Copywriting, one of most essential elements of effective online marketing, is becoming buzzy term for people who want to achieve their business goals. A copy can be an article, a slogan or even a tagline. Simply, the goal is to get people to do something.
To become a truly copywriter, however, you’ll need to invest time and energy in studying the craft and so am I. When I read a well-known book named Effective Copywriting, there are some interesting points which will useful when practicing creating a beautiful copy that I want to share following.
According to PeepLaja, author of this famous book, “You don’t even need to be a “natural writer” to come up with excellent copy; you just need the right process and some key principlesabout writing copy that sells”. Indeed, there are five stepswhich seem to be simple but essential when crafting a copy.
1. Research
Do more and more research. Although this is often the most time-intensive part of your copywriting, it will provide you with massive precise information. What should you research?
• Your customers: Understanding your prospects will help you to write a copy which describe and provide exact information needed for them. Your studies should answer some key questions:
o What does your product help they do?
o Which parameters do you compare on different options?
o Which alternatives do your prospects consider?
o What make your customers choose your products?
o What are the biggest doubts before the purchase?
o What information would have helped your customers make the decision faster?
• Your products: Of course, this is precondition for an effective copywriting. Only when you understanding your products, do you know what you are saying and what you should say about them.
• Your competitors: It’s completely true to say that “He who sees through life and death will meet the most success”. You need to be aware of your direct rivals, how they present their products, what claims they makes about their products… Are your claims different from your competitors? In competitive markets, being “like” others or choosing to be one of leading providers is losing strategies.
2. Write an outline
Just taking few minutes, but this step provides you with a detail road map ensuring you stick the flow. Depending on the page you are working with, there will be different outline and guidepost you have.
For home page, the value proposition which is a promise of value to be delivered should be emphasized. It’s the primary reason a prospect want to buy your products instead of your competitors’.
For product page, there are some points that should be marked:
• Name of product
• Value preposition of the product: end-benefit prospects will gain when using it
• Features and other benefits.
• Technical information
• Price
• Call to action
• List of some uncertainties or doubts about this product
• Expectation settings: what happen after your customers buy it?
3. Draft copy
With the outline you have created above, it is much easier for you to fill in this framework. Nonetheless, there are some noticeable points:
• Make your words simple: avoid using jargon, fancy or blandvertising words. Using these words or phrases does not make you seem any smarter or your product any better. Do your customers will concern about something like “the world leader”, “integrated solution” or “flexible platform”? The answer is NO. What they search for is only what match their needs and solve their problems, but superlative and hype or vague solutions.
• Make your content specific: Peep Laja stated in his book that “Specific is believable, specific is attractive, specific is convincing. Don’t be vague, be specific”. Provide your prospects with precise headline, call to action accompany with detailed explanation, clear list of benefits.
• Talk about “you”, not “we”: People care about themselves, not you or whether your website can be useful in some way. Put your prospects at the center of your copy by moving the focus from you to the benefits they will receive.
• Provide information sufficiently: Complete information is the best copy. Most of your prospects do not want to read, just skim. That’s why you should show all needed information to make the decision on a single page. It’s ok to move supplemental information in different page and link to it. You will fail if your expected customers feel puzzled with massive stuff.
• Price position: product price should be put in place where is easy to find, going together with an attractive call to action.
4. Enhance conversion
The final goal of an effective copy is to convert the reader into buyer or subscriber. There are some certain things we can do to improve the conversion rate which is the percentage of readers taking action. This rate depends on the match between the offer and visitor motivation, the clarity of the value proposition and persuasion. Do the offers meet readers’ needs? Is your value proposition easy to understand and perfectly clear? One way to enhance your reader motivation is turning features into benefits which your customers will get after purchasing or signing up. In addition, you should show useful information such as your statistical results, testimonials or your expertise.
5. Revise and test
Some people often ignore this step; however, it’s high time for you to look back your copy and ensure that you can make it live on your website without no mistakes. One professional and effective copy cannot have any spelling or grammar errors. Use this time to add more information, rearrange the order of different blocks and fix the typos. Before launching the copy, get two or three people to read it and give you feedback. Do they get any questions that were left unanswered? Is there any part that needs to be made clearer? What could make the offer better and more credible? One the editing is completed; you can publish your copy on your website. Don’t guess whether the headline or value propositions are as good as they can be, immediately launch two versions of the copy and test them using A/B testing.
In conclusion, writing great copy is a skill you have to learn just like anything else. Read a lot and write a lot. Use above tips to get started on the right track. I do believe that the best copy provides full information about the product, its benefits and makes it clear whether it’s the right one for the user. If you have any other ideas, please share in comments below!