How to Write Effective Copy
If you view the copywriter as the unsung hero of the literary world then you would be right. Copywriting is not simply stringing words together to make up the requisite number –many smart campaigns have flown off the starting blocks like a literary Usain Bolt only to flag halfway through the copy dragged down by too many words to peter out miserably with yards to go till the finishing line and no readers prepared to go the distance.
Another common error (and one the reader sees through very quickly) is to write generic copy. This style of writing tells the reader one of two things:
a) The writer is unsure of the subject
b) The copy is unoriginal
Even the most amateur words written with enthusiasm are preferable to generic copy so avoid it at all costs if you want the reader to wring the very last word from the copy (which of course you do).
Write for target market
Remember copy is written not for the writer, nor even for the client but for the market. Strong copy sells, weak copy is forgotten. The copywriter then must be a literary chameleon who can see through the eyes of the market every time they write copy. By the end of the piece, the talented copyist should theoretically be eager to purchase the product themselves.
Avoid verbosity. Prospective customers won’t turn to a dictionary to explain the meaning of long-winded words and phrases and will drift off course taking their order with them.
Good copy starts with a bang and ends the same way. The meaty part of the copy should always be informative, concise, amusing (if called for) and contain all the information the purchaser should need. If the subject is complex then the job of the copyist is to drive the reader towards more information.
Before putting pen to paper (or more likely fingertip to keyboard) the good copyist should ask: Who am I writing for? What do I want them to do? How am I going to get them there? Once there how do I get them to choose this product (service) above competitors?
Thoughtful and well written copy has an extremely high success rate across a range of industries to ensure that copywriting continues to carve its place in 21st century marketing.
Are Copywriters Liars?
Show identical marketing copy to 4 people and 3 of them will tell you that the product is overstated, inflated, embellished and too good to be true. This is ¾ of the marketplace, 75%, 0.75, more than half... whichever way you put it, this is massive. After all these years has the purchasing public finally fallen out of love with hype? If so what can copywriters and marketers do about bringing them back to the fold of believers?
Before we race down that track of lassoing reluctant customers with clever words and graphics, take a moment to consider. Perhaps the customer is right. Has ad campaigns and copy gone so over-the-top as to be detrimental to the products they are trying to sell? Are customers now inured to bold claims of eternal youth, meeting the girl/boy of your dreams, reading the perfect book that will bring you the perfect life... or have consumers simply become craftier and subliminally dismiss ad campaigns which contain the word no consumer wants to hear: could.
There’s no fool like an old fool and consumers are getting younger. Products which could help you lose weight, which could bring you a greater marketplace share, which could make you richer, more beautiful, more successful – enough said. This type of marketing strategy has rapidly become old; consequently the consumer is determined not to fall for it.
Caveat emptor is a lesson well learned
The wise consumer who hears the c-word whispered quickly inside a TV or radio ad instantly switches off and if the word is mentioned in written copy it is unlikely he will reach the end of the article, no matter how witty (or even true) the piece it may be.
Consumers want guaranteed facts: fact.
Consumers have become hardened to hype: fact.
Consumers take offence at being thought of as unintelligent: fact (even if this is not the intention of the writer).
Basic premise of any type of marketing strategy is to get the buyer to transfer the money from his pocket into the pocket of the seller. Successful copy therefore should be factual, truthful, hype-less and written engagingly to take the consumer towards, not away from, the end product.
