How to Sell Without Selling

August 21^st 2012 Sally Ormond copywriter London, copywriting tips, covert selling, marketing tips, online marketing, using testimonials

How on earth can you sell without selling?

Well, if you want to sell well, it’s a concept you need to get to grips with.

You see many companies that write their own marketing materials tend to do one of two things:

Create content that’s full of ‘we’
Write a blatant sales pitch that tells the reader to BUY RIGHT NOW OR ELSE

The problem is, your reader isn’t going to buy from you just because you tell them to. They want to be wooed and comforted that your product is just what they’ve been looking for and that their lives will be so much better if they owned it.

When companies take the direct approach, they usually end up listing the features of the product, announce now utterly amazing and brilliant their product (without any reason as to why it’s to fantastic) and use bright, large fonts to grab attention.

The problem with that approach is that your reader will spot what you’re up to a mile off. People don’t like being sold to; they like to make up their own minds and if they decide they want to buy that’s OK, because they made the decision not you.

So that means that if you want them to buy from you, you’re going to have to be cunning.

Selling without selling

As a copywriter I spend every day writing and over the years have developed three ways of selling without selling.

1. Tell them a story

Story telling is part of our history so we naturally warm to them, listen to them and learn from them. That’s why they are such a powerful communication tool through which you can tell your reader about your products and services without overtly selling.

Case studies are a great way of illustrating how your product or service helped someone. You can show the problem they initially faced, how your product/service helped and what it has done for them and their business. Your reader will want to read about it because it is a real life situation and will recognise the benefits that they too could take advantage of.

2. Testimonials

Real quotes from real people carry real weight.

Just like case studies, using testimonials within your benefits led copy will add that little something extra that will make your reader sit up and take notice.

Why? Because the giver of the testimonial has done so because they wanted to; they have no incentive to lie and so are seen as offering a trustworthy insight into your business.

Video testimonials are also very powerful, so use them.

3. Teaching

Teaching is a great way to sell. By offering free advice, you’ll be seen as a trustworthy company that just wants the best for its customers and therefore they will be more likely to buy from you.

As you can see, each of these techniques will help you to sell without resorting to large, bright fonts and flashy images. Your customers want to be nurtured, helped and guided; they don’t want to be shouted at and bullied.