conversational selling Archives - Conversational Copywriting

December 20, 2023 by Nick Usborne

When I talk about the conversational approach to copywriting, some of my peers think I’m doing writers and marketers a disservice.

They believe the direct sales approach will always be more effective, and that my “softer”, conversational approach is somehow just a feel-good compromise.

I’m happy to report they are wrong!

When done well, conversational copywriting can be way more effective than hard-selling, pushy sales copy.

To support my position, I recently asked ChatGPT to analyse dozens of testimonials and case studies from alumni of my course, Conversational Copywriting. GPT-4 is really good at that… analyzing large bodies of text in search of patterns.

Here are three of the benefits it identified:

January 29, 2021 by Nick Usborne

This is a great story, from my hometown of Montreal.

Feigang Fei is the owner of a Chinese restaurant called Aunt Dai. It has all the usual dishes you’d expect… from Imperial Rolls, to Orange Beef, and General Tao Chicken.

Going by the choices on the menu, there’s nothing particularly special about either the restaurant or its menu.

What is different is that when you open the menu, you’ll find not only the names, pictures and prices of the dishes, but also some thoughts from Feigang Fei.

Here is what he says about their Orange Beef…

October 28, 2020 by Nick Usborne

People have different takes on what it means to be a “copywriter”.

Back when I started, long before the web came along, the definition was pretty simple.

We were the writers who wrote print ads, TV commercials, radio spots, billboards, and point-of-sale materials.

That was pretty much it.

In the online world, things are a little more complicated.

February 3, 2019 by Nick Usborne

**Sounding a little over-caffeinated? That’s OK. But don’t sound sneaky.**

If you’re selling steak knives or lawn mowers, you can take a hard-charging approach to marketing.

Wheel out the big guns. Use every sales and copywriting tip, trick and technique in the book.

You can probably get away with being a little sneaky too. Maybe exaggerate a tad.

Like how your knives will keep their edge for 25 years! Guaranteed!

Or how your lawnmower will make cutting the grass in your yard “practically effortless!”

You can even go full bore with your best copywriting secrets if you’re selling something a little less tangible, like a subscription to an investment newsletter…

“Act now and you could make $51,373 in just 30 days!”

January 14, 2019January 8, 2019 by Nick Usborne

A young man faking how he feels... looking AS IF he's happy.

I’m not the only one to figure out the persuasive power of conversational copywriting.

I wasn’t the first either.

But I am different from most. Not all. But most.

How so?

Because so many “conversational” writers and marketers write to an audience “as if” they were friends.

And that’s not what I’m talking about, advocating or teaching. Not at all.

I’m suggesting that you write to them AS their friend.

Big difference.

May 2, 2019December 9, 2018 by Nick Usborne

I get asked this question from time to time.

Can conversational copywriting go head-to-heard with traditional, direct-response copywriting and win?

Well…

If you’re talking about making an immediate, direct sale from the page of a website…

And if you’re executing a side-by-side, A/B split test, and comparing revenues before the end of the day…

Then no, the conversational approach is unlikely to win.

But you’re probably asking the wrong question.