Becoming a direct response copywriter is something everyone in the profession aims for. Direct response copywriting is the best paid of all the types of copywriting. The success of their copy is measured accurately, unlike when writing a brochure or website. Every response is counted and linked directly to a promotion's success.
Becoming a direct response copywriting is possible as long as you are ready to dedicate yourself to studying the craft.
Start with, read all the classics by the world's most famous copywriters. This includes books by David Ogilvy, Joe Sugarman, Eugene Schwartz and John Caples. The lessons they teach are as valid as they were decades or even a hundred years ago.
The second thing is to start a collection of copies of successful direct response sales copy. It's easy to find these online with some quick searches in the search engines. Google images, for example, is a treasure trove of profitable direct response sales letters and adverts. After making a swipe file, examine every sales letter and advert and write down the copywriting strategies used and why it was successful.
Thirdly, practice relentlessly to improve your ability. A time proven method is to write out the adverts and sales letters in your swipe file word for word. It might take a long time, but writing out profitable direct response adverts helps you recognize why the copywriter wrote them the way he or she did. After that try writing your own sales letters and adverts using everything you've come to understand from the last two steps.
Direct response copywriting types
Direct response copywriting covers quite a few different forms of sales writing. Whilst the format and delivery mechanism might vary, what they all have in common is the focused purpose of generating sales.
Direct mail - Another term for this is junk mail. In each case, their goal is to persuade you to reply and confirm your interest in the offer, whether done by phone, email or posting a reply card. Composing direct mail isn't as simple as it may appear. People receive lots of direct mail every single day, so your message must sound appealing to get people to read and respond. Achieving this can be difficult, which is why direct response copywriters get paid a rich sum to write these messages.
Email copywriting - Spamming by unscrupulous marketers has given email marketing a bad name. But if you can compose emails that get opened, read and responded to, then it means you have been able to develop the receiver's interest in your product. This means your message is useful to them, and not junk mail. Achieving this requires a lot of sale writing skill, making it a nicely paid copywriting task.
Writing sales letters - Direct response copywriters are hired to write the very long web pages used to advertise training courses, eBooks and other online products as well as for traditional sales letters. These direct response letters are often sent as an accompaniment with a brochure, or as a sales piece on their own. Direct response letters can span a single page or ten or more for a high value product. Long sales letter writing takes a lot of knowledge, skill and many hours of practice.
Magazine advertorial - These types of sales copy are formatted to look like normal articles in magazines and newspapers. They typically have headlines announcing a miracle breakthrough or startling fact, much like the other articles in the magazine or newspaper. The big distinction is that after commenting on the subject discussed in the headline they subtly transition to a sales pitch, describing a solution to the problem mentioned previously. They are also easy to spot because there will be a response form or telephone number at the end.
So there you have it, you are going to have to practice and learn a lot to be successful at writing the types of direct response copywriting described above. The hard work pays off though, both financially and with the sense of accomplishment when you make a lot of sales for a client. So grab some paper, download some samples of direct response copywriting and start developing your knowledge.
