You’ve probably seen them before, long sales pages filled with hype, highlighting and giant letters urging you to “ACT FAST!”. They’re so ubiquitous, in fact, that they seem to be a staple of internet marketing. No matter what the product or service may be, the chances are good that the sales copy is full of hype and gimmicks. While this may have been entirely acceptable a few years ago, does it really have a place in the modern web?
The internet was, at one time, the domain of computer geeks. These days, however, almost everyone, grandmothers included, are now on the web and communicating through social media. So many people use the web that you would be hard pressed to find a business or individual that doesn’t have some sort of web presence. All of this is accepted fact but it means much more to the field of internet marketing and copywriting specifically.
If you take a look at the websites for some of the most profitable companies in the world, such as iPhone creator, Apple, you won’t find overly hyped sales copy. What you will find is a sleek and professional website designed to expound the benefits and virtues of their product. Taken out of context, this may seem to fly in the face of copywriting convention which tells us that copy needs to have gimmicky text formatting and unbelievable claims. While this sort of copy may have worked well in the past, it’s hard to deny that we are now dealing with a different type of web user.
Gimmicky and hyped up sales copy may work well for certain things, such as a sort term sales campaign for a digital info-product, but its days of usefulness to professional services and businesses is numbered. The reason for this is that the average modern web user is savvy, experienced and expects a certain level of professionalism from websites that ask for their money. Hyped up sales copy may convert a few people but many marketers have seen a large number of returns when their customers find that the claims made in the copy weren’t delivered in the product.
The reason for this is natural. Studies and experience have shown that people react well to confidence. If a sales person exudes confidence in the product they’re selling then the customer feels confident in the claims being made. The problem with over-hyped sales copy is that it portrays a lack of confidence in the product or service being offered and causes people to question the benefits of their purchase. This sort of sales copy causes the customer to examine their purchase with closer scrutiny and more skepticism than a product that they were confident in before the purchase. Customers want to know that they’re spending their money wisely and are dealing with a company that can be trusted with their private information.
An internet business that wishes to build a reputation of professionalism and customer loyalty needs to have professional, well written and confident sales copy. The truth is that there are no secret techniques or magic words that will instantly sell a prospect on a product. Web based sales copy, just like its ancestors in print media, is simply the art of using written communication to sell products and services. Much like other aspects of life, copywriting isn’t so much about what you say but how you say it. If your copy is confident in the product being promoted, sure of the benefits it brings and able to absolutely guarantee the truthfulness of its claims and the satisfaction of the customer, you will not only see good sales numbers but will enjoy a greater number of returning visitors and unsolicited referrals. The style of your business’ sales copy is every bit as important as the design of the website or the quality of the product or service. If you want to build a lasting, respected and profitable presence on the web then you need to use high end, professional sales copy. Nothing else will do.