What is direct response copywriting?

Direct response copywriting is the act of writing copy which aims to persuade the reader to take a specific action.

Some of these actions could be to sign-up to an online course, get on a free strategy call or call a hotline now.

Direct response copywriting is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there, and every marketer should utilize it in their advertising efforts.

Here are 6 tips you could implement when writing copy for your brand.

1) Make the tone of your message personal

The tone of your copy should address your reader personally. It should like you’re speaking only to him as opposed to addressing a room full of people.

Your readers are most likely alone when reading your copy. This is why you need to speak to them at a personal level.

It is this personal tone which will help evoke an instant connection with your brand.

There will be niches within the market with very specific needs. You’ll need to identify these problems and present them with a solution which sounds very personal.

Your reader will be thrilled about your offer as no one else has perhaps presented them with a solution to that specific problem before at least at a personal level.

However, to accomplish this, you will need to do in-depth research on your audience.

Speak to them and listen carefully. And get to the bottom of the nightmares that keep them tossing and turning on their beds at night.

Also, listen to their most passionate dreams which they will go any lengths to bring to fruition.

Your copy should have the perfect balance of stirring your reader’s emotions while presenting solutions to a burning problem which they are having (which you had just pointed out with your copy).

2) Start with your strongest benefit

The modern-day consumer is constantly pressed for time!

You need to be able to grab their attention within the first 8 seconds, or you would have lost them for good.

The purpose of your headline is to make them read the first line, and the purpose of the first line is to make them read the second.

You’re not going to be able to make your customers read your copy if you fail to highlight what’s in it for them right at the get-go.

What are the benefits that your product can offer that can solve a problem that keeps them up and night, scratching their heads?

This is not a case of ‘saving the best for last’!

You would lose your customer way before he/she even gets close to the end of your copy.

You should in fact, hit them with the best benefit right from the onset. It’ll be ideal if your headline can have it too.

You can read more on how to write attention-grabbing headlines here.

3) Draw a vivid image of using your product in the minds of your reader

One of the most talked-about ad copy to this day is the one David Ogilvy wrote for Rolls Royce back in 1959.

This was written in a post-war setting where the upper-class of America (Rolls Royce’s target audience) was craving for peace, quiet and luxury.

An ordinary headline conveying this message would have read. ‘The New Rolls Royce is a very quiet car’.

Instead, notice how Ogilvy is taking the reader to the steering wheel with his words and making them imagine what driving a car that makes little noise will make them feel.

4) Apply the AIDA formula

AIDA is a widely used concept in advertising and marketing. It is an acronym which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Marketers use this concept to engage better with their prospects. It also helps them get a better understanding of what goes through a customer’s mind before making the final purchase having considered multiple brands.

The AIDA formula describes the process of moving a customer from a product/brand awareness stage to becoming a paying customer.

A – Attention

This stage is about creating brand awareness.

You should perform thorough market research at this stage to identify your audience’s problems and passions to create buyer personas.

Then content should be crafted, which addresses those problems and passions and positioning your brand that could take them to the promised land.

If your content is crafted well, and you can reach your target audience on the right channels, you would have incited the curiosity for your audience to find out more about your brand.

I – Interest

Next, You need to be able to hold the attention of your prospects garnered through the previous step.

You must provide a strong enough reason for the audience to stay engaged.

Storytelling could be used at this stage to explain to them further as to why this problem they are facing is negatively affecting their lives.

You need to make the problem personal to the audience at the interest stage so that it looks like you are only speaking to them and no one else.

D – Desire

It is at the desire stage where you reveal to your audience on the details of how your solution will help solve their pressing problems.

Here the features of the products will be explained more at length while presenting how those could benefit the reader.

Social proof could be used here to further solidify the claims you’re making.

Nothing speaks louder than client testimonials and case studies on how your products have helped others who were faced with a similar predicament.

When done correctly, your prospect will be ready to purchase at this stage.

A – Action

Now that a strong desire to purchase has been created in the customer’s mind, the final step would be to prompt them to take immediate action.

Creating a sense of urgency by offering your readers a limited time deal or a special bonus could be an effective way to get your customers to take action fast.

5) Take the weight off their shoulders

Even after the reader is convinced that your product could solve his burning problem, he is still sceptical about biting the bullet!

He may have got his fingers burnt the last time he tried to purchase a product which too was promising to solve his problems.

You need to take away any potential risk he might be facing to take him from “What if this doesn’t deliver the results”? to “I need to buy this right now”.

Offering them a guarantee would show your prospect that he has nothing to lose by purchasing your product and make him whip out his card out and make the check out immediately.

If you’re offering them a software, you offer them a trial period for them to gauge the actual benefits of using the product.

6) End with a clear Call-To-Action

The entire purpose of your ad copy is to make your customers take action. So, you need to put in much thought when inserting the right Call-To-Action.

Some example for call-to-action could be

– Sign up to a /sletter

– Enroll in a course

– Purchase a product

Creating a sense of by offering them a limited offer could go a long way in prompting your readers to take action.

The final piece of copy should be written to make the reader take the desired action you intended him/her to take as soon as they end up reading the copy.

You can read more on how to craft Call-To-Action, which will make people take action here.

Hope these tips prove to be useful for you when writing copy for your brand.

Do let us know some other tips that could help markers write better copy on the comments section to keep the conversation going.

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