If you’ve ever sat and stared at a blank page, wondering where to begin, this is for you (spoiler: It’s all in the planning). Or if you regularly find yourself reading your words back and beginning to wonder why you bothered in the first place – read on.
We’ve all been there at some point – even as a professional copywriter occasionally I still catch myself procrastinating because of the blank page. And with every read through, I find another way to make my copy clearer, more concise and persuasive.
The next 12 tips will help you do the same with your copy:
Without proper planning, how do you know what to write? Before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), spend time creating a copy brief.
As a freelance copywriter, I start every project with a comprehensive briefing document completed by my client. Essentially, it’s a set of questions that pulls out 99% of what I need to know about the subject. And I glean the last 1% by talking it over with them (and that’s when the golden nuggets appear).
If you’re creating copy for your own business or workplace, then it probably doesn’t need to be so in-depth. But there are a few questions you need to answer before you start (bonus tip: do this whether you’re writing web copy or something else):
When you try to appeal to everyone, you don’t grab anyone’s attention.
Write your marketing copy with a specific audience in mind. It helps you craft the right message, choose the most powerful words and attract the people most likely to buy your products or use your services.
Top tip: A useful place to start is to think about your customers and build profiles based on what you know about them.
Building profiles based on demographics – or who the audience is, is helpful. But psychographic profiling is where the magic happens. That’s when we dig into what makes your audience tick to understand why and how they buy.
Here are 5 questions to get you started:
On average, 80% of people will read a headline and only 20% will read the copy that follows.
A good headline can make the difference between your copy getting noticed and losing your audience to the competition (or cat videos!). They’re super important for SEO copywriting too.
When you’ve written your headlines, test each one against these criteria to whittle them down to one:
While it’s tempting to talk about what you do – don’t. Instead, focus on what you do for your customers or clients. Because that’s what they care about: what’s in it for them.
At the end of every point you make in your copy, ask yourself this question until you reach the ultimate benefit for your reader:
Understanding consumer behaviour and the mindset of our audience is a massive part of the copywriting process. One of the things I always consider when writing copy is the audience’s motivators – the things that drive their purchasing decisions.
When you understand your audience’s motivations, you can tap into them through your text.
Which of these 12 motivators (developed by the ‘father of motivational research’ Ernest Dichter) sit behind your audience’s decisions?
The average reading age in the UK is around 9.
If you want your copy to be read, understood and remembered, keep sentences short, paragraphs brief and your messages concise. Stick to shorter words and avoid jargon at all costs.
Readability is crucial, and a good test is the Flesch Reading Ease score and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score. Some apps give you a detailed analysis of readability, but the Word ‘Check Document’ function does a great job too.
Check that your copy achieves these scores:
Most of us are time-poor and information-hungry so set out your copy for skim reading. That means PLENTY of sub-headings. Make sure your reader can take away key messages without needing to read every word.
Use your sub-headings to introduce your next point and keep them as compelling as your main headings.
At the end of your first draft, ask yourself:
Avoid sweeping statements. Specificity adds credibility. Providing precise details suggest authenticity and in turn, engenders trust. Ask yourself:
We often make decisions based on the choices made by those we consider to be like us too.
Social proof is sooo powerful. It’s based on the idea that in situations where we’re uncertain about how to behave, we follow the actions of others, assuming it must be the correct behaviour.
And it can be seriously powerful when it comes to helping your audience choose your product or service over another.
When we’re browsing a company’s web page and see an industry expert recommending their product, that’s social proof. When we’re reading a business brochure and someone with the same problem as us, solved it by using their service – that’s social proof.
Social proof adds credibility to your claims and creates trust in your products or services. Here are some ways you could add social proof to your copy:
Case studies are so effective because they let you show real-life examples of how beneficial your product or service is. And you can supercharge them by including a quote from your customer or client.
Your case study should be as long or short as it needs to be depending on what you’re writing but should always cover the following:
Your headline might be the most magnetic headline ever written, and your copy could be your most compelling yet. But unless you tell your reader what you want them to do next and how it’ll benefit them – you’ve wasted your time.
Whether you want them to visit your website, join your email list, buy your product or book a call with you, your copy needs a call to action (CTA).
Here are 4 ways to make your CTA stronger:
Editing your copy is just as important as the writing process. Less is more when it comes to tempting someone to read your text. It takes less effort and time, and it’s more readable and memorable too.
Try these tips to tighten up your copy:
The NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Appeal has been phenomenally successful yet the volume of support seems in contrast to that received by the 230+ local NHS hospital charities scattered across the country. So what might this all mean for local hospital charities working harder than ever to just get noticed?
There are many different ways you can update existing content to make it fresh, engaging and even more valuable. Here are 14 ideas to get you started.
While this article definitely isn’t about a hard sell, I think it’s important to acknowledge that some people and organisations will still want what you’re offering.
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You might only get one or two opportunities a year to run a direct mail fundraising appeal, so it’s critical that you leave nothing to chance.