Want to write like a professional copywriter, but don’t know where to start?
No worries – I’m not one for keeping secrets. Professional copywriters have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, and while I might not know every single one, I’ve picked up a lot in my 11 years doing it! So today I’m spilling some of the best kept secrets of copywriting, so you can write better content for your business. Let’s start with the basics.
Research Is EVERYTHING
Believe it or not, the biggest part of copywriting in terms of time is the research. Research is the bit I love most about what I do, and pretty much any copywriter you ask will tell you just how important the research phase is. Before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), I’ll spend hours digging into your business, your industry and the background of it all. No matter what I’m writing, I’ll be looking for:
- Your industry
- What makes your unique
- What your competition is doing and talking about
- The specific language your target audience responds to
- Gaps in the market you could be filling
- What your clients are looking for
And a bunch more stuff besides! So even if you think you know everything about your business and industry, make sure you do your research.
Magic Happens In The Edits
Believe it or not, good copy doesn’t just flow out of our fingers straight away. I really wish it did! Actually, a lot of first drafts by writers aren’t great at all. Writing the first draft often clears the cobwebs and gets the bad ideas out as well as the good ones. Then we pick up our editing shears and get ruthless with them.
So my best advice here is, if you want to write like a pro – learn to edit like one. A few of the things I do are:
- Reading everything I write out loud. This is the best way to hear if things flow properly, notice repetition and where things just sound a bit ‘off’. I tend to do this twice – once myself and then I get Word to read it out loud for me. It’s a really handy function and often catches things I miss.
- If you’re writing something short, read it backwards. This helps you catch spelling mistakes and makes you really think about your word choices.
- Make a list of your most-used ‘fluff’ words – things like so, very, well, much, that etc – and check your work once you’ve written it. 99% of those words can be replaced or just deleted completely. Really.
Design Really Does Matter
Great copy isn’t just about the words. I know, shocker. It’s all about how the design works together with it. I don’t mean things like what images you use – it’s more about how the text is broken up and where headers, subheadings and images go in relation to the text. It’s one of the reasons why I like to work with the designer when writing websites, rather than writing blind.
The same goes for smaller projects. Take an email for example. Here you want to use frequent breaks to make your paragraphs short and less intimidating. And please, only use italics and bold text sparingly. A lot of people go overboard with them, which means they don’t have any effect. But when you use them less often, it makes specific words and lines stand out instead.
If you’re writing for social media, then you want to keep it short and sweet. Use emojis like bullet points to list out your points, keeping your sentences to the point.
Google Is Our Best Friend
While copywriters are great at knowing all sorts of random things (it’s a side effect of the job), But that doesn’t mean we know everything! In fact, the thing I love most about being a copywriter is learning new things. And where do I turn to find out the stuff I need to know for my clients? Google of course!
Not only is the internet full of information and opposing points of view, but it’s also really handy for when we get stuck. I have been known to Google ‘adjective that starts with B’ when I’m trying to write a headline with alliteration, and if you’re looking for a different way of saying something, Google can help with a big long list of alternatives (or synonyms if you want to be fancy), which is a big help!
We Live BY KISS
Or, Keep It Simple, Stupid! Because simple really is better. Take a close look at some of the copy you come across in the next few days, and see how complicated it really is. A lot of the time, people like to make things more complicated to sound ‘fancy’, or to make themselves sound smarter. Thing is, it doesn’t work. It alienates your customers and makes you seem inaccessible. It’s not just using jargon that does it either – phrases like:
- In order to
- In my professional opinion
- To be clear
- You may be surprised to learn
And several more!
Ditch the fancy talk and just speak to your customers like they’re real people. You know, because they are. Simple = clear, and clear = more sales!
Of course, I’m not going to spill all of my secrets to you in a blog! If you really want to know more, why not enquire about my one-on-one blog training, or book a chat with me to pick my brains. Just click this button here – it’s as easy as that.