Now that you’re comfortable with your readers’ language, you can use those skills on your sales and landing pages. Studies have shown that you should create a landing page for every product or freebie because it will make your audience more likely to purchase. Whether you’re selling a product or service, design a landing page that uses the terminology your audience uses to attract them to your item and help them convert to a sale.
Using your readers’ language builds more trust and overcomes objections quicker because they’ll feel as if you know them. You’ll get a better result by speaking in their language and talking the way they talk. Knowing how they speak is going to do nothing but help you on your path to success.
- What words does your audience use to find the item (or service) that will be the focus of your landing page? Use those words to name your page, in the headline, and the actual link to the page.
- A landing page you create will always look better when you take advantage of all the whitespace. You can do this via subheadings, bullets, and how you arrange text. Making important keywords H1 or H2 text shows search engines that the text is important, but it also breaks up the page in a more pleasurable visual manner.
- Cover Design Text. Create artwork for your service or product by making a 3-D cover image. It can look like a book or even a digital screen. It’s ultimately up to you. Use the language you’ve learned to make your cover stand out. Don’t forget keywords when naming your images.
- Product Descriptions. Use words that grab your readers’ attention when you create a description. When you use the words they’d use, you’ll get a better result because they’ll feel as if you speak directly to them.
- Use the language you’ve absorbed to “hook” them from the first sentence on your landing page. A hook will bring feelings to your readers’ hearts and minds, which is more effective than any other sales method.
- Don’t forget that the benefits should come before features on a sales page. People care more about what’s in it for them versus what you see as important. Answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” right up front.
- You want to talk about features, but in terms of how those features benefit your customers. You’ll do well to describe the benefits your audience gets from each feature in one sentence.
- Calls to Action. Never forget your CTA! A call to action should be on every landing page, blog page, about page, front page, and anywhere else you can think to put one. If you focus on one CTA per page, you’ll get better results. Using their words in your call to action will make your audience more likely to act.
While you make your sales page, it’ll be helpful to put your avatar picture of your audience member along with a list of phrases and words that you’ve collected during your observation phase.
Speak Directly to Your Customers in Headlines
When writing copy, the headline is one of the most important things to think about—whether it’s a sales page, post, or eBook. It’s the first thing they’ll see and will help them decide if they want to click through or move on. You need to speak directly to your audience via headlines using the language you’ve learned from your ideal customers.
Are you a health writer who focuses on women ages 45 to 60 and your book discusses inflammation and bloating? A great headline might be: “Put an end to belly bloat with these 3 changes.”
The headline grabs the readers’ attention using keywords that are important to them.
What about an author focused on skin care? The audience might be interested in something about wrinkles. You know this because you’re a part of the community and know what they talk about.
They might complain about skin dullness and a loss of elasticity. You could use a headline like: “5 Ways to smoother & brighter skin.”
Yup, it’s that simple.
You don’t need to be super clever or hide your promotion when you’re talking directly to them. You’re giving them what they’ve asked for right on social media, in forums, and groups that you’re in at their side.
This concept works for articles, sales pages, landing pages, and email subjects. Anywhere, really.
You’ll learn their thoughts from being immersed in their world. Anything someone asks can become inspiration for an article, product, or some other type of content. Almost any question that is asked can be used. Your new habit should be to copy and paste questions you come across into an idea file so you can come up with amazing and effective headlines.
It’s vitally important for you to use the right terms for your niche. It doesn’t matter if it’s nonfiction about knitting or a romance novel—know the lingo and understand your readers’ problems. This will make you even more successful at getting readers to click on your headlines. And not just any readers. You want the right people to click through. The people who will want to—and can—buy what you’re selling.
What Tone Should You Use in Your Sales Messages?
You’ll start to learn what works best for your audience in terms of sales and messages as you get to know them better. That’s why you should get to know your audience before you try crafting a sales message. Some prefer a professional tone while others are more casual. What tone you use depends on the audience you’re trying to attract.
- Know Your Audience. You must, must, must know your audience in an intimate way. The more you know how they think, their problems, and their beliefs, the better you’ll be at crafting sales messages.
- Find Out What They Buy. Observing your audience allows you to learn what they recommend to each other. You’ll discover the gurus, who they respect, and who they follow, and then you can emulate them.
- Create Swipe Files. When you know what your audience buys, study those sales pages. Join the email list and perhaps buy the item. This will teach you about your competition’s methods. Copy words, phrases, and note the tone as you move on. Remember: don’t plagiarize! Don’t use your swipe file as something to copy word for word. It should be an idea generator.
- Look at Your Competition. Learn about your competition and see how they talk to your audience. If it works for them, they’ve probably found the right tone. That said, there could be a sub-audience your competition doesn’t appeal to. Look at the stats and signs so you can make an educated guess. Your product might not be liked by all, but some will love it, so it may turn into a success.
- Differentiate Yourself. Considering the language your audience and competition uses, how can you differentiate yourself so you stand out to your audience?
- Know Your Readers’ Buying Cycle. Think about the process your audience goes through when purchasing. What goes through their minds? What is the process they complete to make the choice? Try to pull them through that process with your content and the words you use in your messages.
Your short answer is that you should use the tone that gets you the most conversions. If your audience likes a professional tone, use it. If they’re more laid-back, you should be the same. It’s up to your audience, not you.
You need to test your ideas and find out what works to get the answers you need. When you know your audience, you’ll know when to be casual, professional, soft or forceful. At times, your audience needs some of each depending on their buying cycle as well as how well they know, like, and trust you.
Language, Tone & Copywriting
Learning and knowing the language your audience uses will help you decide how to use words and tone in your copywriting. As you study, you’ll learn whether your audience prefers a more professional or casual voice. You must learn and incorporate the way your audience prefers to learn, speak, and understand information because that’s how they’ll absorb and learn the information you provide. Language and tone in copywriting is the foundation of your business.
Language and tone become part of your copywriting by:
Building Your Brand’s Voice
Knowing what you want your brand to convey to the audience requires you to define the personality of your brand. You’ve studied your audience, so you know what brands they respect. This is an asset when it comes to building your own brand’s voice. Build your brand’s voice in a way that differentiates you from the competition.
Developing Authority
You’ll become an authority on your topic by understanding your readers’ problems and then developing the solutions. The words, language and tone you use will help you express that authority better than simply guessing what they want to hear and how they want to hear it.
Creating Relatable Content
You’ll automatically become more relatable by simply listening to your audience and incorporating their terms and feelings into your messages. Your content will improve merely by showing that you know how your audience feels. But you can’t assume. You must do the research!
Offering Believable Support to Your Audience
You can offer the best support to your audience by understanding the language they use and tone they prefer. You’ll give them what they need in the way they need it. What more could they want?
Using the Right Active Voice for Your CTAs
Creating CTAs that get results involves understanding the language your audience uses and crafting CTAs that tell them what to do—something other than “signup” or “submit.” Trying “Yes! I want a to read a bestselling book.” will get a better response.
Eliciting the Right Feelings in Your Audience
You must understand the right tone—which is different than voice—to use to help your audience when making a choice. Some prefer authoritarian, “Do this, not that” while others prefer a gentler approach that guides them in the right direction. Others might like a conversational tone including the use of words you don’t say in public. It’s on you to learn what your audience will accept.
Study your audience and it’ll become second nature to speak the way your audience speaks, use their tone, and relate to them in a way you couldn’t in the past. Take the time to study!
Want to know even more about your target market? Want to figure out what makes them tick and–more importantly–buy? Make sure you grab your copy of Find Rabid Readers: How to Identify Your Target Market today!
