11 Conversion Copywriting Tips that Grew Our Revenue by 240%, According to Lately’s CEO

Free Guide: How to Build & Optimize Landing Pages

As marketers, we write copy daily: For landing pages, social media posts, email newsletters, you name it.

And this content isn’t just supposed to sound pretty — it’s also supposed to be powerful enough to convert visitors into sales. In fact, as of 2022, over 60% of marketers measure the success of their content through sales. That’s no small feat.

If you’re stuck in a writing rut or unsure how to use conversion copywriting to increase sales, you’re in luck. Here, I sat down with Lately’s CEO, Kate Bradley Chernis, to discuss the 11 tips that enabled her and her team to grow monthly recurring revenue by 240%.

But first — what is conversion copywriting, anyway?

What is conversion copywriting?

Simply put, conversion copywriting is copy with the ultimate goal of converting readers into buyers.

Conversion copywriting uses engaging and persuasive language to motivate readers to take a specific action.

Typically, the goal with conversion copywriting is to encourage readers to purchase a product or service. However, conversion copy can be used at all stages of the buyer’s journey, so conversion copywriting might be leveraged to inform buyers’ of their pain points, encourage them to sign-up for newsletters or future offers, or simply increase brand awareness.

Conversion copywriting ultimately falls under the broader topic of website conversion rate optimization (CRO) — or leveraging your website to effectively convert users across your homepage, blog, pricing page, and more.

There’s a difference between conversion copywriting and SEO copywriting. As Chernis puts it, “As a startup founder, I’m in the business of turning customers into evangelists — because evangelists work for you for free. SEO is never going to get me there. Besides, SEO is reliant on you, the search engine user, to take all the action. But with conversion copywriting, I’m driving the conversation and have complete control over where it goes.”

SEO and conversion copywriting can coincide, but the biggest distinction is the goal you’ll have in-mind when creating the content: SEO copy is copy written with the intent of getting on page one of Google. Conversion copy, on the other hand, is written with the intent of keeping readers’ on-page once they find your content.

Consider, for instance, the following LinkedIn post by Chernis:

The piece uses engaging and active language to encourage viewers to join one of Lately’s live video Office Hours. While the content might not pass an ‘SEO-optimized’ test, it doesn’t need to — on social media, it’s more about standing out from the crowd through authentic, creative content.

Next, let’s dive into some of Chernis’ favorite copywriting tips, followed by a few impressive examples of conversion copywriting for inspiration.