Eight elements of effective marketing copy

What defines good sales copy?
Forget cool. Effective marketing copy isn't about coolness, Web 2.0 lingo or frisson. In fact, if the word frisson shows up in copy, you can bet the writer is more interested in impressing other hipster copywriters than selling your products and services.

Good written content gets attention, triggers emotions and educates. It describes, enhances image and builds brand. But great marketing copy does more. It gets your customers to do something. Come to your store, click a link, buy, donate, call.

See copy. See good copy. See good copy sell your products.
If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, there's no secret copywriting formula that guarantees mega-sales: Customer service, website usability, your sales force—and, hey, the quality of your product and brand strength—all play a part in sales and conversion rates.

But carefully crafted, persuasive copy gives you a measurable advantage.

So take a look at your website, brochure or direct mailer and see if your copy:

1. Drives action. Does your copy get readers going? Good marketing content moves your customer along the buying/selling funnel. It helps them confidently purchase or take the next appropriate step—visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, call for more info, and more.
2. Focuses on your customer—not your company. "You cannot sell the organization," writes online copy expert, Gerry McGovern, "by selling the organization." If you want your customer to listen, stop talking about yourself. Today more than ever before, your impatient, time-pressed customer wants to know, "What’s in it for me?" So don’t hammer her with self-serving info on your products' "innovative," "world class” features. Instead, transform features into tangible benefits. Not sure how your product benefits your customer? Then get to know her better. Study focus group research, listen to customer service tapes, surf online forums and blogs, talk to sales reps or pick up the phone and query real, live customers.
3. Offers a unique solution to your customer's problem. Do you feel her pain? Do you understand her heart's desire? If not, go back and review Element #2, above. Craft copy to empathetically speak to your customer's demands and challenges. Let her needs be your starting point. Then offer your product or service as the unique solution—by delineating genuine benefits and helpful information that lets her move forward with confidence.
4. Makes a promise—and delivers. Promise to fulfill your customer's heart's desire—and deliver on the promise. But don't promise because you wish you could deliver. Don't promise her she can "Call Dr. Smith to discuss your dermatological needs today," when in reality you'll route her to a no-exit phone menu. If you can't deliver, don't make the promise.
5. Anticipates customer objections and resolves them. Is on-street parking a problem at your dental business? Is your imported cheese expensive? Don’t ignore the objection—address it head on. "You’ll find convenient parking one block from Metro Dental in the Citi-Park parking lot. Use the enclosed voucher for FREE PARKING on your next visit." "Learn the secret of Italy's legendary home cooks: Genuine imported Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. So intensely flavorful, a sprinkle lends rich, tangy taste to all your favorite pastas. Buon gusto!"
6. Taps into feelings. People make buying decisions based on emotions—not when analytically weighing pros and cons. The jeans du jour aren't about durability and thrift. They promise youth, insider status and power. Cancer services don't just deliver state-of-the-art technology; they offer hope, love and life. Reason solidifies a sale after the buying decision is made. That's when facts, figures, claims and testimonials mollify your customer's qualms, rationalize the purchase and ease buyer's remorse.
7. "Kills your darlings" as Faulkner so colorfully put it. This means the experienced and disciplined copywriter cuts superfluous words and phrases—no matter how cool and resonant—when they fail to serve the copy's purpose: selling your products and services.
8. Talks like your reader talks. Give your copy a warm conversational voice. Address your reader as "you." Use short, fragmentary sentences. If you talk that way. Don’t be shy about breaking grammatical rules. To connect with your reader, imagine you are chatting with a real person—someone you care about in your own life. Think about her feelings, wants and needs. Her fears and limitations. Now reach out, pat her arm, smile, and write copy that helps her.

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