usually go deeper and last longer than rational ones. We remember feelings more easily than we remember facts.

So we feel happy seeing pictures of cute puppies on packaging. That’s why we choose the branded toilet paper over the supermarket own label choice.

We feel refreshed seeing people enjoying that ice cold soft drink. That’s why we choose it rather than just drinking water from the tap.

And, it’s why we’re willing to pay so much more for that stylish, exciting, luxury car, rather than the more practical and unexciting one, even though we know they both basically do the same thing.

Use your market research

What goes into your sales copy should draw on market research you have about drivers of purchase decisions. You’re looking to tap into the most relevant mix of functional and emotional drivers.

In categories where customers think product factual benefits are similar, using emotional factors in your sales copy can make all the difference to whether the customer picks your brand.

Your market research helps you identify key motivations, drivers and feelings of your target audience.

Creating a customer experience persona as part of your customer experience plan can help guide how you might use sales copy to appeal to emotions and feelings.

Use this to show how you want the customer to feel when they buy the product, beyond the rational product features and benefits.

Will it make them happier and feel more fulfilled? Will the purchase only benefit themselves, or will it benefit a wider group like family, friends or work colleagues?

It’s harder to write this type of sales copy, because you need to have a deeper understanding of what makes the customer tick. But this deeper connection helps you write sales copy that has more impact. Sales copy that attracts and engages customers, and persuades them to buy your brand.

Link with brand identity

The emotions you build into your sales copy have to be consistent with the brand identity.

For example, your brand essence, values and personality often tap into emotions. So, is the brand about happiness and joy? Courage and daring? Excitement and inspiration?

Your sales copy needs to use an appropriate tone of voice to bring these brand assets to life. It’s what your brand says and how it says it.

For the customer, it helps bring to life the outside of your brand wheel. How the brand makes me feel and what it says about me.

Your aim’s to convince the customer your brand can satisfy the need they have, be that a functional or emotional need. Your sales copy benefits should make the customer think and feel, this is the right brand for me.

Psychological based triggers and sales copy

The final area of sales copy to consider is how psychological insights can influence purchasing behaviour. Using these amplifies the impact of your factual and emotional sales copy. These are sales copy trigger words or concepts you can use to nudge a customer closer to a sale.

They’re especially useful when when you control the message and where and when it’s seen. For example, in your advertising campaigns and on your product pages. These mainly come from the world of behavioural science. There’s many books and articles on this topic, though if you’re new to the subject, Richard Shotton’s The Choice Factory is a great place to start. (see also our business books that stand out article).

“How” is the message presented in context?

So, first thing to consider is that sales copy normally refers to the words you use to sell. But the selling experience is more than words. For example, you can use insights from the psychology of colour to enhance the selling message.

If you want to reinforce the excitement or energy of your offer, then use bright, warm colours like orange or yellow around your sales copy.

But if it’s a more considered decision by the customer, use calmer, more authoritative colours like blue or purple.

The right colour choice reinforces the impact of your sales copy message and benefit.

Remove the pain of payment

Another sales copy context consideration is how you frame the price and offer.

When you spend money, thee’s a small feeling of “pain” as you give something away. Psychological insights in sales copy suggest you try to remove some of this pain. To make the customer feel less bad about spending money.

Charm pricing

For example, think about “charm pricing”, where the price ends in a $-.99.

Rationally, taking $0.01 away from the price shouldn’t make much difference. But it’s been repeatedly shown, the $-.99 effect has a disproportionate effect on sales. It’s believed customers focus on the first part of the price. They pay less attention to the second part.

So, comparing a $9.99 and $10.00 option, the brain focuses on “9” and the “10”, not the “.99” and “.00”. Many people’s brains wrongly reads it as a 10% cheaper signal, even if it’s really only 0.1% different.

Range pricing and primacy

This also has implications for when you have to list a range of prices. Customers tend to judge prices by the first price they see. This is known as the primacy effect, where the first number anchors those that follow.

If you want customers to think “good value”, you start with the lowest price and work up. But if you want them to think “premium and high quality”, you start with the most expensive, and work down.

Note also, that most people don’t pick the most or least expensive option, and tend to pick from the middle. You can deliberately set your most and least expensive options to make your middle options seem more attractive. (very common with wine lists in restaurants, for example).

You can also highlight convenient payment options in your sales copy to reduce the pain. For example, it’s less ‘painful’ to pay by card than with cash, as you don’t see the money when you buy. If you offer instalment payments, try to get the payment per instalment as low as you can. People focus more on the amount to pay each time, than how often or how long they need to pay. Low amounts feel less painful.

Positive and honest sales copy sells more

Another way to remove the ‘pain’ or a purchase is to highlight the positive aspects of the sale.

Quick and easy access to the product, or the benefit of the product, for example.

The closer the gratification moment, or the more positive the customer feels as they buy, the less ‘painful’ it is.

Think also about when the customer sees the sales copy. Will they see it when they’re stressed and in a rush? Or will they see it when they’re relaxed and feeling good?

Share relevant sales stories about why a product is on price promotion. But be 100% honest about this. People are wired to be wary of sales offers which seem “too good to be true”.

Admit flaws if you have them (sometimes called the Pratfall effect), as this actually helps to boost sales. It makes you seem more trustworthy. With online reviews, for example, people rarely trust 5.0 star ratings. But a few bad reviews which knock you down to a 4.5, for example, is more likely to be believed.

Sense of urgency

Another common psychological sales copy technique is to add a sense of urgency.

You put a timeframe on the sale.

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

This is what drives those “this offer only valid for the next 15 minutes” messages you see when buying something online. Usually, there’s no rational reason for the offer to only be valid that long. But psychologically, it compels people to buy, as they feel like they might miss out if they don’t. So, you set hard deadlines in the sales copy or use a countdown timer to trigger this urgency, this fear of missing out.

Scarcity

For similar reasons, making an item seem scarce also increases the chances of a sale. If there’s not many left, you again feel like you might miss out if you don’t buy now. The more of something there is, generally the less we want it. But the less of something there is, the more we want it.

Travel websites use this a lot. “Only 2 rooms / flights left at this price”. That’s using scarcity in sales copy to close the sale. (see our advanced e-Commerce techniques article for more on scarcity).

Social proof

Social proof is another psychological technique used in sales copy. Most customers generally don’t want to be the first to try a product or service.

But if you can persuade early adopters and loyal customers to review or rate your product, it helps convince more hesitant customers to give your brand a go.

When they see others have bought and liked your product, they feel more confident about buying it. It gives a validation by others, and reduces the perceived risk to buy.

(See also social proof in our behavioural science article).

Specific online store offers

If you manage your own store, you’ve even more places to use sales copy to drive the customer journey.

For example, in your order to delivery system. Can you get a product to a customer faster, particularly with the last mile of the delivery?

Can you offer free shipping if they order over a certain amount, or commit to buying with a subscription model?

You need clear and compelling sales copy to persuade customers of the value of these types of offer.

This can help close the sale. And it makes the customer feel more confident you’re the right online seller to meet their online shopping needs.

Build the customer’s confidence

Your sales copy has to build the shopper’s confidence in the purchase. It has to reduce any sense of risk they might feel.

For example, make refund guarantees obvious just before the purchase point. Ditto, if you offer free after-service and support. Make sure the customer knows how to access your customer service, and what to expect from it.

Customers like feeling they’re getting something ‘extra’ when they purchase. So if there are any upgrades or extra services you offer, build these into your sales copy.

Conclusion - sales copy

Writing great sales copy helps drive your brand’s growth. But, it’s a hard skill to get right. You have to get into the customer’s head. Whether you’re giving feedback on copy you’ve outsourced to a copywriter, or writing it yourself.

Well-written sales copy feels you’re having a great conversation with the customer. As if they were an old friend. Customers must feel they trust you and believe what you say before they’ll buy.

This trust is enhanced by making sure your sales copy fits your brand identity. That it’s in your authentic and genuine tone of voice. Focus on making sure there’s relevant functional and emotional benefits for the customer in your sale copy. The benefit to the customer is what matters most. Ideally sales copy drives a lasting benefit to both the customer and your brand. Good sales copy is an important win-win part of a great customer experience.

Three-Brains and writing

We’ve a lot of expertise and experience in business writing, including writing great sales copy. From creating and commissioning it to editing and refining it to make your marketing and e-Commerce words sing.

Our coaching and consulting services can help you raise your business writing skills. Whether you use writers, manage it in-house or want to build your own writing skills. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help you.

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Sales copy context

Sales copy - involvement and information

The brand choice funnel