The Story

We all love a good story. It seems to be something that’s just part of human nature. We find stories interesting, no matter where we hear them. Some of the stories are more interesting and riveting than others, of course.

Think about when you’re most likely to pay attention to a story. You’ll usually pay attention to a story that relates to you or something you’re typically interested in. You’ll pay attention to a story that is suspenseful in some way and that awakens your emotions.

What Are You Trying To Do With Your Sales Letter?

Now, think about what you’re trying to do with your sales letter. You’re trying to capture people’s attention and get them involved in it emotionally. You want them to not only read, but get absorbed in the words that you write. You want them to feel a connection in some way—so much so that they’re excited to go ahead and buy what you’re selling.

So, now it’s time to connect the two. You can use the fact that humans naturally love stories to your advantage. You can use stories in your sales letters as a way of drawing your readers in, entertaining them, and making them feel the emotions you want them to feel.

Eliminating the Fear of Storytelling

How do you do that? Some people, even seasoned copywriters, are wary of using storytelling as part of their sales copy. Part of this, I think, comes from fear.

Good storytelling comes naturally to many. But, many others have forgotten how to tell stories. This is something you were able to do as a child. Do you remember weaving tales for your family, your friends, or even yourself? There were days when you were probably caught in a daydream filled with tales of your own making for the majority of the day.

But, as we get older and as the responsibilities of adulthood take over, storytelling seems to go away. It stops being quite as natural. We stop telling stories and we stop feeling like we are even able to tell stories.

The bad news is that you may be wary of telling stories in your sales copy now because you’re out of practice and out of touch with it. The good news is that your ability to do so is still there. You just have to tap into it. You have to remember what it was like to tell stories as a child and to enjoy doing so.

Storytelling Gets Easier Over Time

I promise that this will become easier and easier to do over time. The more you focus on telling great stories, the more easily you’ll be able to do so. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s time to get over your fear and get into the mindset of a good storyteller.

One of the biggest struggles we have when we try to write copy is being able to draw the reader in. We try this tactic and that tactic, hoping we can capture people’s attention in the first place… and then hoping that we can keep them reading through the entire sales letter.

Can you see why storytelling is such an important element? If we know that people naturally like to read stories, especially ones that are related to what they’re going through, then it makes sense that we would weave these in throughout our copy. It will keep people interested. It will make them feel emotions that will draw them in and help lead them to the buy button.

How to Tell a Great Story

Let’s talk about how to tell a great story in your copy. Hopefully your confidence has already been boosted so you know you can do this – you can tell a great story.

The first thing you should do is understand what your reader is going through. What are their biggest struggles, what are their biggest goals, and what’s at the top of their minds all the time?

This means you should study your market. You should’ve done that already anyway as part of writing your sales copy. But, it’s also very important when you’re trying to weave a great story.

One thing to really zero in on, and this is something a lot of people have trouble with, are the emotions people are feeling. Think about their emotions as they relate to the topic you’re focused on. What are you trying to sell? Which emotions surround your product?

Think about where people are emotionally before they buy your product. Then, think about where people will be emotionally after they buy your product.

You can really zero in on what your product will accomplish for these people. Then, you can use these emotional hot buttons throughout your sales copy, and especially in the story you weave.

Now that we’ve talked about studying your market and figuring out where they are emotionally and where you want them to be emotionally, it’s time to talk about the actual story.

When you write sales copy, you want to be nothing but honest and truthful. You are not going to create a story out of thin air. You’re either going to tell your own story or the story of someone else.

People like what is called the hero’s journey. People like to hear that someone has struggled and really had a lot of problems just like they have. More than that, they like hearing that people were able to overcome those problems and achieve something.

You are going to be that hero for them. You’re going to tell your story and how your product enabled you to overcome your problem.

There should be some build up there. Really focus on the emotions and the struggles you went through. Then, talk about the things you went through on the way to discovering the solution. Then, hint at, or fully disclose, the solution you found.

When you tell the story, make it interesting. Weave that tale. Remember how you would’ve told that story when you were six years old. Think about the excitement and ups and downs.

If you don’t have your own story, then you can talk in more hypothetical terms. Talk about the typical journey someone goes through when they have the problem your product solves.

Or, use someone else’s story. You either need to have permission for this or approach it from a journalistic slant.

Remember that it is important to be truthful. You don’t want to make anything up or appear to be anything you’re not. You don’t have to have gone through the same thing the people reading your sales copy have gone through, although it really does help.

Practice Writing Your Story

Practice, practice, practice.

Practice writing your story and seeing how effective it is. Your story really does not have to be that long when it comes to sales copy. It could be a few paragraphs or longer than that, if it serves the purpose of the copy.

Your story will typically be closer to the start of the sales letter, after you have captured their attention. In the beginning, it’s all about them, but then you can guide them through your story as a way of connecting with them and showing them that you understand exactly what they’re going through.

There is no one correct way to do this. Focus on what will work best for your sales copy and what is most likely to convert for you. Over time, you’ll get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work. You can also test different ways of presenting the story throughout the sales copy, as you strive to achieve the best conversion.

The Story Leads to Sales…

For all the reasons we’ve already talked about, weaving a story in throughout your sales copy can really help boost your sales. It can help people feel connected with you, which will help for this sale and for building your relationship with that buyer in the long term.

Don’t be fearful of writing a story in your sales copy. We talked about the fact that it doesn’t have to be long it doesn’t have to be difficult. But, it does have to show the ups and downs on the journey along the way. Make people feel that you understand them.

I daresay that writing a story for your sales copy can even be a lot of fun. The more you do it, the more fun, and the more profitable, it is likely to be.