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Non-sales-y sales copy. Is that a thing?
By Sandy
“I need sales copy for my sales page… but I don’t want it to be too sales-y!! Can you help?”
“I don’t want to be pushy, I just want the product to speak for itself.”
Can you relate? Have you ever sat down to write your copy, but felt torn between creating sales copy or “friendly” copy?
I hear that a lot. No one wants to have that brand that is pushy-pushy and super-sales-y. It’s one of the first things that many of my clients say to me before we start work together, even if they’re hiring me to create “sales” copy.
But here’s the thing – there’s this belief floating around that if a product is good, it automatically sells. No sales or marketing team necessary.
But it’s a myth.
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Sales and marketing are necessary parts of business. Sure, some techniques are more aggressive than others, but at some point, you’ll need to spread the word about your product or service (marketing) and make an offer (sales).
These two components of business aren’t inherently bad. And they don’t have to feel uncomfortable for you or your customers. It’s all about striking a balance between finding and speaking your unique brand voice and making the offer. I want to point out five factors worth considering while trying to strike this balance, so you can feel comfortable with your copy while still compelling customers to purchase
Ok, visual design might not relate directly to your copy, but it does affect how your copy is perceived.
Visual cues help our mind make instant decisions about the world around us. They are also responsible for our unconscious decisions that are happening at the speed of light. The perception created by the visuals on your site aren’t something your audience will reason through. It’s just something they’ll feel, instantly.
And the copy can either work right along with those perceptions, or not.
Imagine how this works in the real world.
The phrase, “give me all your money,” is a forceful phrase. It’s demanding. It’s scary.
But the context matters. If those words come from someone who is twice your size, or holding a weapon, it’s terrifying. But if the same words come from a small, innocent child, your senses aren’t on the same high alert.
The same is true for web copy.
When visitors land on your site, they’re taking in information in a split second. Their first impression doesn’t come from anything more than a headline and an image. If you take the same copy and place it on a white site with red, dotted line bordered boxes, and enormous blinking arrows pointing to a “BUY NOW” button, you’ll have a much different experience than placing the same copy over top a fun image that instantly draws your audience in so they want to read more.
The design can soften your copy, or make it feel more forceful.
We can also talk about this same concept using the words marketing vs. sales.
The things that get shared on social media, or the free content that marketers give away, or this blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel, all of that is generally more enjoying to read than a sales page (unless you’re someone like me who actually finds sales pages a whole lot of fun).
They’re enjoyable because they’re made for sharing. They’re made for fun. The more shares they get, the more free exposure the brand gets.
This is content. Or marketing.
Some business owners confuse the appeal of marketing with sales copy.
In a marketing or content piece, you’ll usually see a light call to action, sometimes even as an afterthought. And often (not always) that call to action is focused on engagement (commenting, sharing, liking, etc.) .
Other times, the call to action is mild and harmless (download the free checklist).
But don’t let the prevalence of marketing content confuse you. Sales copy still has it’s place. And that place is on the sales page.
Marketing is a big chunk of the pie. Most of the content created and shared falls into the marketing category. And it works really well to get your audience to take small steps (micro commitments) along the way. A like, joining a FB group, a share… this all feels innocent to the audience, but it all leads to their willingness to take a larger, riskier action later on (on the sale page).
The more times you interact with your audience during the marketing phase, the less pushy your sales page has to be (you still need persuasive elements though, we’ll get to that).
Draw the line in the sand. Which pages are content pages and which are sales pages. Knowing which is which will help you keep a balance of fun and shareable vs. conversion driven.
Don’t let you anxiety around sales keep you from giving your customer information that they need to make an informed decision. Do you offer free shipping? You need to tell them. Do you offer a free sample? Customers need to know.
Just as you wouldn’t want to make a blind decision, neither does your audience. Yes, the word “free” is associated with salespeople in the mall giving out samples, only to rope you into an uncomfortable conversation for an hour, but it’s also a legitimate piece of information that someone needs to know if it’s part of the offer.
If your audience is unsure about how your product or service works, or what they’re responsible for paying for, they’d rather move on than hand over money and hope for the best. Part of your sales copy needs to take the time to explain how everything works, and set clear expectations. This isn’t being pushy, it’s being kind by taking time to help your customers understand.
If you’re still feeling nervous about the F (free) word, try saying it more creatively. Perhaps, “on the house” or, “complimentary” feels better for your brand.
The same concept is true for other necessary pieces of information, such as a return policy. Don’t hide it. Communicate it clearly and help your audience make the best decision they can.
Here’s where most people get squeamish.
Persuasive elements can include an emotional. logical, or credible appeal. I’ve noticed that those who are afraid of sales copy tend to gravitate only to the logical appeal, because that feels more, “real” to them.
But all three of these appeals are reasonable, and will mean different things to different people in your audience.
Many, many, many purchases are made because of a feeling. This isn’t a bad thing. Our instincts crave certain satisfactions, such as safety, love, self-realization. It’s not always easy for our brain to rationally decide why we need one of these needs fulfilled (such as love – nothing’s rational about that), yet we still crave it.
When customers are shopping, they’re often looking to fulfill one of those emotional needs. If they’re forced to only look at your product logically, it might not feel right to them – because it won’t seem it’s satisfying what they’re truly searching for.
It’s not our job to strip all emotion from our pages in order to force our audience to think only logically. Nor is it helpful for anyone involved.
Yet, some people feel nervous about creating an emotional appeal. Is it ethical to induce a negative feeling only to later solve it by suggesting the product you have for sale?
I vote 100% yes, and here’s why:
If you use a story as a basis for your emotional appeal, your audience will only connect and feel your desired emotions if they can relate to the character in the story.
So, if you’re selling a weight loss program, and you tell the story of a woman who felt hopeless and alone because of her weight, you’ll never evoke those emotions of hopelessness and loneliness in the reader unless they already feel that way. If they can’t relate, they’ll dismiss the story as far fetched and move on to another product.
But if the reader can relate, then she’ll be drawn to your product because she’ll feel you have understood her.
In summary, you’re not creating emotions. You’re compassionately relating to your audience. It’s incredibly powerful, but again, it doesn’t have to feel sales-y. It will only feel sales-y if you over exaggerate, or if you’re not speaking to the right audience (who can relate).
Give it a shot. Speak from the heart. Or, compassionately relay a story about a friend or client. It will help you connect at a deeper level with your audience.
In general, action words sound more sales-y than descriptive words.
“Get the free report” vs. “Beautifully designed, 5 page report.”
But both are needed.
Remember how we spoke earlier about your readers making split second decisions? Your action words will factor into what their mind decides to do next.
Action words are important for two reasons: first, it helps your audience move through the tasks on your page. Think of them as guidance. Your audience needs to know what to do next.
And sometime, to you, it seems so obvious. But to your audience, it doesn’t always.
For example, if you have three tiers for a product and you’d like your audience to choose one, you should tell them by using an action word, “Choose your plan below.”
If you use descriptive language, they might not understand that they need to make a choice. Do they get everything listed here? Do they decide now, or at checkout? Where is checkout?
Once confusion sets in, only the most persistent buyer will continue to explore until they figure it out. Most everyone else will leave out of frustration, or with the promise that they’ll come back later to finish (and never return).
Again, adding these action oriented words isn’t pushy, it’s what your audience needs to make a decision.
No one will feel forced to download your report because you used the phrase, “Snag this report.” But some people who genuinely want that report might miss it because they simply didn’t know it was available for free.
This all sounds silly. I know. It seems like visitors should be able to figure all of this out, much easier. But if you don’t believe me, I urge you to have someone test your site. Companies like “User Testing” will send random users to your site and give you feedback. You’d be surprised at how easily they get confused.
The clearer the better.
Now it’s your turn. How do you strike a balance between copy that converts, and non-sales-y, friendly sounding copy? Leave your tips below (I’d especially love to hear from designers if you have any tips for visual clues)!
