Everyone is "horrible" at a lot of things, and copywriters are no exception.

I mean if you think about it... almost all copywriters are horrible at writing...

About topics outside of their expertise.

• The proper frame would be to find a copywriter that's "horrible" in the way that works for your business
• Someone who excels where you need them, and horrible where you don't

In this post, we'll talk about how to find a conversion copywriter who isn't completely horrible.

 

Find Conversion Copywriters Who Craft Compelling Headlines

As you know, good copywriting all starts with a good headline. So it's crucial to find someone who knows exactly how to write a good one. Because without one, the rest of your copy isn't going to do much good.

But what does that entail?

Well, first off it needs to be specific, make a complete statement, and include a real benefit. But to get more specific, it has to do one or more of a few things.

Learn how to write powerful headlines here.

 

What A Headline Has To Do

When you offer a known product that already has a known public desire, it has to do at least one of these things. But don't worry, as long as it does one you're good to go. These things are:

• Reinforce your prospect's desire for your product.
• Extend their image of where and when your product satisfies that desire.
• Introduce new proof, details, and documentation of how well your product satisfies that desire.
• Announce a new mechanism in that product to satisfy that desire even better.
• Explain a new mechanism that eliminates limitations in your product.
• Completely change the image or the mechanism of that product in order to remove it from the competition of other products claiming to satisfy the same desire.

Depending on your offer, one of these should fit perfectly. And maybe it's not entirely clear to you how you should be presenting your offer. That's why it's so important to find a copywriter who knows what they're doing.

But a lot more goes into it than just knowing the function of a headline. A good copywriter has to know how to format them.

What Makes A Good Headline

It's easy to write a headline. But it takes a skilled writer to craft a headline that works. And while there are plenty of ways to write one, sometimes it's best to stick to the proven methods.

Because they're proven for a reason.

But let's look at the logic behind some of these methods before we get into them. Here are some of the ways these headlines work:

• Say it directly - This simply means to get right to the point and explains the offer with no frills.
• State the big benefit - This method works by taking your best selling point and turning it into a headline.
• Announce exciting news - People respond well to news, so logically they'll respond well if your headline frames your offer as something new, even if the product isn't.
• Appeal to the "how-to" instinct - Using this technique appeals to people's want to improve something in their lives, and it has to state the benefit immediately rather than the process of getting that benefit.
• Ask a compelling question - Here you want to ask a question that gets your prospect involved, and ideally, the question guides the prospect to the answer "yes." The question also needs to be related to the benefit of your offer.
• Make a command - We both know sales copy ultimately ends in a call to action. So why not start with one?
  • This doesn't mean tell your prospects what to do, it means to give them an opportunity to take advantage of your offer. Think "Boost Your Conversions By 30% In A Week."
• Offer useful information - While most people already deal with information overload, they still want information that can benefit them. That's why teasing information that can actually help your prospects works so well.
• Use a testimonial - People tend to trust their peers over businesses. So a testimonial from someone you've helped is going to work wonders in a headline.
• Throw in something extra - Much of your competition has probably used some dishonest sales tactics at some point. To set yourself apart, you can add something interesting (but still true) to give your offer some authenticity. The idea is to get specific.

And these are just some of the things that can go into a good headline. But a good copywriter knows how to experiment with all these ideas and find the best fit.

They won't just decide on one and go for it, they'll try all sorts of methods and see what actually works.

 

Find Conversion Copywriters Who Write High-Converting Landing Page Copy

Without good landing page copy, you're going to miss out on tons of potential conversions. And there are a lot of things a copywriter has to get right with landing pages.

But a good copywriter is aware of these things and knows the different categories they fall into.

Learn how to optimize your landing pages for better conversions here.

 

Core Offer

The first of these categories is Core Offer. That refers to the actual offer, whatever product or service you're trying to sell. The items that a competent landing page copywriter should be aware of are:

• Clarity - Tells clearly and concisely what your offer is and what it means for your prospect.
• Contextual relevance - The offer is personalized for and acknowledges a single target buyer.
• Frontloaded value - Presents value in bullet-points right below the main header

 

Form/CTA

The next category deals with the CTA and how it's presented. The importance of this is that it's the final step before your prospects convert, so all your work leads up to this point. The criteria that a copywriter should be aware of are:

• Visible form - Simply put, this means the CTA should be located as close to the top as possible.
• Multiple overt CTAs - Multiple CTAs should stand out throughout the page and tell about the offer.
• CTA relevance - CTA button appropriately mirrors where your prospect is within the buying journey.
• Final CTA lead-in - The copy should transition into a CTA in the correct context.

 

Trust Factor

As with any copy, trust is important in your landing pages. And it may seem a bit difficult to establish trust at times, which is why a copywriter who understands how to do just that is important for your success.

The ways to establish trust are:

• Polish - The layout needs to be smooth, and the format should be consistent and glow well.
• Verifiable truth - Contains case studies, testimonials, or demonstrations proving that your offer works.
• Trust Icons - Trust icons are included as close to the top as possible.
• Testimonials - Testimonials are detailed, including everything about the identity of your client.
• Human-centric - Includes a human element above the fold.
• Impeccable copy - Copy is compelling, readable, persuasive, and includes no errors.
• Best-fit justification - Justifies why your business is the best for your prospect.

Conversion

Arguably the most important aspect of a landing page, optimizing conversion takes the most attention to detail. And with good reason, conversions are the goal of any sales copy.

To maximize conversions, your copywriter should be looking for these things:

• Strong headlines - Headlines and subheads are clear, compelling, and concise.
• Congruent tone - Copy has a tone that's conversational to the target buyer.
• Urgency - Includes an element of urgency or incentive to act now.
• Differentiation - Shows how your offer is better than your competition's.
• Social Proof - Includes an element of social proof. Testimonials, case studies, etc.
• Competitive advantage - Preemptively handles objections.
• Customer-centric - Uses the word "you" throughout the copy.
• Value-oriented - Uses a specific dollar amount or time frame.
• Curiosity-provoking - Includes a unique mechanism or proprietary process.
• List of benefits - Clearly and persuasively lists benefits.
• Exit-intent popup - Include a popup after the prospect views the page for a certain time or is about to leave the page.
• Disqualification - Disqualifies unwanted buyer personas.
• Future-pace roadmap - Explains steps the prospect has to take to get the benefit from your offer.
• Contact/checkout - Contact form or checkout page is consistent with landing page and is easy to complete

 

UI/UX And Layout

The final category is less about the copy and more about how it appears. And just because it doesn't exactly refer to the copy itself, it's just as important as any of the other categories.

A copywriter who's familiar with landing pages knows why these items are crucial: 

• Supporting imagery - Images are effective but don't overwhelm the CTA.
• White space - Visuals don't cramp the copy and vice-versa.
• Skimmable content - Uses subheaders to make the page readable at a glance.
• Mobile-responsive - Page works just as well on mobile devices as it does on desktops.
• Appropriate scope - Landing page's length is appropriate for the offer.

As you can see, landing pages require extensive detail. This means that you want a copywriter who has great attention to detail. Someone who's a jack of all trades, so to speak.

Because missing the mark on any of these items could mean the difference between selling and stagnating.

 

Find Conversion Copywriters Who Excel At Email Copy

Since you're reaching out directly to your prospect email copy takes some nuance. It's a lot different than them just happening upon your offer.

So your emails need to give your prospect an idea of who you are, what you do and why, and what that means for them.

Each email should be purpose-driven and there should be an overlying arc. Meaning that value should be presented first, eventually leading to a potential sale at the end. And that could look like a number of things.

So let's see exactly what that might look like so you have a better idea of what kind of copywriter you should be looking for.

Here's an email marketing guide to help you with your email sequences.

 

Templates

Typically, you want to follow a formula with your emails. The most common and possibly most reliable the 5-Email Drip. And a copywriter that's experienced with writing emails should be familiar with the process. It goes something like this:

 

Email 1: Welcome (sent within the first 48 hours to acknowledge new prospects) 

1. Greeting
2. Something to establish trust: "I know you don't trust your email address with just anybody, so I'm honored you decided that I was worthy."
3. Benefits: what are they getting out of this?
4. What will you do over the next few weeks?
5. Bullet list of specific, related strategies and tactics.
6. One line explaining why that's important ^
7. "Here's to your success!"
8. Any PS you want to throw in there, like a freebie
9. Sign your name

 

Email 2: How It Works (builds trust through social proof)

1. Greeting
2. A question to draw them in: something that appeals to their #1 problem, or their #1 dream.
3. Introduce your team and dive into the background 
4. Why should your customers' care (how our skills benefit them)
5. Something that appeals to their emotions by sympathizing with their problem
6. One line framing us as the solution
7. Something to get them excited to work with us
8. Closing statement (ex."Cheers!")
9. Any PS you want to throw in there, like a link to more background information or statistics or case studies
10. Sign your name

 

Email 3: What to Expect (setting yourself apart through empathy)

1. Greeting
2. A line that completely sets you apart from all competition, to set the tone of your brand and what they can expect.
3. Sympathize with their issue, and what it is they want (a personal story that conveys this would work wonders here, ex. "It wasn't going well, everything was in shambles...")
4. Appeal to the most common issue ever: feeling guilty and/or not good enough (with the twist being that this isn't their fault)
5. Let them know they can solve their problem, and that you can help with that OR let them know that their dream is real and that you can help with that
6. Going back to the beginning: most companies do X, we do Y because we've been where you are
7. Open the door to your product with the idea of making them aware of their problem, the solutions available, and your specific solution (the best option)
8. Closing Statement: "This is the stuff no one teaches you, so don't blame yourself for not knowing it. Instead, take the initiative to learn it from someone who genuinely can and wants to help." ← Just an example.
9. Any PS you want to throw in there, like a link to testimonials! That would work well here. The idea is to get them to visualize themselves living out the "impossible."
10. Sign your name

 

Email 4: What's Needed of You (building a mutual relationship)

1. Greeting
2. A question that insinuates it won't be easy, but that it will be worthwhile (ex. How much are you willing to sacrifice for X?)
3. Explain the question: it's easy to want something, it's hard to obtain it unless you have the right mindset, a willingness to learn, and the drive to put in the work.
4. A personal story conveying how even while having the solution in front of you, you didn't succeed because you didn't implement the lessons provided.
5. Explain how the biggest results come in the long-term (future-pacing)
6. Rundown of the big picture:
   • What happens right after purchase?
   • What about a month later?
   • How about a year later?
   • What about the rest of your life?
7. Something to remind them of their side of the bargain.
8. Closing statement (positive thinking)
9. Any PS you want to throw in there, like a testimonial of someone commenting on the long-term benefits.
10. Sign your name
11. *NOTE: Use the word "imagine."

 

Email 5: Your Bright Future (urgency and scarcity)

1. Greeting
2. A sentence describing the customer's ultimate dream.
3. A personal story of where you once were when you had a (similar?) dream.
4. A visual of sadness would work well here because it shows them where THEY are and what they're stuck with if they don't convert
5. Explain you have the solution, and remind them of the time they have to sign up (scarcity) ← a countdown timer would work here.
6. A bullet-point list of benefits.
7. Testimonials
8. Build up loss aversion. Something to insinuate that this special offer was already on the table once and they missed it: "The turning point was within your reach only a few days ago...It was right here... And for the next ___ hours, it still is." ← be very specific about the time they have, to align with the countdown.
9. A closing statement about what happens when they convert: caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
10. Any PS you want to throw in there, like the landing page, that would be ideal.
11. Sign your name

Of course, it always looks easy to follow a template or a formula. But for it to be effective, a copywriter has to understand why it works and how. In addition, they have to know how to get the details right. And there are plenty of them.

 

Email Audits

I won't go into detail with these, but it's important that your copywriter is hitting the mark on these audits if they're writing emails. They're separated into three categories: simple, challenging, and difficult. Let's look at the simples ones first:

• Spelling & Grammar
• Flow & Transitions
• Clarity & Conciseness
• Conversational
• Clear Call To Action
• Benefits-driven
• Textual Diversity
• Risk Reversal
• Stacatto Variation

Those are things that most copywriters are already familiar with and have no problem with. But the challenging section helps you start weeding out the copywriters from the good copywriters:

• Storytelling
• Contextual Tone
• Emotional Pull
• Open Loop
• Cleverness
• Empathy
• Fascination Bullets
• Brand Alignment
• Singular Cohesive Angle

You can see that these are a little more advanced, but a copywriter won't get far if they can't get them right. The final section details the most important things, and what really sets apart a master copywriter from adept copywriters: 

• Sales Arguments
• Topical Command
• Conversion Prowess
• Specificity
• Pattern Interrupt
• Future Pacing
• Balanced Persuasiveness
• Enticing Imagery
• Powerful Hook

So you can see that you're looking for an email copywriter that can follow guidelines and standards. But they also need enough know-how and experience to that in a nuanced way, so you don't come off as pushy.

 

Find Conversion Copywriters Who Write Good Facebook Ad Copy

Facebook ads require a certain level of creativity. This gives them a unique challenge, but it also gives you an opportunity to test out some different techniques. There are some standards to meet, though.

First of all, every ad needs to be unique, it needs to end on a link, and the wording has to be conversational.

In addition, the header should have 30 characters and the avatar should be called out within the first sentence.

Past that, there are a number of things that a copywriter needs to know how to do and not do in order to write effective Facebook ads.

Write compliant Facebook ad copy that converts with the help of this article.

 

The Dos And Don'ts

When you're looking for a copywriter to craft your Facebook ads, they have to know exactly what they're doing before they even get into the creative part of it. The standards look something like this:

• The copy is a personal story or a third-person story. It's not about you as a business owner.
• The copy doesn't contain any guaranteed claims.
• Headline and description can't create unresolved open loops.
• The reader can't know that they're being targeted based on specific criteria.
• No sensational or "hype" words.
• No "how-to" copy.
• No action words that imply the reader has negative attributes.
• No time-frames.
• Don't hide information behind nouns in headlines and descriptions.
• Don't include open-loop calls to action in the body.
• Don't assume a certain behavior or condition.
• Don't include specific time-frames.

If your copywriter can follow these guidelines, chances are they can write some great ads for you. But they have to apply them correctly. And how's that done? Well, there are some specific methods that help make a Facebook ad that actually works.

 

Framework

Without going into too much detail, there are some certain things that a good copywriter knows how to incorporate into ads. Ideally, they'll know how to work 2-3 of these things into an ad.  These concepts are:

• The Big Idea
• Pattern Interrupt
• Narrative
• Big Promise
• Pain Prodding
• Benefits
• Credibility
• Objection Handling
• Future Pacing
• Proof
• CTA

So seeing what goes into a Facebook ad, it should make sense that you want a copywriter with some real creativity. Even though there are standards to follow, it's not as easy as plugging things into a template.

What you really need is someone who can speak to prospects with a limited platform.

 

Grow Your Business With A Copywriter

You won't find someone who's the best at everything. That's just a fact about copywriters and people in general. But what you can do is find someone who's the best at something. And it's important to figure out what your potential copywriter is best at.

Whether you need headlines or emails, you have to identify what makes them work and what goes into them. And once you can do that, you can decide if a copywriter has the potential to write what you need effectively.

So don't worry when you can't find a copywriter who does it all. They don't need to, because there are plenty of others who excel where they fall a little short.

And if you still feel like you're having a hard time finding that perfect candidate, I'm always here to help. So never hesitate to reach out for any kind of help or advice.

 

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