A new copywriting school has emerged, and you must start using it now!

Effective and data-driven – You can apply this copywriting process to every business out there. 

What you’ll learn:

  • What are the different copywriting schools.
  • The scientific process of conversion copywriting.
  • How to implement that process into your business.
  • Tips + examples of killer conversion copywriting that will inspire you.
  • The results we achieved and why it’s such a powerful tool.

Types of copywriting

Copywriting is crucial. It’s used everywhere in and out of the digital world.

ADS, email campaigns, product descriptions, blog posts. You name it. 

That is why marketing campaigns heavily depend on copywriters to hit their goals.

But depending on what your conversion goal is, you need to use a different form of copywriting.

Since the dawn of advertising, there have been two copywriting schools.

1. Direct response copywriting is the school of copywriting that aims to get people to act right now. The goal is to generate a response. It’s best for acquiring existing customers.

The direct response copywriter’s secret identity would be a salesman. These copywriters try to find the hook (or angle) to present the product in an exciting, potent way.

2. Creative copywriting on the other hand is more about influencing perceptions (for example, shaving is cool because successful people shave) and building recognition (or red means coke). The goal is to create a new audience by changing the attitude and behavior towards a goal, brand, or lifestyle. 

Artist would be the secret identity of the creative copywriter. They both express themselves authentically in ways that reflect their cultural surroundings and are relevant.

But a third copywriting school has emerged lately. It’s called Conversion Copywriting.

Do you want to see me talking about conversion copywriting at an event?
Head out to this video and check it out 
 >> Video Version

Do you want to see me talking about conversion copywriting at an event?
Head out to this video and check it out 
 >> Video Version

What Is Conversion Copywriting?

It’s a copy that aligns what a conversion asset says, with what the target audience wants, based on actual user research.

It’s best used for maximizing the existing audience. And it’s primarily geared towards tech (SaaS) companies.

Copywriting Schools

Direct Response Copywriting

Creative Copywriting

Conversion Copywriting

Definition: Copy that calls people to act (buy, sign up, call, book an appointment, etc.) right now.

Definition: Copy that aims to influence perceptions/attitudes and build recognition.

Definition: Copy that aligns what a media asset says, with what the target audience wants, based on actual user research data.

Ultimate Goal: Generate response from scratch, tapping into an existing desire.

Ultimate Goal: Change attitudes and behaviors, towards a goal, brand, lifestyle.

Ultimate Goal: Maximize the conversion performance of an existing asset.

Best for: Acquiring existing audience.

Best for: Creating new audience.

Best for: Maximizing current audience.

Copywriter Secret Identity: Investigative Journalist / Salesman

Copywriter Secret Identity: Artist

Copywriter Secret Identity: Scientist

Copywriting Schools

Direct Response Copywriting

Creative Copywriting

Conversion Copywriting

Definition: Copy that calls people to act (buy, sign up, call, etc.) right now.

Definition: Copy that aims to influence perceptions / attitudes and build recognition.

Definition: Copy that aligns what a media asset says, with what the target audience wants, based on actual user research data.

Ultimate Goal: Generate response from scratch, tapping into an existing desire.

Ultimate Goal: Change attitudes and behaviors, towards a goal, brand, lifestyle.

Ultimate Goal: Maximize the conversion performance of an existing asset.

Best for: Acquiring existing audience.

Best for: Creating new audience.

Best for: Maximizing current audience.

How it compares to the other forms of copywriting:

  • It has positioned itself as measurable and revenue-making – Unlike the often unreliable creative advertising that relies on insights, conversion copywriting is measurable and relies on actual data.
  • It has positioned itself as a repeatable process of optimization – Unlike the formula-heavy but the often unsystematic direct response, conversion copy is a process. 
  • It has implemented the basics of data analytics and UX – Unlike the other schools that primarily focus on content.

The conversion copywriter’s secret identity would be a scientist because conversion copywriting is the scientific method applied to copywriting.

"Conversion copywriters go beyond the 'writing'. With a strong focus on user research, they uncover the exact messages your readers need to convert. A great conversion copywriter will have a direct impact on your metrics and revenue."

The scientific Conversion Copywriting process

Make an observation. Start by making a more profound observation of your business.

Find a worthwhile opportunity or problem. Find problems or opportunities that are worth spending your time on.

Research the opportunity or problem. Once you map them, spend some time researching and developing a hypothesis about them.

Develop a messaging hypothesis. Develop the hypothesis and search for the goal of proving or disproving it.

Design a messaging experiment. Based on that hypothesis, design an experiment (like a scientist) that aims to disprove the hypothesis.

Collect and analyze results. Now you can collect, analyze, and learn from the “voice of customer” data.

The scientific method of conversion copywriting

The step-by-step process

Here is the practical one. This is how you implement the process in your business.

  1. First, we need to decide where to focus. Are there any underperforming assets that could have a big financial impact? Usually, they are connected to onboarding new users right before or right after they purchase. Those two journeys are generally the most worthwhile.

  2. Then, we do user research. There are more ways to do that. You can do it through interviews or at scale with an automated email sequence. This sequence asks questions to customers after they purchase or before they purchase but after specific criteria are met (ex: spending X amount of time on the page without purchasing). This research will give us pro data from the customers. And that will show us what motivates the prospective customers and what prevents them from purchasing.

  3. The next step is to group and codify the raw data from the users into themes. We’ll find here that some themes are way more frequent than others. This means that we should prioritize those themes in our messaging across all assets. And that is exactly what we’ll do. Whether it’s something that motivates or discourages users in the decision phase, we should address it in our content.

  4. In the end, we collect and analyze the results. And what we usually find is an uplift. But that’s not its only advantage. It also allows us to learn and spread that across the company to improve.

  5. Repeat it. Once we finish the cycle, we move to another underperforming asset, and the process begins again.

Conversion Copywriting Tips

Once you find the areas to improve, It’s time to step up your writing.

Use these tips to create a highly effective conversion copy.

Satisfy their emotions. 

As Blain Warren said: “People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.”

Fulfill your audience’s basic emotional needs with your writing. Support them, resonate with them and fight together against the “enemy”.

Conversion copywriting example

Show social proof.

People love seeing numbers. It gives them a sense of security and trust.

To convince them they are real, use specific numbers (162,921 purchases) and people (John from Philadelphia).

I mean, if so many people have ordered, it must be good, right?

Conversion Copywriting example 2

Write less, say more. 

You don’t have much time to catch the reader’s attention. So you want to get your point across as fast as possible. 

A good copywriter can tell a whole story in just a few words. This catchy headline is the living proof of it.

Conversion Copywriting Example 3

Frame the prices more attractively.

What sounds more appealing, paying $29.99 every month or $359.88 once? It’s the first option all day long.

These little psychological tricks make a significant impact on the buyer’s decision.

Conversion Copywriting Example 6

Get out of the zone.

There are no standard conversion copywriting principles that you need to follow.

As long as your target audience loves it and the click-through rates are high, you’re doing a great job.

So if you want to stand out from the rest, get out of your zone and do something creative and unique.

Conversion Copywriting Example 4

Focus on benefits, not features.

People don’t buy products for their features but their functionality.

Don’t waste your time explaining what your product can do. Instead, you should focus on the problems that it can solve.

Conversion Copywriting Example 5

Conversion Copywriting Results

Copywriting (messaging) experts deserve a seat at the strategy table. A compelling conversion copy can make a significant financial impact on businesses.

How big of an impact? That depends on many things like the company size and industry. Here’s how it worked with our clients.

This was an actual email for one of our clients. On the left (A), it’s the control version, and on the right (B), it’s the conversion-optimized variant.

After only 20 days of testing, it’s fair to say the optimized version won by a lot.

Generating almost three times higher conversion rates and having significantly better AOV, open rates, and click rates.

Conversion Copywriting Results Table
Conversion copywriting testing results

Every time we tested, the optimized version kept winning and winning.

Conversion Copywriting Results
Conversion Copywriting Results table

Why do you need conversion copywriting?

  • It’s a powerful and scalable value generator. The financial impact can be massive. Unlike other value generators, it’s not time-consuming at all. It can be deployed very quickly, without huge production or development costs.
  • It’s a process, not magic. It doesn’t require some special talent to do it. It’s a process, and processes can be taught and deployed across virtually all types of companies.
  • It leads to a better user experience. When you align what you say with what the users want, you make the users happy. And that improves the user experience.

Overall

If you boil it down to its essence, conversion copywriting is about three things: Research, psychology, and messaging.

First, you research your business for underperforming assets. Then you analyze and interpret the data. And finally, you apply it in your messaging.

This copywriting process can be learned and applied to every business. It will improve your email marketing, ads, blog posts, and overall your marketing strategy.

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