While writing high-converting sales copy is certainly an art, there is still a fair amount of science involved. The entire process is often about striking the right balance between passion and information, between emotion and value.
In the world of SaaS, copywriting comes with a unique set of challenges as well. Most notably, there’s the challenge of explaining the benefits of a product without getting overly technical.
In this post, we’ll dive deep into the world of SaaS sales copywriting that strikes just the right chord with your target audience. We’ll also look at 8 different examples of awesome sales copy to help you grasp the concepts easily. So let’s jump right in.
The relationship between SaaS copywriting and conversions
Before we dive into our examples, let’s quickly examine the relationship between your copywriting skills and the conversions you are likely to muster.
We’re all aware of the overcrowdedness of the SaaS marketplace. No matter what your product is, there are probably several others like it already available. Even if you are incredibly innovative, someone will jump on your wagon and do their best to outgrow you.
However, the tools you have at your disposal to convince your leads that your solution is the best on the market are somewhat limited. They mostly revolve around one form of content or another.
Conversion-oriented copywriting has the task of:
- conveying your message
- showcasing your value
- stoking the pain points
- providing the solutions
It should be able to sway a purchasing decision and give the reader answers to the following questions:
- What exactly are you offering?
- What can they expect you to deliver?
- What is the best way to use your solution?
- What makes your solution the right one for them?
Achieving all of that with mere words is not an impossible task, but it is challenging.
That being said, here are our 8 SaaS tips to help you master the art of persuasive rather than salesy, convincing rather than sleazy, converting rather than plain copywriting.
8 SaaS copywriting techniques
- Sell value before functionality.
- Use customer feedback.
- Address relevant pain points.
- Keep it simple.
- Speak your audience’s language.
- Incorporate CTAs into your messaging.
- Give features the right amount of attention.
- Differentiate your product with reasonable claims.
1. Sell value before functionality
One of the mistakes SaaS companies often make is explaining in great detail what their solution can do. They then get too technical and use terms that are clear to them but that may be incomprehensible to their audience. And that’s how they inadvertently up their churn.
Audiences also care much less about the functionality of your product than they do about the way it can help them solve a problem. They don’t need to know just how it works — they want to know what it will do for them.
To hook readers early on and ensure they are interested in your product (and that the value of your solution is quite clear), turn your main header into a value proposition that communicates tangible rewards.
Here’s an example: Flamingo has chosen to lead with “No more cluttered spreadsheets and manual data entry.”
They could have talked about how their solution works or how they have managed to simplify the process. But, instead, they deliberately made their copy value-centric.
They employed phrases that reflect the way users will feel instead of the tech that will make this all possible.
Read more: Top 9 Email Campaign Mistakes SaaS Companies Make and How to Avoid Them
2. Use customer feedback
Customer feedback is essential for SaaS business growth. Only by feeling the proverbial pulse of your real-life convertees are you able to keep continually providing in-demand solutions.
The same rule applies to sales copywriting as well.
Your clients are likely to use your product to achieve outcomes that you have never foreseen and are currently unaware of. They’re probably using and loving certain features more than others, while you may be treating them all as equals instead of promoting your most popular ones more.
Also, they may be using somewhat different terms to describe your product — ones that would resonate even more profoundly with the rest of your audience.
There are numerous ways to gather customer feedback. They range from templated and automated emails to phone calls and in-person meetings.
There are also different ways to use the information you’ve gathered on your website. Testimonials, case studies, and reviews should all be a part of your overarching copywriting strategy. Not to mention, you should allow the information you’ve gathered to seep into every aspect of your vocabulary.
Like Ad Badger, you can also improve user experience with a user-generated video, where you ask a customer to share their experience with your product and speak about the difference it made in their lives.
In just over a minute, Clifford explains how they use Ad Badger to improve their Amazon PPC campaigns. His story is personal, relatable, and likely to sway viewers who have faced the same challenges themselves.
3. Address relevant pain points
Simply put, your customers are coming to you because they believe you can solve some of their problems. The majority of them aren’t doing business with you because they like you or share your values — although both of these factors will help them make a purchasing decision. What they want is for you to help them.
This is why addressing all their key pain points with your copywriting is so important. You want to be very clear about the problems you can solve and why these issues matter.
Speak directly to your audience and make it clear that you empathize with them. Make them feel valued. Speak to the individual as opposed to a mass of people you’re looking to convert.
Basecamp, for instance, has adopted a before-and-after approach to their copywriting, and they are very good at identifying the critical pain points: confusion and stress, a lack of organization, and cluttered projects.
Choosing to speak about the emotional toll of poor project management is also a clever tactic. It speaks to their audience more profoundly than a mere “We’ll get you more organized” ever would.
4. Keep it simple
Another common copywriting pitfall is trying to say too much all at once. No matter how complex your solution may be or how many different pain points you can solve, you will stray too far into confusion if you shove them down your audience’s throat all at the same time.
You need to distill your main selling points into short, easy-to-understand sentences that are incredibly digestible. If you can’t do this, you might want to go back to the drawing board and restart all your copywriting efforts.
Your main goal is to hook your audience to want to learn more. Once they’re interested, they’ll be more than happy to explore your website and read different pages devoted to different pain points and solutions. Of course, they will appreciate additional information, but only after they’ve been shown why they should be interested in the first place.
Take a look at how Ahrefs has tackled this issue. Their tool is complex and can often appear rather intimidating, but the messaging on their main sales page is still short. They merely list their tool’s possibilities, smartly prioritizing brevity over technical detail.
They also emphasize that the tool is an excellent choice for both beginners and pros alike, alleviating some of the stress and doubt that may come with subscribing to an SEO tool for the first time.
5. Speak your audience’s language
We’ve already touched upon the importance of limiting your technical speak and doing your best to speak a language your audience understands. Remember, it’s about focusing on the value of your product as opposed to its functionality.
This principle should be applied to every aspect of your SaaS copywriting. You don’t want just to be as direct and non-technical as possible — also try to use the terms that will resonate with your audience. Show that you have experience of their world, but don’t slip into using jargon.
For instance, if your primary target audience consists of entrepreneurs or small businesses, show awareness of their issues. That might be time management, tighter budgets, issues with task delegation, etc.
Let’s take a look at the way NordVPN tackled the issue of language. Their service provides plenty of room for getting technical. Their audience is also varied: from your average Joes and Janes who simply want a bit of privacy online or want to watch Netflix to marketers and large businesses.
The way they describe their service is completely value-oriented. They highlight the benefits, list various options, and emphasize the importance of this service. Nowhere do they get unintelligible and go into detail about the kinds of encryptions they use. They provide more detail on other pages, but all of their copy is aimed at a general public who doesn’t necessarily have a firm grasp of how the web works.
6. Incorporate CTAs into your messaging
CTAs are often highlighted as one of those all-important copywriting elements you need to use if you want to achieve your conversion goals. After all, how should your leads know it’s time to convert if you didn’t tell them, right?
Well, not quite.
CTAs are, however, the most straightforward way to direct traffic down your sales funnel and keep track of your audience. They also provide a clear way to take a specific action; they are a nudge in the right direction and will often bring desired results.
For your CTAs to work, though, try to go beyond the usual “sign up” phrasing.
CTAs give you the room to reinforce your message, provide more compelling reasons to convert, and highlight the benefits once again. TimeTackle gives us a great example with their “Connect Your Calendar” CTA. It’s a much more direct message than “get started” or something similar.
This use of service-related power words is smart copywriting. It is:
- speaking directly to an individual, meaning it’s more personal – note the “your”.
- more direct (What is it that we will need to do? – Connect the calendar.)
- clear about the action that is about to be taken.
7. Give features the right amount of attention
Striking the right balance when it comes to the amount of attention you give to each of your product’s features can be the most challenging part of conversion copywriting.
However, if you’ve managed to gather enough feedback from your audience and if you’ve done your market research right, you’ll know what the most appealing features will be.
Start with the most attractive ones and work your way down, always remembering that it’s more about the value. You’re taking on the role of a SaaS copywriting Goldilocks here, looking for the right amount of copy that is neither too little nor too much.
Since there’s only one way to illustrate this point, let’s take a look at our example.
Mailchimp has managed to distill their numerous features into six key points on their homepage.
While they mention what you can do in each of their core features, they focus on value and put their most prominent solutions at the top of the page. The tool’s capabilities stretch far broader and deeper than these sections communicate, but balance wins out over depth so that potential customers aren’t overwhelmed.
8. Differentiate your product with reasonable claims
Finally, we need to address the claims you’ll be making with your copy. You want them to be, above all else, reasonable.
Imagine if you claimed a “25% decrease in customer churn.” Even if you never use the word “guaranteed,” a lot of your customers will still expect to see these precise numbers. And when they don’t, they might come for you.
The better solution is to keep your claims a tiny bit more vague but still impactful enough. For example, Optimal Workshop makes a much more achievable promise: “Get answers, insights and results in days, not weeks.”
You may feel that this choice is a bit limiting and that the use of concrete numbers would make more of an impact (as it would). However, it also leaves you vulnerable to complaints and a lot of dissatisfaction if you fail to live up to your promises.
After all, you provide a software solution, not a service. It will always be up to your customers to achieve their own results. Can you really guarantee all of them will reach the milestones you claim?
Final thoughts on SaaS copywriting
Boosting your conversion rates with sales copy is a goal that will take time and effort. You might not strike the right chord on your first try, which is why you should keep tweaking and a/b testing your wording until you discover a formula that works best.
Never forget one of those basic copywriting rules: what works for some may not work for you. Analyze our examples for yourself and pinpoint the advice that makes the most sense for your SaaS business.
