Now back to regular programming …

There is a copywriting trick to boost conversions that most don’t know about.

But first, we have a trivia question:

Why doesn’t water taste of anything? It’s because our taste buds are calibrated to not notice the taste of water so we can pick up on impurities.

How did reading it make you feel? Did it excite your brain?

This is an example of a surprising detail.

When potential buyers are reading our sales pitch it’s hard for them to remain focused.

But, as a copywriter responsible for boosting conversions I need prospects to read the whole pitch.

To optimize conversion rates we need to think of ways to get readers to meaningfully engage with your core message.

The copywriting conversion trick most don’t know about is this:

Sprinkling in surprising product-relevant facts is a clever way to optimize conversion rates.

Why This Conversion Boosting Idea Works

Surprising details (like the reason for the neutral taste of water) serve multiple purposes:

• Add excitement to the copy.
• Because they’re interesting they stick in the mind of the reader. Now even if they leave your site there is a higher chance they’ll remember you.
• Act as mini mental breaks for the reader. Give the reader an energy boost.
• Make you look good. Shoppers find expertise sexy and tossing in a few relevant interesting facts makes you look smart.
• The shopper is receiving free value (knowledge). This activates the reciprocity response. The gift isn’t big enough to close the sale but it’ll at least get the reader to consciously read the whole pitch, and that’s a big win for the marketer. Here is the heirarchy of things that should matter to the copywriter.

Whether you are selling RFID chips, potato chips, or anything in between there are plenty of surprising details that can be sprinkled into your sales copy.

Types of Surprising Details to Add

The keyword here is surprising details. Including boring or obvious facts will do nothing to boost conversions (they may hurt them). You are looking for fascinating facts that are:

• Little known
• Easy to follow (don’t make the reader do a mental somersault to understand)
• Contrarian

Remember

The job of a copywriter isn’t to convert the shopper. Sure that’s the ultimate goal but the more immediate goal is to absorb our whole pitch. Statistically speaking, the probability of conversions is massively higher for readers that reach the bottom of the pitch. Conversely, it’s almost guaranteed that you will not convert a shopper who stops mid-way through the pitch. So insert as many juicy surprising details as you can think of.

Next Lesson

People Are Visual Animals