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We’ve all come across those landing pages that feature long, emotional “hypnotic” sales copy. You know the ones. The author tells you some heartbreaking story (e.g. I was 100 pounds overweight. I tried everything. No diets worked. My boyfriend broke up with me. I was depressed, and wanted to kill myself. AND THEN I TRIED XYZ PRODUCT AND MY LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER!)

Now, as a copywriter, my first instinct is to criticize this kind of copy. Why? Because it just screams “Scam! Stay away!” But the truth is this copy converts. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see everyone using this same formula over and over. Take a look at the top selling affiliate products on ClickBank. Almost every landing page features the long, emotional, “hypnotic” sales copy.

So, what is it about this kind of copy that makes it so effective? Here are just a few reasons hypnotic copy works.

1. It uses the power of storytelling—Some of the most effective sales letters of all times harnessed the power of storytelling. Why are stories so effective? For several reasons. First, they stimulate the senses. Great stories put you right there in the middle of the story. Second, stories let the reader relate, saying “I’ve been there before.” And finally, stories appeal to our emotions, and emotions always plays a big role in the buying process. For more information on the power of storytelling, check out this great post “Your Brain on Stories.”

 

2. It stimulates our emotions—In the last point, I briefly touched on the fact that people make buying decisions largely based on their emotions. In the words of Eisenberg in Persuasive Online Copywriting “People rationalize buying decisions based on facts, but people make buying decisions based on feelings.” To go back to our earlier example of diet pills, people buy diet pills because they make them skinnier and more attractive, allowing them to feel better about themselves. It’s all tied to emotions. So, in your copy, you need to focus on tying the benefits to emotional triggers.

 

3. It uses repetition—To keep you “hypnotized”, the writer will continually repeat the main message all throughout the copy. This helps keep the reader focused on the main point, so that they’re ready to take action when the writer asks them to do so.

 

4. It features calls to action throughout—One of the most effective things you’ll find in these long landing pages is that they have a call to action every few paragraphs, rather than simply stuffing one at the end of the copy. Typically, there will be one call to action per screen view, meaning no matter where you are on the page, you have a way to take action. Now, say what you will about hypnotic copywriting, but this is a technique all landing page copywriters should be putting into practice. You want to make it as easy as possible for your readers to jump to action.

 

5. It uses testimonials to back the story up—The hypnotic copywriter doesn’t just force you to take their word for it, they use testimonials to back their story up. And they have a spectacular knack for placing these testimonials in the copy right when you’re about to say “Wait a minute. This sounds too good to be true.” Check out these tips for giving your testimonials more credibility.

What do you think about long, emotional, “hypnotic” landing pages? Are they too spammy for your taste? Or do you believe if it works, use it? Share your thoughts in the replies.

Who would have thought that some of the best copywriting advice you’ll ever receive could be delivered in 140 characters or less? I’ve come up with a list of 33 killer copywriting tips I’ve found on Twitter. Enjoy.

Note: Follow these people on Twitter. You’ll discover even more great marketing and copywriting tips.

1. heatherlloyd: Taking time to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes helps you create copy that’s more targeted and less mechanical

2. charismatickid: If you read your copy out loud and you hear the same keyphrases over and over, it’s time to edit.

3. healymonster: Copywriting tip: Write like you talk. People get sucked into copy that’s easy to read.

4. CopywriterTO: #Copywriting tip: Get your readers’ attention by starting your copy with a compelling story.

5. Mainecopywriter: Copy Tip: Only 10% of your copy gets read. Use subheads to capture attention and draw the reader into the copy.

6. Cbreecopy: Tip: Shorter is not always better. Longer titles are more descriptive and provide better SEO.

7. caseyfleming: #Copywriting tip: Talk about your customers 90% of the time and your company only 10% of the time.

8. CopyByMac: Copywriters: don’t forget to practice writing those headlines and bullets. A simple change to a headline I wrote brought significant changes.

9. companyseo: Copywriting with corporate SEO keywords is one of the best ways to drive qualified leads to your website and convert sales.

10. DGRComms: Copywriting has to be about words that stimulate a response, far from boring yet always professional

11. Copywritings: Copywriting Tip. Starting sentences with But, And is permissible. Advertising copy follows the patterns of speech more than rules of grammar.

12. Copywritings: Copywriting Tip. Write as if you’re speaking to one person

13. Copywritings: Copywriting Tip. Break up your copy with bullet points. Bullets make copy easier to read.

14. JackeeGreen: Copywriting Tip: When Writing A Headline, use AIDA. A=Attention, I=Interest, D=Desire, & A=Action

15. Copysnips: Copywriting Tip: Benefits are reasons to buy at SOME TIME, but if you want them to buy NOW, give them REASONS to do so.

16. Copysnips: Copywriting Tip: We form first impressions of people almost instantly, and the same is true of your copy’s readers.

17. ScottByWater: Copywriting tip: “a writer should always feel like he’s in over his head” Michael Cunningham

18. contentwriteroz : Web Copywriting Tip- Don’t confuse visitors by using various conflicting calls to action on the same page.

19. contentwriteroz :Web Copywriting Tip – Don’t use “click here” or “read more” as link text. Use descriptive link labels for usability & SEO.

20. contentwriteroz : Web Copywriting Tip- Use a professional writing style but a personal and quite casual tone of voice.

21. Contentmakeover: Sales writing tip: Deliver a promise. Show proof. Call for action

22. Contentmakeover: #NLP #Sales #Copywriting Tip: Leave no doubt in your reader’s mind

23. LighthausDesign: Website Copywriting Tip: After writing copy for a page of your site, cut it in half, then cut it in half again. Less is more on the Web.

24. Mainecopywrtr: copywriting tip: make a specific promise in your headline. Then spend the rest of the sales letter proving you can deliver it.

25. Lyricacopy: An adjective phrase beginning a sentence must refer to the subject. So “As a valued customer, we’re offering you…” is incorrect.

26.DMCopywriter: Email copywriting tip: The shorter the subject line, usually the better. Try for 4 to 5 words if possible

27. DMCopywriter: Web page copywriting tip: Let visitors self reflect at your site. Know why they are there firstly

28. SpiritualCopy: Copywriting Tip: Have an awesome product or service… because a great product or service INSPIRES great copy.

29. RobAdvertising: Tip of the day. Have a clear call to action in all your marketing.

30. TopMarketingTip: #Tips – Does your webpage’s headline (preferably H1) describe the problem your customers are having in relation to your solution?

31. farhadkhurshed: #Copywriting Tip: Make a quick transition from your headline to your sales message. Don’t waste time with warm up paragraphs

32. farhadkhurshed: #Copywriting Tip: Be specific with your claims. Superlatives are not credible, concretes invariably are!

33. Prime_Concepts: Copywriting Tip: Use short and long paragraphs for the readers and scanners.

Do you follow any great copywriters on Twitter? Are you a copywriter on Twitter? Leave your links so I can follow more copywriters!

Ideally, you want to keep your web copy as short and simple as possible. However, there are situations where long copy is necessary to give readers the information they need to make an informed buying decision. Thankfully, there are several things you can do to streamline long copy so that it’s more readable. Get stared by following these tips.

• Use a single column—Single-column layouts work best on the web as multiple columns force readers to scroll up and down, making it difficult to scan. More to the point, single-column websites achieve higher conversion rates by controlling the eye-path of readers.

• Avoid wide columns—The wider the column, the fewer the words that will be read. Remember, people tend to scan content online rather than read it word for word. This means the reader’s eyes tend to stay focused on the left side of the copy. By narrowing your column, you put more words in their eye path, allowing you to deliver your message more effectively.

• Stick to short paragraphs—If you’ve ever come across a big block of text online, you know just how unappealing and intimidating it is. Most people would rather click “back” than to suffer through reading a long block of thousands of words. To make the copy easier to digest, you need to break it up into short paragraphs containing about 3-4 sentences each. Always place the most important information at the beginning of the paragraph to ensure it gets read.

• Place descriptive subheads throughout—No matter how long your copy is, someone should be able to scan through it and know what it’s about in less than 30 seconds (ideally, in about 10 seconds). One way you can get your message across quickly is to use bolded, descriptive subheads throughout the copy. Make sure each subhead clearly explains what the section is about.

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As a freelance copywriter, I’ve worked on several projects where I was hired to clean up the mess left by the last copywriter. For one reason or another, the copy they wrote wasn’t working, and of course, the client wasn’t happy with it.

Most times, this happened because the client tried to save money on hiring a copywriter. They hired the cheapest copywriter they could find, and as a result, they got what they paid for.

When cleaning up the mess left by rookie copywriters, I’ve noticed there are 3 common mistakes they tend to make. 

• Rookie Mistake #1: Focusing on the wrong benefits—My good friends over at The Write Blog, wrote a post a while back titled “Don’t sell the car. Sell the Nissan.” The title sums it up perfectly. You need to write copy that focuses on the benefits specific to your products and services. It’s all about identifying your unique selling point. Like Wintress says in her post, you wouldn’t sell a car by telling the reader that “it’s a faster way to get around town than riding a bicycle.” Instead, you would probably focus on the miles per gallon the vehicle gets and the unique features specific to the vehicle (and more importantly, the benefits of said features).

• Rookie Mistake #2: Not asking the reader to take action—At the end of the day, the success of the copy depends on whether or not the reader takes action. All copy has a purpose. It could be to close the sale on the spot or to get an email address to gather leads. Identify the purpose of your copy, and ask the reader to take the action you desire. If you don’t ask for an action, your readers will never snap out of their passivity.

• Rookie Mistake #3: Using too much fluff—I’ve seen some copywriters make a living out of saying nothing at all. Oh, they write a lot of words, but they aren’t actually saying anything. Their copy is nothing more than a bunch of fluff that takes up space but never gets results. Here’s a tip. Print out your copy, and cross out non-essential content that doesn’t add to your main message. Just be careful not to go overboard as you don’t want to strip the personality and conversational tone from your copy.

Which rookie copywriting mistakes would you add to this list? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

If you ask me, the most important part of any content, whether it’s sales copy or a blog post, is the headline. Without a headline that instantly grabs the reader’s attention and entices them to keep reading, you stand no chance of being successful. Even if the body of your content is perfect, it won’t matter because most people won’t read it if the headline sucks.
So, what can you do to make sure your headlines work? Here are some tips to help you in your quest for the perfect headline.
• Brainstorm multiple headline ideas—What are the chances of the first headline you come up with being the best it can be? Probably not very good. So instead of just going with whichever headline pops into your head first, spend some time brainstorming multiple headline ideas. Once you come up with a pretty healthy list (5 or more ideas), analyze each idea closely to find the best one for your content.

• Try writing the headline last—In my experience, writers are split 50/50 on this idea. Some writers swear by writing the headline first, and others believe writing it last is a better practice. It really boils down to your personal preference, but let me tell you why I think writing it last can be a good idea. A lot of times, when you write the headline first, you start to write the content, and by the time you’ve finished it, the headline doesn’t really reflect what you’ve written about. Writing the headline last can help you come up with an idea that truly matches the message of the content.

• Stop trying to be clever—We’ve all seen the “look at me, I’m so clever” headlines. Cleverness works occasionally, but for the most part, I try to avoid it. Here’s why: 1) Clever headlines offer suffer from a lack of clarity, and 2) Not everyone will understand your cleverness.

• Get the message across—Above all else, your goal with writing a headline should be to get the main point across as clearly as possible. Remember, a lot of times (with blogs, press releases, ezine articles, and other content) your headline will have to stand on its own. If the headline is clear and to the point, people will click on it. If it doesn’t get the message across, you’ll lose the interest of potential readers.

What process do you follow when writing headlines? Share your tips in the replies.