How to Use the Laws of Sales Funnel Physics in Copywriting
Isaac Newton didn’t invent the Law of Gravity.
It’s not as if people were floating through the air like Macy’s Day Parade’s balloons and suddenly plummeted to the ground.
No.
The Law of Gravity was discovered.
It’s always been there, pulling us down and keeping us grounded.
And in that same way, the Laws of Sales Funnel Physics have always been there too.
These laws describe how people get to a buying decision and what influences them to say “Yes” or “No, Thanks”.
And if you tap into them with your copywriting, you can attract more leads and customers.
That’s why today, I’ll tell you:
- How to apply the 11 Laws of Sales Funnel Physics to your copywriting to increase conversions.
- Time-tested sales-boosting techniques you can start using in your copy today.
- Plus real-world examples that show you what kinds of conversion increases you can expect.
Sound good? Let’s answer first this basic question...
What Are the 11 Laws of Sales Funnel Physics?
Simply put, the Laws of Sales Funnel Physics are 11 principles of marketing that are proven to get you results.
They’re the why and how behind people deciding to actually buy your products or service.
And the more you understand those laws, the better able you’ll be to speak to your ideal client and turn them into another satisfied customer.
And today, I’m taking a much more focused look at each law and how they relate to copywriting in particular.
The 11 Laws of Sales Funnel Physics are…
1. The Law of Visibility
2. The Law of Repetition
3. The Law of Clarity
4. The Law of Friction
5. The Law of Alignment
6. The Law of Loss
7. The Law of Maximization
8. The Law of Confidence
9. The Law of Range
10. The Law of Scale
11. The Law of Emotion
So, Why “Laws”? (Think of a Pie…)
Why not “tips” or “strategies” or “techniques”?
Well, techniques and tips are great and all.
But they are secondary. They are built on core principles. But they aren’t those principles themselves.
Think of it like this: with the right recipe, you can make a delicious pie.
You’ve got your eggs, your sugar, your baking powder, flour, and filling.
And when you put all these ingredients together the right way and follow the instructions, you can create a damn delicious dessert.
But in order for all of these ingredients to be able to combine to create that mouth-watering treat, tons of things need to happen on a chemical and molecular level.
Eggs bind everything together and turn a pile of dry ingredients into dough...
Baking powder releases carbon dioxide when it’s activated so that the dough rises and gives your pie structure...
Fats and oils coat the proteins and air bubbles in the mixture, giving it more of a fluffy texture...
There’s a lot going on that many people just don’t think about.
Now, you don’t necessarily need to know how all of these ingredients work together.
And you don’t need to know the chemistry behind it all.
But the more you do understand what’s happening on a molecular level, the better able you’ll be to create your own recipes, successfully tweak other ones, and develop your expertise as a baker.
Same goes for your digital marketing.
You can simply use copywriting techniques to convert leads.
You can copy other companies’ successful Instagram campaigns who seem to be killing it nowadays.
And you don’t have to think about the principles behind those changes at all.
But when you do get a good grasp of those principles (read as: the Laws of Sales Funnel Physics), you’re in a great position to take your marketing to the next level.
Make sense?
Good!
Now, let’s apply each law to your copywriting.
1. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Visibility: Let’s Get Visible!
The Basic Gist
That which is more visible is more likely to be seen, processed, and acted upon.
In fact, the Law of Visibility can directly grow your sales.
In other words, if you want your site’s visitors to take a particular action, you’ve got to put that action you want them to take right in front of their faces.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
If you want your visitors to act on an offer, you’ve got to make that offer highly visible.
Why?
Because in general, people have a super limited attention span.
And that’s true today more than ever.
In fact, Time reported that the average attention span has dropped massively in the past few years—from 12 seconds in 2000 down to 8 seconds in 2015.
What does that mean for you?
It basically says that you need to make sure people are seeing your offer immediately.
Here are a few ways to do just that.
- Add your call to action directly into your navigation: In fact, that’s what we do right here at AutoGrow.
- Put your CTAs above the fold: This simple change actually led to a 31.12% conversion increase in this one case study analyzed in our Proven Sales Conversion Pack.
- Highlight your CTAs: Simply highlighting the main CTA led to a 190% boost in conversions here.
2. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Repetition: The Law of Repetition (Get It?)
The Basic Gist
That which is repeated is more likely to be remembered and embedded in your visitors’ minds.
Said another way, giving your visitors a single call-to-action isn’t enough.
You’ve got to repeat that CTA (or any other information you’re trying to convey) multiple times.
See how it’s done on the landing page below?
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
The more your prospects see your offer, the more likely they’ll be to take it.
It’s all about casting a wide net.
Think of it like this: an orange tree creates oranges to spread the seeds inside so another tree can grow.
Like any other organism, it’s hardwired to want to reproduce.
But only a select few of those seeds will ever grow into a full-fledged tree.
They either wither and rot away, don’t grow in because of the soil, or they get turned into the delicious and refreshing orange juice sitting in your fridge.
But to combat that, the orange tree creates tons of oranges every year—about 100-300 each growing season.
That way, there’s more of a chance that one will grow into a full tree.
Now, in terms of copywriting, the lesson here is that you need to state your offer multiple times throughout your website.
Here are a few tips to learn from.
- Add multiple CTAs along the page
- Repeat ideas and metaphors that explain your products or service throughout your copy
- Use retargeting emails and ads
- Ask for the sale multiple times
- Repeat the name of the product
3. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Clarity: Cleverness < Being CLEAR
The Basic Gist
That which is described clearly is more likely to sell better than that which is described “cleverly.”
To break that down a bit more, skip the overly clever headlines. The clearer you are about what your product is, does, and doesn’t do, the more likely people will buy it.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
In the same way that the attention span of humans is severely limited (thanks for that iPhone), we also have a limited amount of concentration.
We call that mental bandwidth.
Now, visitors to your website can only commit so much of that bandwidth to figure out what it is you’re selling.
If something on your page is too confusing, your prospects will simply click off the page.
In fact, most users will spend less than 15 seconds on your landing page according to Time.
So as a copywriter, it’s your job to write better headlines and to get your message across as clearly and as quickly as possible.
In other words, save the cheeky and clever headlines and opt for clarity instead.
Call your app an app. State that your monthly service is, in fact, a monthly service. Be blunt.
On top of that, blatantly call out the problem it solves and the features it has.
For instance, adding a clearer headline that specifically states the benefit of the product led Nurse.com to a 15.7% increase in conversions!
Before:
After:
Changing their landing page to focus on clarity led this deodorant company to a whopping 50% increase in conversions.
Before:
After:
So don’t be afraid to get blunt with your copy.
Because in all likelihood, doing so is going to lead to a massive jump in your conversions.
4. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Friction: Don’t Give Your Visitors a Chore
The Basic Gist
That which is free from distractions or extra work is more likely to convert.
That means that the more you can cut out extra work on the part of your visitors, the more you can keep them on the page and buying what it is you’re selling.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
You want to make it as easy as possible for your prospects to decide then and there to buy your product.
And in order to facilitate that, you’ve got to make it easy for them to get to the checkout page.
Now, there’s a whole other layer of this that applies to website design.
And you can learn a bit more about that by checking out some great examples of sales funnels.
But when it comes to copy, we’re focused on eliminating friction with words.
So, how do you do that?
First and foremost, reduce the number of choices your visitors have to make.
Too many choices create mental friction.
Same goes for not enough.
And as a copywriter, it’s up to you to help make the right choice (buying your product) seem as obvious as possible.
For instance, reducing the number of CTAs on a page gives visitors a clear idea of where to go next.
This workout tracker, for instance, saw a 20% increase in conversions from doing just that.
Before:
After:
Added to that, you need to address as many objections to buying as possible right there on the page.
Why would people use your product?
What about alternatives?
How does this thing even work?
Try to answer as many potential questions as you can (an FAQ section is a great way to do that).
That way, your readers won’t be as likely to justify clicking off the page.
5. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Alignment: Keep It Consistent
The Basic Gist
That which clearly lines up with other pages and with customer expectations is more likely to sell.
This one is a bit broad but in basic terms, your pages and your language should be consistent with each other and with what your visitors are expecting.
This applies to style, value propositions, product and feature names, and benefits.
And you can even boost conversions by applying the Law of Alignment to your CTA buttons.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
Alignment is all about meeting expectations.
What are your visitors expecting to see and read about when they land on your page?
Are you meeting those expectations?
If you aren’t, it can lead to a lot of unnecessary confusion and lost customers.
So, how do you meet those expectations?
Well, it’s all about consistency.
The way you position your product and your brand as a whole needs to be consistent across all your pages.
If, for example, an ad for your clothing company is targeting rugged, bike-riding, chap-wearing roughnecks but redirects to a flowery product page, it’s going to throw people off.
Similarly, your language (casual, formal, artsy, blunt, etc.) needs to convey the same personality throughout too.
6. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Loss: Tap Into the Fear
The Basic Gist
That which focuses on the downsides of not buying is more likely to sell than that which only focuses on the gains.
Basically, humans are wired to be loss averse.
And as a result, our decisions are driven more by avoiding loss than by achieving gains.
Capitalizing on that, then, makes it all the more likely you’ll close the sale.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
Duh!
Copywriting 101 here.
Focus on the loss.
People do not like the idea of losing something.
Whether it’s losing something they have now or simply losing out on something they could have, we simply do not like to lose.
And as a copywriter, you can capitalize on that fear in your writing.
Here are a few ways to do just that.
- Add Scarcity & Urgency: Including language like “stocks are limited” or “offer ends soon” can lead to a huge jump in your conversions. For example, in our Proven Sales Conversion Pack, we covered a case where adding the language in the CTAs below led to a 24.5% rise in revenue!
- Include a Guarantee: Guarantees help your customers feel more at ease about their buying decision because they take away the fear of loss. The product doesn’t work out? Just return it with our 30-day money-back guarantee! And as a copywriter, you should point out that guarantee as often as you possibly can.
- Agitate the Pain: The PAS formula (Problem, Agitate Problem, Solution) is a proven and time-tested copywriting formula to convert visitors. For this, just identify the problem, then twist the knife by agitating it. Hate taking the bus? What about when you have to stand in the pouring rain for 30 minutes for it? Isn’t it terrible? You should buy this car.
7. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Maximization: Get That Extra Value
The Basic Gist
That which maximizes benefits while minimizing costs is more likely to be attractive to buyers.
In other words, making your visitor’s experience as valuable as possible without adding substantial extra costs is more likely to lead to a sale or your desired action.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
The best way to capitalize on value maximization is by adding upsells and downsells to your offer.
You see, when people make a purchase decision, the biggest obstacle is actually first deciding to buy.
Once that obstacle is overcome, then adding on additional purchases is significantly easier.
That’s where upselling comes in.
Now, as a copywriter, you need to be tactful about upselling. Because if you aren’t, it can come off sleazy and can eliminate the trust you’ve worked so hard to build with your customers.
There are a few techniques to make your upselling efforts successful you can employ. Here are some of the best.
- Make sure your upsells actually add value.
- Never resort to sneaky tactics like hiding the “No Thanks” button.
- Bundle your upsells together to add more value and reduce friction.
- Keep your upsells relevant to the original product.
8. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Confidence: It’s All About Trust, Baby!
The Basic Gist
That which people feel confident in buying is more likely to sell well than perceived “risks.”
Ultimately, people like to know that what they’re purchasing is going to do what it says it will do.
Using confidence-boosting techniques, then, make the sale much more likely.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
It’s all about building trust!
And as a copywriter, there are a number of ways you can help build that trust.
- Error-Free Copy: It should go without saying that your writing needs to be completely error-free. Grammatical errors of any kind can be devastating to your customer’s trust in your legitimacy. In fact, this is an error that can devastate your conversions. Who wants to spend thousands of dollars on a service that can’t even tell the difference between “your” and “you’re”?
- Reviews: Adding user reviews to your website can be huge. In fact, a phone case eCommerce store saw an 8% jump in sales just from adding review stars to the top of their navigation.
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- Vanity Stats: Try to include as many vanity stats into the copy as you can. How many customers have you served? Have you been recognized by any major publications? How long have you been in business?
- Testimonials: Without a doubt, the kind of social proof, testimonials from real satisfied customers can go a long way towards boosting your prospects’ confidence. Always be sure to include a headshot too. People always respond better to real-life faces.
9. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Range: Give Your Audience Some Choices
The Basic Gist
That which gives visitors more options (within reason) is more likely to convert.
People love choices.
And when you give your customers options to choose from, they’re going to be far more likely to buy from you.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
One of the best ways to give your customers more options is by offering multiple packages to choose from.
But when it comes to adding the Law of Range to your copy specifically, it’s all about price anchoring.
Price anchoring is one of the best tools in your copywriting toolbox.
By setting an expectation for the higher price of similar products or services, your customers will be relieved to find that yours are much more affordable.
This applies to the Law of Range because essentially, you’re giving prospects a choice.
You can go with a more expensive competitor.
You can try and do it all yourself.
Or you can go with us and save time and money!
In fact, that’s exactly what we used to do at AutoGrow on our Pricing page.
See?
You can also use the Law of Range to directly show your prices compared to your competitors.
And doing so can lead to a huge boost in conversions.
In the example below, an eCommerce company actually added their direct competitor pricing to their pages and they saw a 10% boost in sales just from that change alone.
As you can see, adding this small change can lead to big conversions.
10. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Scale: Find the Right Distribution Channels
The Basic Gist
That which is built on scalable distribution is more likely to reach a greater audience than direct marketing.
To explain, this law is all about reaching as many people as possible by finding the right distribution channels.
Tapping into audiences of other outlets (like other blogs, other marketers, other products, etc.) is going to help you grow your popularity faster than trying to build your own audience from the ground up.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
This law doesn’t actually apply directly to copywriting.
It’s all about growing your popularity through other channels.
Getting your article re-published on another blogging platform, for instance, is a great way to expand your audience.
But since it doesn’t really apply directly to copywriting, we’re going to skip this one.
11. Sales Funnel Physics—The Law of Emotion: Sell On Emotion, Justify On Logic
The Basic Gist
That which uses emotional triggers in its marketing is more likely to convert.
Marketing with emotions is a powerful way of tapping into your visitors’ hearts and minds.
And when your product is strongly associated with those emotions, your visitors are going to be much more likely to buy now and rationalize their purchase later.
How Does It Apply to Copywriting?
Any copywriter worth their salt knows that tapping into the emotions of your readers is the best way to drive sales.
But if you're too busy running your business and don't have time to write your copy, AutoGrow is the solution for you.
We take all of your digital marketing tasks off your plate (including of course writing copy for landing pages, lead magnets, email sequences, etc.).
So if you want to skip the hassles of writing persuasive copy, delegate the work to us.
Because you need a team of experts to master the art of persuasion in your copy. Because people buy on emotion and then justify it with logic.
And if you can master emotion-based copywriting, you’ll have your sales in the bag.
So, how do you tap into those emotions?
1. Call Out Pain Points: Where are your ideal customers hurting? What keeps them up at night? And how can you help relieve that pain? By calling out their pain points, you’re utilizing both fear (fear that they’ll keep feeling that pain) and empathy because you understand what they’re going through.
2. Use Reciprocity: Typically, the obligation has a negative connotation. But you can use that sense of obligation to your advantage. Offer your leads something of value for free. A lead magnet, for example, lets you build authority and tap into customers’ feelings of reciprocity. And if you’ve done it right, they’re going to be more likely to give you their business as a result.
3. Harness the Power of Guilt: As we’ve already seen, fear is a powerful marketing tool. But you can take things up a notch by inspiring guilt in your prospects too. How will they feel when their business goes under because they didn’t invest in your services? Are they really living the life they always wanted or are they consistently letting themselves down? Are they doing all they can for a cause they believe in or ignoring it? With the right copy, guilt can be a powerful motivating force that you can use to get customers to buy.
Conclusion
So there you have it!
In this article, you learned...
- All about the basic principles behind each of the 11 Laws of Sales Funnel Physics.
- How you can apply each to creating better, higher-converting copy.
- Specific examples of techniques you can use to tap into each of these Laws.
And if you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You now understand more than just what you can do to improve your copy.
You know the why behind all those proven copywriting formulas you’ve been reading about.
And with that knowledge, you’ll be able to continually improve your conversions, tighten up your copy, and grow your skills as a marketer, business owner, or entrepreneur.
So, which of these laws do you think is most important when it comes to copywriting? Which have you used in improving the copy of your website? Do you have any other techniques that apply to one of these laws?
Let me know in the comments below.
Keep AutoGrowin’, stay focused.
