Copywriting is all about creating an action, with mini actions woven in to take the subject to the next step of their journey.
There is a need to get into the mind of the person that you're speaking to and speak in their voice, just how their friends would talk to them. Tone of voice is essential in ensuring that the subject knows that the piece is for them.
This blog is a big brain dump of all of useful tips taught to me over the years, things I've seen or conclusions that I've drawn myself, all in one place. Apologies if you're reading this and think I have nicked your idea, I am certainly not claiming all of this to be from my brain, but a useful collection of copywriting thoughts including my own. Hopefully it might be of use.
People mostly buy on gut instinct, they consider how a product will make them feel. You as the writer need to put yourself in their shoes and try to understand that feeling. I got a new car recently, I looked around at other vehicles, I checked reviews and opinions, facts and figures but no matter what I read my mind was pretty much already made up as to what I wanted (thankfully my research mostly supported my gut). This instinct is the same for all, and you if you think about your purchase habits.
Copywriting can help influence decision making and it's aim is to persuade you to perform an action. There are THREE main rules of persuasion:
1) EMOTION
Something needs to feel real rather than polished. Consider why the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage are popular, whether you agree or disagree with their politics or moral code they are able to influence an audience through emotion.
How do they do this?
Often seeming to operate without a script or deviating from one gives them a sense of talking from the heart, talking directly to the audience about what they believe, it's powerful stuff.
They aim to appear honest and sincere, again whether you support them or not, consider the style they use. Think about the worlds used, their body language, lack of a fear of controversy. They are the bloke in the pub putting the world to rights, their rhetoric is raw.
They tap into peoples fears. It doesn't matter if what they are saying is true or not, what they say provokes a reaction and fear is easy to manipulate if you're seen as the one able to offer a solution over your competitor.
They are the 'every-man' they are on your level and want to demonstrate the common ground they share with you. Think about this and how copywriting can replicate these skills.
Further to support the idea of emotion in copy is by employing the seven deadly sins as guide for what influences desire and provokes a response:
Lust - sex, it's no secret that sex sells in advertising, to what degree you use this trick depends on the field you operate in.
Gluttony - food, consider the M&S food ads a few years ago, termed food porn they tapped into the desires of their audiences and were hugely successful crossing over with lust, envy and greed.
Greed - money and security. you want what we have and we can help you achieve it.
Sloth - laziness, we can help make your life much easier giving you more time to do the things you want to do, we offer 'freedom'.
Wrath - anger, consider topics like Brexit and immigration for sparking strong opinions and action.
Envy - wanting what others have, don't be left behind, keeping up with the Jones's and how do you compare with your peers/competition.
Pride - reputation, we can offer you the power to be in control and puff out your chest as top dog.
Each of these seven sins can be manipulated into a reason to talk to people and a consideration in powerful copywriting.
2) CREDIBILITY
In slight conflict with the points about Donald Trump and Nigel Farage is the need to be perceived as trustworthy, this often comes through confidence of showing you know what you're talking about, you are the expert. You/your company has built a reputation, you have longevity in your product and you have testimonials to back you up as a source of credibility.
Use stats to prove why you deserve to be taken seriously alongside text based testimonials. Show a track record of good advice. Be consistent with you communications, messaging and style of writing. Can you get any celebrity endorsement to add a bit of sparkle to your product?
You can improve your credibility by understanding what your audience already thinks of you. Use mini surveys, help them to become engaged with your product and then share the results. 9/10 people agree with this statement :).
Communications should always come from a 'real' person and not the company name, there should be a signature and use a person of authority on occasion for extra impact. This personal touch makes the reader feel more important and avoids the feeling of just reading a corporate statement in the main.
3) ACTION
A call to action should always be used. Remember that people can be stupid on occasion and what is obvious to you might not be to them so be clear, be obvious and tell them what you want them to do in the easiest way you can.
Use buttons, links, surveys, bold text, capitals, colour changes any trick that you can think of that will increase engagement. There is no point in having a beautifully crafted piece of text or design if you fall at the final hurdle by not ramming it down the audiences throat what you want them to do next. Professional YouTubers are great at this element messages like "simply like, share and subscribe" will be on every video they do, people might have seen them over and over again but the importance of what action they want from their audience doesn't diminish. To them increased engagement = increased views = increased ad revenue associated with their posts.
Make people perform the action NOW don't wait because they will get distracted or forget. Provide an incentive, a deadline, a limited number, extra stuff free, exclusivity for a period of time. Whatever cherry works best for your audience use it.
SIMPLE DO'S AND DON'TS
DO - Write how your audience would speak, remove formality if that's the right thing to do.
DO - make it quick to read. Avoid waffle and be ruthless with the delete button.
DO - your first line should be just one line.
DO - be conversational. Talk to your audience like a person.
DO - use the word 'you' and try to avoid the word 'I'.
DO - show how you can help improve their life.
DO - write with emotion in mind (see above)
DO - offer a feature of your product first then back up with how it will benefit the consumer
DO - try to cut 20% of what you wrote in your first draft.
DO - use words a 10-year-old would understand. People are time poor, make it simple and don't over-complicate your language because you think it makes you sound smart.
One of my favourite tips I've picked up is the use of words of Germanic origin over Latin based words. The English language is made up of both and as a general rule of copywriting the Germanic origin words make for a smoother user experience. Just look here it should be fairly obvious as to why:
DON'T - use long paragraphs, this covers anything over about three lines.
DON'T - use complicated punctuation, a lot of people have a poor grasp on grammar and this creates more opportunity for error.
DON'T - use jargon or abbreviations ever, not everyone is such an expert in their field as you.
DON'T - go off on a tangent, stick to the point, keep it short and sharp.
DON'T - think about selling, think how you are solving an audience need or problem.
DON'T - expect marriage on the first date, if your subject knows nothing about you they won't bite you need to woo them.
DON'T - be afraid of repetition to get the message clear, repeat links, repeat calls to action where suitable.
HOW TO GET STARTED?
Just begin writing, don't procrastinate, you'll edit at the end anyway and once you get in to a rhythm you'll be surprised what you can produce.
Don't worry about recycling a bit. Revisit your old successful copy and adapt it or use it for inspiration, it may just need an edit rather than starting something from scratch. But do make sure you tailor for the need at hand.
Take objections, consider why the reader might not want what your talking about and work out how you would combat that thought.
Have any data that you'll need to hand in advance, this will limit the opportunity for distraction and keep you focused on the task at hand.
Create a sense of urgency, set yourself a deadline and you'll find getting started is much easier rather than putting things off.
STRUCTURE
To aid with a logical structure to your copy consider story-boarding. Think back to English exams at school and writing essays, you would usually produce an essay plan upfront to help with your thought process, why change that premise, it will keep you focused and help deliver a concise journey within your text.
Consider how your text will flow.
a) Address and issue
b) Discuss fears
c) What to do about it
d) What's worked elsewhere
e) How will it benefit you
f) Here is the solution
g) Call to action
As with marketing and most academic models there are four P's of copywriting which cover all of the above. They are:
1) PICTURE what is the problem?
2) PROMISE what we offer
3) PROOF testimonials and evidence of solutions
4) PUSH call to action
HEADLINES
Your headline or subject line is the most important piece of your copy and time should be spent crafting it.
As upset as it will make you 80% of your audience will only really digest your headline vs. the main body of what you have to say in your piece. Don't be offended you're probably guilty of this just as much. Given this 80/20 rule on headline vs. body content make sure that your headline pulls people in and teases what you have to say. I'd suggest crafting around ten headlines and see which one stands out.
Avoid using punctuation in headlines and subject lines where possible.
Your headline should use as many as possible of the four U's (four seems to be the academics favourite number for models). Create URGENCY why read it now, is it time sensitive. Be UNIQUE show standout vs. the clutter of your competitors, use standout language. Be ULTRA-SPECIFIC (ok that's a squeeze on the use of a word starting with 'U') use numbers, stats, how long will it take to do something etc. Show it's USEFUL how will your thing help me, why is it relevant to me. Buzzfeed are excellent at the use of these types of headlines and pulling people into their articles
STRONG WORDS
There are particular words that you will notice crop up a lot in copy presented to you, these can be known as 'power words' and will help to create a reaction in a positive or negative way depending on what response is required and in what context they are written. Some good examples of these words are:
Why. Free. Today. Now. Quick. Proven. Simple. Increase. Secret. Join. Powerful. Team. Frustrated. Angry. Exclusive. VIP. You. Boost. Profits. Magic. Safe. Trigger. Insider. Control. Best. Urge. Truth. Risk-free. Plus. Everything. Instant. Access. How to.
There are a number of other ‘power words' that can trigger a gut response in the reader as well. These are strong, often very negative words so the context and use here is extremely important. For example:
Banned. Murder. Bankrupt. Fail. Shocking. Rigged. Doomed. Trapped. Fire. Unfair. Fake. Plot. Lies
TOOLS
There is a free copy tool online called the Hemingway Editor which assesses how easy it is to read what you've written and makes suggestions for where to improve it. It's worth a look to see if it will help you.
That's about it for now. I'm sure that there are plenty more words of wisdom out there and if I find any great inspiration I'll keep adding to this blog going forward.
Happy writing!
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