“Copy is not written. Copy is assembled.”
– Eugene Schwartz
Ironically, there are no words that can surmise how integral Copywriting is to a business and its digital marketing strategy. Copywriting is a content generation strategy focused primarily on convincing the reader to take a specific action.
We often use the terms copywriting and content writing interchangeably. While they do seem similar, they serve distinct purposes. Content writing involves a buck load of deeply researched content pieces like blog posts, web content that you use to interact with your audience. On the other hand copywriting is the most important part of your content marketing campaign. It hooks your audience and persuades them to take action which can be subscribing to your newsletter or purchasing your product.
No matter what type of business you have, if you don’t have a strong copywriting strategy, it’s going to be a herculean task to get any marketing or content strategy to work.
Without further ado, here are 7 things you can focus on for copywriting that will take your digital marketing campaigns a level up:
Table of Contents
Fundamentals of Copywriting That Ensures Conversion
1. Use short and concise sentences
Shorter sentences easily grab the reader’s attention. You would rather read the first sentence than this longer and redundant one which is beating around the bush and by the time you reach this word, have lost you!
It’s one of the fundamentals of copywriting, getting your point across using minimal words. With online ads, it’s not just a strategy but a necessity as Facebook ad copy has a specific word limit beyond which it simply cuts you off.
2. Super specific headlines
Writers are generally advised to write catchy headlines, which is true but what makes a headline catchy? Being specific is a great way to catch your audience’s attention. You tell them exactly what you provide or how you can make their life better and they will listen.
Headlines are your content’s trailer. It won’t matter how brilliant your content is if no one reads it. Specific and catchy headlines lure your audience to read your content.
3. Use simple words
It’s not a literary competition. Nobody cares about your excellent vocabulary. It’s sad but true.
Simple and easy-to-understand words are the requirements for effective copywriting. Copywriting is built on the art of persuasion, big words that your audience doesn’t even understand negate the very purpose of copywriting and thereby weaken your content strategy. It’s like asking a vegan if they eat meat.
As the advertising legend, Leo Burnett said “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”
Simple being the keyword.
4. Use action verbs
“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.”
How to provoke a sense of urgency? Or the feeling that if they don’t do what you are asking, they are likely to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
The main goal of copywriting is to evoke a particular action from your reader. To get the reader to perform an action it’s vital to use verbs clearly stating the action you want your audience to take.
It must be in the CTA (Call to action) but for effective results, try using action verbs in your headline and main ad copy.
5. Anticipate and clear objections
Anticipating your audience’s concerns and objections regarding your product or service in advance is one of the most important responsibilities of a copywriter. Knowing and understanding your consumer’s concerns in advance helps you break any objections they have and convinces them to follow through with the action
How do you learn of your audience’s objections and problems?
Detailed research.
Good copywriting answers every question before it even strikes the reader.
6. Emphasize the main topic of the Ad copy
“Get the subject right once. Then go back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time, with a ‘tremendous blow’.”
Richard Perry
Your topic is your hero and it needs to come across as such. Talk about it in the headline, main copy, conclusion, and CTA. You need to subtly hammer the idea into your reader’s brain.
7. Use the AIDA Model
AIDA model is the lifeline of digital marketing companies. It is Attention, interest, desire, action. It’s the basic copywriting formula, embraced by almost every copywriter on the planet.
If your advertisement copy can get attention, grab interest, create desire, and evoke action, then are doing it right.
Exceptional Copywriting Examples
- Loreal Paris’ Equal pay Ad
- Rolls Royce’s timeless print ad copy
- Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad
Conclusion
Copywriting is the heart of your content marketing strategy, get it right and you have won half the battle. Write simple and short ad copies that educate and inform your audience while convincing them to take the intended action.
