How to Write Copy That Converts: Unlocking the Secrets of Conversion-Oriented Content

In a sea of over 27,000 articles on “How to Write Copy That Converts,” it’s easy to get lost in keyword-stuffed content that lacks real value.

You’ve probably already seen that number one ranked LinkedIn article in the screenshot above, so you know that while it’s useful for a general overview of the topic, it’s written more for ranking highly, and what you’re looking for is an actual damn answer to your query. And that’s what I’m going to give you.

Introduction: The Quest for Conversion-Centric Copywriting

We are living in a digital neon maze. It’s never been easier for a brand to create a Facebook or Google account, put in a few hundred dollars, and start advertising. This is both revolutionary and a little scary.

20 years ago, advertising was a lot more straightforward. It’s infinitely more complicated today, which is why the question of how to write copy that converts matters so much.

In very simple terms the goal is to craft a message in a way that stands out for the shopper and illuminates their urge to explore other brands. If we can satisfy these two objectives, we are guaranteed to close the sale.

And the way e-commerce seals are distributed, the winner takes the largest share of the pot. It’s a phenomenon called Zipf’s law (link). What this means is that the brand that figures out how to write copy that converts doesn’t do just 10% better than its closest competitors. It does 4x better than them.

Our Story

My name is Rishi Rawat, and for the last 15, I’ve been doing A/B testing for DTC brands. As a conversion optimizer my goal was (and still is) to help my clients maximize conversion rates of people that are coming into the websites by clicking their ads.

Hi, I’m Rishi.

This meant I would do anything that helped with that conversion rate lift goal. It didn’t matter whether the experiment required a page redesign, a layout update, the addition of video content, or a rewriting of the content on the page.

I wasn’t tied to any one strategy, but after running hundreds of experiments, we learned something really interesting: changes that we were making with design were both expensive, complicated to instrument, and didn’t give the type of sustained conversion rate lift that we were looking for. In fact, most of the changes that we made didn’t produce the kind of results we looking for.

What did, however seem to have sustained impact and seem to be working on every client website were the copy changes that we were making.

Naturally, as maximizers, we continued doubling down on copy-level changes, and at some point, it became the only tool in our toolbox. And this is when it became painfully obvious that knowing how to write copy, that converts is the only conversion strategy that matters.

How to Write Copy That Converts – FAQs

Q: What is conversion copywriting? A: It’s a writing technique focused on persuading readers to take a specific action, like buying from a website they are visiting for the first time. The best way to think about conversion copywriting is to imagine a salesman at a retail store, who is trying to help a customer. Choose between different models of a washing machine. In very simple terms, the salesman’s commission depends on whether he is able to successfully close the sale. This is the mental model the conversion copy should use.

Q: How does it differ from traditional copywriting? A: While traditional copywriting may aim to inform or entertain, conversion copywriting has a clear goal: to convert the reader into a customer. What’s also different is that in the off-line definition of copywriting, a lot of the evaluation of what good copy is is qualitative, and even when it’s quantitative, it’s a little fuzzy on how that determination is being made. For example, if I am a copywriter, and one of my accounts is Coca-Cola, it’s very difficult to know how the copy that I wrote is directly getting more people to buy Coca-Cola because the brand does so many things, some of which can’t be measured. But with conversion copywriting in an online world, everything is A/B tested. That’s what makes it different.

Q: Can conversion copywriting be learned? A: Yes. There is a very specific script that shoppers are subconsciously seeking, and when they encounter it, they buy. The marketer who understands the elements of what the shopper is subconsciously seeking is going to win. I will show you the script.

Q: Are there ethical considerations? A: Yes. We cannot lie, or mislead the shop shopper. We can only make the truth more interesting. Another mental model I use is imagining myself as a lawyer fighting a court case. In order to win the case, I need to persuade the jury of 12. I can control the sequence in which I reveal information to them and the style in which I communicate. But I can’t lie or work outside the well-defined guard rails of the law. If I do, the judge will dismiss the case, and I will lose it.

So, as long as I am within the guard rails of the law, I’m fine. But I think it’s better to take it one step further. The goal isn’t to not lie to the buyer. The copywriter must truly understand what the product is all about. Let’s just look at an example.

Say a client sells a back pain machine and my job is to craft copy to improve conversion rates of their learning page. I shouldn’t just start touting how amazing the product is, but I shouldn’t also be skeptical about it. If that product page has 1,000 5-star reviews, that means thousands of people have enjoyed the product. My job is to understand the experience of those satisfied buyers and use that as inspiration to construct a sales pitch so others—who would have had the same experience as the satisfied buyers—are given an opportunity to buy the product.

Let’s say that the product page currently has a 4% conversion rate. This means that 96% of people who came to this page didn’t buy. Is it possible that a substantial percentage of these nonbuyers were actually people who could have significant back pain relief if they had bought the product? I think the answer is often yes, and so the fact that these people are leaving without buying and not getting the pain relief that they are seeking is a travesty.

How It’s Done: Elevating Your Copywriting Game

By researching “How to Write Copy That Converts,” you’re already ahead. But excellence in this field isn’t about outdoing your competition; it’s about making them irrelevant. Over the last 14 years, our marketing lab 🔬 has been experimenting with ideas 💡, investing $2.9 million in understanding what truly drives conversions. We’ve discovered that not all site visitors are equal.

Once they’ve consumed your pitch, prospects can be placed in 1 of 3 groups:

— ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕦𝕪
— 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕦𝕪
— 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕

The 3^rd group has the biggest revenue potential.

Evidence This Process Works

This strategy mentioned above isn’t a theoretical framework. It’s the base formula for all our conversion work for clients. This marketing framework can be used to boost sales for sports products. To sell skincare products. Pet products. Consumer electronics. Athletic gear. Back pain solutions. Food items. High-end cooking tools.

Does the sales pitch always need to be shown as a popup? Nope.

It can also convert cold Facebook ad traffic, improve mobile conversion rates, generate calls, optimize your most important landing page, etc.

It can even be used to improve your overall conversion rates.

Converting Those 𝕀ℕ𝕋𝔼ℝ𝔼𝕊𝕋𝔼𝔻, 𝔹𝕌𝕋 𝕊𝕋𝕀𝕃𝕃 ℕ𝕆𝕋 ℂ𝕆ℕ𝕍𝕀ℕℂ𝔼𝔻 (With Examples)

Building a sales pitch that converts visitors who are 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 is explained in this nine truths article.