7 Writing Techniques That Will Stir Your Audience Into Action

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The main aim of writing sales copy is converting visitors on your website into actual customers. On the non-commercial front, blog and website owners post engaging articles and newsletters to increase their involvement. In order to achieve these goals, one requires unique content and a captivating writing style that evokes desired emotional responses among the audience.

Some marketers believe that consumers make their buying decisions by only examining the facts at hand. However, marketing research indicates that a brand must first establish an emotional connection with the customer. People usually associate iPhones and Apple products with prestige because of the choice of words used in their advertisements. When you want to open a new bank account, you need to trust the bank prior to handing over your money.

1. Tell the story in detail 

Companies market their products and services using a variety of everyday experiences, with the aim of triggering universal emotional responses. Building an emotional rapport lets the prospective clients view the brand on a personal level, rather than corporate. It also shows you understand what it’s like to be a customer in this day and age.

Let’s say you want to advertise the launch of a new mobile banking app that eliminates the need of queuing in banks. What are some of the details you would include to connect with the market emotionally? You can describe how it feels to walk into the bank only to find a long queue, when you thought it would just be a quick walk-in.  As you continue waiting, the air conditioning system goes out of order, forcing you to queue up in a stuffy environment.

The above illustration paints a clear picture of what it means to queue in the bank on a hot day.

2. Build momentum gradually

Have you ever wondered why most fiery key-note speakers and politicians begin their speeches on a calm note? It’s not because they are too nervous to express themselves. Like a steam train getting going, one needs to warm up an audience. Begin on common ground to correspond with everyone’s emotional response.  For instance, the broken down air conditioner and lengthy queues in a bank is an unpleasant situation your readers will have experienced at one point.

The next step is showing what will happen next if the negative situation takes its own course. With the bank example, you can explain how standing in a slow-moving queue leads to missing out on lunch. A hungry customer is almost always an angry customer! So, start at a slow pace, and shift your story to a more emotional situation to captivate audience’s attention and interest.

Remember, when you start slow, it’s easier to build momentum than beginning your sales copy on a high note.

3. Establish a common identity

Have you ever noticed how there’s always a heightened spirit of unity during international World Cup tournaments, or during the Olympics? Sport has a way of uniting people from all walks of life under one banner. One way of securing your audience’s attention is by appealing to shared identities. In order to learn about your similarities, you need to do some thorough research.

Let’s say you’re marketing vegan meals through a blog post. The first three paragraphs should be about your individual vegan lifestyle. Here, you can expound on what made you become a vegan, how society treats you for choosing to be different, and what principles you rely on to uphold your vegan lifestyle.

Avoid using cheesy subject lines such as “Fantastic vegan dishes you ought to try” or “Grab a 50% discount coupon for our vegan restaurant”.

4. Champion a joint cause that benefits a large group

People respond to authority figures differently than friends and family. In order to become a highly credible authority figure in your field of interest, you need social proof. Nowadays, the emerging generation of health experts uses weight management struggles as social proof of their success. You may come across a fitness trainer, for example, who claims to have lost 30 pounds of weight in a month by adhering to a specific physical exercise routine.

There’s a clear line between giving testimonials and bragging. Experts seek to use their experiences to help others. This is why you should deliver your client’s testimonials and individual success stories in a modest tone. Let the audience see the results, and form their opinions on their own.

Once you have the audience’s attention, explain your overall corporate mission and vision. For example, you are planning to raise $3,000 dollars for a charity organization. Your audience will be willing to participate for two reasons. First, your social proof and authority package you as a role model. Second, people derive a sense of satisfaction when they willingly participate in a charity event.

Are you finding it hard to create compelling content for your audience? Hire a sales copy expert or blog writer from Freelancer.

5. Tell more, show less

The advantage of using vivid descriptions in content writing is it enables the audience to picture your message clearly. Using details shows you have a deeper understanding of consumer’s needs, rather than relying on marketing statistics. Also, providing details to your audience lets them form their own conclusions to your advantage.

For instance, in the illustration of queuing in the bank, the audience can feel frustrated and get impatient from a distance. Why? Because the audience understands the customers have to endure uncomfortably high temperatures in a confined space, and slow service at the same time. Based on this empathy, the audience becomes interested in hearing about the new mobile banking app that eliminates the need for queuing.

Eliciting emotions works best when using an indirect approach. People usually place more trust on their own assumptions and opinions, even if they could be wrong. A direct suggestion as to what the audience should feel ends up stiffening mental defenses against the content’s writer.

6. Use facts and figures to back up your content

Scientists attach statistics in their reports because numbers don’t lie. You may come across doubtful potential clients, who require further convincing about your product’s features. Rather than arguing with them, it's advisable to present credible scientific research that stands in your favor.

You can enhance your social proof by using factual data to prove your success. For example, online marketing companies present ‘before and after’ sales data, to show the improvement in sales experienced after a client began using their services. You’ll come across this data presented in the form of tables, comparing sales revenue over a given duration of months.

One way of captivating your audience through this method is by using factual data in article opening lines. For example, ‘according to a 2016 marketing research conducted by (XYZ), 8 out of 10 employees aged 18-25 years mainly read emails on their smartphones’.

7. Use the right formatting

People quickly scan through emails and blog posts before deciding whether to read or ignore them. Scanning lets the audience pick out important bits of information that helps determine the depth of information, and overall gist of the email or the blog post.

Using short sentences helps to retain the reader’s attention right from the beginning. It’s important to use short paragraphs that contain a maximum of four sentences. The sight of large paragraph blocks is scary to most typical online users.

Summing it up

These writing techniques will only work in your favor if you present the right message to your audience. Timing and proper research will ensure the right message finds the right audience, at the correct time. The good news is that you can use the tips shared above in creating sales copy, or writing new blog posts.

Did you know that a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle? Feel free to share this article with fellow entrepreneurs and blog owners via Facebook and Twitter. For feedback, please reach us here.

Ilmoitettu 18 syyskuuta, 2017

EdwardSuez

Sales & Marketing Guru

Edward is the Sales & Marketing Correspondent for Freelancer.com. He is currently based in Sydney, and is a self-confessed ice-cream fan.

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