How Copywriting Can Transform Your Business
Stop for a moment and think about how much your brand uses copywriting. And no, we don’t mean copyright. Copywriting is the skill of getting someone to take an action through the form of words. Copywriting could be in anything from marketing emails to blogs like this one. Remember that poster ad on the underground this morning? That was written by a copywriter.
It may seem easy at a glance but a lot goes into finding the right words, tone of voice and understanding the audience you’re writing for. But not to worry, Snob Monkey will give you a few tips and advice on how to engage your audience to increase those sales.
AIDA formula
The AIDA formula stands for attention, interest, desire and action. It’s a simple formula you can use to structure your copy to ensure it hits all the points. Your copy should firstly grab attention.
Eye-catching headlines are key in attracting the reader’s initial attention. Your headline will only have a few seconds to grab the reader’s attention so it’s important you use simple words, statistics or even a joke to stand out from the rest. Once you’ve hooked the reader, you’ll need to spark interest in what you’re promoting. By providing a solution to the reader’s potential problems, you’ll have your reader engaged and wanting to know more.
This then leads to desire. By dramatizing the reader’s problems, their desire will be wanting to see what you have to offer for them. Finally, every piece of copy should finish with a CTA (call-to-action). Always provide your reader with a link, phone number or website so they can purchase your product, service or take your desired action.
Understanding your audience
Copywriting is a complete waste of time if you’re writing to the wrong audience. You won’t be able to please everyone so establish exactly who your target market is. Most of your time should be dedicated to identifying and researching your specific target audience. This includes identifying what their problems are and how you can provide solutions to those needs.
Sometimes it’s easier to develop a customer persona of your ideal target audience. For example, a toy company could say their ideal target customer is Angela; a middle-aged woman with high disposable income with three young children. By developing customer personas, it’ll be much easier to come up with the right tone and language used to engage your audience.
You wouldn’t talk to your audience like a robot. Another technique is to write like you’re talking to a friend. Imagine you’re at lunch with a friend and want to tell them about a new product you like. You wouldn’t say to a friend:
“This computer is white and comes with 1 TB of hard drive. It also comes with an HD camera and blah blah blah!”
So, don’t write like that. Make the copy feel conversational so you can build trust between your brand and your reader.
Storytelling
When possible, write about or describe your product/ service in the form of a story. It engages the reader and encourages them to continue reading. By structuring your copy with a hero, a goal and conflict, the reader is more likely to follow on until the end.
“Remember the days when skincare wasn’t such a big deal? You had a no-hassle, two-step routine and life was stress-free.
But then it all changed. Your days got busier and your two-step routine is now a five-step routine. You’re rushing around in the morning trying to do your morning skincare with minutes to spare.
You left the lid of your cleanser in the sink and now you can’t find your moisturizer. You even tried carrying your creams in your bag to save time but its taking up too much room. Nightmare!
Now you’ve discovered Luxe Beauty, skincare on-the-go…”
You get the idea? Instead of listing all the cool stuff the skincare product might do, we’ve written described it as a solution to the reader in a story.
Benefits v features
The biggest copywriting mistake you can make is writing about the features, not the benefits. People only care about themselves and how your product is going to help them solve a problem. So, make sure you write about how your solution is going to benefit them. What sounds better?
“Storage of 1 GB for MP3s” or “1000 songs in your pocket”
This was part of Apple’s advertisement for their iPod. Obviously “1000 songs in your pocket” sounds more appealing and beneficial for the reader rather than just stating it has 1 GB for songs as a feature.
When you’re next writing a piece of copy for your brand, state how exactly your product is going to solve the customer’s problems, not what the product does in general.
How Snob Monkey can help you…
Snob Monkey specialises in all things digital. Not only can we optimise your online social presence, but we can create high-class websites using WordPress and incorporate our SEO services to boost your site in Google’s ranking. As a London digital marketing agency, Snob Monkey is at the centre of innovation, creativity and technology. From social media management to accelerating your social growth and web development to improving your organic site traffic, we can provide a wide range of services to suit your marketing desires and budget.
Need help with your own copy? Contact Snob Monkey regarding any of our services including Social Media Management, WordPress Maintenance and Website Development.
Email: contactus@snobmonkey.com
Telephone: 0800 368 9336
