What is Copywriting anyway?
More than just creating and rearranging sentences, copywriting is an art. It’s a science. But most of all, it drives sales.
A talented copywriter will deliver the message your company is trying to convey, along with a compelling and memorable story.
Whether you’re featuring the words online, on social media or in print - the tone will remain synergistic across all multimedia platforms. At Darcy Alexander Copy, I promise to deliver high-impact, passionate copy that will leave your readers converting into customers!
What is copywriting?
All the words you see on web pages, adverts, promo materials, social media, billboards, magazines, blog posts, and more. Copywriting is effectively like hiring one salesman to reach all of your customers at one!
What can copywriting do for your business?
Whilst design draws the customers attention, the message is what persuades action. Well-written copy drives profitability, earns return on investment and achieves your business’ goals. Creative copy convinces your target customer that your product or service will offer solutions to their problems, with added value.
A copywriter creates clear, compelling copy to sell products and/or educate and engage consumers, flexing persuasive writing muscle on websites, blog posts, product descriptions, email blasts, banner advertising, newsletters, white papers, PSAs, social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram, and other marketing communication vehicles.
The job may also entail brainstorming concepts and developing storyboards; working with marketing and other creative departments to develop communication strategies; and ensuring consistent brand messaging, including voice and tone, across print, TV, radio, direct mail and other communication channels.
As a professional, you have to know how to write copy that sells to the specific audience of the client, agency or business.
Dangers of bad copy
Destroys trust. In person, trust in earned by being kind, thoughtful and building a rapport. Online is no different. Bad copy that focuses on the writer, rather than the audience is like sitting at a dinner party with that guy who only talks about himself. You know that feeling? That’s the same feeling bad copy gives you.
No action. Copywriting has one purpose: get the reader to take action. Each line needs to be compelling enough to read the next. Then to book an appointment, sign up to the newsletter or make a purchase. Vague copy leaves the reader without clarity on where to go next.
No emotional connection. It’s been proven that emotional content causes listeners to better understand the speaker and allows for improved recall weeks later.
Get bored and move on. Your readers won’t keep reading if your copy is boring and lacks in readability. Keep it simple, fast moving and uncomplicated. Let’s face it; good copy informs, persuades and educates your reader. But most of all, it keeps them on your website. The quicker they click off… the higher your bounce rate… the lower your ranking on Google.
A world-class copy writer will..
Understand the product. Legendary copywriter, David Olgilvy, is famously known for taking three weeks of meticulous study to come up with a winning concept for a Rolls-Royce ad. The final headline read: “At 60 miles per hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.” It took him that much time to find a detail compelling enough to sell a Rolls-Royce. It's imperative for copywriters to find out what makes the product they're writing about so unique and which benefits and features will appeal most to their target customers.
Understand the customer. A good copywriter will know who they're selling to. It's about learning what motivates the buyer to commit to purchase. Ultimately, it’s all about the customer - not the company. Each customer has different hopes, aspirations, fears, dreams, and expectations. Mums, for example, have different priorities than business executives. Saving money is more important to the mums, whereas saving time is more valuable to executives.
Write compelling headlines. The make-or-break to getting potential audiences to actually read the copy. Regardless if the writing is for ads, a website redesign, Facebook posts, or landing pages; headlines convince readers to click through.
Write persuasively. Copy is not necessarily about writing well - it’s about writing persuasively. A great copywriter will keep the question; ‘what’s in it for me?’ front of mind. Most writers have a tendency to emphasise features over benefits, but realistically, it should be the other way around. First should be to explain how the product fulfills a need or desire, then it's how the product/service will better the customers’ lives post purchase.
Include strong CTAs. Scannable content. Quick and easy reading. Direct readers effortlessly to where they need to go.
Tilt perspectives. We've grown so accustomed to blocking out marketing messages, we don't even see them anymore. One of the most powerful tools a copywriter has is to break down the reader's guard with an unexpected approach. Every story has a myriad of angles, your job as a copywriter is to find the one that resonates.
Finds connections. “Creativity is just connecting things.” - Steve Jobs, 1996. Draw the connection between the product, the experience it evokes and the problem it solves.
Avoid jargon and hyperbole. Groundbreaking. Revolutionary. Business Solutions. Targetable Scale. Ideation. Evidence-based approaches. Industry-wide best practices. Have I lost you yet? Yeh - thought so. When writers struggle to convey what is truly special about the company/product/service, they often fall back on jargon or hyperbole to underscore their point. Truth is, good copywriting doesn't need dressing up. Good copywriting speaks to the reader in human terms.
Cut out the excess. Just get to the point.
At Darcy Alexander Copy, we don't use jargon or hyperbole. We get to the point. Clearly. Concisely, and creatively. Want to enquire about working with me? Click here to get in touch.