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What is Sales Content? Facts and Research to Make Content that Converts!

what is sales content
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This article is a part of the series, “What is Content Creation?” ​which includes:

What is Content Creation?

What are the Content Types?

What is Viral Content?

What is Sales Content?

What is Content for Authority?

What is Content for SEO?

and How To Write Good Content for a Website? 

We recommend checking out the entire series if you’d like to position yourself as a problem-solver for the growing demand of internet users, and make a lucrative income while doing so.  Make sure to take advantage of our FREE OFFERS at the end of the post…

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what is sales contentEvery business needs sales to survive.  Many entrepreneurs are well aware of the saleperson who gives the sales pitch.  It’s common to recognize a cold caller or a live sales pitch, but the copwriter may go under the radar.  Despite the fact that the written word can be a superhighway to passive income that has generated more money than can be calculated throughout history, many entrepreneurs ignore the power.  As vital as sales are to a business, most underestimate the importance of good sales copy because they’ve never answered the question. “what is sales content?”.

 

Let’s not let that be you!

 

You can scroll various retail sites and see a substantial difference in sales–not based solely on product quality but based (in part) on sales copy.  In some cases, good products are not serving the consumers they should because the copy does not demonstrate the benefits well enough.

 

Products that seem laughable that get sales, while products that could have a viable shelf life are stagnant because the sales page sucks!  Copy could cause your business to have little or no conversions IF you’re not careful to take serious the power of copywriting.

 

Discover Key Facts about Sales Content

 

what is sales content1. All businesses use the written word to sell in some way, shape or form (even if they haven’t realized it)

2. Sales content is not so much about entertainment as it is about engagement and persuasion

3. A clear customer avatar (including demographics and sychographics) are key to good copy

4. Although every business uses the written word to sell, most don’t understand the importance of their sales copy or track the conversion rates

5. Sales content should connect an ideal person with a solution to an obstacle they’re having

6. Sales should never be focused solely on numbers, quotas, or the business criteria

7. The client should always come first!

8. Persuasion can and should be done for a greater good otherwise it is manipulation.

9. Compelling copy draws 7.8 times more site traffic and produces brand recall which brings higher engagement rates.  (Source: Copywriter Today)

10. Readers are spending a median time of 37-seconds reading articles. And, long-form articles generate nine times more leads according to Curata

what is sales content11. With the increase in the use of ad blockers totalling 200 million people, creative, organic content solutions rise to the forefront of marketing strategies.

12. In fact, 73 percent of companies hire someone to take care of their content marketing strategy. And, in return? These businesses see six times higher conversion rates.

13. Copywriting (without the physical presence of a salesperson) has generated BILLIONS of dollars in sales!

14. Large campaigns like presidential elections wouldn’t dare exclude copywriting from the mix! They do high-level A/B Split testing and punch out emails nearly all day during election times! (Source: Adexchanger)

15. As proof of the power of email marketing and copywriting, Obama generate $500 million dollars from fundraising emails! (Source: MarketingSherpa)

16. You don’t want to vomit sales too fast. Your goal is to maintain engagement. The goal of paragraph one is to sell paragraph two and make readers follow along to paragraph two and so on

17. Don’t put too much information in one portion of the content

18. Showing works better than telling. Use education-based marketing rather than brute and continual force of an offer.

19. Epic copy comes from understanding the target audience and empathizing with their situations, the things they may be pondering, and being CRYSTAL CLEAR and HONEST about how your solution can solve their problems

20. Traffic amount does not matter as much as engaging copy.  This can be clearly seen by comparing Hilary Clinton’s email list to Donald Trump whose was 8 times smaller! (Source: Adexchanger)

21. Vivid and empathetic storytelling works amazingly to show readers that you connect (or possibly have been there) with their pain points and can help lead to conversions

22. Sales should not be manipulative or it will damage the reputation, and hurt the long term positioning of the business–possibly even putting them out of business.

 

10 Steps to Writing Good Sales Copy

 

what is sales content1. Do Research

Before writing any sales content, you want to do research about the target audience.  You want to understand the problems they are trying to solve and what happens if they don’t solve the problem.  Answer the question, “What pain will they continue to experience if they don’t solve the problem your solution offers?”

 

Look For Trigger Words

Trigger words are keywords theyuse to learn about the problem and solution.  Keyword research can be immensely helpful with finding trigger words because people are so reliant on search engines nowadays.  A tool like Jaaxy could be immensely useful to identify the “trigger words” for good sales copy.

 

Look at Retail Platforms at Copy in Niche

You can visit sites like Amazon, Ebay, and other retailers in your niche.  Look for their bestselling products that are comparable to yours and evaluate the copy there.  Find out:

 

What makes their copy compelling?

What “trigger words did they use”?

What reviews do they have that show shortfalls and advantages?

 

Look at Reviews in the Niche to Find desires, pain points, objections, and Reader Language

You want to grow your “mind reading” power!  Reviews and comments help with audience “mind reading” because the reviews can tell you shortfalls, advantages, give you ideas for differentiators between your product and what’s available in the marketplace, and so on.  You want to use the language of the audience in your copy, so write down adjectives, pain points, objections, and unique problems that your product or service solves that seem to be an objection with the other products in the marketplace.

 

From reading the reviews and verbiage of the users, you’ll also get a feel for content they may be interested in.  For example, some audiences will be attracted to modest and conservative verbiage, whereas others will be completely opposite, and more interested in explicit and immodest verbiage.  You won’t know this without developing the “mind reading” capabilities and doing research about the audience.

 

what is sales content<=======You don’t want to create anything like this, so…

 

You don’t want to talk to democrats using keywords and triggers for Republicans…think about that for a second…

You also don’t want to talk to Christians using keywords for Wiccans

I’m jus sayin…You should get my point by now.

 

2. Look at Headlines that Work

Successful copywriters usually say they studied successful copywriters that preceded them.  You want to draw inspiration from successful copy as well.  You don’t have to re-invent the wheel.  You can read all of your compiled research and successful headlines to start the flow of ideas for your new peice of copy.

 

3. Check Swipe File

Many copywriters keep something called a “swipe file”.  It’s basically a collection of compelling ads, articles, or just overall great copy. You want to start collecting good examples so when it’s your time to create compelling copy, you’re not sitting in front of your computer with a flashing cursor for hours and hours.  Trying to craft a good piece of sales content can take alot of brainpower ESPECIALLY if you don’t have something like a swipe file.

 

Follow people who have notoriously high conversions.  If you can get a copy of an email, ad, or article (like the Obama email that triggered 2.6 million dollars in donations), save that in your swipe file, so you can draw inspiration from it later.

 

4. Write Variations Over and Over

This part will be debatable.  Some people emphasis “Just do it!” and suggest that you empathize with the audience and get your content to market.  Others, strive for perfection.  Many successful copywriters make it a practice to write multiple variations.

 

what is sales contentThey suggest that you take your time on writing good sales content, and don’t rush thru it.  I understand how when you practice and are patient, you can stumble on gold when you take time.  I also understand the opposite side where you can end up procrastinating and being too hard on yourself.

 

You want to be somewhere in the middle.  Make variations. Pick the best one and….BOOM!  Move forward.

 

5. Refine the Copy

Sometimes, when you’re in the variation phase, you may have added too many words or so on.  Go back and edit.  Make the copy concise. Use power words but not too many fluff words.

 

6. Test it in the Marketplace

The marketplace will be the best test for your copy.  You want to watch analytics and if possible use conversion tools that let you A/B test, provide conversion data, and track analytics.  You want to know how many people are viewing the copy and what percentage took action.  With the conversion ratios and additional data like recordings from Hotjar or heatmaps, you can  improve the copy, see where people are getting stuck, and improve the conversions on the go.

 

7. Refine Until Conversion Rates are Where they Should Be

Change wording, add better images, improve the video, try bold, italics, or highlights, animate content, add more education, and the list goes on and on of the things you could try.  Tweaking and improving is an ongoing process as technology advances and offers us more and more capabilities in the online world.

 

Constantly upgrade your content to add the most value to your readers.

what is sales content10 Building Blocks of Good Sales

1. Headline

  • State the claim as a question. Examples: “Who else wants to…?”, “Would you like to…?”
  • “Insider Secrets to…”
  • Newsy Subject Line. Make your offer sound new. Example: “Introducing…”, “Announcing…”, “Discover…”

2. Opening

A compelling paragraph that quickly states the problem, gains the readers trust that you empathize with them, and summarizes what’s to be expected if I continue reading.  The goal is to get the reader to continue reading.

3. Credentials

  • Answers, “Why should I listen to you?”
  • “What makes you different than your competitors?”

4. Offer

Sell an outcome rather than a product. Example: Rather than selling a toilet, you could sell an easy, efficient way to disgard of waste.

5. Bullets

  • Brief statement that highlights benefits.
  • A brief and concise way to say what’s in it for the end user

 

6. Testimonial

What other people say about your products and services.  Example: “What others like you are saying about our product or service”.

 

what is sales content7. Valid justification

Contrast the price of avoiding your service with the benefit of your program.  Potential customers are always weighing if it’s better to keep their money and time, or if the solution would be a better use of it.  Show them how the solution you offer will solve their problem in a way that it makes them understand how their money and time is lesser value than acquiring the solution.

 

Example: Rather than spending 40 hours/week for the next 3 months, and still not being certain you will pass your test, follow this method to study for 3 hours/week, still maintain your current work schedule (keeping your normal income), and get 100% assurance that you’ll pass or your money back.

8. Risk reversal

Offer no-brainer risk reversal.  Create a compelling money-back guarantee that eliminates the risk for the client.

 

Sidenote: You will get refunds but if the product is good, you’ll get higher sales volume to account for the crooked people. Stand behind your product if it’s good.

9. Call to action

Make the features obvious.  Example: Order the online program by CLICKING HERE and complete the program from the comfort of your home, or register for the in-class program and learn in-person with thousands of other students just like you.

Most people know online programs can be done from home and in-person programs are done with other students, but making the details more clear helps users visualize what they’re committing to.

 

10. Urgency

Answer, “Why should I buy now?”.  Give reasons, use countdown timers, or other tools to cut procrastination.

 

Playlist on What is Sales Content?

 

I created this playlist for all of my visual and kinesthietic readers.  It reinforces everything I’ve written here and also served as inspiration for this article.  Hopefully, it’s valuable for you!

 

 

Final Words on What is Sales Content?

 

The goal of this article was to answer the question, “What is sales content?”.  If you have questions or concerns about this, don’t hesistate to leave them in the comments section.  I’d love to help you out!

 

If you’ve heard the buzzwords “A/B testing”, “Conversion-focused tools”, or others, and you want to increase the quality of your sales content by incorporating these functions in your business, I’d recommend taking a look at Thrive Themes.  In my opinion, they have the best suite on the market, and I personally use their entire suite of products (although I may not be the best at it. LOLOL).  Check them out HERE.

 

If you want to start or scale your business online, take advantage of my special offers.  I’d love to walk alongside you on this journey.  You can set up a FREE account and get 2 free websites, 10 FREE training lessons, and access to a community of millions of online entrepreneurs (including me).  Set up your FREE ACCOUNT HERE.

 

Now, it’s Your Turn…

Have you seen great sales copy? Where?  What tips or tricks do you have for creating good sales content?  What additional information would you offer someone who came here asking, “What is sales content?”.  Leave your comments, questions, and feedback below.

 

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