To increase sales you need better copy. It really is that simple. Copywriting is both an art and a science. It is an art in the same way any writing is; it needs style, skill and a creative mind. But it is also a science in that it can be broken down into its basic building blocks, examined and put back together. Like any science experiment, all results must be recorded, tested and analyzed to get any value out of the process at all.

So let us look at some of these basic building blocks and see what copywriting tips we can get out of them.

1. Hit the Reader on the First Line

You need the first line of any copy to really hook the reader, and make them want to read more. The design and heading of the marketing campaign will draw the eye, and it is up to the copywriter to then make sure that the potential customer carries on reading, and that is done in the first line.

Don’t make it some bland mission statement. Instead, make it a promise for what the rest of the advert will contain, make it a benefit and make it attractive. The more persuasive the first line is, the better read through, and therefore sales rate you will get.

2. Always Sell Benefits to the Customer, Not Products or Services

Every potential customer of a marketing campaign will ask themselves ‘what’s in it for me?’, and it is the job of the copywriter to give them that answer. You are not selling weight loss pills; you are selling a ‘new, slimmer, you.’ You are not selling a nice smelling after shave; you are selling ‘an aftershave women can’t resist.’

Let your copywriting know what’s in it for them and your marketing campaign will increase sales dramatically.

3. Keep it Short

Long sales letters and webpages have their place in sales marketing, but in the main you want your copywriting to be short, sharp and punchy. You need to get to the point, quickly, and get that call to action in front of the potential customer ASAP. Wading through pages of text is becoming more and more of a copywriting turn off in an increasingly time-starved world.

4. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Research has shown that the more you say something (or write it) the more it stays in the head of the target audience. So by repeating yourself over and over again in your sales marketing, your copywriting will be far more effective.

Tell them what you are going to say, say what you are going to say, and then repeat back to them what you just said. Repeat it in their mind and they will get the point and start believing in your marketing campaign.

5. Call to Action

Has to be clear and easy. What do you want them to do? Buy something? Give them a website or phone number. Sign up for something? Tell them how. The call to action is the most important part of any marketing campaign and as such one of the most important parts of copywriting. Tell them what to do next in a clear, precise and attractive manner.

So there you have it. Follow these five basic copywriting tips, and you find your marketing campaigns giving you far more sales and therefore far more profit.