Are you looking to master software copywriting? If so, this post is for you. Here you will discover the essential skills you need for a successful career in software copywriting.
Understand The Craft
Before you start copywriting for software products, it is essential that you understand what it means and how it is done. To help you grasp the basics of software copywriting, let’s take a quick look at the role of copy in storytelling. Traditional storytelling, also known as face-to-face communications or F2F storytelling, relies heavily on words and phrases to convey meaning. Although the content may be digital, the process is very much the same.
In F2F storytelling, storytellers use words to describe characters, places, things, and events in a story. Their objective is to engage their audience and make them better understand what is happening in the story. It is an effective method when used in educational settings, marketing campaigns, or business presentations. But it does have some significant limitations. One of the biggest is that it is often hard for the listener to follow the story as it is being told. Another is that it can be quite difficult to determine the tone of the story, especially if the story is quite complex or there is a lot of dialogue involved. This is where written or verbal descriptions of the characters and their actions come in.
Even if you are writing a how-to article, describing how to do something in a step-by-step fashion, you will still need to use your words to make your description easy to understand and memorable. You have a limited amount of space in which you can do this. If you want to avoid repetition and ensure that your article is as compelling as possible, you should consider writing your description in the form of a concise story. This will help your reader understand your explanation of the various software features or commands and make them more likely to retain the information you are providing.
Know Your Audience
Writing for software requires you to consider your audience when you are writing. You are not writing for the webmaster who runs the website you are designing, you are writing for human beings so that they can act on your behalf and purchase the product you are promoting. This means you have to think about what they want, need, and desire so you can provide it to them using the language they understand.
It is essential that you consider who you are writing for and what they want before you start writing. Although you may have an idea for a product that could be beneficial to a broad audience, it is often the case that the people you are writing for know exactly what they want and don’t need any convincing.
Get Inspired
It is important to take time out of your schedule to get inspired. Many great copywriters work long hours in silence, locked away in their offices, searching for ideas, coming up with ingenious plot twists, and breathing life into their characters. Sometimes, writers even put themselves in the story they are writing, to get a first-hand experience of what is going on. This can really help you bring the characters to life and make your writing much more authentic.
Getting inspired is not easy. You may have to leave the comfort of your home and get into the habit of engaging with the outside world. Look for inspiration in unlikely places. Talk to a stranger. Visit a coffee shop or a museum, and get a coffee there. Watch a movie and take notes. Reading biographies of exceptional people can also help you find inspiration and understand what makes someone extraordinary. Learning how to become successful and happy is also a great way to get inspired. If you want to write an article on how to be successful, for example, you could interview successful people and get some great insights into what makes them tick.
Create A Product Pitch
If you are writing for software, you will have to create a product pitch. A product pitch is a short section of your article, usually no more than 150 words, that gives the reader the benefits of what your product can do for them. It is essentially a sales pitch, but for those who are not interested in purchasing the product, it is an opportunity to educate them about the various benefits your product can provide.
You should aim to convince the reader to buy your product, but the aim is to educate them. In order to create effective pitches, you should take the time to find out what the reader wants and needs. This means you must ask yourself questions about your target audience to gain a clear understanding of what they want and need. If you can provide these benefits using the language they understand, you will have a much greater impact. To create an effective pitch, you need to consider the following points:
- What is the goal of the article?
- What is the ideal reader profile?
- How would you pitch this to a business partner, a VC, or a potential investor?
- What features does your product have that will make a difference?
- What makes your product special?
- How does your product solve a problem?
- What is the most effective way to position your product?
- Who is the target audience and what is the purpose of this article?
- What makes your product special?
Once you have created a pitch for the product you are writing about, you need to consider whether or not you will actually be able to pull off the sale. You should have a clear idea of how your product will make the reader’s life better. Ideally, you would like to write a piece that helps as many people as possible, but for the sake of the argument, let’s say you have written this pitch to help a specific group of people with a problem. Your product may solve that problem beautifully, but unless you are speaking to a very small audience, there will still be people who are not having the problem you are trying to solve. Remember, your product is not the answer to every problem. You are not trying to replace human interaction, but you are trying to make the world a better place through your technology choice.
Create Compelling Headlines
The headlines you write and the stories you build around those headlines are what gets people’s attention and compels them to click on your article. A good headline should be short and punchy, yet informative. To get people to click on your headline, you need to ensure that it stands out and is easy to understand. Since people scan and quickly skim articles online, you need to make your headline stand out. If you want people to read your article, you need to make sure that they are compelled to click on it.
To create a compelling headline, you need to keep in mind the following tips: