The motivating sequence is an effective strategy to write copy that sells. Several formulas for copy that work have been brought forward. One of the most famous of them is AIDA.
Today, we are going to look at a lesser-known copywriting strategy —- namely, The Motivating Sequence. The motivating sequence relies on a formula made up of five steps:
Get attention
Show a need
Satisfy the need
Prove your product’s effectiveness
Aks for a specific action
You should never forget that the whole point of copywriting is to transform buyer interest into leads and sales. The motivating sequence is an effective means to do just that. In this article, we define the motivation sequence and explain how to apply it to achieve your business goals.
1. Get attention
The first part of the motivating sequence is getting attention ought to be one of the main priorities of copywriting. This you do with the headline and subject line copy. Visuals also play a role in that regard.
When crafting your headline, avoid the temptation of trying to hook the reader with clever turns of phrases. Instead, the focus should be on the main benefit that your product or service offers the reader. To save time and space, you should reduce this to the single most impressive advantage that you offer.
The reader needs to get past the headline to understand all the nuances of your product or service. So this means a headline that wastes no time in stating what the principal advantage of your product is.
2. Show a Need
You should show how your product solves a need. Don’t take it for granted that the need for your product is obvious. In this second step, you should demonstrate to the reader why they need the product.
For example, many people find moving to a new house a hassle. At first thought, they would think that moving by yourself or relying on friends may seem like a cost-saving move. But a professional moving company would make the process faster and relatively cheaper. That is, in terms of opportunity cost.
With a professional company, you don’t have to worry about them having time as you would with relying on friends. A professional company would show the need with an advertisement that looks as follows:
Don’t let moving become a nightmare | Trust the professionals
This ad speaks directly to the needs of people who suffer from the anxiety of having to move and putting their lives on pause in the process. The company highlights how much of a hassle moving can be by describing it as a nightmare.
3. Satisfy the need and show how your product is a solution
After establishing the need of your readers, you move on to showing them how your product can satisfy that need. This also includes how the product or service offers solutions to their problems or answers their questions.
An ad for a moving company might sound like this:
Are you pulling out your hair at the prospect of moving all your stuff to a new house on time? Sure, you could save money doing it on your own. But just think about all the time and hassle you can save by hiring an experienced professional. Let’s look at the example of Clara. Clara had to move out to a new zip code 10 miles away in three days.
Clara worried about having to pay movers and wanted to simply rely on friends. However, Clara soon realized, thhat relying on friends wouldn’t be that easy. after realizing that all her friends were booked and busy and maybe did not have the experience and equipment to package and carry her stuff, she called us.
Clara was ecstatic when she found out that we could wrap things up all in one day. We saved Clara time, stress, and energy. We can do the same for you, harried mover. Sit down. Relax. Let us handle things.
This copy works because it does three things well. It gets attention. It highlights a major benefit — that is, saving effort and time. Lastly, it shows that the service can satisfy a need.
4. Prove your product or services works as advertised
You need to put your money where your mouth is. Saying that your product or service can do something isn’t enough. You need to impress on readers that your product is better than that of the competitors.
So, how do you do so? You need to make sure that you have credibility with your reader. In short, the reader has to believe what you say. Here are some strategies to consider to achieve that goal:
Focus on the benefits of your product or service
Use testimonials.
Compare your product to the competition’s
Another thing that will increase your credibility is showing that your company is reliable and not some fly-by-night concern. Let them know that your company will be in business for a long time.
This means talking about things like the number of employees, the number of years in business, and so on. An about page explaining who you and your key employees are would also be helpful. This helps build trust, which is one major step toward having readers buy from you.
5. Have a call to action
CTAs or calls to action is the last stage in writing copy that sells. There are all types of CTAs. Some CTAs ask to buy a product. Others ask to download an e-book. Still, there are CTAs that ask to submit information such as your name and email.
All copy should have some type of CTA. You should not write copy simply for the purpose of attracting or impressing readers. Another thing you should do is to connect your CTAs to concrete and actionable information related to your company.
This means including pertinent information such as company name, address, and phone number. Also provide information on things like methods of payment, opening hours, order process, and so on. Make CTA buttons easy to locate and read on your web page.
Another touch you can add to your copy is providing readers with an incentive to respond immediately. For example, a time-limited sale, a discount, or a free product.
How EminentEdit can help you write copy that sells
EminentEdit offers copywriting services to increase the chances of converting visitors to your site with a proper motivating sequence. We offer copywriting services for:
Long-form copy such as blogs
Short-form copy
Landing pages
We both write copy from scratch and edit already existing copy.
EminentEdit provides editing and proofreading services that are:
More importantly, we are adaptable to your specific needs. | Get in touch with us for help in crafting effective copy that sells We know what you want to say. We help you say it better. |
We also edit blog copy written using AI to make them sound more authentic and appealing. AI-written blogs make sense. They are fast, efficient, and accurate.
No one is buying from a robot. You need a professional to bring human ToV and credibility to your copy. Contact one of our representatives today to help you with that —Let’s Go!
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, January 04). Writing Copy that Sells | The Motivating Sequence. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/writing-copy-that-sells-the-motivating-sequence |
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