Copywriting is the art of convincing someone to take an action such as subscribing to your mailing list, downloading relevant material or making purchases. Its primary goal is conversion.
Implementation involves communicating your brand’s unique value to target audiences, thus necessitating a deep knowledge of buyer personas.
Research
Copywriters need to be adept in research techniques in order to produce ads that resonate with their audiences and resonate with target companies’ advertising tactics. Copywriters must also understand market data, industry trends, and competitors’ advertising techniques as part of this analysis process. Conducting in-depth market research allows copywriters to understand the pain points, needs, and desires of their target audiences better and create convincing content which drives people forward with action plans.
Gary Bencivenga believes the key to effective copywriting lies in “an ear disguised as a mouth”. To effectively reach and engage their target audiences, copywriters must listen deeply before speaking in their language.
Storytelling
Storytelling is an age-old copywriting technique, helping your audience engage on an intimate level much like sharing a campfire tale among friends.
Making use of narrative in your copywriting can help build trust with your target audience and raise brand recognition, leading to more sales and conversions.
Storytelling can be used on all levels – from websites and blogs, social media posts and eBooks – using relatable characters that your target audience can relate to. One effective storytelling technique is called cautionary tales – using these accounts of how your product or service helped solve similar issues for other customers in your market is known as one of the most powerful copywriting techniques.
Conciseness
Communication through copywriting requires an ability to organize information in an efficient and effective manner, helping prevent misunderstandings and create more impactful communications.
Conciseness can be achieved by eliminating redundant words and phrases, consolidating information that’s no longer pertinent and eliminating filler words such as “very,” “basically,” or “in order to.” However, using qualifiers – words which amp up or decrease intensity in another word – may increase wordiness and lessen conciseness.
Writing succinctly can help writers develop their communication skills and establish credibility, while it can also be used to achieve business outcomes such as increasing sales or customer retention. Different audiences require different forms of writing techniques; all copywriters should practice being concise to ensure their message is delivered clearly and impactfully.
Credibility
Your copy must inspire trust from both businesses and consumers; that trust should lead them to click links, make calls or sign up for newsletters – or, in the case of B2B customers, even make purchases!
Relying on facts to support claims is one of the best ways to establish credibility. Studies show that people are more likely to believe a statement backed by evidence than one made without supporting evidence.
Integrating testimonials and expert opinions into marketing materials is another effective way of building credibility, since people tend to trust advice from someone familiar, such as family or a close friend, over that of strangers. Guarantees also help establish trust, as buyers may be more willing to purchase a product if they know they can return it should it not meet expectations.
Grammar
Doing great copywriting doesn’t require a master’s degree in English, but grammar does matter. Misspellings and errors undermine your credibility as an expert in your field.
A talented copywriter should be able to strike an effective balance between prescriptive grammar rules and how people actually speak in everyday conversations. Prescribed rules like never ending sentences with prepositions might not work in marketing copy, which must engage and resonate with its target audience.
An ideal way to ensure your content is free from grammatical errors is using a spelling and grammar checker such as Grammarly. This free software plugs into many apps and even provides suggestions on improving tone and style as you write.