Copywriting is many things: words, truth, charm, formulas, structure, psychology, style, design and much more. How do you navigate the streets of this intriguing world? How do you write an engaging and persuasive text? These tips are a practical guide for you !
The title is a promise. And I will keep it. In this post I suggest 6 useful – super useful – and concrete tips for your Copywriting . Yes, because writing persuasive and convincing texts , texts capable of positioning themselves in search engine results, texts capable of winning over customers and brands, is not an easy task. But keeping these practical tips in mind you will already be halfway there. Let’s get started?
Tell the truth but make truth fascinating
David Ogilvy , one of the greatest advertisers of all time and creator of the concept of Brand Image, said it :
Tell the truth but make truth fascinating. You know, you can’t bore people into buying your product. You can only interest them in buying it.
Tell the truth but make the truth fascinating. You know, you can’t bore people or try to convince them to buy your product. You can only interest them in buying it.
There are two points to pay close attention to.
The truth is an ethical and professional duty
The first is that a good Copywriter knows very well that he must always be honest with his readers. The truth is an ethical and professional duty towards those who read us and also towards the brand we are the spokesperson for. On the one hand, the reader will understand our honesty and will learn to trust us. On the other hand, the truth also favors the activation of a positive word of mouth towards the brand, which is perceived as honest and transparent, therefore worthy of being listened to and then also promoted to relatives and friends.
Make the truth fascinating
The second point you need to focus on is that, as David Ogilvy suggests, you need to present the truth in a way that is fascinating to the reader . How to do this? Here are some ideas:
you can use narrative devices such as Storytelling . Tell stories with hero protagonists and helpers ready to support them in the fight against the antagonistic enemy, a fight that will see them as winners and solvers of the initial problem;
you can focus on Newsjacking , that is, exploiting the big wave , the sensational event, the hot topic to gain visibility. Remember, however, to use this technique only if the news in question is consistent with your brand and your editorial line;
you can start a controversy , thus arousing curiosity and raising the threshold of attention and interest;
you can exploit the sense of humor . But, mind you, only if the goal you have to achieve, the personality of the brand and the characteristics of your target audience allow you to do so;
you have to make the words interesting by exploiting the design . It is no coincidence that more and more Copywriters today are also Content Designers capable of taking care of the formatting, the elements, the arrangement and, in general, the design of the text. I will go into this aspect in more detail a little further down.
2. Use the 4 U’s Formula
Have you ever heard of the 4 U’s Formula ? It was created by business coach and entrepreneur Michael Masterson and can be applied to all the content you write for the web : website copy, blog posts, titles, subtitles, email subjects, and body copy.
A gem that is frequently disregarded in a world email list where social media, fads, and algorithms control visibility is the email list.As soon as you open it, their words and offerings draw you in, and you find yourself instantly in their world. This small gesture highlights the enormous influence of email marketing.
The 4 U’s refer to the fact that your
Copywriting must contain and be able to mix in the right way, without excess, 4 ingredients:Urgency. Urgency stimulates people to click on a title, to perform an action, convinced by the pressing need to solve their problem;
Uniqueness . Both the content and the benefit you offer and your writing style must be unique. Only if you offer your readers something different from your competitors will you convince them to stop their thumbs from scrolling through content in their feed at the speed of light;
Usefulness. Uniqueness attracts attention, the usefulness of your content convinces people to continue reading. If you can concretely help readers, well you will see that they will be happy to dedicate their time and attention to you;
Ultra-specificity. Writing specific content, rich in information and details, will help you characterize it in terms of usefulness and uniqueness. And it will also help you make that sense of urgency that drives action real and concrete.
For further information:
The ability to grab people’s attention and
convince them to click on your content starts no more scams like gowex two different auditors with the headline. The title of your copy – be it a blog post, a website page, or the copy of a Facebook ad campaign – must be magnetic .
How to write a magnetic title? The answer is so rich that I should write a specific guide – and maybe I will – but in the meantime I will give you some useful and valuable advice:
always include in the title a benefit for the reader and/or your Unique Selling Proposition , your unique and distinctive value proposition;
Make a promise. This is a great strategy to get people to click;
when you can use numbers in your copywriting ;
stimulates a sense of urgency ;
evokes intense emotions and vivid stories ;
Don’t go on longer than necessary. Titles should be punchy.
Choose the structure of your text
A fundamental aspect of good canada email lead Copywriting is the structure of the text. It is important because it allows you to attract the reader’s attention, then to lead him by the hand along your journey and the adventures you have planned for him. To excite him, to interest him, to involve him, to gain his attention and his trust.
The structure of a text is the architecture with which you present information , the order in which you tell facts and ideas and the way you connect them. There are 4 types of structure:
the narrative structure ;
the journalistic one ;
the point structure ;
argumentative architecture .
How to choose the structure of your text? It depends on the objective you need to achieve, your target audience, the content you are dealing with, the medium you are using. In this post you will find a useful guide to understand the characteristics of the different structures and how to choose the one that best suits your specific needs.
Feed the desire
A good Copywriter knows how important it is to feed people’s desire, need, and dream . Remind them that they want to reach that goal, own that object, buy that thing, satisfy that need, and, even more, make them understand how useful and enjoyable it is to do so.
How to feed desire with writing? It evokes possible worlds, analyzes the problem in detail, arouses intense emotions, tickles the sense of urgency and danger, instills the enjoyment of possession, recalls the well-being that the resolution of the problem generates. Now, this means feeding people’s desire. And this also means giving them exactly what they want and, perhaps, doing something more. Surprising them.
Make your copy visually inviting
This is a rule that has existed since advertising existed, but it is probably even more valid today. The content that surrounds us is increasingly numerous and omnipresent, readers have become more selective – which does not mean distracted or inattentive, mind you. On the contrary. It means that people choose very carefully who to dedicate their time and their listening to. In this continuous flow of content, it is even more important to make a text visually inviting.
How to do it? There are many tricks at your disposal. Below I suggest some particularly important ones.
Important Elements of Visual Copy
Make proper use of the spaces at your disposal. Writing a text for a post on Social Networks is not like writing it for a blog, writing for mobile is not like writing for the desktop. Before you start typing, you must keep in mind the different needs and characteristics of the medium and also of the platform for which your copywriting is intended. Organize the copy in the space you have available in an effective and attractive way ;
handle text formatting like a true artist : white spaces, bold, italics, bulleted lists, headings are all elements that you must know how to use to perfection;
create a rhythm to your text – not only with words and alternating sentences of different lengths – but also with bullet points, white spaces, quotes, titles and subtitles;
use directional visuals , such as arrows, that immediately indicate where to look and what;
uses particularly evocative icons. An example? The alert, which communicates danger and in the reader’s mind the thought immediately triggers hey you, pay attention! . Or the clock, which communicates urgency and raises the thought damn, time is running out!
To learn more, I recommend you read the post Blog and readability: 8 techniques to make blog posts readable .
