Why is your question best to solve the problem?

This question has to be answered to cater the needs of the ‘Amiable‘ type. Amiable must be authentic. They always engaged in a personal quest for their unique identity and live their lives as an expression of it. For them, integrity means the unity of inner self with outer expression. These individuals appreciate personal touch. They like things that are non-threatening and friendly. They dislike dealing with impersonal details and cold facts, and are usually quick to reach a decision. To approach this type you have to address values and provide assurances and credible opinions rather than options.

Sample copy:

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

How can your solution solve the problem?

This question is important for the ‘Analytical‘ type. Analyticals need to be organized to act. They are businesslike and detail oriented. For them task completion is its own reward. These individuals appreciate facts, hard data and information presented in a logical manner as documentation of truth. They enjoy organization and completion of detailed tasks. They do not appreciate the personal touch or disorganization. Providing them hard evidence and superior service will capture you their attention.

Sample copy:

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

Who has used your solution to solve my problem?

This answer is typically asked by the ‘Expressive‘ type. Being personal and relationship oriented these personalities feel need to belong. They often think that they must earn a place by belonging, by being useful, fulfilling responsibilities, being of service, giving to and caring for others instead of receiving from them. These individuals are very creative and entertaining. They enjoy helping others and are particularly fond of socializing. To address their traits provide them with testimonials and incentives.

Sample copy:

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

What can your solution do for me?

This is the favorite question of the ‘Driver‘ type. Drivers are power oriented and seek competence in themselves and others. Driven by curiosity the Driver is often preoccupied with learning 24 hours a day. These individuals have a deep appreciation in challenges. They are goal oriented and are looking for methods for completing tasks. By providing them options, probabilities and challenges you will make them to respond to your prospects.

Sample copy:

Our approach is personalized to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted.

You might have noticed that each type asks its own question which basically is:

• WHY — for Amiables
• HOW — for Analyticals
• WHO — for Expressives
• WHAT — for Drivers.

To a greater or lesser degree, depending on the flow of your conversion process, the content and copy on all your pages needs to speak in these four ways, just like the sample copy above.

References:

Eisenberg, B., Eisenberg, J., Davis, L.T. ”Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank”. Wizard Academy Press, 2005, Austin, TX.

Copy and Content: Conversion Perspective

People generally consider content and copy as two different entities. Well, it is true: they do have two different purposes. The purpose of content is to provide information of some subject. Content can be encyclopedia articles, long descriptive text, tutorials or even pictures and media (as non-textual content). The purpose of copy, however, is more incentive in nature. Although in some cases copy can resemble content; its primary objective is engaging people to take action. Making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, following a link or adding a page to bookmarks – whatever you want your visitor to do. So, while content informs, copy motivates.

But if you take a look at content and copy in terms of conversion, the differences start fading away. No matter what you are going to create – a sales letter or a long article, all the words must contribute to the persuasive process. That is, in the eyes of a visitor all content is a copy and all copy is content.

In case your aim is making a visitor simply click an AdSense or an affiliate link – an incentive copy is enough. But if you are serious about selling your own product or service, or even more important, making further sales to the same person (creating a repeated customer) – you have to find a proper balance between short motivating copy and informative content.

Consider an example of an online mortgage application service. When first arriving to the site your prospect customer is in the search for answers to the key questions in his mind: “Am I in the right place? What should I do?” Here the frontpage copy has to do its job by engaging the visitor to go deeper. And the conditions of eligibility, which are the informative content, have to be at least equally incentive in order to capture the visitor’s attention and eventually motivate him to submit an application. Therefore, even such content as loan eligibility has to be written observing the core rules of copywriting which concern the usability, performance and motivation.

Copy and content must complement each other. There is no much use in a brilliant copy if it is accompanied by poor content which disappoints visitors. Same is right the other way around – a juicy, magical content will not do its job half as well if it is presented by a meaningless and vague copy.

Thus, so far there have been historical and organizational differences between the creation of copy and content. But these differences simply reflect the flaws in the persuasive and conversion processes. It is high time that you should break the barriers for the sake of the improved user experience and the success of your online business.

References:

Eisenberg, B., Eisenberg, J., Davis, L.T. “Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank”. Wizard Academy Press, 2005, Austin, TX.