Copywriting is an important part of any marketing campaign. It helps businesses tell their story in a way that resonates with customers so that they’ll buy their product or take action. But how do you create effective copy for your business? We’ve got 5 tips to help you improve your writing skills.
5 Easy Ways To Write Better Copy
Be Clear About What You Want Readers to Do
Tell Stories That Are Easy to Understand.
Don’t Overuse Adverbs and Adjectives
1. Know Your Audience.
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but it quite literally pays to really get to know your audience. We’re not talking about things like,
‘Sally, 56, from Manchester, enjoys going yoga class.‘
While this client persona tells you what Sally might be interested in purchasing, it doesn’t offer any insight into what will make them convert.
One easy copywriting trick is to find out what your audience DISLIKES, and weave that into your copy.
A great way to mine your target audience’s pet peeves is to look at your competitor’s reviews. Filter them to show the 1, 2, and 3-star reviews only, and your copy can practically write itself from there.
For example, here’s a 3-star review of a pair of black gym shorts sold by a popular sports retailer:
Sure, the customer was kind of satisfied with the comfort, but the product wasn’t actually suitable for gymwear, and the product didn’t accommodate their body shape.
If you know that your product has the one-up on these aspects, shout about it.
Here are a couple of headlines you could potentially use:
Comfortable Gym Shorts for EVERY Body.
Get Fit With A Great Fit: Ultra-Comfortable, True-To-Size Gym Shorts.
You’re immediately addressing your customers’ qualms, showing them why they should choose you over your biggest competitors. All in a few words!
In short, it pays to know your audience.
2. Be Clear About What You Want Readers to Do.
Call to action, anyone?
I know we’re all tired of the ‘visit our website’ and ‘click the link in our bio’ spiel. So how about something a little spicier?
We love the following two examples, courtesy of marketingexamples.com
You can see why they work. They’re clear, specific, actionable, and they’re cleverly worded with alliteration.
Make sure your copy explains exactly what your readers should do, and you’ll never have to do outbound sales again (hopefully!).
3. Tell Stories That Are Easy to Understand.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when writing copy is trying to tell too much at once. If you try to explain everything in one sentence or paragraph, you run the risk of confusing your reader. Instead, break up your text into smaller chunks so that each section tells its own story. Kind of like how we’ve done here.
For blogs and web copy, nesting your text with headings and subheadings is an excellent way to keep your readers engaged without overwhelming them.
Here’s what nesting looks like:
As you can see, it gives your copy a sense of fluidity, leading the reader from one section to the next without seeming robotic.
Alternatively, you can break up your copy with headings that focus on one particular benefit. We really love how Apple does this. Check out these examples from the latest iPhone product page (iPhone 13 Pro at the time of writing).
Small sections that do the trick without the fluff. We love to see it.
When it comes to website copywriting and product descriptions, less is definitely more. It pays to condense the text as much as possible. Your readers don’t have all day – even if they did, they still wouldn’t want to spend it digesting one piece of content.
4. Focus on Benefits First.
And speaking of benefits (and Apple), something that’s ‘Toddler-Resistant’ will sound so much more appealing to parents than a screen that’s ‘embedded with ceramic nanocrystals’.
Focusing on benefits first is one of the oldest rules in the copywriting book, but it’s one that is overlooked frustratingly often.
5. Don’t Overuse Adverbs and Adjectives.
There are two main reasons why people overuse adverbs and adjectives: 1) They want to sound smarter than they actually are; 2) They think using adverbs and adjectives makes them sound more professional. Both of these are bad ideas. If you use too many of either you’ll come off as pretentious and unprofessional.
Think back to point #3 – tell stories that are easy to understand. Let’s be real – you’re speaking to someone who wants to buy a £10 dog mug, not trying to win the Pulitzer prize for literature.
Here’s another screenshot from marketingexamples.com that exemplifies this point for us:
We hope you enjoyed this crash course on how to write better copy!
For more tips and advice you can follow our blog, or get in touch with us at hello@inspiredcopy.co.uk for all your copywriting needs and we’ll do the work for you!