Sales copy is intended to spur readers to take action—specifically, to make a purchase. To engage consumers and persuade them to continue their customer journey with your company until they reach the desired endpoint of a sale, your sales copy must achieve a number of goals. Without using the right language and focusing on the right aspects, though, you’ll struggle to convert readers with your copy.
Below, 15 Forbes Communications Council members share steps you can take when you notice that your sales copy is not quite doing the trick. There may be several factors at play, and learning about the different issues that could be hurting your conversion efforts is the best way to make a plan to improve your sales copy and start seeing the results and revenue you need.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Tailor Your Copy To Different Demographics
“Sales copy” shouldn’t be monolithic. Tailor your message to different industries, titles, demographics and interests. And then, tailor it again to address specific personal or business pain points that you can solve. Conversion is a result of precision, so target your audience precisely. - Eric Brown, JumpCloud
2. Reevaluate The Message With Salespeople And Customers
Reevaluate the message with the front-facing salespeople (and their customers, if possible). Pain points change, so understanding the “now” is super important. If your selling message is based on competition, then you may be losing to your competition. Make it stand out. - Mollie Barnett, The SMART Co.
3. Focus On What Made Customers Choose You
If your sales copy isn’t converting, you have a disconnect somewhere critical. Make sure you understand why your current customers decided to hire you over other options; find the consistent threads there and pull on them. Your copy should reflect the key benefits that your recently-won customers valued enough to choose you. - Jonathan Sasse, Metova
4. Convey The Benefits In Ten Words Or Less
Concisely convey the benefits within ten words and showcase the authority to implement the benefits through design integration. This is what we do, but some instances require a longer conversion cycle, so we add a squeeze page to keep the conversation going. - Lauren Parr, RepuGen
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5. Talk To A Customer
When copy isn’t converting, the issue boils down to not connecting with the problem that a prospect is trying to solve. Customer tastes change over time, so if you aren’t converting, you need to start with first principles and figure out what’s in their head. In the future, always start from first principles with customer feedback so that your campaigns will work every time. - Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
6. Avoid Sterile Messaging
Try to avoid sterile messaging that is devoid of personality in your sales copy. When there is nothing to connect to, you’re much less likely to grab the attention of your audience and turn a “view” into a converted sale. Creating an emotional tie between your brand and your consumers is a good way to encourage your consumers to buy more from your brand. - Victoria Zelefsky, The Menkiti Group
7. Continuously A/B Test Your Sales Copy
It is important to understand what might be holding your customers back. With a simple experiment that tests various variables one at a time, you might be able to refine your messaging and increase your overall conversion. A/B testing is not a one-time fix, but a continuous process, as customers and markets change over time. - Roshni Wijayasinha, Prosh Marketing
8. Align The Marketing And Sales Teams
If sales copy is not converting, this may mean that the marketing and sales teams are not in alignment. Invest the time to meet with your sales counterparts to ensure alignment between the goals and objectives of both teams and get clear on messaging that resonates with prospects and customers at different stages of the sales cycle. - Rekha Thomas, Seismic
9. Work With An Experienced Copywriter
If your copy isn’t working on its own, having a qualified copywriter punch it up is your first move. A seasoned veteran knows current buzzwords and uses tried, tested copy. Next, make sure it is optimized for search. Better copy and higher search rankings will drive sales. Investing in good copy and proper SEO should help convert at a higher rate and could keep a sales slump from recurring. - Asad Kausar, Dabaran
10. Identify And Highlight What Buyers Value Most
Sales copy delivers the best results only when the value highlighted by the seller is valued by the buyer. The larger the disconnect, the poorer the sales performance. Since it is difficult to predict up front which aspect of value will perform best, sales teams should make it a practice to experiment to identify the successful attributes at the earliest. This is a repeatable process. - Mahesh Bellie, Indium Software
11. Combine Research With Insights Gathered In The Field
You have to communicate what you want, but the way you do it is important. This communication needs to be backed by solid research and information your sales and delivery teams are gathering out in the field. A good connection between the two will always result in good sales copy. A good framework for periodic checks will help keep this on track. - Neha Gianchand, Straive
12. Study Why The Audience Isn’t Amused
The best way to figure out why sales copy isn’t working is to study why the intended audience isn’t amused. Take the time to view the copy from the audience’s angle, and don’t be afraid to reach out to potential customers or audience members who could provide valuable feedback. You have to give the people what they want. Otherwise, they won’t want anything. - Christian Anderson, Lost Boy Entertainment Company
13. Interview Your Current Customers
You may not be focusing on the most important buyer problems. To fix this, interview your current customers to understand their buying journey with your product. Specifically, ask, “What were the problems you were struggling with that led you to buy our product?” Then, test the insights you gained from the buyer interviews in future sales copy. - Corey Quinn, Corey Quinn, Inc.
14. Experiment With Different Aspects Of Your Copy
Start testing. If your sales copy isn’t converting, start A/B testing different subject lines, calls to action and formatting. Experimenting with your copy will unlock valuable learnings about what resonates and converts versus what doesn’t. You can apply these learnings in your future copywriting. - Lindsay Boyajian, Conductor
15. Stop Using It And Dig Into The ‘Why’
The first step when your sales copy is not converting is to stop using it and dig into the “why.” Revisit the research you have. What is the customer’s pain point? Does your copy recognize that problem, and is the solution—your company—overtly presented as the solution? Present the revised copy to a focus group of customers. Test, test and test. - Kimberly Osborne, UNC Greensboro
