Helpful Copywriting Tips To Become A Better Copywriter
There are a number of businesses that sell similar products. However, one business does well whereas others struggle. It is strange but more often than not, the difference is in the advertising approach taken by the successful business if all other things are equal.
As far as the overall advertising strategy is concerned, one of the most important factors is copywriting. In simple terms, it reference to the written word that is read by the readers and which is designed to get reader to take some action.
While there are many copywriters who insist that it is an art and cannot be learned, there are a large number of highly successful copywriters who insist that one can become a better copywriter with practice and there is a science to it. If you want to learn some copywriting tricks, here are a few tips to help you become a better copywriter.
Keep in mind that both the most important part of the sales pitch is the headline. This is the reason that professional copywriters spend a lot of time on perfecting their headline and even test a number of texts to find the right headline that can be served to a wider audience. After all, readers are going to read the sales page only if the headline draws them in.
The goal of headline is to excite the reader and invite them to read the rest of the sales page and then entice them to take an action when the ad has concluded. As far as writing headline is concerned, it should be short but effective. It should clearly tell the prospect about what awaits them when they read the body copy.
Many writers first finish the body of the advertisement and then spend a lot of time in refining the headline. Even if you have a high-quality body, you will find it difficult to attract people if your headline isn’t attractive.
All the successful copywriters in the world agree that it is extremely important for the writer to understand the prospect. Without understanding the prospect, it is not possible to write a great copy. You need to realize that the prospect is the most important person in the business. Every marketer worth their salt should be aware of their prospect, their hopes, dreams and fears. You need to figure out their problems and what keeps them up at night.
You need to know your prospects as well as you know your closest friends. This will allow you to tailor your products to their needs. There are a number of ways in which you can learn more about your prospect. For instance, there are a number of online communities dedicated to a variety of problems. You can visit these communities and find out what people are talking about and their expected solutions.
Another way to know your prospects is to conduct a survey by getting in touch with existing customers and giving them questionnaires. You may ask them about how your service or product can be improved. One of the best ways to attract existing customers is to offer them a free gift or an incentive for their help.
The copy you are going to write should be conversational in tone. In fact, a good copy speaks to the prospect. Your prospects should never feel that they are reading a sales copy. Instead, they should feel that somebody is speaking to them just like their friends. It takes time to establish respect and trust and a good copy works in similar manner.
You need to spend time by simply offering advice and giving them good content without selling. The copy should be written to make the prospect feel that you are speaking face-to-face with them. It should create trust as you can’t sell anything without creating trust. The words used in the copy should be simple and it should be written in a manner that can be understood by even an 8th grader.
While it is true that the end goal of a copy is to sell a product or service, do not forget that your prospects are not reading the copy to buy something. Instead, they are reading the copy to find a solution for their problem. Therefore, it is important that you focus on the things that are going on in the mind of your prospect while writing your copy. You need to figure out the problem that distracts them. You need to figure out their worries.
Once you have stepped into the mind of your prospect, you need to write copy that gets your prospect’s attention and uses urgency, uniqueness, ultra specificity and usefulness to get them to read the rest of the copy. Offer them a solution and tell them how it will help them.
One of the most important rules of writing copy is that the purpose of each sentence is to get prospects to read the next sentence. However, it starts with the first sentence and therefore, you need to have a powerful first sentence to get prospects to go on reading the whole copy. It’s like an opening scene of the movie.
A powerful opening scene sets the mood for the rest of the movie and a dull opening scene makes the movie seem boring. Similarly, you need to open with a powerful sentence. Keep in mind that your prospects are reading your puppy to get information on something and the best way to get them to read your copy is to offer them quick solutions in the beginning. The opening sentence should be focused on solving their problem in an easy manner.
Another thing that separates great copy from good copy that great copy is always specific. A professional copywriter understands that people need to be told about the specific benefits of a particular product or service. You cannot talk in general terms about the benefits of a particular product or service and expect people to believe you. They need to be told specifically how your product is meant to help them overcome their problems.
It’s all about the benefits. Even if you have the best product for solving a particular problem, you need to bring out the benefits in a simple manner to break through all the clutter and let the prospects feel the benefits. While writing about the benefits of the product, your goal is to let your prospect imagine benefiting from your product.
As they say, the proof of eating is in the pudding. Similarly, nothing works like a proof. You need to give them proof that your product works. You can write great copy but it won’t be as effective without proof. While customer testimonials have become commonplace today, you need something more than customer testimonials.
For instance, you can give reference of any scientific studies or scientific research that backs up your claims. Similarly, you may give references from authorities in your business to let people know how your product has helped certain people in getting rid of their problems. You should use awards, facts, figures as well as other such things to provide proof.
Another thing that works great is guarantee. When prospects are looking for a solution and find something that tells them about a particular product to solve their problems, the only thing that prevents prospects from clicking the buy button is the absence of a guarantee. If you are confident about your product, you should always offer a money back and satisfaction guarantee to the prospects.
It helps in creating trust and gets rid of all the doubts in their minds. It encourages them to give your product a try as they know that they can always get their money back if this product does not work out for them. You need to be specific about your guarantee. For instance, you can give a 60 day money back guarantee. Longer guarantees work better but it depends on a particular product.
As mentioned above, opening sentence is one of the most important parts of a copy. However, if you have motivated the readers to take an action, you need to close the copy with a call to action. The call to action should be clear. For instance, if you are selling a product, there should be an add to cart button or buy now button that clearly tells the consumer that they are buying a particular product and are most likely to be taken to the payment processing page when they click this button.
Similarly, if you are collecting leads, the call to action button should clearly tell them that they are subscribing to a newsletter or filling up a lead form. In simple terms, keep it completely uncomplicated.
One of the things you need to remember as a copywriter is that you should never act clever. Do not forget that consumers understand their needs best and if you try to be clever, you will be deemed untrustworthy by the consumers and your copy will go waste. So, don’t be clever and talk in clear terms with your prospects.
Overall, these are some of the tips that can help you in writing better copy. Keep in mind that you can improve your copywriting skills by practicing. So, keep trying and keep writing.