Brian Horvath — January 6, 2017 Follow @BrianHorvathINCWhen starting off in online marketing, you may feel a little bit under water. From content writing to media outreach, everything seems like a challenge. One of the most difficult things you can be involved in as an online marketing is creating a sales page.
You’ve probably already written great content such as blog posts and email newsletters, but now you need to focus on a page that will ultimately convert visitors into customers.
Sounds easy, right? Well, not exactly.
Building, testing, and optimizing a sales page is one of the biggest challenges you will face in your career. But it doesn’t have to be that way! High converting sales pages all have a few key elements in common, the first of which – copy – is what I will focus on in this article.
You can have the most beautiful layout, but if people do not understand your offer, they certainly aren’t going to buy. When creating a sales landing page, I try to focus on the 5 Point Copy Formula for structure which leads to higher conversion rates.
1. An Attention Grabbing Headline
Don’t spend hours looking for the perfect headline. I’ve seen a lot of copywriters lose sleep and sanity over headlines. Headlines don’t need to be complicated, but they do need to grab your reader’s attention and hook them in.
Take a look at this headline from affiliate marketing guru Neil Patel:
Do you see what he did there? He took a problem his readers are likely having and simply told him how he could solve it.
Digital marketers and business owners need visitors on their website. The only way they can make more money is get more people looking at their product.
Coincidentally, marketers and business owners don’t always have the extra moolah to spend on ads.
In one short and simple headline, Neil’s showcased the desired result (more web traffic) and overcome the problem (the budget for ad spend).
The most important aspect of your headline is that it conveys the value of your product.
(If you’re really losing sleep and can’t seem to settle on headlines, head on over to Digital Marketer’s blog post on headline creation. They’ll supply you with a few tricks of the trade for crafting proven headlines in a matter of minutes.)
2. Create Common Ground
You’ve spent a lot of time getting to know your product as an affiliate marketer. You know the need it fulfills and the problem it is trying to solve. Now, you need to convey that to the reader.
Highlight the motivation and then create common ground through your experiences with this product. Do this by making a list of the most relevant details and address common questions to show your visitors how your product or service can better their life.
3. Offer Your Solution
Now that you’ve got them warmed up, it’s time to lay your cards on the table. Share the successes of your product and make sure to show how it solves the problem of the consumer. This is where your value proposition must shine through.
Keep the word “results” in the forefront of your mind. People could care less about your discount packages or promotions. They don’t buy problems, they buy solutions to those problems.
High converting sales pages focus on presenting the results, not the shiny packaging. Tell them what your product or service does to improve their lives – that simple.
4. Tell Them What to Expect Next
Cliffhangers are meant for movies, not sales.
You need to address their concerns before they occur. Outline exactly what they can expect during the purchase process. Be realistic about delivery times and what they can expect after the purchase (customer service, etc.).
Be specific as this could be the difference between them buying from you or buying from your competitor.
5. Leverage the Social Proof
Whether you do this through endorsement or by modeling your practices after industry leaders, social proof is an effective way to get visitors off the fence and into the party. If have great reviews from past clients, now is the time to highlight them.
One of the most common ways marketers showcase their product is by embedding Amazon reviews to their sales pages. Not only does this give visitors a direct link to verified reviews, it creates an element of trust between you and the reader.
What your customers think of the product you’re selling is worth 100X more than what you say about yourself or the product.
Take a look at this 5 Star review on Yamaha’s Studio Headphones:
Nothing you can say could beat the copy nugget called a good review. By embedding these in your sales pages, you’re showing the visitor right away that people think what you’re selling is worth the money.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, sales pages can make or break your career. Why? Because if you can’t close a sale, you’re not going to make any money.
Luckily, high converting pages aren’t impossible to attain. With a little hard work and copywriting, you’ll see the conversion rates of your sales pages raise significantly.
What do you do to ensure high converting sales pages? Share your strategy in the comments!
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