If you’re like me, you believe the best way to understand a topic is to look at real-world examples. I’ve compiled 8 direct response copywriting examples that’ll help you understand how direct response copy works and how you can use it to generate more sales for your business.
1. Sign Up To Email Newsletter, The Barefoot Investor
The Barefoot Investor is a bestselling author and financial counsellor who has helped millions of Australians take control of their own money. He offers a free newsletter to his email list where he shares finance tips with his subscribers.
An email list is an incredible asset because it gives you an entire list of potential customers who are interested in what you’re selling.
The copy for this sign-up is a simple and effective example of direct response copywriting. It uses techniques like curiosity (“see what happens next”) and provides proof of the promise to deliver value (“my free newsletter has been called the financial Bible”). Then, it directs the reader to leave their name and email address to sign up for the newsletter.
The direction and intended response: Sign up for the newsletter. This builds an email list of subscribers and, in time, potential customers to whom you can market your business.
2. Request A Demo, Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform designed for businesses. It helps them grow by enabling them to deliver more personalised marketing experiences through email, SMS, and other channels.
Like a lot of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, Klaviyo offers a free demonstration to potential customers. It’s difficult to explain how most software works, so a demonstration can be a powerful sales tool.
In this example, Klaviyo uses benefit-driven copy to agitate a customer pain point (poor results) and offers a promise (“immediate sales and lasting loyalty”) which it will deliver using a unique mechanism (“intelligent marketing automation”).
The direction and intended response: Get a demo. This attracts interested prospects and gets them to book a demo with the sales team.
3. Book A Free Consultation, Primal Alternative
Primal Alternative offers a unique business model for health enthusiasts who want to start a bake-from-home business. The Primalista Licence equips individuals with the recipes, resources, and support needed to produce and sell nutritious, grain-free foods from their own kitchen.
This example uses a lot of old-school direct response techniques. It promises a range of benefits and value to leads who book a consultation, including bonuses, while using scarcity to drive fear of missing out (“exclusive March only special for the first 10”).
The direction and intended response: Book a free consultation. This allows potential entrepreneurs to explore the opportunity further, understand the benefits, and get personalised guidance, driving interest and potential sales.
4. Add To Cart, Hyphen Sleep
Hyphen Sleep is an e-commerce store that offers high-quality foam mattresses designed to improve sleep. They use a lot of advanced technology and materials and provide direct-to-consumer prices.
The ‘add to cart’ button is a common direction you’ll see on many e-commerce stores. It’s a great example of how direct response copywriting principles work. If you take away the call to action, you’d be left with the product information. Without it, customers who want to buy a mattress need to call, email, or find them in-store. This greatly increases friction in the sales process which would decrease sales.
The copy uses direct response techniques including a compelling offer (“save $200”), social proof (“over 300 positive reviews”), credibility (“70 years of manufacturing experience”), and features and benefits (“breathable, moisture-wicking, soft-touch fabric”).
The direction and intended response: Add to cart. Drives sales by giving customers the option to buy immediately.
5. Claim Your Discount Code, The Oodie
The Oodie is an Australian e-commerce store that sells oversized wearable blankets and comfort wear such as pyjamas and sleep t-shirts. Like a lot of e-commerce stores, The Oodie has a pop-up on their website offering a discount to new customers in exchange for their contact details. This enables the business to use email marketing to promote special offers and news. Email marketing has an extremely high return on investment because it saves money on ad spend.
This copy example highlights the importance of clarity. With so much web traffic on the smaller screens of smartphones and mobile devices, being clear and concise is important to maximise conversions.
The direction and intended response: Claim 10% off your order.Boosts sales while collecting email addresses, which can help them increase the customer lifetime value using email marketing.
6. Download A Free Ebook, Splose
Splose is an Australian practice management software. It is designed for allied health and NDIS practices to speed up clinic workflows by automating tasks such as appointment management, invoicing, reporting, and online forms.
In this example, Splose is offering a free e-book that gives a lot of useful information to potential customers. The eBook is what’s known as a ‘lead magnet’. In other words, it attracts leads by giving them something valuable upfront. Once leads download the eBook, the business has the name and email address of a potential customer.
There are plenty of direct response copy tricks used in this example, including hitting a pain point (“ever wished you could automate repetitive admin tasks?”), a big promise in the headline (“save up to $30k per year & hours of weekly admin”), social proof (“3500+ NDIS providers”) and plenty of benefits (“save time, remain compliant and do more work”).
The direction and intended response: Download a free eBook. Generates a list of potential customers interested in Splose and builds trust using goodwill, which can increase sales.
7. Start A Free Trial, Disney+
Disney+ is… well, you know what it is. It’s a streaming service for all things Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, and The Simpsons. Many streaming and subscription services use the free trial model to entice users to sign up with no cost or risk. Then, they seamlessly transition them onto a paid plan once the free trial ends.
The copy is pretty sparse and uses a single headline with a sub headline. Companies such as Disney are already household names and have strict brand guidelines, so they tend to use their reputation rather than direct response copywriting techniques to generate results. Nonetheless, this example still has a strong offer (free trial), a call-to-action (start free trial), and social proof to persuade readers to take action (logos for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic).
The direction and intended response: Start a free trial. Captures leads who are interested in paying for the service and removes the price objection by allowing them to experience it for free.
8. Get A Quote, Moveall
Moveall is an Aussie moving company. A simple service, they help people move homes by packing all their furniture away into a truck and transporting it to their new location.
A lot of removalists, tradies and other service providers offer free, no-obligation quotes as their first call to action. This is partly because prices for their services vary depending on what the customer needs, so a quote enables them to tailor prices to each job.
Also, with simple services such as moving companies, customers are often at the ‘most aware’ end of the awareness scale. From a copywriting perspective, this level of awareness means you should focus on the price and product in your messaging. A quote addresses the price, while the copy includes other elements that address the product (fast + stress-free removals, $100k insurance, 5-star service).
The direction and intended response: Get a quote. Allows readers to get a quote immediately, rather than calling up or sending an email. This decreases effort and increases quotes, which ultimately leads to sales.
Need A Direct Response Copywriter For Your Business?
These are all great examples of direct response copywriting and how you can use it to persuade readers to take your desired action – whether that’s sign-ups, demos, consultations or sales. If you want to see it in action for your business, you can hire a direct response copywriter to craft high-converting copy. Send us a message today to get started.