Your copywriting sucks. Here's how to fix it.
Hi, Habr! I present to your attention the translation of the article “Your Copywriting Sucks. Here's how to fix it by Kristina Adams.
10 tricks to create cool advertising text.
Copywriting is an important and interesting thing, if you know how to make it right. In this article you will learn what is needed for this.
Copywriting often seems like the black sheep in the writer's writing circle. People think that it is not as interesting, romantic or fun as writing fiction or poetic works. And if you think so too about copywriting, you are mistaken.
Effective copywriting can be as interesting and romantic as ballet or poetry. If done correctly.
The problem is that many companies think: they can write their own copywriting, despite the lack of an idea of how to start (or finish). Do you know what this leads to?
To bankruptcy.
I wrote two thirds of my life. Most of this time I resented copywriting. However, it cannot be avoided when you work in marketing. So when I got a new job last year, I decided to go on a copywriting journey. I finished the courses, read books, conducted experiments, edited descriptions of books and wrote a LOT of ads.
And now, to a large extent, I enjoy writing advertising as much as I do from creating novels and poems.
Do you know why? Because I realized that copywriting is not the illegitimate brother of fiction and poetry, as many people think; this is their twin.
Before we begin, there are a few things that we need to fix:
1. Your first ad will be garbage
2. In principle, as the second
3. And most likely the third
4. But in fact you will be better already
And also ...
Again:
Tactics used in this blog, worked 50 years ago, and they are still relevant. The better you understand each of them, the better you will become in copywriting.
You have to invest in work to get something at the exit. It may take years. But then, when you really become a cool copywriter, you will charge thousands of people with your wisdom with words.
So, without further ado, let's take a look at the key ingredients that cool advertising needs ...
When you create an ad copy, speak to your readers. Do not contact them from a third party. By doing this, you create a barrier between you and your audience.
And then she will not see in your product a benefit for herself, but rather for that guy.
And for that guy, your product also seems useless and more suitable for the woman walking across the road.
And soon everyone will think that your product is not for them.
I'm sure you've heard this before. And I'm sure: you think about telling a story, but listen, seriously?
Do you put your potential buyer in the place of the main character in your story?
Is there a story in your ad that leads buyers down the road to the Emerald City to call for action?
Not?
Then you don't tell the story.
Tell your audience what problems your product solves.
Further, when you told them how awesome your product is, explain how they can get it.
Words are powerful. You can use them to make readers experience something. And you have to do it, otherwise, there is no point in your letters.
Let's pretend you're telling a story about a time machine.
You start with the boy who bored his life. Therefore, to draw a picture more real, you use negative words, like: tired or desperate.
Then you reinforce the story - oh no! Terrorists!
But your time machine helps him escape, because she is "super" and "powerful."
Your audience will depend on the words you use - and sometimes on their impact. To increase the effect on them to the maximum, make sure that you use the same language that your readers speak. For example, you will not use words and expressions like "baby" or "be in the subject" when you write to a B2B audience. At the same time, if you write for adolescents, you are unlikely to use expressions like “extremely rare” or “I swear”.
When you write fiction or poetry, you are based on the hypothesis that your audience will read everything completely. Some things you leave open to the imagination. You avoid adverbs and adjectives, because they are intended for lazy hacks.
In copywriting, you assume that only 20% of your audience will read everything to the end. Therefore, you need to create a strong image in their heads. Quickly. The faster you write a picture for your readers, the faster you will be able to interest them.
You can make them see your DeLorean's plush leather interior. You can make them smell the gas when the engine starts. You can make them hear vzhzhuuh when they race at 140 km / h. I bet you smell gasoline and see the leather interior of the car, don't you?
Do not tell your readers what your product does, tell them why it does it.
What do they care about the fact that they can travel in time? Because it means that they can see what their parents did when they were teenagers. Or they can look to the future to see how they will look and what their children will be like.
They can even change the course of history!
The story that they can travel through time sounds cool. Who would not like that, eh?
But you want to create a picture in their heads about how they travel in time.
Focusing on the benefits will allow your audience to see how it is already using this product.
They look at DeLorean from the outside for a short while — they are already inside, they enter dates they want to go on, and they wonder what they want to discover.
This is the first, why you come back to the text in order to edit your work.
(And if you do not edit your text, please go back and look through every line on your site and CORRECT ALL THE DIRECT. You made stupid typos. We all make them. That is why the correction is important).
As I said.
Carefully figure out what you wrote. After each statement that you write, make every effort to ensure that the following sentence (s) answer the question "why?".
What do people care about the fact that they can travel in time? Why do they care about the fact that there is a stream drive in your time machine? Why is it better to travel in time to the DeLorean instead of the police box?
You need to include more details if your next sentence (s) does not support your statement.
Keep writing / correcting until every “why” has an answer.
The more details you include, the more likely you are to arouse the curiosity of your audience.
Using statistics about how fast your time machine is or how often people drive it, leverage the story you created. They will show that your time machine has been tested and tested. Statistics will show your audience public evidence that your product works.
And if it worked for someone, it would work for them too.
Do not underestimate the power of numbers, but do not expect them to do all the work. They will enhance / enhance the story that you have already told, and not replace it.
You have not studied the market at all, if you do not know what competitors are doing.
Sometimes competitors know what they are doing, sometimes not. You will not know if you do not look at them. They may have ideas that you can borrow or ideas that you can improve.
Remember: you can't copy ideas. As well as competitors. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that’s all.
The importance of practice cannot be exaggerated.
No matter how cool your page is converted, there will always be a bunch of things you need to do to improve in order to increase its performance. The more you write, the better you will be.
Quality content always wins. Do you know why? Because it is so much more likely to create a relationship with the audience.
People buy based on emotions, not on logic.
It is your job, therefore, create an emotional connection as quickly as possible. The faster you create this connection, the faster you will be able to convert your audience. And the higher the conversion rates will be.
Article - Your Copywriting Sucks. Here's How To Fix It.
The author - Kristina Adams
Translation - Ksenia Chayka
10 tricks to create cool advertising text.
Copywriting is an important and interesting thing, if you know how to make it right. In this article you will learn what is needed for this.
Copywriting often seems like the black sheep in the writer's writing circle. People think that it is not as interesting, romantic or fun as writing fiction or poetic works. And if you think so too about copywriting, you are mistaken.
Effective copywriting can be as interesting and romantic as ballet or poetry. If done correctly.
The problem is that many companies think: they can write their own copywriting, despite the lack of an idea of how to start (or finish). Do you know what this leads to?
To bankruptcy.
I wrote two thirds of my life. Most of this time I resented copywriting. However, it cannot be avoided when you work in marketing. So when I got a new job last year, I decided to go on a copywriting journey. I finished the courses, read books, conducted experiments, edited descriptions of books and wrote a LOT of ads.
And now, to a large extent, I enjoy writing advertising as much as I do from creating novels and poems.
Do you know why? Because I realized that copywriting is not the illegitimate brother of fiction and poetry, as many people think; this is their twin.
Before we begin, there are a few things that we need to fix:
1. Your first ad will be garbage
2. In principle, as the second
3. And most likely the third
4. But in fact you will be better already
And also ...
The writing field is always changing, but the basic (and most effective) elements are never
Again:
Key elements of writing never change
Tactics used in this blog, worked 50 years ago, and they are still relevant. The better you understand each of them, the better you will become in copywriting.
Copywriting is hard
You have to invest in work to get something at the exit. It may take years. But then, when you really become a cool copywriter, you will charge thousands of people with your wisdom with words.
So, without further ado, let's take a look at the key ingredients that cool advertising needs ...
Write from the second person
When you create an ad copy, speak to your readers. Do not contact them from a third party. By doing this, you create a barrier between you and your audience.
And then she will not see in your product a benefit for herself, but rather for that guy.
And for that guy, your product also seems useless and more suitable for the woman walking across the road.
And soon everyone will think that your product is not for them.
Always address your audience as if they were right in front of you.Always address your audience as if they were right in front of you. This is the shortest way to connect with it.
Tell a story
I'm sure you've heard this before. And I'm sure: you think about telling a story, but listen, seriously?
Do you put your potential buyer in the place of the main character in your story?
Is there a story in your ad that leads buyers down the road to the Emerald City to call for action?
Not?
Then you don't tell the story.
Tell your audience what problems your product solves.
Further, when you told them how awesome your product is, explain how they can get it.
Use emotional coloring
Words are powerful. You can use them to make readers experience something. And you have to do it, otherwise, there is no point in your letters.
Let's pretend you're telling a story about a time machine.
You start with the boy who bored his life. Therefore, to draw a picture more real, you use negative words, like: tired or desperate.
Then you reinforce the story - oh no! Terrorists!
But your time machine helps him escape, because she is "super" and "powerful."
Your audience will depend on the words you use - and sometimes on their impact. To increase the effect on them to the maximum, make sure that you use the same language that your readers speak. For example, you will not use words and expressions like "baby" or "be in the subject" when you write to a B2B audience. At the same time, if you write for adolescents, you are unlikely to use expressions like “extremely rare” or “I swear”.
Write a picture
When you write fiction or poetry, you are based on the hypothesis that your audience will read everything completely. Some things you leave open to the imagination. You avoid adverbs and adjectives, because they are intended for lazy hacks.
In copywriting, you assume that only 20% of your audience will read everything to the end. Therefore, you need to create a strong image in their heads. Quickly. The faster you write a picture for your readers, the faster you will be able to interest them.
The faster you write a picture for your readers, the faster you will be able to interest them.The more images you create using your words, the more readers will be able to see what you want to show them and feel what you want.
You can make them see your DeLorean's plush leather interior. You can make them smell the gas when the engine starts. You can make them hear vzhzhuuh when they race at 140 km / h. I bet you smell gasoline and see the leather interior of the car, don't you?
Focus on benefits, not characteristics
Do not tell your readers what your product does, tell them why it does it.
What do they care about the fact that they can travel in time? Because it means that they can see what their parents did when they were teenagers. Or they can look to the future to see how they will look and what their children will be like.
They can even change the course of history!
The story that they can travel through time sounds cool. Who would not like that, eh?
But you want to create a picture in their heads about how they travel in time.
Focusing on the benefits will allow your audience to see how it is already using this product.
They look at DeLorean from the outside for a short while — they are already inside, they enter dates they want to go on, and they wonder what they want to discover.
Ask yourself "Why?"
This is the first, why you come back to the text in order to edit your work.
(And if you do not edit your text, please go back and look through every line on your site and CORRECT ALL THE DIRECT. You made stupid typos. We all make them. That is why the correction is important).
As I said.
Carefully figure out what you wrote. After each statement that you write, make every effort to ensure that the following sentence (s) answer the question "why?".
What do people care about the fact that they can travel in time? Why do they care about the fact that there is a stream drive in your time machine? Why is it better to travel in time to the DeLorean instead of the police box?
You need to include more details if your next sentence (s) does not support your statement.
Keep writing / correcting until every “why” has an answer.
The more details you include, the more likely you are to arouse the curiosity of your audience.
Follow the statistics that you say
Using statistics about how fast your time machine is or how often people drive it, leverage the story you created. They will show that your time machine has been tested and tested. Statistics will show your audience public evidence that your product works.
And if it worked for someone, it would work for them too.
Do not underestimate the power of numbers, but do not expect them to do all the work. They will enhance / enhance the story that you have already told, and not replace it.
Do not underestimate the power of numbers, but do not expect them to do all the work.
Borrow from competitors
You have not studied the market at all, if you do not know what competitors are doing.
Sometimes competitors know what they are doing, sometimes not. You will not know if you do not look at them. They may have ideas that you can borrow or ideas that you can improve.
Remember: you can't copy ideas. As well as competitors. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that’s all.
Train. And when you finish training, train more
The importance of practice cannot be exaggerated.
No matter how cool your page is converted, there will always be a bunch of things you need to do to improve in order to increase its performance. The more you write, the better you will be.
The more you write, the better you will beNever think that you know everything you need to know about writing. Someone will always have the opportunity to prove to you the opposite.
Stop worrying about the amount of content at the expense of quality.
Quality content always wins. Do you know why? Because it is so much more likely to create a relationship with the audience.
Content quality always wins.And something that helps their experience and creates a relationship is what really matters. If you can answer their question with 500 words, then let it be exactly 500 words. Leave a banal for your dog; copywriting means nothing.
Create an emotional connection with your readers.
People buy based on emotions, not on logic.
It is your job, therefore, create an emotional connection as quickly as possible. The faster you create this connection, the faster you will be able to convert your audience. And the higher the conversion rates will be.
Article - Your Copywriting Sucks. Here's How To Fix It.
The author - Kristina Adams
Translation - Ksenia Chayka