You might be familiar with the term ‘copy’ if you’re a business or marketing strategist, but did you know that writing effective sales copy is actually a lot like songwriting? Not surprisingly, many people end up in the copywriting trenches because they love writing songs and want to try their hand at prose. If you’re looking to become more effective at writing compelling copy for marketing and sales purposes, check out this blog post for some incredible tips!
1. Identify The Purpose Of The Piece
One of the first and most critical steps in the copywriting process is identifying the purpose of the piece. For marketing and sales documents, this means determining what you’re trying to achieve by writing the piece in the first place. What are you trying to prove? What are you trying to communicate?
For example, if you’re trying to generate more interest in a product or service, your copy might include compelling case studies or real-life examples that demonstrate the benefits of using the product or service you’re promoting. In this kind of copy, it’s important to tie your chosen examples into the purpose of the piece. The more you can do this, the more you’ll achieve in terms of keeping the reader interested. Let’s dive into another example.
2. Craft An Outline
The next step in the copywriting process is to create an outline. This is typically a four-step process that begins with a fairly detailed first draft followed by multiple reviews and edits. When you’ve got an outline, it’s much easier to produce more polished copy that is both compelling and interesting. It also helps to identify the main points you want to make in your piece. Sometimes it can be tricky to determine the exact message you want to get across without editing and reediting your work. Having an outline helps a lot with this problem. Once you’ve got your outline, it’s time to start pitching your story and crafting the juicy parts of your pitch.
3. Flesh Out The Numbers
The numbers are an important part of any argument or case study. When you’re writing compelling copy that includes numbers, it’s important to do it effectively. In most cases, the numbers should be relevant to the message you’re trying to get across. It’s also important to research the numbers and get them spot-on. For example, if you’re writing about the benefits of using certain software, getting the right figures about the benefits of that software might be critical to your argument. Otherwise, it’s easy for the reader to think that your words are just fluff.
To give you an idea of what I mean by flesh out the numbers, here’s an example of how the numbers could work in a pitch for a law firm.
“Pro Bono Work Has Huge Impact On Dallas, Texas,”
These are the opening words of a pitch for a legal services nonprofit organization. Notice how the introductory sentence contains a number: “Pro Bono Work Has Huge Impact On Dallas, Texas.” While this might not seem like too much information, this is actually enough for the reader to do some basic research. When they see this, they might ask, “What is pro bono work?” or “How does this affect Dallas?” Depending on the answers to these questions, the reader will either stay engaged or drop out of the pitch. If the numbers are relevant and accurate, this is a sign that you’ve done your research and are ready to write the damn thing.
4. Organize Your Thoughts
When you’ve got an outline for your piece, it’s time to start making your thoughts organized. This is typically a very tedious part of the process, as you’re constantly reviewing and editing the work that came before. When you’ve got a final copy, you’ll need a few extra pairs of hands to go through it and make sure the grammar is perfect and the language is engaging. When you’re done, you’ll have a compelling and polished piece that will compel its target audience to action!