Have You Been Thinking About Ways You Can Improve Your Marketing Skills?

Sit tight. Get a cup of coffee and perhaps prepare a sheet of paper to take notes.
We are about to dive into a journey of copywriting.

In short words, copywriting is an efficient technique of delivering a message that
carries value for the customer and helps to increase conversion.
Now, you might wonder, what does this even mean? Get ready to dive in.

What is Copywriting?

As mentioned above, copywriting is a technique used for writing marketing materials.
In order to write a good marketing copy, a writer must first become good at writing.
If you believe you’re not so good at it, don’t worry, practice makes perfect.
Firstly, think of your copy as a “handshake”, it should leave a good first impression.
Strong. Confident. Impactful.

Three Focal Points of Copywriting

Copywriting can fall under three classifications:

1. Collateral
2. Medium
3. Style

All of the three classifications can be used as infinite number of combinations.
As you practice writing, you will develop a style that works best for you and your business.
But what does all this mean you wonder? Let’s break it down, shall we?

Collateral simply means a type of marketing copy such as brochure, email, poster, or product description.
Medium is a method through which your marketing copy gets to reach the audience,
such as radio, magazine, the internet, or perhaps in person, through the word of mouth.
Last but not least, the style. Your style. Your unique way of expression.
A style depends on your business, it can be anything from teaching, straight shot,
scare tactic, and hard sell. This solemnly depends on you.

Practice, Practice, Practice

If you are feeling overwhelmed, do not. You have the potential to become your best.
If you’ve read this far, taken a few sips of coffee, and began taking notes, you
are already one step ahead. You have begun your journey of copywriting.

Minimizing Distractions

Isn’t this odd? Perhaps you’ve expected a different first step to writing.
However, minimizing distractions is the very first, and very important step.
The distractions can limit the amount of work done, cause interruption,
break the concentration, and kill the inspiration.

Here are some tips for minimizing distractions:

• Communicate your personal availability. Let everyone know you are getting work done,
  and that they should leave a voicemail, or contact you via email instead of calling.
• Find a private space.
• Update the calendar. Plan meetings ahead, plan appointments ahead, so you
  have enough free time dedicated to writing only.
• Plug in your devices. The worst thing that can happen is your laptop
  running out of battery life, dying on you, and erasing all of your work
  in the process.
• Turn off the notifications. Now that you’ve let everyone know you will be busy,
  turn off your notifications. You will not want to be checking your email or text
  messages during writing. It will cause distraction and interruptions.

Begin Writing

Now that you’ve minimized your distractions, you can begin writing.
Should we break it down in steps?

Step 1: Create a Plan

In order to create a plan, you should firstly think for 30 minutes, at least.
You must remember that the plan won’t be the final plan. It will change.
Three things to focus on in your plan are:

• Audience information: who are you targeting? What do they like?
  What do they dislike? What are their interests?
• List of collaterals you could use to reach the audience
• List of styles that audience would respond well to, and list of styles
  that simply won’t work for your targetted audience.

Step 2: Freewriting

Freewriting is brainstorming; A tool for the creation of ideas, and often a tool
that can ultimately lead to the writing of your first copy.
Freewriting is fun! It is your opportunity to completely ignore grammar,
spelling, formatting, and simply write down all your thoughts.

Here is an example:

I am lacking ideas. This is so stressful. I have no idea wt to writte rigt now.
But the audence Im writting for is parents. Kids love icecream. Im selling
ice cream. Hmmm…. Parents dont like swearing, nos wearing. No dark humor.
Perhaps, straight shot? Which style would work best? Ugh. Im gonna
take a sip of coffee. I need motivation.

Brainstorm. Write down all your thoughts. In the above example, everything
was ignored. We brainstormed the collateral, intended audience, and thought
about what does the target audience like, does not like? Now that brainstorming
is completed, you may begin writing your first copy.

Step 3: Writing the First Copy

There are a few simple, general rules for writing the first copy:

• Address the reader.
• Remember your customers are not algorithms.
• Remember sarcasm doesn’t work.
• Use tell-me-why ideas.
• Be direct.

Step 4: Polishing

Now that the first draft is written, it is time to polish it.

Here are some tips:

• You may get someone to help, reread your copy, advise you on proceeding.
• Proofread and edit the copy.
• Use the active voice.
• Avoid using two words where one can be used.
• Ensure the writing is clear.
• Avoid vernaculars and cliches.
• Proofread, again.

This is a very brief, shortened, version of tips.
If you’d like to watch a more in-depth course on copywriting, I highly
recommend Ian Lurie who has recorded a great, insightful course,
which you can watch and learn from here.

Ian goes in-depth about the structure of the marketing copy, writing of exploratory
copy, as well as typography rules, which are all great tips to help you
practice writing, and become great at copywriting.

Phew, That Was Long, but Now What?!

Have you finished that coffee yet? Taken a few notes? Perhaps written a
first rough copy for your business? Well, guess what? It’s time to rewrite it!
The work is not done just yet…

Rewriting of Existing Copy

In the previous post, we have shared some simple tips and tricks for
the writing of the first, rough, marketing copy. I hope you’ve gotten to
write something, even if it appears bad. Remember what we said
at the very beginning of this journey: practice makes perfect.

We have learned about minimizing distractions, we’ve planned,
we’ve freewritten ridiculous thoughts, and perhaps gotten inspired,
and motivated by it. Perhaps we laughed at ourselves and drank a
cup of coffee, and now, we are ready to move on, to polish and excel at writing.

The key of rewriting is to improve the copy without restructuring it.
The steps are fairly similar to “polishing” of the first copy:

• Clarify a call to action.
• Change the passive voice to active voice.
• Reduce the word count.
• Make copy easy to scan.
• Focus on rules of typography.

Things to Remember

It is important to remember that the above rules are a tad different
for different collaterals. For example, product description copywriting rules
will be different from social media copywriting rules. If you’d like to
learn more about that Ian Lurie has a great course on copywriting.

You must also remember that there are many different styles a writer can choose
from when it comes to copywriting. It is important to stay true to one’s
creativity, accurately identify the needs of the intended audience, connected
with the needs or desired goals of the business. Each of those factors plays a role
in copywriting, its collateral, medium, and style.

A Class Challenge

During a Social Media Marketing class, we were presented with
a challenge where we had to creat a marketing copy, as well as
mark other student’s marketing copies. This was a great experience
as I’ve gotten to mark both a good and an average marketing copy.

The Bad

First thing I’ve seen was the logo of a brand. It was a piece of fruit.
From it, I’ve assumed the student’s logo was presenting a fruit farmer,
yet it was meant for a cleaning company that was harvesting the
fruit for its products.

Tip: Ensure your logo defines the brand clearly. 

The Good

Headings. Headings. Headings.
Good, catchy, engaging headings are very important when it
comes to copywriting, and this particular student nailed it.

Here is an example:

“100% natural and environmentally friendly

Our products are all natural and the best cleaners on the planet.
If you use our product you can know that it has been done in an
environmentally sustainable way while providing the cleanliness you want.”

If you’ve gotten a chance to watch Ian Lurie’s course on copywriting,
you’d understand the importance of headings in copywriting. Ian explains
that subheadings are crucial in copywriting and that there should never be
more than 3 to 4 paragraphs without a subheading.

Reduced Wordcount

Another good tip from this example is the reduced word count.
We can see that paragraph is clear, concise, and to the point.

An example of extended, unnecessary usage of additional
words would be:

Our products are made of all natural ingredients and are, therefore,
the best cleaners on the planet. If you use our product you can be
guaranteed that it has been done in a completely environmentally
sustainable way, all while providing you with the cleanliness you want.

Clear Call to Action

The last “good” tip I can recommend from the example is
a clear call to action. Ian explains the importance of this in 
his course, and it has been explained multiple times
throughout our “Learning to Write Marketing Copy” posts.

An example:

“Order now and receive 3 for the price of 2

Click here and you can buy 3 for the price of two and they will be
delivered to your house with free shipping for $13.99 + tax
(regular price $20.99 + tax).”

“Click here” in the above example is a clear call to action.
The words are linked with the source from which the
product can be purchased, heading provides value to
the customers and invites towards the call to action.
Identifying a clear call to action can help boost the conversions.

Example

“I’m always looking for more insightful discussion on my blog topics,
and video summaries, and would love for you to stop by for a
live stream sometime and discuss your thoughts with me in real time.
Find me on Youtube for nightly livestreams, or drop me a line on Twitter
any time for some 280 character or less discussions!
Thanks for stopping by!”

Tips

Have you noticed a feeling of engagement while reading this ad?
The author ensured a reader feels engaged throughout the
marketing copy. Do you remember our reference of “handshake”?
“Strong. Confident. Impactful.”

The author was confident that a reader will join him/her through
one of the platforms mentioned. The language is friendly, and
engaging. A call to action is clear throughout the ad, and the
voice is active.

Learning Through Writing

While watching the course from Ian, I’ve gotten a
chance to discover tips I’ve never heard before, such
as importance of typography, imagery, and right structure
depending on desired collateral, medium or style.

It all seemed far too complex, until I made a cup of coffee,
minimized my distractions, and followed a step by step
copywriting process. I must say, freewriting became my
favourite step. The greatest inspiration and motivation
came from it, and so did my first copy.

My Copy

The copy I have written has been made for social media,
more precisely, Instagram. When the author posts on Instagram
the post is about the shared image, and it is important that
image is related to the description. It is almost as a product
description. So here it goes.

“Support the global change and make an impact on the planet by supporting
our ‘Save the Bees’ campaign! Purchase one of our uniquely designed
t-shirts that will help change the world through simple promotion.
Click on the link in our bio to become a part of global movement.”

In this social media post, I am using active voice, making the
message brief and clear, as well as providing a clear call to action
by leading the audiences to the website link in the biography of the profile.
Lastly, the message is clearly connected to the posted image.

The Feedback

However, what did the other students think about my
copy? To my surprise, they agreed with what I’ve believed.
The biggest outlined thumbs up was the clear and direct
call to action. Which, as Ian says, is one of the most
important elements, as it is the one that drives conversion.

Ultimately, conversion is every business’ goal, as if there is
no conversion, the advertising will merely be an expense
that will cause a reduction in your revenues. So I will repeat
it once again, practice, practice, practice.

Write daily. Fail more, as failure is the greatest opportunity
for learning, and growth, plus it puts you one step closer to
your goal.

Let’s Connect

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic, hear your experiences,
and feedback, so lets connect! Leave a comment or tag via social
media, or perhaps send me a message about your journey.
After all, we are all here to learn, grow, and succeed.