How to turn your lifeless words into vibrant, persuasive copy
Blogs, landing pages, e-books, posts, videos - if you thought content creation for your business was spiraling out of control before…
…the rise of robots means it’s only going to multiply faster than you can say ChatGPT.
So how do you make sure your words stand out and nail the sale, in a world of bland AI content and sea-of-same marketing messaging?
The answer is Wordology.
Wordology is the science of weaving customer research, sales psychology, and your brand pazazz into your words, to get your dream clients clickin’
It’s the science of writing words that sell.
For the purposes of today, we’re going to focus on website copy, but you can apply Wordology to ANYTHING you write for your business.
My Wordology method comes in three parts, you can pick one part to start with, or you can weave all three into your words, to really pack a punch.
Part 1: Voice of customer research.
Doing some Voice of Customer (VOC) research means you’ll be able to reflect what's in your client’s head in your words.
When a potential client reads your Homepage and thinks “did he just read my mind?” Or peruses your packages and ask “How did she know that’s exactly what I need”? They feel seen and understood and connection and trust begin to form.
To do VOC you need to get your spy glasses out and hunt all over the internet for places your potential clients may be talking about the problem you solve.
Facebook groups, Reddit forums, competitor testimonials, Amazon book reviews, product review sites. You name it, people LOVE to overshare their problems, desires, motivations and objections alllllll over the internet.
You just gotta get your Sherlock on and copy all these word-and-phrase gold nuggets into a Google doc, spreadsheet, Evernote, phone memo - whatever works for you.
Just collect those bad boys up and then weave them through your words to give them an instant “is she actually psychic” kinda vibe.
Side note: Finding and applying VOC is waaaaay beyond a robot’s remit right now, so by doing this you know your words will not only convert but are super-specific to your audience and business.
Part 2: Sales Psychology
How can we write persuasive words, without first having an understanding of how the human brain works to make decisions?
(we can’t)
Layering (ethical) persuasion principles, based on proven sales psychology into your words, turns it into persuasive copy.
There are lots of different sales psychology techniques (in fact applying VOC research is a sales psychology technique based on the principle of Mirroring), but today I’ll share one of my favourites:
Starting with the problem.
Humans are more motivated to avoid a loss than we are to seek a gain. According to Psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s Loss Aversion Theory
‘losses can be 2x more painful than gains are pleasurable’.
So, by starting your piece of writing with the problem your reader is trying to solve, you are much more likely to hook your reader in.
They are more motivated to avoid that loss, frustration or problem then to seek the outcome of benefit.
You can use this hack whenever you’re faced with a blank screen - don’t know where to start? Start by addressing the problem your reader is facing right now (which you’ll have found out from your VOC research 😉).
Side note: You can use the tried-and-tested PSO copywriting technique in your opening paragraph for extra sales-psych-101 points 🤓
State their Problem. Offer your Solution. Paint a picture of the Outcome they’ll get.
Part 3: Your brand pazazz
The third part of Wordology is your brand. It's what makes you, you (and not a robot). It's your personality. It's your message. It’s not as scary as it sounds.
First of all, I always tell my clients, you can’t really ‘learn’ brand voice, nor can you force a brand voice. This probably isn't what you want to hear, but your brand voice will naturally develop as the business does. It adapts. It flows. It’s not defined by a set of rules (at small biz level anyway).
This leads me to my next point.
The #1 reason most business owners struggle to write words that sound vibrant, persuasive and punchy, is they’re following the rules they learned in high school English.
Forget the rulebook. Write how you speak. Read everything you write out loud. Does it sound like you? Good. Does it sound like M.s Pierson marked it with her red pen? Change it.
My practical tip for sprinkling some brand pazazz over your website words is the ‘I believe’ exercise.
Open a Google doc and write ‘I believe…’ maybe 10-15 times down the left-hand side. Or use this one I prepared earlier.
Now finish the ‘I believe’ sentences with everything you believe to be true about your clients, industry, services, and processes.
Consider how you counteract popular thinking. Or bust any myths about your industry. What do your clients deserve and what will they get when they work with you? There’s no right or wrong, don’t overthink it, just put down as many as you can
You’ll find some common themes occurring - these make amazing brand messages. Use an ‘I believe’ statement as an About page intro. Or a homepage headline, or an IG profile description.
Side note: Repetition is a GOOD thing in your website copy. Keep the story consistent across your pages by using the same brand messages.
This builds familiarity - and people tend to remember and like things they are more familiar with. Yep, that’s another sales psychology technique called the ‘Familiarity principle’
There you have it, the 3 parts to Wordology.
Wanna delve deeper into writing words that sell for your business (or send your marketing manager to do it for you)?
I’m hosting a free Wordology masterclass for service-based businesses and marketers, where I’ll share all my copywriting secrets to making your words stand out in the sea of sameness.
If your website has quietly quit, while you’re out there working harder than Beyonce’s wind machine to market your business, you need some Wordology.
Wordology makes copy personal. Makes it stand out. Make it vibrant, punchy and persuasive.
It makes words the powerhouse that’ll brings more clicks and clients into your business.
>> Save your spot at the Wordology masterclass now <<
