In the world of digital marketing, content is everything. Creating high-quality content that will attract, engage, and retain customers is the key to thriving in the digital age. There are countless tactics for marketing executives to promote their products and services, but the most effective ones often rely on writing compelling copy for websites, blog posts, and social media profiles. This content will form the basis for your online marketing material, whether you’re a small business owner seeking to attract potential customers to your website or blog, or an experienced marketer seeking to stay cutting edge.
To that end, this article will teach you how to write compelling copy for websites and other digital entities. We’ll cover everything from basic grammar and mechanics to keyword selection and research, as well as some practical tips on how to write a winning story.
The Beginner’s Guide to Copywriting
Before you begin writing your copy, it’s useful to familiarize yourself with the basics of copywriting. If you’re new to the field or seeking to develop your skills, this article will help. Even if you have some experience as a copywriter, it might be worth your while to review the basics anyway.
What is Copywriting?
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment. What is your objective in reading this digital marketing piece? To learn more about my product or service? To find out how much I’m willing to spend on a given service? To discover the benefits of my product or service?
Each of these are possible responses, and whenever you write, you need to keep this in mind. Your primary objective is to persuade or inform the reader, not to grab their attention with an exciting story or hook.
In general, copywriting is the function of marketing communications that creates advertising, sales promotion, website content, blogs, and social media posts. As a copywriter, you’ll be tasked with creating compelling content to promote a brand or business.
Why Should You Practice Copywriting?
Having a solid grasp of copywriting will make you more valuable as a marketer. Why? Because effective marketing communication involves more than just crafting brilliant ads or engaging blog posts. The key to successful marketing is creating content that speaks to your audience, encourages them to act, and helps them recognize your brand or company.
This content can take the form of a landing page, website text, social media posts, or even an email sequence. Regardless of the form, you must have a purpose for each piece of content you create. Since your content will form the basis of your marketing material, it’s essential that each element is crafted with care and precision. This will make or break your efforts as a marketer. In addition to that, you’ll want to create content that is consistent throughout your marketing material. For example, if you have a marketing campaign that includes web content, ads, and social media posts, make sure that all of them contain the same language and theme. This will increase the effectiveness of your overall campaign. Lastly, you want to write for a broad audience. For this reason, it’s advisable to write for both humans and machines, focusing on both principles of search engine optimization (SEO). Your ultimate goal is to create content that will draw in as many potential customers or readers as possible. To achieve this, you’ll want to include keywords in your article, but you’ll also want to avoid overusing keywords as this could result in your articles being perceived as “spam” by the search engines.
Now that you’re equipped with an understanding of what copywriting is and why you should care about it, let’s get down to business.
Concise
Being concise is essential in all areas of life, but it’s even more crucial in copywriting. A blog post or web page with too much text can be perceived as a waste of time by the reader. Longer sentences, wordy paragraphs, and instances of “over-explaining” will all make your copy seem less sincere and more of a marketing pitch. The key is to keep your sentences concise but never to the point of being terse or abrasive.
To give you a better example, let’s say you’re writing to inform your reader about a new product you’ve launched. You’ve clearly identified your target audience, and you’ve decided to approach them with a “top 5 reasons why you should buy our product” type of structure. Within those five reasons, you’ll want to include supporting details on why each one is significant. So instead of stating “Our product is reliable because it’s manufactured in a reliable country” you could write “It’s reliable because it’s manufactured in Switzerland where quality is a governing principle.” The point is not to prove that your product is better than the competition’s; it’s to provide the reader with sufficient information to make an informed decision about purchasing your product.
Informative
Being informative is a type of content that can be both concise and compelling. If you can achieve both of these attributes in a single piece of writing, then you’ve succeeded as an informative copywriter. Informative content is valuable for a number of reasons. First, you’ve educated the reader on a specific topic. For example, if you’re writing about fashion, you might want to explain what is trending on social media platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, and what stores are doing to keep their customers interested. This type of content can be both interesting and useful to your audience.
In addition, you’ve given the reader information they might not have known. For example, if you’re writing about fashion, you might want to educate them on what materials were used to make the clothes they are buying, how the designs came to be, or the cultural influences behind the trends. By taking the time to educate your audience, you’ve increased the likelihood of them being receptive to your marketing message. And last but not least, you’ve given the reader a feeling of value. By providing them with information they might find useful or interesting, you’ve also created a connection with the reader, which might motivate them to take an action relevant to your business or brand.
Some writers might argue that you shouldn’t always aim to be informative. Instead, they might say that all you should do is entertain the reader. While this might be true to an extent, you should strive to provide value to your audience as well. If you can do this while still entertaining your reader, then you’ve succeeded as a copywriter.
Actionable
The purpose of your copy isn’t just to persuade or inform the reader; it’s to get them to act. To achieve this, you’ll want to include specific and actionable information within your blog post or website page. For example, if your blog post is about fashion, you might want to include a few links to existing websites selling items similar to those discussed in your blog post. Or if you’re writing about travel, you might want to suggest places your reader can go to visit based on their interests.
Along with specific and actionable information, you’ll want to include language that convinces the reader to take an action. For example, if you’re writing about fashion, you might want to say something like “If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to update your wardrobe, then you can’t go wrong with this season’s trendy looks.”
This type of language is relevant because it suggests that the reader will easily achieve their desired result from your article; it’s concise and to the point. And since your audience is more likely to take action when relevant information is provided, you’ve hit upon a winning formula.
Persuasive
Some businesses and organizations thrive in the current climate of uncertainty. While they might appear to have all the answers, in reality, they’re often the first to admit that they don’t. When it comes to marketing and advertising, this is known as “selling without truthing.” This is an effective strategy when you’re trying to convince someone to buy your product or service, but it can also work when you’re seeking to persuade an existing customer to continue using your product.
To avoid this, you’ll want to practice persuasive copywriting. Instead of trying to convince the reader of your position, you’ll want to present compelling evidence that your position is correct. The only difference is in the language you use; instead of stating that your product is the best on the market, you’ll want to present arguments to prove this point. In an example from the above fashion blog post, the writer would actually say “These items will help you stand out from the crowd” or “Make bold statements with these beautiful clothes.”
The key to effective persuasive copy is in the details. If you can demonstrate that your product is of a high quality and durable, you’ll be able to influence the reader to take an action.