Stories are awesome for conversions and a key piece of copywriting strategy. Consumers are increasingly sophisticated and have become immune to pushy sales pitches. They need to be engaged, not sold to.
Stories work because they trigger your visitors' emotions, hooking them. In fact, recent scientific studies have revealed that stories stimulate the production of oxytocin in the brain, generating commercial property owners database feelings of empathy, a very valuable element for your writing strategy.
Great brand stories
Jack Daniel's 'Bar Stories' campaign taps into the whiskey brand's heritage and tradition values. Its video featuring Frank Sinatra pouring himself a Jack Daniel's over a jazz soundtrack conveys the desired timeless cool. Stories also work with less "glamorous" companies.
Microsoft's stories are a far cry from the typical, boring corporate marketing material. Instead, they draw inspiration from digital magazines like Wired. And their stories focus on people, not their products.
As Ben Tamblyn’s storytelling manager says, “The product makes a pretty horrible story. By making a story behind the product, you get a much more interesting narrative that people can relate to.”
Create your own story
The best brand storytellers use classic narrative structures to create content that intrigues and engages their audience. Unfortunately, this is a skill that few marketers have been trained in. The truth is that any skilled writer can create a story as long as they understand the basic structure.
American mythologist Joseph Campbell came up with “ the hero’s journey ” which has been used in several successful Hollywood movies from the Wizard of Oz to Star Wars. The hero’s journey has 12 stages from start to finish, but we’re not going to write a movie script here, so we can simplify the journey to 5 stages that you can employ in your writing strategy.
The hero: The hero of the story isn't you! It's your client or someone they can relate to.
The goal: What does the hero want to achieve? Again, the goal should be something the customer can relate to.
The obstacle: what stands between the hero and his goal?
The Guide: Now, this is you . This is where you save the day. (Cape is optional)
Victory: The hero achieves his goal, and it's all thanks to you.
Get them to take action
The goal of copywriting is to get your visitors to take action. What's the best way to do that? Ask them. Simple, but many businesses are hesitant to ask their potential customers to do something. At the end of your copy, you should provide a clear call to action for your users.
Don't make the mistake of cluttering your text with several different calls to action: to follow you on Facebook, subscribe to your newsletter, download your e-book, and buy your product. Place one call to action per page. Confusing your visitors with different options hurts your conversions.
It goes without saying that there needs to be a great, colorful button for your visitors to press and take action. Red buttons are a favorite, but the most important thing is that your button color stands out from the rest of the page.
But don’t let your great creative copy go to waste on a lame call-to-action button like “buy now,” “subscribe,” or “click here.” Take your copywriting strategy to the next level—what you say on your buttons has a huge impact on your conversion rate.
So, in your call to action button, use action phrases that give your visitors a reason to click that button. The reason? They receive a clearly stated benefit. For example:
Schedule my demo
Get my free eBook.
Create my account.
Start your free trial.
Join our community.
Overcome objections
Now your visitor is hovering over the call to action button. Hopefully they will click and have their lives forever transformed by your amazing products.
But what happens if he doesn't?
Chances are, it's because they have some objections holding them back. You need to overcome those objections by employing these copywriting strategies, and the best place to do that is right next to the call-to-action button. What you should say depends on the objection in question:
How do I know this will work? Includes quotes from satisfied customers.
What if it doesn't work? It comes with an ironclad guarantee to reassure anxious buyers.
How can I trust you? Tell us how long you have been in business. Show industry standard certifications.
Why should I buy now? If availability is limited, say so without fear.
Why is it so expensive? It offers a free trial or paid plans.
It's simple and it's complicated
With just a few tweaks to your copy, you can increase your conversion rate significantly. It seems simple at first. The hard part is figuring out exactly what tweaks you need to make. I've given you a few copywriting strategies that have been proven to work, time and time again. Try them out and see which ones work best for you.
If you liked this article, you might also be interested in:
Learn to Create Branded Storytelling for Your Brand
Learn How to Make Good Storytelling Practices
Learn to Boost Your Brand with Storytelling
The Benefits of Video Marketing for Your Company
Storytelling as a Trend
This content is a Spanish adaptation of the material “6 Clever Copywriting Tactics to boost your conversion rates”