Copywriting Tips – The Lead In

A lot of beginning copywriters think that once they get past the headline, they’re home free. While it’s true that your headline can make or break your copy, you still need to have something to say after it. On top of that, how do you follow up a great headline? You don’t want to drop the ball in that opening paragraph. In this article, I’m going to briefly go over tactics you can use to follow up your headline with in order to make things flow as smoothly as possible.

One tactic you can use is to simply follow the lead of the headline itself. For example, let’s say you’re using a question headline. What you can do is continue the question in the opening paragraph. Maybe expand on the question and ask other related questions to the main one. This will give the prospect more things to think about and have to answer. The more the prospect is engaged in the copy, the greater the chance that they’re going to stick around to read the rest of it. So take a look at your headline and see how you can expand on it in your first paragraph.

Another tactic you can use is to simply go into your story. Prospects are always going to be interested in a good story. This tactic can be used regardless of the headline that you use. Then, as you are getting towards the end of your story, just before you get to the part where you tell about how you discovered this amazing thing (whatever it is) you tie it in to whatever it is you claimed or said in your headline. For example, let’s take that same question headline. After you finish the part of your story where you tell about your struggles, you mention that you finally found the solution to the problem and again ask, wouldn’t they want to know this solution too.

Still yet another tactic you can use is to simply go into the solution itself. Tell what it is you discovered and what it did for you. Go over all the benefits you received from it. Maybe introduce some early testimonials from people who tried this solution and had similar results. This way, you drag them right into the meat of your copy right away.

There is no one way to start a sales letter. Many tactics will work. The key is testing several out and finding the one that works best for YOUR target market and YOUR product.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim