What is Copywriting and how can you improve your copywriting skills
People often ask me what copywriting is and how it can be used to improve their website and drive sales. There are a few key things that you need to understand when writing any marketing material. I will be sharing a few of these tips with you, so that you can get the most out of your content.
Before we begin, I would just like to clarify that there is a big difference between copywriting and copyright.
A Copywriter is a person who writes marketing materials for promotional purposes.
Copyright is a legal term that refers to ownership of a piece of intellectual property.
Copywriters create the wording for marketing documents like flyers, brochures, cover letters, website content etc. Copywriting is essential to every business, and companies spend thousands of pounds each year producing marketing material that very often generates little or no interest.
A common mistake that people make when writing their own marketing material is that they focus too much on themselves, their backgrounds, and the features of their products and services rather than promoting the benefits to their prospective customer.
You must remember that the goal of every piece of marketing material or website is to drive sales.
A good copywriter will put themselves into the shoes of your prospective customer, understanding what drives them and what benefits they are looking for.
Here are a few tips to bear in mind when writing marketing materials.
- Your copy must focus on your customer, not you.
When a prospective customer visits your website, or reads your flier, they should never be inundated with information about you, what you sell, why you sell it, how good you are at selling it etc.
You might think that its important and worthwhile to highlight your skills, but marketing copy is not about you, it is about your prospective customer. It is about the person who is going to buy your product or service.
The very first thing that a prospect should see when reviewing a piece of your marketing literature, or visiting your website, is themself.
Something about THEM
Something of use to THEM
Something that makes THEM feel good
You must keep your content client centred by maintaining this point of view throughout your writing.
- Do not focus too much on your product and service features
This is a mistake I see very often, when sellers go on and on about their product and service features, when all the customer wants to know about, is the benefits they will get by using it.
Client centred marketing should be about the prospect and their feelings, interests, wishes, fears, and aspirations.
You need to lead with the benefits and then follow with the features.
- You must have one, major, client centered message
Your marketing message needs to be crystal clear, and it needs to be repeated throughout your marketing material in order for your customer to take action.
You should be able to explain to anyone in under 30 seconds exactly what it is you do or sell. If you cannot do that, then you need to establish your message before you write any piece of marketing material.
- Do not try too hard to be professional
Whilst being professional is important, do not get caught in the trap of trying to sound so professional that you become unrelatable. Your customer is a person who wants to buy a product or service from another person. You need to be real to build that relationship.
- Do not use jargon!
Jargon makes it difficult for your customer to understand you. It is language that is only understood by a select group, and cannot be understood by everyone, which therefore makes it silly and self-defeating in marketing.
Do not alienate your customer with jargon!
If you want copy that will sell your products and services, you need to write in the cleanest, clearest, crispest way possible.
There are many other things that you can do to make your content stand out from the crowd and drive sales. If you decide to write your own copy, then the main points to remember are:
- Understand who your customer is, and write for them
- Know how your service is going to benefit the customer
- Get the benefits across in clear, simple language that everyone can understand
For further advice please feel free to email me on hello@dominiquecook.co.uk.
