Better Writing Better Results
How to become a better copywriter to get more sales, higher conversions or just tell your story better.
Happy New Month Everyone!
This week’s newsletter is on becoming a better copywriter. Copywriting is writing for an intended action and is one of the most critical elements of marketing and advertising. Copywriting is used to raise brand awareness, increase sales or encourage a person or group to take a particular action. Like everything in life, copywriting is a skill that you can develop over time. If you don’t have the time though, you can hire someone who does this for a living. Here are some tips.
Firstly, copywriting is about persuasion and clarity. You have to keep things simple for people to understand and be persuaded. To keep things simple, you have to get rid of extra words and make sure you are pruning your sentences. When writing, people tend to add extra words to add gravitas to what their writing but less is truly more. Instead of writing “in order to” say “to”, instead of saying “due to the fact” say “because”. Remember copywriting is not essay writing. Good copywriting gets to the point in little words and removes excessive phrases and rewords sentences to be more direct. Make sure every word counts when copywriting.
Good copywriting speaks to the reader in human terms. Replace complex sentences with simpler ones. Copywriting is intended to get people to feel, think, or respond, for example, Nike’s “Just Do It” is one of the best examples of copywriting as it’s short, gets to the point, and can be applied to any situation. Good copywriting finds connections. Nike draws the connection between their product (running shoes) and the experience it evokes (running). Apple’s product (iPhone) and the experience (easy to use). The best way to write copy is to describe and focus on “why it matters” because consumers do not care about all the extra stuff, they care about what it can do for them, why it will change their lives, and why your product or service truly matters.
Good copywriting avoids jargon and hyperbole. When describing your company, product, or services, using words such as groundbreaking, revolutionary, game-changing does not have an effect on readers like you think it does. When you struggle to convey what is truly special about your company, product, or service, it’s easy to hide under these big fancy words. Always challenge yourself to dig deeper and find the deeper meaning behind your message.
Copywriting comes in different forms such as email marketing, websites, blog posts, brochures, product descriptions, headlines, etc. There are two different types of copywriting, there is “direct response copywriting” which intends to drive an action immediately, examples are; an Instagram ad to get a click, a landing page to get a signup, or an email designed to get a response. There is also copywriting that does not intend for a response straight away but down the road, e.g. this newsletter. There isn’t an immediate action required with this newsletter, it’s designed to educate and connect with the reader. Actions down the road could be someone reaching out for one of my services or recommending my newsletter to others.
Copywriting is a skill that can be applied universally as the ability to persuade someone through writing can be applied to any job, industry, or business. As this email is about good copywriting and I have reinforced repeatedly the importance of keeping it short and sweet I'll end with this- less is truly more, focus on why it matters, and prune your sentences!
Have a great week everyone! As always feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions, feedback, or just want to chat.