Copywriting 101 – how to sell it with words!
Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copywriting)
Are you intending to be or are in business? Starting up a blog perhaps? Then you need to be able to write words that sell you, your service or product!
You don’t need to be a professional copywriter or employ one for your business. but you do need to learn how to be effective in the written word, if you want to attract readers..and turn them into buyers.
I wasn’t born with any special ability to write, I only stumbled on writing when out of a need to, and thus my love for writing was born. I don’t even think I’m very good at writing!
Writing is something I really enjoy now – everyone has their own style and voice, so it’s best not to compare, but just know that writing skills can be developed.
You can learn online, take courses and practice, practice, practice to get better at copywriting. I took a short online course in copywriting, I learnt alot and it got me more confident.
I highly recommend you to take a course, either for free or paid. The time you invest in yourself to learn will be an asset to your business/blog.
Since copywriting isn’t novel or short story writing, it’s a very specific type of writing for a very specific industry – the business world, meaning, you will need to learn some business lingo.
If you’re not familiar with business lingo, you can read up on similar products or services (your competition) online, and learn or borrow some phrases they use, to start with – just don’t straight copy off them!
Here’s 5 copywriting basics that you can learn now, to write better copy:
1. Audience
It’s very important to know who it is you are writing to. You can’t write for/to please everyone. If you do, then you’ll ‘become a jack of all trades, but a master of none’.
Who is your smallest most viable audience, your niche audience? Whose voices does your voice (personality, life, values, story) resonate with?
What is the demographic you are targeting? Young mothers with children? Students? Young profressionals? Know and understand who your target market or reader is and pitch the copy to them appropriately.
2. Tone
The tone or sound of your voice in the writing is key to resonating with your audience. The tone is a certain style of writing, it’s your perspective that shines through it, your attitude.
What’s your tone going to be like? Knowing who your audience is, pitch the appropriate tone at them – for eg, is it going to be in a casual conversation style or in abit more of a formal and courteous tone?
Also, you might adjust your tone to suit your post content. For eg, your tone may be authoritative when it comes to your skills, experience, facts or knowledge. Or it can be more relational and conversational when you’re talking about relationships and emotions.
3. Product/service
What is the product or service you’re promoting? Know it well – no-one knows it better than you, right? Can you describe the features in two short sentences?
Does the product or service provide a solution to a problem? Customers when looking to buy are trying to solve a problem. These 4 points are what you need to make clear in your copy:
i) what’s the problem?
ii) what’s the solution to the problem?
iii) what are the benefits this solution provides?
iv) what’s the call to action (CTA) the customer needs to make eg, “call this 0800 number now to get 30% off your first purchase, for a limited time only”.
4. A catchy headline
A headline or title is the first word or sentence in your copy that readers read – if it’s not attractive enough they might not read any further! So your headline can be judged in 2-3 seconds. It needs to stand out to catch the reader’s attention.
Write a catchy headline, and keep it short, to a sentence.
5. Practice
It’s good practice to write out your copy many times over before finalizing it. It may take you several times over to get it just how you’d like it. The more you practice the more you get better at it.
Practice, practice, practice.
There you have it, almost.
The more you write, the more you get better at it, just like anything else. Remember, copywriting is writing that sells!!! Start practicing today! How are you doing with your copywriting? Was this helpful to you?
