Copywriting's Don'ts and Dos

Copywriting is essential to every business. When you write copy, you write with a select purpose in mind - to encourage your reader to perform a specific action. Perhaps you want them to click a link through to your website, read a blog post or purchase a product. Headings, blog titles, CTA buttons, social media posts and taglines are all common examples of copy.

Although these copy examples are also types of content, they differ from standard content writing as they're slightly more aggressive in intent and are generally shorter. They're also highly persuasive. For further information on content marketing examples, such as blogs, click here.

For now, all you need know is that the intent behind content writing, in general, is to inform and incite interest, which is why it plays a critical part in building a relationship with your audience, i.e. the long-form text on your website is content and the blogs you share are content. Copywriting is also content, but it's content which aims to persuade your reader to take a certain action.

There are many copywriting best practices we should all adhere to. Here are some of the most important don'ts and dos to help you write some truly encapsulating copy - as well as a few Mad Men GIFs to get you in the creative mood!

DON'T rush

Rushed copy is bad copy. Copywriting is an art; it should NEVER be quickly typed up by whichever employee has a spare minute (SACRILEGE!). To persuade a customer to perform a specific action, you need copy that's highly specific itself. You should always consider what you're trying to achieve before you go about doing it!

DO plan ahead

Considering what your audience want and what your purpose is before you start writing may seem like an obvious suggestion, but you’d be surprised how many businesses neglect to think ahead! I'm not suggesting that every single piece of your copy need take hours, or that you should scrawl over pages and pages in preparation of a single tweet, but that you should do your research before you write! Establish your buyer personas - identities that you can use as a point of reference every time you write copy. Buyer personas force you to think through the eyes of your target consumer. This is a great exercise that is tragically underused. You may find that you have more than one ideal consumer, so you might need to draft more than one buyer persona. Think about your audience, their needs and how you - or more accurately, your product - can address these.

DON'T oversell

The sales pitch trap. Of course, you want to sell your service/product/business, but your audience doesn't want to be bombarded with copy of this kind. In fact, copy that is overtly sales orientated can actually do more damage than good. People may unfollow you/avoid your company if they feel like you're constantly pushing a sale. Avoid sales jargon and consider what kind of copy will evoke the best response from your audience.

DO be subtle 

Planning ahead means that you can work out how to emotionally engage the reader and sell your service. This will help you craft persuasive copy with a degree of subtlety. Put your audience needs first, play on their pain points and see where your business can expel their concerns. Ask yourself: Would I click on this? Why? What makes this interesting/uninteresting? What would I think of this business for posting this copy? Does this copy make me feel like I need what they're offering?  Writing with the aim to emotionally engage these prospects will make it more likely that they're persuaded by your saying.

DON'T give it all away

Merely describing what you're promoting will leave your content a little vanilla. This approach will only do your business a disservice by essentially showing your entire hand to your potential customers. Say enough to grab their attention; you want to tease them so they're eager to know more. This is much more likely to encourage clicks and, as we know, the more opportunity they have to explore your website, the more likely they are to make a purchase.

DO get to the point 

Copywriting is difficult because it needs to be concise. You don't have the capacity to justify why they need your service. You must express your point clearly and persuade the reader within a limited word count. Exercise your copywriting muscles by practicing tweets or by writing out sentences that summarise the point you want to make.

DON'T be closeminded

Your purpose: to attract an audience and increase the likelihood of sales. Many copywriters abandon their original purpose and instead focus on selling the business in every sentence they write. Promoting your company is definitely a priority, but do not let this overshadow your intention to engage with your audience in this specific moment. You want to write something they will commit to instantly, i.e. agreeing to click a link.

A variety of copy, each one with a different and highly specific aim, will see better responses from your audience than the same copy every time.

DO consider context 

By avoiding closemindedness, you open up your copy to an abundance of context that your audience may find interesting. Look at current events and think about what's relevant to your customers. Often, businesses address news in their copy. They're sometimes humorous and sometimes serious. Looking around at what is happening in your industry is always worthwhile as it leads to content that provides a great, copywriting foundation.

Copy Isn't a Guess - It's the Answer

Planning your copy is necessary if you want to make it concise and persuasive. Writing generally and without a clear purpose is not copywriting at all; you really need to think ahead and consider how your audience will respond to a sentence. People don't like working for information. Good copywriting should appear to the customer as the obvious answer they've been looking for.

More at: creativetank.co.uk