Have you ever heard the term "copy cosmetics"? Chances are pretty good that you have never heard this term before. I had never heard of copy cosmetics until I read Dan Kennedy's book called "The Ultimate Sales Letter".
If you enjoy marketing, then this is a must read book for you. There are a TON of valuable tips and techniques in that book that will help your copywriting abilities tremendously. Learning to sell through the written word is a very valuable skill to have because so few people really know how to do it.
Basically copy cosmetics are used to boost the effectiveness of a sales letter. Copy cosmetics have been proven through rigorous testing to increase sales and grab the attention of the reader. The cool thing about copy cosmetics is that you can use these ideas in almost all of the marketing that you do online.
You can get more attention from your emails, blog posts, articles, facebook posts, twitter tweets, and banners through using copy cosmetics. If you are marketing online, then this would be a very valuable skill for you to master.
In fact, adding some copy cosmetics to your daily marketing efforts could boost your sales and get you more attention without having to get any more traffic than you are already getting.
Does that sound good?
Great!
So the best way to explain copy cosmetics is just to say that it is anything that will make your copy (text) more visually appealing and stimulating. Most people are used to writing with black and white text only, because that is what we are taught in school.
Copy cosmetics are a way to make your text and your marketing stand out from all of the other advertising out there. Once you understand this concept, you will begin to notice the top marketers using these techniques in their marketing to grab more attention and make more sales.
To illustrate some examples of copy cosmetics I will just list the individual techniques below.
**Again, I got most of these examples from the "Ultimate Sales Letter" by Dan Kennedy
Examples
Use what look like hand drawn images to circle important offers or points
Use arrows to direct your readers attention
Underline using what looks to be
Use images in your text.
Also, don't be afraid to use basic keyboard functions to add some flavor to your boring text.
Highlight things you want your reader to see.
Italicize to add your voice to the text
Bold words that you want to emphasize
Underline important points or sentences
Use headlines to break up the text
Use lists and bullet points to
• list
• your
• important
• points
• or
• benefits
-Use drop caps to draw your reader in
-CAPITALIZE words you want to emphasize
-Keep your text in short columns. This is
especially useful when you are sending out
emails to your list. This makes your text
easier to digest and it appears less daunting.
*** Ever notice this on facebook? The writing is only a few inches across because they understand this concept.
Don't Over Do It
These suggestions will definitely help you grab more attention from your readers, but it is important not to over do it. If you highlight and bold all of your words, then none of your words will end up sticking out.
With all of these examples above I just used Keynote (which is Apple's version of Powerpoint). Also, this site here has some good "copydoodles" that you could use in your marketing to boost results.
Remember, you can use these techniques in just about everything you do online to grab more attention. Now that you understand these concepts you will also start to notice them all over the place. Getting the attention of your audience is one of the hardest things to do... this will help you do just that.
What Are Copy Cosmetics and How Can They Boost Your Marketing Efforts