Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

As copywriter’s we know what our audience wants, right?

All we have to do is give them an unbelievably good offer and they’ll say yes. They’ll identify our product with the life they’ve always wanted to live so they’ll snap our hand off just to get it.

Great – but is it?

Does life really happen like that?

Wake up to the real world

There is a problem here; one that you may not have thought of.

What if they really don’t what your product?

“Ha! Of course they do – how can they possibly refuse the offer?”

Oh boy, there’s the problem straight away. You’re assuming they’ll buy your product no matter what.

You can’t lead a horse to water…

OK, I don’t have a horse but that heading sounded better than “You can’t lead a Spaniel to a tablet”.

Take my Springer Spaniel, Jerry (yes, he’s Jerry Springer) – he may not be the most intelligent dog in the world but he knows about medicine. Just like a kid, when he’s given a course of tablets from the vet, he’ll do anything to avoid taking them (not that I take my kids to the vet, it’s just that they know medicine usually tastes horrible and really don’t want to take it).

Put it in his bowl of biscuits and he’ll eat every crumb but leave the pill. Put it inside a piece of cheese and he’ll eat round it.

The trick is to find something he will eat (please note this is not a problem with my other dog, Scooby. But then again he is a Labrador and will eat anything). I have learned to tailor my ‘sales pitch’ to him.

The only way I can get him to take his medicine is by grinding up his tablet and sprinkling it on a piece of bread thickly spread with Marmite. Hand that to him and he’ll take your hand off and love you forever.

The moral of the story is – research your market

At the end of the day, if you pitch the wrong product to your audience they won’t buy it.

Pitch correctly, to the correct audience and you’ll end up with a loyal customer base that’ll come back again and again. They’ll value the product you sold them, remember you as a company that ‘doesn’t force their products down their throats’ and will trust you for future purchases.

Remember then, people not buying doesn’t necessarily mean your copy is poor or your offer is weak. You can’t make people buy simply because you want them to. Make sure you research your market thoroughly – make timely offers to the right audience and you’ll grow a marketing list that’s worth its weight in gold.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

This was a question that was raised during last week’s online Q&A session on copywriting as a career with The Guardian.

Clean copywriting is very tight, concise, compelling sales copy – clever copywriting is there to impress.

Which is best?

As the Q&A discussion discovered, it rather depends on your audience. However as 99% of my copywriting work is commercial print or web based – I shall answer that question from my experience.

Short and sweet wins every time

When I’m approached to write sales copy (whether is for brochures, email campaigns, posters, adverts or SEO website copy) I follow a simple formula which is designed to have maximum impact.

We all lead busy lives these days; sales messages are everywhere – in newspapers, on buses, on the tube, on radio, TV, magazines, the internet…the list is endless. Considering the number of messages we are faced with on a daily basis of you want yours to get through it must be powerful and concise.

Because of this your message must be noticed, resonate with the reader, convince and compel them to take action.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it!

The winning formula

I mentioned earlier that I follow a formula to create clean and compelling copy. Before I tell you what that is you must remember one thing. Every audience you write for is going to be different. An approach that worked for one group of people may fall short of the mark when used on another group. So always bear your audience in mind when creating your copy.

So where do you start? Well, how do you normally read things? from the beginning, right? And what do you find at the beginning?

1. Headline

This is the hook that will get some interested in your copy enough to read it. If you get your headline wrong, your whole sales pitch will be lost. If you need inspiration read magazines, look through newspapers or check out the home page of Digg – that is a great source of inspiration.

However you create it, it must draw your reader in to the rest of your copy.

1. Beginning

Once your headline has pulled them into your message web, hit them with the main benefits of your product/service. Hit them between the eyes – tell them exactly what the product/service will do for them.

At the end of the day, your reader will only buy if they are going to benefit in someway – point that out to them immediately and your half way there.

1. Middle

Now you’ve shown them the benefits of your product/service their hand is poised over their wallet – but they’re not pulling out their credit cards just yet.

They may be interested in your product now, but you’ve got to make them want it. Help them visualise how amazing their lives will be if they had it. Make them want it by telling them supply is restricted or the price is going up soon or they’ll be amongst the first to won it, they’ve been specially selected…

1. Finale

This is it – they’ve grabbed their wallet, they’ve taken out their credit card…does it end there?

It will if you don’t tell them what to do next. The final step is to write a strong call to action. If you don’t tell them to buy now, call now or order now they won’t know what to do and will look elsewhere.

Headline + Benefits + Want Factor + CTA = SALES!!!!!

If you want your sales copy to work every time, keep it strong, keep it tight, keep it simple. Don’t try and be clever.

Sally Ormond – Freelance copywriter

Yesterday’s post announced the Q&A session I was asked to take part in for The Guardian today.

Well, as you can see, I am still able to type!

Loads of excellent questions were thrown at the panel covering all aspects of copywriting and how to get started in the industry. Not only did we manage (I hope) to help a number of the participants, I think we learnt a lot from each other too.

Find out what it means to be a copywriter

Starting out as a new copywriter can be a daunting experience. There are so many things to think about:

• Do I start as a freelance copywriter or get a job with an agency
• How do I find clients?
• How do I start my portfolio
• Do I need an online presence?
• Do I need any special qualifications?
• Are there any courses I can do?

The best way to find out how to get started is by asking someone already doing it.

Visit The Guardian’s forum and discover a few tips for starting out in the world of copywriting. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, drop me a line and I’ll do my best to help you.

Many of you know about me and my freelance copywriting business – Briar Copywriting. Well now you have the opportunity of learning a bit more about me.

The Guardian’s Careers Forum – Copywriting

On Friday 15th January The Guardian are running an online forum about careers in copywriting. So, if you are considering a career change or want to know about copywriting and how to get started, come along!

I will be amongst an esteemed panel of experts from the copywriting world. We have all come to the industry from different backgrounds so you’re sure to learn a lot from our experiences.

Visit the forum this Friday 15th January between 12pm and 3pm and post your questions to us.

It’ll be great to see you there.

Sally

Freelance Copywriter

Writing your own website copy can be a complete nightmare. Trying to distance yourself from your business to write about it objectively is incredibly difficult.

For a start you have to forget about blowing your own trumpet – readers don’t like that. Instead you have to consider what it is that you do for your customers. How do they directly benefit from your product/service?

Then you have to make sure you don’t include any jargon. You have to write simply – now that can be a challenge. So many people fall into the trap of thinking…

“I’m writing for the public therefore I must use incredibly complex sentences and unfathomable words to show my incredible intellect”

Well if you do, no one will read your website.

Don’t be something you’re not

Even if you manage to master all of that, you must be careful about how you portrait yourself.

Most local companies aim to achieve great rankings using local/geographical keywords. Why? Because you can get good results quickly and, if people are searching for local companies, they will probably use a town or county name within their search.

But businesses often have a desire to appear bigger than they actually are dropping local geographical terms within their copy in favour of the faceless national corporation facade. The problem with that is you’ll do nothing for your local rankings and end up being disheartened as you try to compete with the big boys for generic keywords that return millions of results.

It’s not all about size

A certain amount of illusion can be created by using “we” instead of “I” or words associated with large companies – “fleet”, “team”, etc.

But be warned – there is a reason why people search the internet for small local businesses.

To them, small businesses mean a high quality, personal service. They expect to pay a reasonable amount for goods and services safe in the knowledge they aren’t being ripped off by overly expensive items. If you try to show yourself as a large business it can convey negative connotations – expensive, inferior service, customers not being treated as individuals.

So think carefully before you start to write your copy.

Write to your reader, write simply, and tell them what’s in it for them.

Be proud to be a small local company – I know I am.

Sally Ormond – Freelance Copywriter