Published on

5 Ways Copywriting Can Boost Your E-Commerce Conversion Rates

Authors

Digital business copywriting – there’s an ocean of it out there. And consumers with full inboxes, ads on their social media feeds, SMS push notifications, unwanted spam, etc., are just plain tired of it. Even when they search for a specific product or service, they are immediately targeted with direct advertising from any related business they don’t want to hear.

Defining Copywriting

Copywriting is any type of content that a business creates to promote itself on the Internet. Most commonly, it includes websites, blogs, social media postings, and occasionally content published on forums and other specialized group publications. Most copywriting is crafted by marketers to specific audiences that they consider good prospects as customers. The challenge, of course, is to make their content stand out in this ever-growing ocean and to attract, engage, and motivate their audience to absorb that content, see real value in the product or service being promoted, and then ultimately make the decision to purchase – that, of course, is the ultimate conversion. And in today’s climate, this is a tall order indeed.

But some copywriting does resonate with brand audiences and results in higher e-commerce conversion rates. So, let’s take a look at five ways that your copywriting can do just that.

5 Tactics That Can Bring About Higher Conversion Rates

1. Know Your Audience by Going Beyond Just a Profile

Most copywriting marketers have developed a typical customer profile that includes lots of demographic information – age range, educational levels, socio-economic status, typical lifestyles, urban/suburban/rural residency preferences, social media presences, and more. This is important information to have because it narrows the field of where and what type of content should be designed for greatest appeal. There are plenty of tools that will now narrow these profiles based upon real data.

But just developing this type of profile is not enough. Now we have data science that will provide even more data about target audience behavior. What times of the year, for example, do they look for and purchase specific types of products? How much debt do they typically hold? When do they look for quality over price? What values and behaviors do they look for when they choose companies to patronize?

When data science collection tools are used, marketers can ask specific questions that will inform decisions about their content and even publishing schedules and places.

2. Be Mobile Compatible

Mobile devices are the preferred method of searches for products or services. Whatever content is created, it must be perfectly presented o any type of mobile device. If it is not, searchers will bounce immediately and go elsewhere. All of your content must be tested on every type of mobile device via any browser platform that might be in use. Failure to do this will result in loss of viable customers. Part of this testing must include load time. If consumers cannot get the information they need quickly, they will bounce.

3. Show Don’t Tell

Traditional content was in the form of text that was read by consumers, primarily on their PC’s. Then, images were added – photos, infographics, charts, graphs, etc. These were early attempts to “show” information as opposed to mere use of walls of text, even though they were divided by headings and bullet points, for easy scanning.

We’ve come a long way since these early days. “Showing” now involves all sorts of new technology that provides consumers with amazing experiences as they gather information about the value that a brand can offer. And smart content marketers will find ways to use this new technology to capture attention and to engage consumers while they show the value they offer and the solutions that their target audience seeks.

Consider just a few examples of the types of new technology that can now be used:

  1. Explainer and how-to videos are wildly popular with consumers right now. When a searcher of a product or service can immediately be exposed to an amazing, educational, even somewhat humorous or inspirational video that provides both value and solutions, they take notice and stick with that video. The customer remembers the brand and, when ready, will probably make a purchase. If the need is immediate, the customer is far more likely to make that purchase right away
  2. Many brands now use augmented and virtual reality experiences to engage their target audiences. Everyone is familiar with virtual tours of homes for sale on realtors’ websites. But this technology has now moved much further.
  3. Eyeglass and clothing retailers now have technology that allows consumers to virtually try on items on their own devices at home Furniture retailers allow shoppers to place pieces in their own rooms
  4. People can “paint” their walls and “try” flooring
  5. Travel businesses can give virtual tours, even in real time, or allow vacationers to place themselves in resorts and experience all of the amenities.

This list could go on and on, but the point is this: content marketers must find ways to implement newer technologies into their copywriting, if they expect to grab and keep attention.

Develop Personal and Trusting Relationships

Online companies are not like the brick-and-mortar stores where customers and employees met and conversed face-to-face. And in small stores, especially, customers and employees actually got to know one another on a personal level. In our digital world, this is obviously not possible.

Copywriters must find ways to replace those face-to-face relationships. There should be some amount of content devoted to letting consumers know who they are doing business with. Featuring the owner and team members during some content is important.

Just as important is to inform consumers of a brand’s mission, values, and social responsibility efforts. Millennials and following generations want to patronize companies that have goals more far-reaching than jus profit-making.

Use Language, Style and Tone that Matches Your Brand and Your Customer

Whether you are educating, entertaining, or inspiring your audience, your “voice” is important. If you try to use typical millennial humor with a senior citizen audience, you will turn them off. And vice versa. You know your audience, and you know why your brand is of value to that audience. Use a consistent voice as you write any copywriting text. Look at here if you want to see examples of all different writing types in all different styles and tones of voice. You will get some good ideas of using openings that will capture your audience’s attention in the very beginning.

These Five…

There are certainly many other copywriting tactics that will resonate with your target audience. But these five are probably the most important right now. But just remember, technology is rapidly changing and consumers are quite fickle. Your overriding concern is to make your copy all about them, not you.

Author Bio: Linda Ferguson is the CEO of Subjecto.com, an online organization that provides a wealth of resources to help students be more successful in their coursework. For years, she was a teacher, a writer, and editor, and a consultant to schools and other educational organizations. In her own capacity, she has found ways to use newer technology, keep the brand mission pure, and put student success ahead of profit.

Other Pages

Web Design

Discuss on Twitter • View on GitHub