Notes from The Online Copywriter's Handbook by Robert W. Bly

What makes online copy work? Your writing must: have a conversational tone, gain attention, be customer-centric, push benefits, stress competitive differences, prove a business case, advance credibility, build value and provide a call to action - a reason to act now rather than later. 

Conversational Copy:

·        Use pronouns, colloquial expressions, contractions and above all simple words

·        End sentences with propositions

·        Begin sentences with conjunctions

·        Use graphics to emphasize word or phrases

·        Be credible

·        Vary sentence length

·        Tell stories

·        Separate and highlight key information

Attention:

·        Use strong visuals and be specific with your headline.

·        Ask provocative questions

·        Inject news into your copy

·        Avoid clever and subtle-word plays

Be Customer-Centric:

·        Start with the prospect not the product or service

·        Your customers are self-interested: their goals, problems, needs, hopes, fears, dreams, and aspirations come first

·        Effective copy speaks to the specifics of your audiences: preferences, quirks, behavior, attitudes, needs or requirements

·        Write to their point of view

·        Address prospects as "you” to ensure that you are focusing on them and not your company, its products or managers

·        You have to understand your prospects so you can talk his or her language

·        The better you understand your target audience, the better feel you have for the way they think and what they think about; the more effective your copy will speak to their concerns

Push Benefits:

·        All successful copy must stress benefits

·        For technical audiences link features to benefits

·        Buyers want to know what the product is, what it does and how it can help the make save money, saving time or feeling secure

Stress Competitive Differences: 

·        For commodity products stress service, expertise or some other intangible

·        Focus on the uniqueness of your product in your copy

Prove Your Case:

·        Skeptical buyers need proof of your ROI with facts and statistics

·        Explain your methodology

·        Demonstrate a good track record in your field

·        Show how your product or service will deliver the benefits you promise

·        Create a perception of having a favorable track record by including case histories and success stories in your copy

·        Testimonials convince prospects that you can do what you say you can do

·        List customers to show activity

·        Share results

·        Post your successes online in a separate section of your site - preferably on the home page with downloadable pdf to create viral possibilities. That is, people can read the piece and send it to their colleagues.

·        Have a mechanism to collect names.

Establish Credibility:

·        Your corporate story should support your ability to solve your customers' problems

·        Use your credentials to support your claims: year founded, years in business, number of employees, annual revenues, number of locations, units sold, patents, awards, publications, memberships, independent survey results, media coverage, number of coverage, in house resources

Build Value:

·        Convince prospects that you have a great offering

·        Stress cost of ownership versus cost of purchase

·        Dramatize you points with visuals

·        Make pricing looks better by: spreading payments, state the price in terms that make it seem smallest, stress the value of component parts, add an element not easily priced, show the value or return in comparison to the price, use statistics favorably, preempt price objections

Close With A Call to Action:

·        Write to cause a change in your prospects – a change in their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, purchasing plans, brand preferences or immediate buying actions.

·        Copy must be specific and directive. What they must do if they are interested in what you have said and what to do next to take advantage of your offer or at least find out more.

·        Directly specify the next step: fill out and submit a form, click on a link, print a coupon, request an estimate or whatever

·        Give the reader a reason to act. Offer a: gift, free merchandise, subscription, access to a password-protected site containing useful content, tools or online communities, time-limited discount, free shipping and handling, free upgrade, special package offer, sense of urgency, limited opportunity, contest, gift, rebates, referral, points, etc.