This is the second in a series of twelve blog posts about conversion optimisation, as I review the minidegree of the same name by CXL Institute.
This instalment 2 of 12 is all about Conversion Copy, Product Messaging, and Buyer Psychology.
Look out! 👀 for these:
🔑🥡 = Key takeaways
Value Propositions (VP) = Communicate an (unique) offer or solution
“You get x if you give me money”
VPs = “What’s in it for me?” “Why should I choose you (over x)?”
🔑🥡 Place VPs on every key landing page on your site—make them an offer they can’t refuse!
Home, product, and category pages should feature some form of VP. It doesn’t need to include as much detail as your sales page VP, but should communicate some value i.e. Free Shipping, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, etc.
A good VP should include:
Solution or benefit explanation
Target audience identification
Delivery of specific benefits
Content that makes you look unique
Language that is simple and clear
🔑🥡 Blogs —> Most landing page traffic will be individual blog post pages. Have something (a VP/CTA) above the fold on each post page!
Steps for creating persuasive copy:
Peer Review
Recruit people from your target audience and/or expert copywriters.
Ask them to mark your copy in detail (areas that are interesting).
VCC Test
Value: What’s in it for the user?
Clarity: Avoid jargon; Keep it simple stupid (KISS)!
Credibility: Avoid superlatives, be believable!
🔑🥡 Copywriting is interface design!
Microcopy (buttons, CTAs, instructions, error messages, etc.) is just as important as sales copy!
Sales Page “Tear-downs” can be used as Gap Analysis tools
Base them on (yet to be dis)proven persuasion principles.
Use them as a gap analysis tool, not a re-writing guide.
They can’t tell you what will work — only what likely isn’t.
Tear-Down Element #1: MECLAB’s Conversion Heuristic Formula
C = 4M + 3V + 2(I-F) - 2A
C = Probability of Conversion
M = Motivation (when)
V = Clarity of VP (why)
I = Incentive
F = Friction
A = Anxiety
Tear-Down Element #2: Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Influence
Social proof
Authority
Liking
Scarcity/Urgency
Reciprocity
Commitment/Consistency
Unity (us vs them)
🔑🥡 Tagging/Tracking was invented in ~1866
Tear-Down Element #3: Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising
Rule 1: Be specific
Rule 2: Offer service
Rule 3: Tell the full story
Rule 4: Be a sales(wo)man (“person”)
Bringing it all together and popping it into a funnel
Heuristic Analysis/Conversion Funnel Audit (steps)
Orient upon entrance
Appeal to user motivation
Convey unique value
Establish credibility
Address objections/fears
Present the offer
[Form design]
Message Mining
🔑🥡 “Instead of writing your message, steal it!”
Message mining is the process of scouring the internet for instances of your target customer voicing what they care about most when it comes to your product or solution and using that to mine content for your copy.
What is it good for?
Identifying key messages
Motivation
Desired outcomes
Pain points/problems
Purchase prompts
Value
Unique benefits and advantages
Delightful product features
Dealbreaker needs and requirements
Anxiety
Uncertainties
Objections
Perceived risks
“Swiping” memorable copy
5 Step Process for Message Mining
Make a list of keywords
Google “[keyword] reviews”
Check popular review sites
Collect into spreadsheet
Categorise and rank messages
🔑🥡 You have to be aware of your customers awareness level—it determines your messaging!
The level of messaging required from a startup vs a big tech co. like Apple is VERY different! Customers’ awareness level of Apple is far, far higher than a newcomer!
3 Key Components of Designing Messaging Surveys:
Question: Extract key messages
Invitation: Get recipient to pay attention
Targeting: Engage specific audience
What’s in it for me?
Don’t seek responses (to the above) from people overly excited/supportive of you and your offer. Instead, seek it from difficult to convert people!
How to brainstorm the ‘best’ UVP:
List key features
Pinpoint unique key features
List customer pain points
Define desirable positive outcomes of customer pain points
Score/Rank pains by severity/frequency
Tally up scores—bubble sort pains and turn into UVPs
Score each UVP and pick best one
🔑🥡 Story is key 🔑/critical to selling! Why?
Human thoughts arrange themselves in story—start, middle, end. Synchronising your copy to visitors’ thought sequences requires story-based frameworks.
- Todd Lebo, Marketing Experiments Lab
🔑🥡 It’s better to have too much on a sales page than not enough!
You can eliminate stuff by using heat-mapping, but if there’s not enough on the page you won’t know why no-one is converting.
5 Steps to Writing Your First Sales Page Draft
Get/create sales page template (contact or subscribe for template)
Add most dominant messages
Replace each message with verbatim swipes
Tweak swipes to second person (‘You’) narratives
Identify areas that can be strengthened by social proof
7 Rules for Effective Sales Page Copy Editing
Be clear, be explicit
Match readers mindset
Blow them away with value!
Use quantifiable proof
Don’t just talk… PAINT A PICTURE! (See below)
Show and tell generously
Cut anything not doing real work
Five Paint Brushed You Can Use
Lift “word pictures” from customers
Replace general nouns with specific ones
Replace generic adjectives with vivid ones
Replace weak verbs with punchy ones
Call out your reader and their needs!
General pointers for Conversion-Focused Formatting & Layout
Position — F-Pattern
Size — Fitt’s Law
Order — Visual Hierarchy
Space — Hick’s Law
Typography
Directional Cues (“Eye Magnets”)
Contrast — Squint Test
Final 🔑🥡 Clutter kills conversions!
Remember: This was just 2 of 12 in my series on CRO. Make sure to check out the others coming each week!