Write to Ignite: 6 Fundamental Copywriting Rules You Need to Know Share: Async Labs Date Published 20 April 2020 Categories Blog, Guide Reading Time 9-Minute Read Copywriting is persuasive writing with the intent of driving action. Its mission is to give your prospect a compelling reason to respond and to take action now. Very often, we come across different advertising content in newspapers, billboards, social networks, different banners on the sites we visit every day. But do you ever wonder who wrote that content? Let’s state the obvious – copywriters. Real people behind the curtain making your business do well and grow. Copywriters, as creators of advertising content and communication, have the most significant role in the process of copywriting. Their purpose is to create an advertising message – copy that will encourage buyers to act but also create an emotional connection between them and the product. Copywriting is persuasive writing with the intent of driving action. Its mission is to give your prospect a compelling reason to respond and to take action now. The key to writing great copywriting is knowing who you are targeting and why you are targeting them. These two things are a crucial part of being an industry expert. Write simple, concise, dynamic and grammatically correct copy. If your grandma understands what you wrote for the client, then everyone will appreciate and understand it as well. We have to keep in mind that good content has to expand your reader’s understanding and add value. A good copywriter identifies a prospect problem and then helps them solve a problem or reach a goal. Make a promise and prove you can deliver. And remember that the most crucial person in your copywriting is your prospect. A copywriter can write on any topic the client suggests, using a variety of address tones and writing styles, just as a chameleon changes colors depending on the environment. Demolish these 5 basic objections within your copy and you are on a right path to writing better copy: I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough money. It won’t work for me. I don’t believe you. I don’t need it. To close more sales online, taking time to understand and address your customers’ objections are extremely important. People can quickly come up with many different reasons not to read or click or share. Keep these 5 solutions in mind when you write. Focus on value rather than price, use testimonials, give free trials, be as transparent as possible. And if you overcome at least one objection, pat yourself on the shoulder! 6 Simple Copywriting Rules If you want to separate yourself from other marketers, you need to know the basics of copywriting. Follow these simple copywriting rules to ensure your words make an impact on your audience. 1. Know Your Prospect Picture your prospect (buyer persona) and connect to them. It is the first rule of marketing. Find out what the prospect wants and match that with the product you wish to sell. You have to know that you are not in the business of writing words. Your job is to create and nurture a relationship with your prospect and to motivate them to take action. Create that laser focus connection with your prospect and let that come out in your copy. You should at least know your prospect’s basic facts/demographics – age, gender, educational level, professional background, income. Dig deeper and find out what their hobbies and habits are, what are their interests, personality, what they like and dislike. What specifically are their work responsibilities? What are they trying to accomplish, and what are the most significant challenges facing them in their jobs? Understanding customer demographics can provide valuable insight into selling. For example, each of the customers shown above has different demographics and different needs. The more information you have on your prospect, the easier it is to write for your intended audience. The internet can show fantastic details with just a few clicks. When it comes to sales success, knowledge is power. 2. Inspect the Product or Service Extensive research is your friend! The more you know, the better! When a copywriter designs the content for an ad for a product, business or service, he must know his work competition and how it communicates its product or service. The more he knows about the way he competes, the more it helps him create ads. The first step is to get to know all the possible details about the brand, services, visions, missions, and necessarily targeted audiences. Every copy has to meet the needs of its target group, give them what they want to hear and encourage them to take action, i.e., to buy. “It takes a big idea to attract consumers’ attention and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a Big Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.” — David Ogilvy Fun Fact: Research says that no one reads more than 30% of the content, but keep on reading, you are on a halfway to learn some basics of copywriting! 3. Sincerity as a Lost Secret Write honest copy that sells. Don’t lie to your prospects. You can’t say your product is number one unless you have credible data that ranks it ahead of competing products. After being tricked once, people lose confidence. Truth is the top standard in your advertising. Just tell the truth to the prospect. Avoid hype and don’t risk the trust of your prospects. Write copy as if you were talking to real people. Show interest in what you have to offer. Tell a true story, be conversational, and connect to the prospects by speaking their language. If you want to make a long-term win-win relationship with your prospects, you have to build trust. The fundamental truth in psychology is that people buy only from people they know, trust and respect. A great example of honesty is Nike with the “Just do it” slogan through which they encourage people to cross personal boundaries and motivate them to be active. Nike has a lot of marketing campaigns with substantial budget investments, but the point is that they are the brand people trust. After you buy their sneakers, for instance, you genuinely believe that you will activate yourself and go to training. 4. Use Emotional Appeal People buy on emotions first, then justify their purchases based on logic. Having a solid emotional appeal to your brand is critical to your success. Copywriting creates emotional and personal connections with the audience and, through well-crafted words, encourages action. For example, a copywriter through an excellent call to action creates its added value and helps consumers make the final decision. Copywriting is based on these three rules of selling: “People don’t like the idea of being sold.” “People buy things for emotional, not rational reasons.” “Once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logic.” To create an emotional connection, copywriters use storytelling, one of many techniques. Storytelling is the best way to present your product or service. It evokes certain emotions in people associate with the product or service. Once it has been told, the story gets in our memory, and we remember it again when buying the product. That specific story will have a significant effect on a product or service people want to buy. Good brands drive emotions. The best example is Coca Cola. They don’t tell you about how sweet and tasty their drinks are or how different they are from other brands. They show you the kind of lifestyle their drink embodies. They tell us the story about togetherness and the importance of family gatherings during holidays, especially Christmas. As a consumer, we identify with the story that Coca Cola marketing sells to us. 5. Know your USP = Unique Selling Proposition Stand out from the crowd! USP is a one-line proposition that explains (sells) how your product or service is unique, the best or only solution. It’s your competitive edge and the reason customers buy from you. USP helps guide your branding, marketing decisions and makes your business better than the competition. First, you have to research your product as well as your competition. You have to know your basic offer before you can begin to persuade anyone to accept it. In today’s world, customers have to choose between too many options. They want to quickly and easily find out what makes one product or brand different from another. When you find the right way to place yourself and your products, it will help you to stand out and not blend in. A compelling USP is assertive but defensible, focused on your customers’ value and last, but not least, more than a slogan. Ask yourself what sets your product apart from the competition. You don’t have to have a unique product. It’s about the message you want to send and it has to be different than your competition. Once you set up a successful USP in the market, make sure to spread it to the world! 6. Make Prospects Want to Take Action Now (CTA Button) It’s all about nudging your prospect closer to becoming a customer. When it comes to marketing your business, we know that you want the fastest possible results. You need to create urgency in the reader’s mind to take action. Even if the action is small and requires little investment of time or money on their part, you don’t want people to spend any longer on the decision than they need to. It could be as simple as only Googling your brand. Or even more so, placing an order, or liking your Facebook page. Depending on the client’s end goal, you have to present a suitable call to action to the audience. It is more like a dessert after a nice meal at a restaurant or as a cake decoration. CTA buttons are often lost elements on web pages. However, they are an essential element for the success and achievement of the web site’s goal, as well as other promotional materials. For example, Netflix gets right to the point with their CTA. “Cancel Anytime” immediately lets users know that there’s no risk associated with the free trial. Also, their “watch anywhere” sub-line promotes the streaming platform’s mobile nature that allows subscribers to watch their favorite shows wherever they are. Always End With a Call to Action. Check out how to write quality Call to Actions in the last paragraph in our article at Async Labs. If you have any questions, need a quote, slogan or tagline for your project or you want to improve the article you struggle with, let us know and we will do our best to help you!