If you love copywriting, you’ll love this post. I’ll show you some copywriting examples of social media updates, ads, and emails. Not only that, but I’ll show you how to write good copy for beginners (or not-so-beginners) like me. You’ve probably seen headlines that get your attention…but did you know they use psychological techniques to do that?
Get started writing copy today. Copywriting is an important skill to have if you want to grow your email list or sell more products on social media. You can try to figure it all out on your own, but that’s the slow way. Learn the basics of writing good copy by reading this guide on how to write good copywriting for beginners.
Often, marketers, small businesses, and non-writers alike think that the goal of copy is to amp up their offer – to blow things up with buzzwords and exaggerate ideas. The true goal of copy is to focus on what’s interesting about your offer and tell that story in a way that appeals to your reader.
You don’t have to be a copywriter to make that happen. You just need to know what you’re selling and sell it honestly.
You don’t have to be an expert at writing to completely change your business. All you have to do is be a little more intentional. You’ve got to treat copywriting like it’s an important part of your business – because it is.
Why is copywriting so hard?
The novelist Thomas Mann said that “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
Writing is hard, even for professional copywriters. But copywriting can also be intimidating for people who don’t do it every day.
When you think about “copywriting,” it can sound very…official. It can sound like it’s a whole other high-level type of writing that feels out of reach. And it can lead to a common, unfortunate copywriting tendency:
“Marketers have a tendency to try to abstract their messages to the point that everything can be said in two to six commonly used words.” – Joanna Wiebe
The tendency to make copy sound polished in 2-6 words can hurt the effectiveness of your words. The truth is, it’s nearly impossible for you to write copy that’s effective in only 2-6 words – and trying to squeeze your message into the same words that everyone else uses will make it impossible for you to stand out.
Copywriting, good copywriting, is powerful. It’s one of the only things you can change for free — and see an enormous change in your business.It’s the reason you use toothpaste.
In the early 1900s, only about 7% of people brushed their teeth (despite plenty of marketing from various toothpaste companies).
Identify Your Audience
The first step to writing better copy is understanding who you’re writing to. It’s easy to write generically about your company or your business, but the “We do X, Y, and Z” writing format just won’t cut it if you want real results.
Make every word tell
White’s lack of grammatical knowledge did not prevent the guide from becoming a bestseller for the better part of the last 50 years.
In interviews, White wanted to remind writers that rules are meant to be broken, and that every writer has their own unique point of view and voice.
Style results more from what a person is than from what he knows.
In other words, every writer can memorize rules, but how you get people’s attention requires some creativity.
Don’t get too hung up on the rules, or your copy might end up sucking, and that would break the first rule of Copyblogger.
Headline Writing 101
Every writer who wants to make an impact online must take this clinic.
There is only one reason your client or prospect will read a single word of the copy you’ve written: your headline. This is where you should spend 70% of your time.
Start with the 4 U’s:
- Useful
- Urgent
- Unique
- Ultra-Specific
Use common spelling
Flourishes and variations of common words distract your readers and pull them out of the story you’re telling (unless your demographic is girls aged 7-13).
Avoid:
- pleez for please
- thru for through
- nite for night
- 2moro for tomorrow
- @ for at
Avoid hyperbole and fancy words
One of the first lessons I learned as a writer at Copyblogger was to tone down my language.
Good copy cuts like a knife. When it’s action you’re after, avoid big words that make you sound like you’re trying too hard to sound smart or important.
Write copy that works
In the end, writing copy often combines several of these techniques into one ad.
The CEO of a company writes a conversational sales letter built around a story about his passion for his product (whether it is peaches or water pumps).
A copywriter writes a long rejection ad that explains why certain people are excluded from receiving an invitation to dine at an exclusive restaurant.
Or a Savile Row tailor writes a plain but elegant sales letter about his suits, which have been worn by kings and presidents.
That’s the art and science of effective copywriting.
Put the reader first
It is our job as copywriters to tap into the hopes, dreams, and fears of our audience. This requires research, and the magic of the word “you.”
Proven to be one of the English language’s most powerful words, you can’t lose.
Write in a natural way
This is an indispensable tip for all bloggers and copywriters.
You must speak the language of your audience, and do it in a way that conveys you are a real person, with genuine interest in offering your help and expertise.
How else are your prospects going to get to know, like, and trust you?
How else are search engines going to recognize that you have the answers to people’s questions?
Research, research, research. Know your audience inside and out.
Work from an outline
Outlines work! Even if you don’t have the energy or time to sketch out a simple AIDA outline, give yourself some idea of the goals you’d like to accomplish.
Even something as simple as a post-it-note with a few bullet points works. Successful writers use outlines. They don’t stifle creativity … but they’re helpful in reminding you to stick to the point.
Write with nouns and verbs
This is Copywriting 101 — Precise language convinces; flowery language distracts.
Concise and specific copy moves the prospect along, but adjectives and adverbs are just filler.
The more descriptors you throw in there, the higher the chances are that someone with the attention span of a hummingbird will click away (unless you are describing the features of something technical).
Revise and rewrite
Ogilvy is quoted as saying,
I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor.
He would edit his first draft four or five times before showing it to a client, who would inevitably change it again.
Do not overwrite
Without clarity your copy is shot. Overwriting is a symptom of under thinking. Good copy is damn hard to write.
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
~ Albert Einstein
Do not overstate
Superlatives have the power to wreck your copy.
When you overstate or exaggerate your claims (with things like trumped-up testimonials), you risk losing the trust of your audience.
An understated promise often does a better job of capturing reader attention than screaming hype does.
Conclusion:
As a copywriter for hire or as a self-employed freelancer, you will find yourself agreeing to write for clients on topics that aren’t quite in your niche. Often, freelance freelance writers who write copy for websites and blogs (or any other online content) will find themselves having to write about products and services that they don’t know all that well or even like.