Train Your Copy To Generate More Sales Conversions.

Marketing creatives for direct mail and online businesses must grab readers’ attention fast otherwise trash cans and back buttons on browsers beckon.

A question I am often asked is, "How can I make my copy engage my readers quicker and convert more of them into customers?"

The correct and truthful answer is, you can only do this by testing your copy and creative, until you find the right combination of headline, entry paragraphs, body and closing. (See the end of this article for a free e-Book on testing.)

However, testing and analysing results take time. So, it makes sense to get your creative into the best shape you can from the start.

Advertising has been described as, "Salesmanship in print." However, for this exercise think of your copy as a, "fighter in print," converting prospects into customers in a hot marketing battle.

In order to "fight," and win by converting your prospects, your copy must be in great physical shape. It has to be lean and ready to do combat with any cynical or sceptical attitudes and thoughts in prospects. You must "train" your copy and cut out excess weight, tighten its middle and make sure its legs are strong to carry it through to a victorious end.

Your copy meets prospects in a marketing jungle and tries to convert them into customers. Prospects are often sceptical and resist. They have a lot of escape avenues and don’t much care to tango with your "fighter in print."

Your copy makes its opening moves through a headline hook, before showing the first paragraph jab, leading to accurate body blows and a final offer knockout. Each move lures your prospect to take a closer look and if your copy is in championship, fighting shape, it converts them into helpless cash paying customers.

To get winning copy, you must ensure you have not "trained" it to be a heavyweight. Heavyweight copy is lumbering and slow. It plods around small advert spaces or websites looking for an opening to land one shot and take your prospect out.

In copy and creative terms this is heavy, feature based writing. It is utilization of extended, boring words and unimaginative jargon. It attempts to bludgeon prospects into submission by force of facts and weighty arguments.

Unfortunately, for the bruiser copy, prospects have escape routes called trash cans and back buttons. Chances are, while your "fighter in print" is lumbering around, lining up knock out blows, your prospect has left the ring and headed for safety.

None of this means you should "train" your copy as a lightweight instead. Although lightweight copy is quick, exactly as you want, it is prone to using tricks to compensate for lack of substance.

A lightweight "fighter in print" explains things in ways that make it seem as though it is trying to insult your prospect’s "tiny mind." It fails to tell a prospect anything of value and goes for simple word play. It tries to overcome cynical attitudes and convert prospects by amusing them into conversion. It ends up annoying them before they swat it down and leave!

You need to "train" your copy so it "fights" for you in the middleweight division. Here, it is nimble and alert. It dances around your prospect darting quick jabs connecting with the prospect’s mood and needs. It encourages prospects to engage by demonstrating benefits that make them think, "hmm I could use that." It uses plain language getting to the point informatively and quickly, leaving prospects breathless, as it carries them to the final conclusion.

This "fighter" involves and engages prospects taking them with little resistance to the offer. Middleweight copy lands sharp, decisive jabs and hooks that capture your prospect’s mind and emotions converting them into cash paying customers.

Next time you write copy take a look at the finished creative and ask yourself, "If this was a fighter, would it be a heavyweight, lightweight or middleweight?"

That unusual analogy may give you some ideas about how to work on copy to make it convert more prospects.

Finally, as indicated earlier, the only true way to convert more prospects into cash paying customers is to test your creative.

To find out how to eliminate guesswork and convert more sales using a simple test strategy get a FREE e-Book from the link below