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What is Copywriting and Content Writing?

We are surrounded by words. From the billboards, to the television, to the social media, the word ‘advance’ is written in large letters, or digitally plastered across the screen. People who drive cars are urged to ‘look both ways’ before crossing the street. We even have words on our legal documents, like insurance policies and loan agreements.

Words are powerful. They can be used to sell us things, or convince us to take certain actions. They can make or break a business. They can influence elections. They can inspire people. They can ignite change. They can give life or take it away. Words can create, or destroy – so it is no wonder that people are drawn to this magical yet mysterious art called copywriting.

Defining Copywriting

Copywriting is the use of words to persuade people to take a certain action, or to convince them of something. It comes in many forms, such as advertising, marketing, and sales copy. Essentially, copywriting is taking an objective and explaining it in a way that appeals to the reader or listener. When done well, copywriting can be extremely effective, memorable, and usually cost-efficient.

The term ‘copywriter’ can be used interchangeably with ‘writer’ when referring to those who create marketing materials, whether through articles, blog posts, or social media messages. However, there is more than one type of ‘writer’ in the world. Some writers use different styles and approaches to achieve their desired results, so learning how to identify and define the various types of writers can help you become a better professional.

The Anatomy of a Copywriting Campaign

When a business owner or marketing manager decides to embark on a copywriting project, the first step is to define the purpose of the campaign. As we have established, words are powerful, and having a clear idea of the intended purpose of the campaign will help determine the correct words and phrases to use. Once the desired results have been established (we will discuss this more in ‘Measuring Success’ below), the next step is to brainstorm potential words and phrases that could be used to describe the action being encouraged or the thing being sold.

Even when pursuing a fairly traditional path, such as selling a car or house, the wording used can have a significant impact on how much faith buyers have in the product. For example, a home seller will want to emphasize the practical benefits of their product (convenience of having nearby stores, restaurants, etc.) while a car seller will want to focus on the more intangible aspects (safety, fuel efficiency). If these elements are not effectively communicated, the chance of the sale falling through is probable. In this case, the use of words can mitigate this risk, and provide the customer with the benefits they were looking for in the first place. It is also important to consider the various linguistic styles used by different customer segments when choosing the right words and phrases for a specific campaign.

Choosing The Right Audience

When selecting an audience for your copywriting project, you must consider two things: what do they want, and how can you offer it to them? As a general rule, you should select an audience that is receptive to your message. The ideal customer for your product is someone who is already interested in it, and is open to being persuaded to purchase it. Therefore, it is essential to choose an audience that matches your chosen product. If you are developing ads for a car manufacturer, you should select potential buyers who are looking for a practical solution to their automotive needs. If your product is a restaurant, you should consider people who are interested in exploring new places or trying new cuisine. Identifying the right audience for your product and matching your message to their needs and interests will produce much better results than simply selecting an audience that happens to be receptive to what you have to say.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Once you have your target audience selected, you can begin to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the success of your campaign. These are specific, numerical goals that you set for the campaign, and the KPIs will help you determine how much progress you have made towards reaching your goal. Establishing KPIs for your copywriting project will prove vital in achieving your desired results. Some common KPIs that you may want to consider are:

  • Sales – this is the numerical goal for your project, and it could be expressed as the number of units sold, the amount of money spent, or the like.
  • Clicks – this refers to the number of people who click on a particular piece of advertising, or visit a website due to an online ad.
  • Cost/Contact – this measures the efficiency with which you spent your budget on the project, and determines the number of contacts made (e.g., phone calls, emails, etc.).
  • Registration – this refers to the number of people who registered for an online seminar or purchased a ticket to an event.
  • Conversions – this is a combination of the previous three KPIs, and refers to the number of people who made a purchase or a lead converted into a sale (e.g., a person who visited a website due to an ad and made a purchase, a seminar participant who became a customer, etc.).

The above KPIs can be used to determine how effective your copywriting campaign was in generating interest in your product, and identifying potential customers. However, it is also important to consider the reverse – when you evaluate your campaign’s failure, the first thing you should check for is whether or not the target audience was effectively chosen, and if so, whether or not your chosen audience was receptive to your message. If your campaign was not successful, re-evaluate your choice of audience and the effectiveness of your message. Effective copywriting is based on both solid research and a clear understanding of your target audience, and should not be taken lightly.

Creating and Testing Key Ideas

Once you have established your key performance indicators, you can begin to create and test your key ideas. Your key ideas are the underlying principles that you will use to guide the creation of your content (blog posts, articles, etc.). Effective copywriters conduct extensive keyword research prior to creating content, and use the resulting list of keywords to create compelling content that will engage your audience.

Ideally, your key ideas will stand out above the rest of the content published around them. When an Internet user performs a search on a topic, the results that appear in the top positions of a search engine are usually the ones that stand out among the rest, and grab the attention of the reader. When your key ideas are prominent in the content that appears in the search engine results, your chances of persuading the reader to take a particular action or to continue reading are greatly increased.

The art of copywriting is all about using words to persuade people to take a certain action. To begin your copywriting journey successfully, first you must define the purpose of your campaign. Next, choose the right audience and begin measuring your success with key performance indicators. When establishing these key performance indicators, it is important to remember that even if you are pursuing a fairly traditional business, the language you use can influence how your product is perceived by the end user. For example, if you sell cars, but your ads emphasize the practical aspects of car ownership (convenience, functionality, safety, fuel efficiency), the customer may well view your product (car) and your message (‘these are the practical benefits of car ownership’) as being in line with each other.

Last but not least, it is vital to create compelling content that will engage your audience and convince them to take a certain action. To drive traffic and leads to your website, use SEO (search engine optimization) techniques to appear higher in the search engine results, and create content that will compel people to act.