Entries Tagged 'copywriting' ↓

Every writer, at one time or another, has been in the position where their creativity flows unchecked. They can’t stop writing. In certain circumstances that is great, but at other times it can be dangerous leading to ‘over-written’ copy.

But to be an expert freelance copywriter you have to learn that it isn’t all about being short, snappy and to the point. Sometimes the copy needs to be fairly lengthy. The trick is learning when which one is appropriate.

If your brief calls for short and snappy you have to be ruthless and cut your copy to the bone. There is no room for creative flair – your copy must be concise and to the point.

Quite often long copy is called for when writing for the direct mail market – believe it or not, people to actually read those long press ads that you see and those multi-page sales letters.

One famous example of long copy in press advertising was an ad for Merrill Lynch. It took up a whole page in the New York Times – seven columns, tiny type, no pictures and a total of 6,540 words! Guess what? It drew in 10,000 requests for a booklet mentioned towards the end of the ad*.

What can we learn from this? Well, in short, what matters the most is how interesting your copy is to the reader NOT its length. No matter how long your copy, if it isn’t interesting no one is going to read it. And if no one reads it, it isn’t going to sell. And if it doesn’t sell, your client will go out and find a new copywriter.

There is one golden rule to remember though when writing long copy (and short for that matter) – always plan, plan, plan. If you don’t you will turn off your reader and they will be lost forever.

*Write to Sell – The Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting, Andy Maslen (p.81) – Link takes you to Andy’s Amazon page where you can find all his excellent books on copywriting

Before I begin I just wanted to make one thing clear – this series of articles won’t make you an effective copywriter over night. To become an expert freelance copywriter takes time and practice (and a bit of natural talent).

OK, that’s the disclaimer over and done with. Now for the first lesson…

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Copywriting, or sales writing, is worth its weigh in gold when done properly. If you have been reading my other blogs you would already have learned how to identify your reader, learned how to plan effectively, sell the benefits of your product and how to implement AIDA.

Now though, I want to take a look at the actual writing. The persuasiveness of your copywriting all comes down to your ability to convey a convincing tone of voice, your choice of words and your ability to produce punchy sentences.

In this blog I want to concentrate on staying focused.

Here is a list of what you must focus on when writing:

• YOUR READER

Not a long list so it should be easy to remember. Everything you write must mean something to your reader. Let me use a fishing analogy here – if your line of words is taut, your fish (reader) will remain hooked, let it go slack and they will swim off towards one of your competitors.

It all starts at the beginning

The most important part of your writing is the initial sentence – this is your opportunity to hook your reader:

• Address them directly
• Create empathy to get their attention
• Talk to them

When you are writing, imagine you are holding a conversation with your reader. Engage them and keep their interest. If you don’t you will run the risk of them gazing out of the window, seeing one of your competitors’ posters and then they will be lost forever. So keep in interesting and avoid clichés.

Next time, I will address the brevity vs long copy debate.

This series of posts was inspired by the writing of Andy Maslen, and his book ‘Write to Sell’ (Chapter 11).

Congratulations! You have made it to the final hurdle. Over the past few days you have been learning how to grab your readers’ attention, get their interest, and create a desire for your product. At last the finish post is in site: now all you have to do is get them to take action.

Just because you have managed to create a desire for your product, doesn’t necessarily mean that your reader is going to buy. The best way to get your reader to take action is through the use of testimonials.

These are a great motivator and a tool that every freelance copywriter should have in their writing arsenal. People love to hear about the experiences of others. If your past clients have produced their own testimonials don’t edit them. They may contain the odd grammatical or punctuation error but this is exactly what you want – it makes them real.

Another way to get your readers buying is by offering free samples, statistics, a free trial or money-back guarantee. If you have these available why not use them all or a combination plus testimonials – just do whatever you feel necessary to get your reader to take action.

The call to action

If this is weak, the rest of your hard work would have been wasted.

They don’t have to be saved for the final paragraph. Sprinkle them throughout the sales letter or, if using email, use hyperlinks so once the decision to buy has been made your reader can act immediately.

Here are a few things to avoid when writing your CTA:

• Ambiguity is bad – don’t confuse your reader
• Watch your wordiness – you’ve made your pitch now get straight to the point
• Don’t be vague – leave them in no doubt as to what they need to do

Put simply, your CTA should be short, simple, direct and clear:

• Give them different ways to get in touch/place their order (e.g. email, fax, phone)
• Give them a clear and simple-to-complete order form
• Make it a command – ‘order now’ ‘order by 1^st February’

There you go. That’s it. Your lesson is now over.

These techniques aren’t exclusively for sales letters. No matter what you are writing always remember: AIDA – Attention – Interest – Desire – Action and you can’t go wrong.

If you have been following this series of articles you now have the skills to created a killer headline to get the attention of your readers. You have sold them the benefits of your product to get their interest. So now all you have to do is create a desire.

Ask any sales person and they’ll all agree that getting someone interested in something is one thing, but to get them to want it is entirely different.

Why? Because what we actually want constitutes only a small percentage of the things we are interested in.

As a freelance copywriter I always keep one thought in mind whenever writing for clients – when someone wants something they’ll convince themselves that they really need it.

Bring the product to life

Use words to create a picture – make them ‘see’ what their lives would be like with your product. Play on their emotions. Will it give them kudos? Will they appear more successful, more attractive to the opposite sex…?

Restrict the supply

This is guaranteed to increase the ‘want factor’. You can limit it by time by having a cut-off date after which it won’t be available (or a special offer price for a limited period). Or restrict the supply in numbers e.g. attendance is limited to just 50 people.

Desire drivers

Try one of these:

• Your reader has been specially selected
• They are among the first to get the offer
• People they respect have bought the offer
• Only your offer can give them the benefits they want
• How easy you’ve made it for them to act

Wow, we’re really cooking now. Your reader is on the verge of buying your product. There is just one final hurdle that has to be cleared – you have to get them to take action.

Are you guilty of filling your sales and advertising writing with jargon?

Come on, be honest. It is a very easy trap to fall into. After all, you speak it every day to colleagues so it becomes part of your natural vocabulary.

But guess what? It’s a real turn-off for those not ‘in the know’.

If you want people to read your articles, websites and sales literature with interest, you have to write clearly.

I have put together a Hubpage on this particular subject so follow this link to read about how copywriters don’t do jargon.

Merry Christmas.

Sally

Briar Copywriting – Freelance Copywriter