What is copywriting? It’s about shaping words into relevant content for a defined audience for commercial gain.
With that thought in mind here is the second part of my 3-part copywriting tips series.
Read it here: 31 Hot Copywriting Tips To Grow Your Business. Part 2 of 3
10). Overcome Mental Blocks
This one might seem a bit obscure. But my experience has been that if we have mental blockages, the forward movement will be difficult. After all, it’s not a nuts and bolts type of tip.
11). Tell a Story
In my post titled How to Influence and Persuade With Powerful Story Telling, I said this:
“From time immemorial people have been captivated by stories. Why? Because stories inspire, challenge, provoke and give comfort.”
Starting as infants, we become immersed in stories. But as we mature and become adults stories still infuse our thinking. Stories appear in different forms and inhabit different areas of our lives:
- Work-based stories
- The story of brands
- Family stories
- Nation-building stories
- Morality Stories
To name a few.
Before I get into how you can use stories to grow your business, let’s firstly take a look at early stories, way back when Adam was a boy. Or was it earlier? Well, apparently the first stories were told by Neanderthals.”
End of Extract
Notice how my post about stories told a story? A cool way to get your point across – no doubt about it.
As humans, we’re hard-wired to love stories. From fairytales as a kid, through to movies and books in our adult lives, stories work. In business copy, storytelling makes ideas stick. Relatable stories transform businesses into brands and customers into loyal, repeat clients.
Storytelling is how a brand becomes memorable.
And stories don’t always require a lot of words. By way of example, Apple famously uses succinct storytelling to market their products. We know that we get a nice piece of kit from Apple that does loads of cool techie stuff.
But are some prospective customers put off by a worry that such an item would be heavy and cumbersome to carry around?
Quite likely.
And that’s the ‘story’ that Apple is selling here. And they’re doing it with just 3 words. Move the reader along a journey. Create the sense that you’ll help the reader overcome a challenge and discover something new and valuable.
12). Spell Check
I hate typos, especially spelling mistakes. That’s why I use spell checking software. Some people say it doesn’t matter, but amongst discerning content consumers, it is incredibly annoying. Lazy too.
Sounds obvious, but how many people proofread their copy? And how many do it well?
Detail IS important. Like anything else, to master copywriting you have to master the detail. Small things matter.
If your readers see a lack of attention to detail they’ll mark you down. In an instant, you’ve downgraded your brand. From that point, the chances of them reading more of your content are low. Your hopes of them ever becoming a fan has gone. Gone, like a puff of smoke.
Tips to Eliminate Errors
- Use a Reliable Spell Checker. Including an old fashioned dictionary.
- Create Different Forms of Your Content. Copy and paste the content into Word, EverNote or GDocs. Look at it again – I bet you’ll find a few things you missed earlier.
- Print the Content. Then read it again.
- Location Change. Move from one location or setting to another. This technique often works for me – try it.
- Rest and Revisit. Let your content ‘breathe’ for a while. When you return, you’ll probably see more errors.
13). Use Sub Heads
Insert a sub-heading to introduce each section. Your goal should be to entice people to read the next section. A good subheading will do that for you.
Here is an example.
Your subheads need to be benefit-laden and enticing. Get to the point, no waffle or vague language. Aim to score a bullseye every time.
Finally, make sure the sub-heading is bold to give it more impact.
14). Use Plenty of Images
Another way to break up the text is through the use of attractive images. You’ve seen how popular pic-based platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are. So create plenty of visual interest by inserting pics in your copy. But remember this: in most situations, images will not make the sale for you. Only good copy in combination with a hot offer will do that.
14). Pick a Fight
This strategy is a gutsy approach because it requires the courage to use it. But it can be a super-effective way to enhance your posture. Apple computers had a lot of success with this strategy when they chose to pick a fight with the enemy – Microsoft in particular, and PC’s in general.
Perhaps you remember the tv ads from Apple. The dull guy on the left was the Microsoft archetype, whereas the one on the right was the cool and hip Apple guy.
The Apple campaign was an excellent example of picking a fight without being overly aggressive. Indeed, humor was the primary weapon, and it worked brilliantly.
Your task is to identify the bad guy in your marketplace. By the way, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a company or product. The enemy could be old beliefs, behaviors, and circumstances. For instance, if you are selling cleaning products shower scum is the enemy for cleanliness focussed folks. Presumably, your product represents the perfect path to enlightenment.
16). Use Testimonials
Testimonials are the lifeblood of sales copy. The bad news is that a lot of testimonials lack impact. They’re dreary, to say the least.
Here is an example of a testimonial story I wrote for a roofing business:
14). Understand the Way People Think
Call it human psychology, call it what you want. The bottom line is that if you don’t get into your prospect’s head, you’re toast. I’ve been studying people since I was a teenager. A looong time ago. Why? I wanted to know what made people tick. I had no plan to use the newly found skill and make money from it. It was simply something that interested me. Nothing more.
The good news is that several years later I parlayed my innate knowledge of people into money.
If you’re late to the game, no problemo.
Thank you, your article surprised me, there is such an excellent point of view. Thank you for sharing, I learned a lot.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!