Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

There are oodles of blogs out there covering just about every subject under the sun.

In your niche, there are probably thousands of people blogging about the same subjects as you.

So how do you make yours stand out above all that noise?

How do you get your blog noticed?

Obviously you need to post great information that is relevant to your audience and well-written.  But you need to go further than that if you want to start forging relationships with your readers.

The key to getting your blog noticed is adopting a distinct voice, one that is instantly recognisable as you.

When writing your blogs, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of writing in the same style as your favourite bloggers.

Don’t.

Someone isn’t going to be interested in reading a copy-cast style blog when they can have the real thing. You have to be different and be yourself.

So how do you achieve that?

1. Personality traits

Think about who you are. Then decide what personality traits you want your blog to have.

Do you want to come across as being?

• Formal or informal?
• Conversational and chatty?
• Amusing?

2. Be you

The best way to stand out from the crowd is to let your personality shine through.

The easiest way to achieve that is to write your posts as though you were writing them to a friend. This will automatically change the style in which you write and phrase things.

Showing your personality is the best way to get people to recognise you and engage with you.

3. Review past posts

Every blogger will have posts that do better than others. The trick to maintaining that level is to review those posts, take a look at the voice you used, the angle you wrote about, the topic and point of view you covered.

Then replicate that style.

4. Check the details

Everyone writes differently. It could be your use of punctuation that singles you out, your turn of phrase or your vocabulary and layout style.

Whatever it is, it’s going to set you apart from other writers.

Over to you

How have you developed your voice?

Are there any particular nuances that you’ve established to create your own distinctive style?

Leave a comment below and tell us how you have made yourself stand out of the crowd.

 Sally Ormond

Freelance Copywriter and blogger

What other type of copywriting is there?

Copy exists for one reason only – to sell. Whether it appears in a brochure, email, website, case study, white paper or newsletter, its primary function is to get the reader to take an action:

• To buy
• Get in touch
• Fill out a survey
• Complete an order form
• Sign up to your newsletter/offer

If you are in a face-to-face sales situation, you have the opportunity to persuade, cajole, counter objections and physically show your potential customer your product.

When writing copy, you don’t have any of those advantages, so your words have to do all the hard work for you.

4 things to remember about your sales copy

There are 4 things you should always bear in mind when thinking about your sales copy.

Actually there are loads of things, but these 4 will help you keep your feet on the ground and your focus on your reader.

1. Your readers really do WANT to buy from you

Let’s face it, today’s searching and shopping habits are rather like the prehistoric hunter/gatherer role.

Although today, we’re more focused on finding goods and services than tonight’s dinner. Our age of consumerism has shifted our buying behaviour towards making more discretionary purchases as opposed to necessity buys.

Our spare income today is spent on holidays, cars, designer clothes and other luxury items. So when a reader lands on a website or picks up a brochure, they’re already in the mind-set to buy. Your copy just has to convince them that yours is the product they want.

2. You can’t force a sale

As a copywriter, I hate to have to admit to this, but you can’t force someone to buy something through words.

You can make the product look mighty attractive and sought after, in the hope that it will be enough to clinch the sale. But, if your reader doesn’t want to buy it, your words are unlikely to change their mind.

But all is not lost. The art of copywriting is to build on the existing want or need within the reader. If they’re interested in your product, well written, benefits laden copy, will nudge them into buying it.

3. Your copy doesn’t have to brilliant

You have no idea how hard it was to write that.

But that doesn’t mean any old thing will do. You don’t need clever concepts to sell your products, but you do need copy that shows your product will solve the problems your readers are experiencing or make their lives better.

Writing copy for products that people already want or need, will lead to success.

4. Remove barriers

People are natural consumers, which is why, if you are selling a product they already have a need for, you are more likely to be successful.

But people are naturally suspicious, so you’re going to have to create copy that overcomes their buying objections even before they’ve made them.

Think about:

• What would prevent them from buying?
• Have you sold the benefits?
• Have you given testimonials?

Over to you

Copywriting that doesn’t sell is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.  Every piece of copy you write must exist for a purpose.

What steps do you take to make sure your copy works? Have you come up with any innovative techniques?

Leave a comment below and let’s see how many different ways we can come up with to make sure your copy sells.

• Great

I’m sure you can think of a few more, but these are all words that can be cut from sentences without having any effect on its overall meaning.

2. 3 part lists

These are useful when stressing a point. Remember Tony Blair’s “education, education, education”? The rhetorical effect of a 3 part list helps to drive home your point.

3. Second person

No, that’s not the forerunner of “The Third Man”, writing in the second person (i.e. you and your) makes your copy personal because it addresses the reader directly. This will help you build rapport and establish trust between you and your audience.

4. Distinguish between features and benefits

Anyone can write about the features of a product, but a copywriter will concentrate in their benefits. But not any old benefit; the benefit to the reader – saving them time, money, making them more successful, making them more attractive…

5. Bulleted lists and highlights

As well as adding interest to your page, bulleted lists and highlighted text will also draw the readers’ eye. So what better way to stress your key points than to list or highlight them?

6. Paragraphs

Most of us like to get our information in short chunks. Lengthy pages of text are a big turn-off, so use short paragraphs to get your information over succinctly.

7. Read aloud

The only way you will get a feel for your copy’s flow and rhythm is by reading it aloud.

Yes, you’ll feel ridiculous, but it will instantly identify where your copy works and where it falls short. Better to find out then than after it’s published.

Over to you

Great, readable copy is all about minimalism. That doesn’t mean all copy should be short, but it does mean that all copy should only use as many words as are absolutely necessary to get your point across.

How about you? Do you have any favourite methods you use to make sure your copy is as tight as a nut?

Leave a comment below and share them with us.

Sally Ormond

Freelance copywriter, blogger, social media addict and lover of rum butter toffees

You’ve finally done it.

It was a job that remained on your to-do list for months, but finally, you’ve completed your new website copy or brochure content.

Your copy is error free (well, as far you can see), reads superbly and most importantly, can now be crossed off your to-do list.

Once it’s been uploaded or your shiny brochures have been received back from the printers (smelling divine), you sit back and wait for your phone to start ringing and the deluge of emails to pour into your inbox.

Strange, nothing’s happening…

Dogs can teach you a lot about copywriting

These lovable rogues are my dogs – Jerry and Scooby.

As all dog owners will understand, they love to test my patience every time we go for a walk.

Jerry (the Springer Spaniel) is 11 now and slightly hard of hearing. Therefore, the commands he obeys are the ones he hears – and that’s not many.

Scooby (the Chocolate Labrador) on the other hand is only 5. He can hear and see me perfectly well, but that doesn’t mean he’ll always do as he’s told.

You see, Scooby has a condition known as ‘Intelligent Disobedience’. In other words, he’ll only do what I want him to do if there’s something in it for him.

The fields around us are littered with rather unpleasant dead rabbits (myxomatosis seems to be rife this year). There is nothing Scooby loves more than to find these rabbits and either play or attempt to eat them (dogs will be dogs).

If I tell him ‘no’ in a stern tone, his thought process goes something like this:

Hmmm, she wants me to put this rabbit down. But I found it so it’s mine. She’s not going to run across this ploughed field after me so, no, I’m not going to put it down.

A prime example of his Intelligent Disobedience – he’s thought about the command, decided there’s nothing it for him and therefore chooses to ignore me.

However, if I shout ‘no’ as I place my hand in my jacket pocket – the one he knows contains his favourite doggy treats – this is more likely to be his response:

I don’t want to put my rabbit down. Hang on, her hand’s in her pocket…hmmm, do I want a smelly rabbit or one of those delicious treats she buys me. No contest, goodbye rabbit – I’m coming mum!!

This time, even though Scooby didn’t really want to put his rabbit down he knew that if he did he would be rewarded with his favourite treat.

What on earth does this have to do with copywriting?

You are probably beginning to think I’ve finally lost it.

Bear with me, all will become clear.

Let’s go back to the copy we talked about at the start of this blog. Something’s wrong because it’s not converting readers into customers. Your readers are displaying their Intelligent Disobedience.

The most likely cause is that you haven’t written it for your reader. Everything you write must be aimed at your customers. It has to tell them what they want to know, not what you think they ought to know.

In a nutshell that means writing about the benefits of your product or service.

For example, if you were writing about a sofa and told your reader it comes in 6 colours, seats 3 people and has wooden casters, the most likely reaction would be ‘so what?’ That could relate to any sofa, you haven’t given them any good reasons to buy yours, therefore they have made the decision not to buy.

But if you told them:

• It’s made of hand stitched fine Italian leather
• It’s the latest design, so this is your chance to be the first to own such a luxurious piece of furniture
• It will transform any room, creating an air of chic luxury
• The same sofa is currently gracing no less than 3 movie star homes

Your reader is more likely to think ‘yes, I must have that sofa!’

Why?

Well, the first scenario simply tells them what the sofa is and doesn’t offer them anything in return for their investment.

Yes, I know, they will get the sofa – but’s that all.

In the second scenario, you are not only selling a sofa, you’re also selling a life style. Basically, it’s telling your reader that not only will they get the sofa, they’ll also own the latest design, a piece of furniture that will create an air of luxurious chic in their home, in fact a movie star life style!

An extreme example I grant you, but it serves as an illustration of how selling the benefits of your product will make your reader decided to buy.

Over to you

If you want to avoid Intelligent Disobedience in your customers, always make sure your copy sells the benefits of your products or services.

That means concentrating on what your product/service will do for your customer. Whether it’s aesthetic like the above example or more tangible (i.e. saving them money etc.), your customers will want to know what’s in it for them if they buy from you.

How do you sell the benefits of your product/service? Have you come up with any innovative techniques that really work? If so, leave a comment below and share them with us.

The whole world is going mobile – well, it seems like it.

According to Ofcom, 27% of UK adults and 47% of teenagers own a smartphone.  So it’s hardly surprising so many companies are looking to the mobile market and tailoring their online marketing accordingly.

You could be forgiven for thinking that users will simply browse your website through their handset so there’s no need for additional investment in a mobile website. But that’s not what a recent study would suggest.

The study by the marketing technology provider Unica (link to PDF), suggests that according to their research:

• 33% of companies are already using mobile messaging, applications and websites as part of their marketing strategy
• 24% plan to use these tactics within 12 months
• 13% plan to use them in more than the next 12 months
• 20% had no plans
• 10% didn’t know

The need for mobile websites is created because of the way mobile users use their smartphones.

 Creating powerful mobile website copy

 I, as a copywriter, know all too well that readers can get very easily distracted. So the copy has to be succinct, precise and easy to understand.

The problems are that mobile users are even more distracted than PC browsers. They will be interrupted by phone calls, texts, and push notifications. So your information has to be fast and easily absorbed.

They are probably surfing for research, for specific information or to compare products. But whatever their reason, they will need information quickly.

Because of the small screen size they’ll be viewing your content on, your copy has to be:

•  Tightly focused
• Short
• Easy to understand

Although all copy should have these traits, you have more leeway on a normal website. Your mobile copy must concentrate on the goal of that page and strip everything else out. A short paragraph on your computer screen may cause a mobile user to scroll for eternity to reach the information they need.

Writing mobile more copy is more akin to Twitter or texting. You have to get your message across quickly and in as few words as possible. Of course, you must never forget to include your call to action.

More and more people are browsing the web through their mobile devices so it’s imperative your marketing strategy takes this into account.

Over to you

Do you already have a mobile website? Are you thinking about investing in one soon?

Whatever your experience of mobile browsing, leave a comment below and share it with us.