Copywriting
Purpose
Before doing anything know the purpose and what you wish to achieve
- All copywriting starts with research. Lots of it. The more research you do, the more you have to work with. The more information you have, the easier it will be to write engaging and informative copy.
- Make sure that your search leads to interesting nuggets. Find the hooks and angles by delving deeper to find the different, interesting, unusual or unheard-of facts and stories.
Style
- Whatever you write should be visually appealing. Use a readable font and include bullet points and sub headings to break up large blocks of text.
- Avoid large blocks of text as this can be off-putting for the reader. Create lots of white space by using short paragraphs.
- Talk to the reader directly by using appropriate language aimed at the intended audience. Informal language is good and don’t think that you have to use proper grammar. Writing in a way that is familiar to the audience will build trust. Be confident, personal and relaxed.
- Your best friend is a thesaurus. Not only will a thesaurus help you find the right words, but it will help keep your language interesting and create the right atmosphere.
- Use an active, assertive voice rather than wishy washy language. Words like ‘Will’ and ‘Can’ are much more powerful than ‘Might’ or ‘Could.”
Content
- First of all put yourself in the shoes of the reader/listener. It’s important to know who you are writing for and to understand their needs and desires. By understanding your audience is you can fuel their desires by giving them what they want. Good copy meets the audiences’s needs and desires and makes them hungry for more
- Keep your copy interesting by making the truth fascinating. Tell stories that paint pictures in the mind to engage the audience.
- To build trust avoid generalisations and being vague. Instead incorporate guarantees, facts, testimonials, statistics, case studies, success stories and specific examples.
- Always highlight the benefits of a product rather than the features. Your audience doesn’t care about the details, they just want to know what’s in it for them.
- Be disruptive in your writing and include controversy to get your audience thinking.
- Repeat often your unique selling point and how it meets the demands of the audience
- Keep your writing concise and to the point, avoid waffle unless you are painting a picture or telling a story.
- Engage with an audience’s emotions. Nearly all buying decisions are made on an emotional level.
- Try things that are new and different. Never be afraid to experiment. If it doesn’t work you can always return to what you were doing before.
- Use ‘You’ in your writing far more frequently that I’I’ or ‘We’.
- Always lead with your strongest point.
- Stress value for money and affordability. Affordability is not the same as price. Explain the cost implications of not having a product or service to justify the price and highlight any long-term savings.
- Remember the power of three. Get your main point over three times to ensure the messagre is received and understood.
- Finally, remember that you are selling. So sell. Always include a strong call to action.
Headlines
- As a rule, five times as many people read a headline compared to the copy. So make sure your headlines are strong to draw the audience in.
- Always write the body copy first and then extrapolate the headlines to ensure consistency and flow.
Check and Edit
Does the copy:
- Gain attention
- Focus on the customer
- Stress the benefits
- Differentiate you from the competition
- Prove its case
- Establish credibility
- Build value
- Close with a call to action
Finally edit, edit and edit again until you are sure the copy is as good as it can be and meets all the objectives.