When you’re
watching TV, do you look forward to the commercials? Are you excited to read
the ads in your morning paper? Do you find radio spots riveting? If you’re like
the rest of the planet, the answer is NO.
No one wants to pay attention to commercials. We
all have better things to do. So face reality: no one wants to read copy.
That’s
where you come in. You’ve got an incredible service/product/website that you
want to share with the world. What do you do if the world doesn’t want to
listen? Convince them you’re worth listening to. Your copy has to be
irresistible. And not only do you need people to read your copy, but you need
them to take action, too, by investing their time and money in your company. How
do you fight for their attention? Here are 10 tips that will give you the edge:
1) Reel Them In
It’s
statistically proven that for every 10 people that read a headline, only 2 read
further. The odds of snagging a reader are already stacked against you, big
time. The headline is like the gatekeeper to your copy. A weak headline locks
that gate forever. That’s why you need — absolutely need — a strong headline. A successful headline needs to be several
things, as summarized by the American Writers & Artists’ “four U’s”:
1) Useful: your headline must promise that
what follows will be useful to the reader. A great headline offers something
not just useful, but essential. It
should make the reader think, “I’d be stupid not to read this!”
2) Urgent: your potential customers are
busy, busy, busy. You have one chance: if they don’t read your copy now — immediately
— then they never will. Create this sense
of urgency for them.
3) Unique: why should they read about what
you have to offer when there are
millions of others offering the same thing? Show them why you’re different. Tell
them — in the headline — what no one else can tell them. Offer what no one else
can offer. Ask what no one has asked before. You need to stand out from the
crowd in order to be noticed.
4) Ultra-specific: If you ask any famous,
successful actor, they will tell you that the key to a fabulous performance is
making specific choices. That’s how they convince an audience that their
character is believable. As a copywriter, you must be as captivating and
believable as Marlon Brando or Meryl Streep. Be specific in your tactics, your
offer, and your message. Be specifically useful, unique, and urgent. Your audience
will reward you for it.
2) Don’t Make a
Promise You Can’t Keep
When a potential customer reads
your copy, they expect to get something in return. They’ve read your headline,
and now they ask themselves:
“Will reading further make me
smarter/happier/healthier/richer/better off?” The answer must be yes, or else
they will stop right there. That is why your headline offers a promise to make
the reader smarter, healthier, richer, etc. Of course, then you must fulfill
your promise. If you promise “Top Ten Secrets to Losing Ten Pounds,” you’d
better deliver those ten secrets. Of course, they don’t have to be secrets, just
information or advice that feels exclusive and will be useful to the reader;
that’s what they really care about. Beware of two pitfalls:
- Making an outrageous claim: if
your claim is too ridiculous (or impossible), the reader will dismiss you
as untrustworthy from the start. It’s better to balance shock value with
reality.
- Making the wrong promise: if your
headline promises one thing, but your copy gets off-topic, you’ve let the
reader down. They won’t trust you and they won’t help you. That’s why it’s
wise to begin with a strong headline and, as you write, check that your
content matches it.
3) Offer Proof
Whether
you’re writing a news article or a sales pitch, you need credible, citable
proof that what you’re writing is accurate. Statistics, testimonials from customers,
endorsements from certified experts, consumer reports, results of focus groups:
these are all methods to prove you’re telling the truth. Sometimes proof is
subjective, but it’s better than nothing.
4) Don’t Be Modest
Copywriting
is competitive. You’re competing to beat out all other stimuli for a few
precious moments in which your voice can be heard. That means presenting yourself
or your company in the best possible light. Just as you would never degrade
yourself in a job interview, you should never
focus on the negative when discussing your product. In fact, be loud and proud
about what you do best. Convince us that you’re amazing, and we just might
believe it.
5) Love Lists
Lists are:
- Quick and
easy to read
- An organized
way to summarize your thoughts
- Attractive
on the page or screen
- Concise
and to-the-point
- Effective
6) Make It Fun
It’s important to deliver
information in your copy, but it’s equally important how you deliver it. If your copy reads like a school lecture, your
readers will be gone faster than you can say “class dismissed.” Reading can
feel like a chore, so you need to make it fun. A conversational tone, an
understanding attitude, and a touch of humor will do the trick.
7) Omit Needless
Words
Standard
advice, but it never gets old. Time is precious. The moment your reader feels
their time is wasted, they move on. Avoid this by sharpening your copy to
include only what is necessary to communicate a persuasive, precise message.
8) Remember to Write
for Humans
This seems
obvious, but with the SEO crowd’s obsession over keywords, it’s worth noting. Yes,
great copy must include the keywords associated with your topic. But be sensible
about it. Readers aren’t dumb. They can smell keyword stuffing from a mile
away, and it smells like weak writing, lazy marketing, and sketchy salesmen. No
matter how many keywords you cram into your copy, it’s not worth a dime unless
people read it. Quality writing trumps keyword hierarchy because it harnesses
the strongest marketing tool in existence: word of mouth.
9) Make It Easy For
Them
So you’ve
captured that elusive 20% who saw your headline and they’ve read your copy. Now
what? You want them to act on what they’ve read. It’s your job to make that next step as easy as possible. If the goal of
your copy is to generate buzz, leave links to your Facebook or Twitter pages. If
you want them to subscribe to your blog or site, make it as easy as a click of
a button. Same goes for buying a good or service: buttons and links immediately
following your copy make the next step obvious and effortless for the consumer.
10) Finish Strong
Psychological
studies show that your memory of an experience is heavily influenced by how it
ends. If you’ve written an excellent article but then taper off, the reader is
left unimpressed and probably a little confused. You need to wow them at the
end — they’ve gotten that far! Prove to them it was worth reading. Summarize
the greatest benefits you’ve given them and send them home happy.
Follow these 10 pointers, and your
writing will shine. Quality writing shows you value the reader’s time and want
to give them a pleasant experience. So pleasant, in fact, that they barely
noticing they’re reading copy. And that’s how you know you’ve done it right.
