Ah yes. Agencies tend to be pretty closed-mouthed about conversion rates. I think it’s fair to say that you worked on a campaign that helped the client increase conversions by X. You can also show before and after screenshots too – that way, a prospect can see how the page/site changed.

I recommend newbies think about what benefits are important to their target audience and try to build an USP around that. For instance, I recently spoke to an ex solar engineer who wanted to write for renewable energy companies. The fact that he had years of experience in the field and knew the marketplace so well is a great USP for his market. Not very many people can say that…so that would definitely “pop” for the prospect.

:)

How do you first go about that when you’re starting out as a copywriter?

Yes, please do let me know. I’m curious!

I think it was Derek Halpern who discussed asking why people purchased a product/service (or made an initial contact.) Not only is it great information for you, but it’s great testimonial fodder, too. :)

But one thing I don’t do is ask what it was that drove them to contact me.

I really should do this. That way, I’ll have a better idea if that USP is working.

I’m gonna add this question to my client briefing sheet right now. And if prospects mention that USP I’ll let you know.

Have prospects mentioned your USP and said that they contacted you because of it? Just curious. :)

Welcome! I’m glad you saw the post in your Twitter feed! :)

You’re exactly right. Our role is to drive leads. We can’t control what the sales team does after that. If we drive 1,000 new prospects and sales sits on the leads and never contacts them, that’s not our “hit.”

When I talk to prospects, I try to keep the conversation focused on how my firm increases leads – and that’s the purpose of the campaign. It’s also nice to have a couple case studies under your belt that discusses client revenue gains. As long as theres *some* mention of ROI, it tends to overcome the “did the company make any money” objection.

Thanks so much for your comment! :)

When I wrote my website content 18 months ago, I researched a hell of a lot of rival web copywriter sites.

What was startling was just how few said what made them genuinely different. So, as long as I could find a distinct angle myself, I guessed I’d be onto a winner.

So what I did was make a big play on my previous work in engineering and IT.

I said in my copy that many copywriters were accomplished at writing for print, but lacked the specialist knowledge and analytical skills needed to make their marketing messages work online.

That’s where I came in – as I offered a rare combination of technical know-how and professional writing capability.

Whether other copywriters also had that same combination was irrelevant. The difference was that I actually bothered to say it.