Copywriting is a core business skill.
No matter what marketing channel you use, the foundation for any content IS COPYWRITING.
- An affiliate blog post? COPYWRITING.
- A YouTube video? A good script is written with COPYWRITING.
- A social media caption? COPYWRITING again.
- A landing page? 100% COPYWRITING.
The job of a marketing copywriter is to turn a need into a want.
There are three ways to classify copy and anything you write will typically fit somewhere in them:
- Collateral – Letter, brochure, web page
- Medium – Videо, print, online
- Style – Hard sell, scare, straight shot
Online, print, radio, in person. Mobile, social media, website are not. These are channels. A medium is a pipe over which the message passes, not the environment in which the audience receives it. The medium may or may not impact the collateral on style. It usually doesn't.
- Teaching – Learn first, CTA later. CTA is "Please understand why you need this."
- The Straight Shot – You describe what you have, why it's the best and then deliver the CTA. The most common style. Use it when the customer is ready to buy and understands why he needs the product. It is often low key, as it points features and leaves the audience to take action.
- Laughter – Use self-deprecating humor, ridicule the customers that don't buy, a funny version of the scare tactic. Use it when you know the audience, because it can backfire spectacularly.
- Scare Tactic – "Do this or bad stuff will happen". Use it when there's more at stake than a sale. "Fasten your seat-belt", "Don't drink and drive"…
- Hard Sell – "BUY NOW! LIMITED OFFER" The CTA is usually repeated between the reasons why to buy.
Purchases are made because customers FEEL like the product or service helps them reduce pain or increase pleasure... or both!
ALWAYS make them FEEL like you are the best option.
Avoiding pain is a way stronger motivation to take action than seeking pleasure.
"Make $10,000 a month with product" vs "Stop losing $10,000 a month with product". Which one is more compelling?
Write like you're explaining for the first time. Assume they are children, and you only have ONE chance to make an impression.
All great copy entertains, educates, convinces and feels personal.
Steps:
- Invoke interest
- Elaborate on it
- Present a solution
- Support with evidence
- Address possible objections
- Close off with a clear CTA
Read their mind. Quote the target audience's exact words and frustrations back at them.
Share their struggle. Make it seem like both of you are going through the same thing. Emphasize how you experienced the same problem and how you solved it.
Use textured adjectives and verbs to let the audience "feel" behind a screen.
- Check out this
luxuriousvelvety scarf. - A simple
interiorrustic interior. - This
funsizzling party. IncludingPeppering keywords everywhere.
Use the Endownment effect. Make them feel they're claiming what they already own. Make them buy before they buy.
- Signup now > Start your journey
- Download now > Download your template now
- Active = "The cat chased the mouse." - The subject performs the action.
- Passive = "The mouse was chased by the cat." - The subject receives the action.
Read out loud. If it sounds cringe or weird…
Start over. Because that's not how you talk.
(Notice how I've been speaking in the first-person and speaking directly to you this whole time?)
I'm treating you like a close friend and teaching you from my own experience. It should feel like both of us are sitting at the bar and having this conversation.
- Improve readability. Prevents choppiness and makes sentences read more smoothly.
- Increase pacing. Commas naturally forces readers to pause which reduces - retention.
- Reduces complexity. Introducing multiple clauses with commas will make sentences complex and confusing.
- Eliminate fluff. Forced to remove filler and fluff words.
Use funny analogies. Think of Mark Manson's writing style.
A 5 year old would not know them.
But why?
Because people skim.
They don't read everything.
And don't lie…
Neither did you.
Huge walls of text are unappealing and suffocating to read.
The important points get drowned out, and your readers may completely miss them.
Keep your sentences light and short to accommodate skimming.
And suck them into focal points using other text formatting options like:
- Bolding
- Bulleted lists
- Italics
- No more than 15 words per line.
- No more than 5-6 lines per paragraph.
- No more than 3-4 paragraphs without a subhead.
- Line height should equal 1.6x font size.
- Line width should allow 15-20 words.
- Use at least 1.6x as much space between paragraphs as between lines.
- Lacking Clarity
- Neglecting the Product's Unique Selling Point
- Overemphasizing Brand Identity
- Disregarding Customer Awareness Levels
- Providing Insufficient Information
- Showing No Proof of Claims
- Using Clichés or Overused Phrases
- Snooze-Worthy Headlines
- Weak Call-to-Action
- No Call-to-Action
- Faking Urgency
Features:
- Lightest on the market
- Highest safety ratings
- Heating/cooling pads
- Best graphic choices
- Simple atttachment system
Audience:
-
Consumers
- Cyclists looking for protection
- Believe current helmets are less than ideal
- Who will buy online or from retailers
- Who already own helmets, but share with friends
-
Retailers
Start a timer and write for 5-10 minutes... DO NOT worry about grammar!
What am i going to write? I've hit my head cycling enough times. I've been wearing a helmet every time. It saved my life at least three times that I know of. But they;re awfully uncomfortable, even now. Plus, they make me look like an over inflated mushroom. And they make sweat drip directly into my eyes, which may ironically cause more accidents. Harrison's helmets really help because they're so light, about half the weight of my current helmet. And it seems to have better safety ratings than it. Why? I have to tell the audience why, how HArrison managed this, or they won't believe me. Hmmm, can't think of an idea...
Oh wait, we can do a cross-section fo the helmet, and talk about the Unobtainium shell. That's a whole new material, right? Folks have never seen it before. Doesn't a pro racer already use his helmet? We should get a quote from him too. And play up how cool it looks. This helmet looks more like a TRON helmet than a bicycle helmet. And I can get glow-in-the-dark flames. Well, I woudln't want those, but it certainly demonstrates the range of color schemes you can get.
Ok, so I need to emphasize:
- The light weight
- The strength
- The colorful awesomeness
- Testimonials
Oooh! And maybe do something like drive a car over it, and then over a competing helmet.
- Don't write the introduction first. Write from the inside out.
- Don't sweat grammar, spelling and word choice.
- Write one "chink" per sprint.
| Technique | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Active voice | The unobtainium shell provides unbeaten protection for any cyclist in any confitions | The unobtainium shell provides unbeatable protection for you, whether you're a commuter, a mountain biker, or a competitive cyclist |
| Tell me why? | The HH1's shell can withstand up to 4 tons of pressure | A fall from a staionary bike delivers the equivalent of 2 tons of pressure to your skull. The HH1's shell can withstand up to 4 tons of pressure, protecting you from impact injuries. |
| Active voice | Your head will be well protected by the HH1 | The HH1 will protect your head |
| Clarity | ...provides protection that can't be beat for you. | ...provides unbeatable protection. |
| Clarity | The HH1's shell, which is made from fibers of unobtainium glued together using our patented Smush Process, comes in all sorts of great styles and will protect you from crashes | The HH1 shell protects you from crashes. Why? Because of our patented Smush Process, which moulds fibers of unobtainium into a tough, flexible shell. And, it comes in a lot of styles. |
| Clarity | We do a careful review... | We carefully review... |
| Clarity | Our helmets prevent 2x the injuries | Our helmets double head protection |
| CTA | You can create your own unique HH1 in our online store | Create your own, unique HH1 in our online store. Click here. |
| Active voice | The buckleless attachment system makes for a comfortable fit | You'' enjoy a comfortable fit with our buckleless attachment system |
Avoid mysterious headlines. Ex. "The banging of the head", "Brain matter, protected", "Brain-injury risks"...
The "blank sheet of paper" test
If you write the headline on a blank sheet of paper, and show it to strangers, they should understand it, or at least the basic concept behind it.
Good headlines:
Intoducing the HH1: Unrivaled Head Protection for Cyclists
Strong, Light, Protective: The HH1 Cycling Helmet
How the HH1 Helmet Might Save Your Life
All This and Brains Too: The HH1 Cycling Helmet
Keep Your Brains Intact. Wear the HH1
Formulas
[number] Reasons That ___ [matters/is worth it...]
[product name]: The Answer to ___
Ways That [product name][does something cool]
Now You Can [some benefit]
Don't compromise on ___
What Everyone Is Saying About ___
How To ___
How ___ Turned ___ into ___ with [product name]
They Used to ___ When I ___
Now I ___ a ___ You'll Never See Again
You'll Save ___
After ___, You'll Never See ___ The Same Way
"Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes it's an ad." – Howard Gossage
"The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife." – David Ogilvy
"Don't tell me how good you make it; tell me how good it makes me when I use it." – Leo Burnett
"People spend money when and where they feel good." – Walt Disney
"On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar." – David Ogilvy
"The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be." – David Ogilvy
"A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself." – David Ogilvy
"If you want to be interesting, be interested." – David Ogilvy
"What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it." – David Ogilvy
"In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create." – David Ogilvy
"The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas." – Linus Pauling
"The first draft of anything is shit." – Ernest Hemingway
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." – Albert Einstein
"Easy reading is damn hard writing." – Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." – Mark Twain
"If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." – Elmore Leonard
"When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.' I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product." – David Ogilvy
"Your job is not to write copy. Your job is to know your visitors, customers and prospects so well, you understand the situation they're in right now, where they'd like to be, and exactly how your solution can and will get them to their ideal self." – Joanna Wiebe
"Metaphors are a great language tool, because they explain the unknown in terms of the known." – Anne Lamott
"A big reason so many businesses compete on price is because they can't prove what value they offer, so they're stuck with the one selling point that's a breeze to communicate: cheapness." – Mish Slade
"People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies." – Blair Warren
"Here's the only thing you're selling, no matter what business you're in and what you ship: you're selling your prospects a better version of themselves." – Joanna Wiebe
"I think clarity starts with having (a few questions) really clear in your mind: ‘What is this blog post about and what am I going to teach my readers with it? How will it make them feel once they've learned this?'" – Henneke Duistermaat
"In the editing process, you refine your copy to express what you want to express with the fewest words." – Joseph Sugarman
"Avoid the "hard-to-grasp" headline – the headline that requires thought and is not clear at first glance." – John Caples
"Does your marketing promote the difference between good and bad or better and best?" – Daniel C. Felsted
"If you want something stuck in someone's head, put it in a sequence of three." – Brian Clark
"I understand social proof is one of the most powerful levers to convince somebody to enter your funnel or start talking to you online." – Aaron Orendorff
"There's no such thing as ‘hard sell' and ‘soft sell.' There's only ‘smart sell' and ‘stupid sell.'" – Leo Burnett
"Use pictures only to attract those who may profit you. Use them only when they form a better selling argument than the same amount of space set in type." – Claude Hopkins
"Write your own endorsements and get influential people to agree to put their names on them." – Casey Demchak
"Effective content marketing is about mastering the art of storytelling. Facts tell, but stories sell." – Bryan Eisenberg
"Nobody has a magic lamp which can tell you in advance whether what you say will be effective in persuading an audience." – Maurice Saatchi
"Sometimes the best copy to sell a horse is, "horse for sale"." – Jay Abraham
"We don't want to be something for everybody, we want to be everything for some people." – Carlos Ghosn
"Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem & turned it into an opportunity." – Joseph Sugarman
"The ideas presented in your copy should flow in a logical fashion, anticipating your prospect's questions and answering them as if the questions were asked face-to-face." – Joseph Sugarman
"Simplicity is the outcome of technical subtlety. It is the goal, not the starting point." – Maurice Saatchi
"The more your copy sounds like a real conversation, the more engaging it will be." – David Garfinkel
"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity." – Zig Ziglar
"The only real test for authentic marketing is: do you share the dark stuff? People connect with your failure far more than they connect with your successes." – Aaron Orendorff