The Ultimate Guide To Copywriting For The Non-Writer

You know that your business needs to start creating more content. You also know that you don’t want to do it yourself. But what exactly is copywriting? And how can you become a better writer? The answer is simple: practice and learns from others who have been successful at it before. If you’re interested in improving your skills as a writer, this guide will help get

Takeaways
1. Copywriting is valuable for non-writers too.
2. Learn the fundamentals of persuasive writing.
3. Understand how to engage different audiences.
4. Craft compelling messages even without a writing background.
5. Enhance communication skills in various contexts.

What Is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the art of persuading someone to take an action. It’s not just about words and sentences. It’s about creating content that makes your readers want to take the next step (like buying something you’re selling).

Copywriting can be used for many purposes:

Writing advertising copy

Writing sales copy

Writing persuasive content or direct response copy (email subject lines, landing pages, post titles)

The history of copywriting

You might be wondering, “What is copywriting?” Copywriting is the art of writing persuasive messages to persuade your audience to take a particular action.

We’ve all seen examples of copywriting in our everyday lives. For example, an ad for a new car might say: “Get this great new car with leather seats and heated seats!” This message is designed to convince you that it would be beneficial for you to buy this particular model over other models on the market.

Other times, we see persuasive messages in less obvious places such as on product packaging or ads on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. 

You might have noticed that when companies need help promoting the products they often hire professional copywriters who know how best to get across their message without being too distracting from what they’re trying to sell and without being too boring either!

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How Can You Hone Your Copywriting Skills?

The best way to learn is by reading, and there’s no shortage of content available on the subject.

Read a lot of good copy. The best way to improve your writing skills is to read great writing. So go ahead and read some of the following:

Read a lot of bad copy. Reverse osmosis is how you learn what not to do as much as how you learn what you should do in your writing! So go ahead and read some of this stuff too:

Study the best copywriters. If you want to become an expert at anything, it helps if other experts have done exactly what it is that you want / need / crave for yourself to get better at something new or different from where you currently are now (or even worse). 

There are many great resources out there that have been written by some pretty amazing people who take advantage!

What Kinds Of Copywriting Are There?

Copywriting is the art of writing persuasive content. It’s a form of marketing that can be used to sell products or services, but it also has other applications. For example, copywriting can be used to promote a product or service like when you’ve got an amazing new item on offer and you want everyone around the world to know about it.

Another use case would be if you were trying to get someone else’s attention: maybe they’re a busy CEO who doesn’t have time to read blog posts in their entirety; so instead, your message could be broken down into bite-sized chunks that present key points and then leave them wanting more information. 

This is often referred to as an “introduction,” which usually comes at the start of an article (and appears like this). Finally, there are cases where copywriting is not necessarily meant for anyone else at all for instance when companies write for themselves internally!

When it comes to writing persuasive content, the principles of copywriting can be incredibly useful. Learn how to apply these principles to the legal field by reading our article on writing to persuade for lawyers and discover techniques to make your legal writing more compelling.

How Do You Start Writing Good Copy?

You have a great headline and a compelling message. Now is the time to start writing your copy. The first step is to create an outline of all the information that you want to include in your copy, then fill in each section with sentences that flow together and make sense. 

This can be quite challenging, especially if English isn’t your native language or you’ve never written anything professionally before! Don’t worry; here are some tips on how to do this:

Use conversational tone Instead of using formal language, try using more conversational phrases like “you” instead of “one” or “it” (e.g., “Want more customers?” vs “One wishes for more customers.”). This makes it easier for readers who aren’t familiar with writing styles used by marketers or business professionals!

Avoid passive voice-This means writing in such a way so as not to emphasize an object which receives action but rather emphasizes doing something through someone else’s effort (e.g., “Our phones have been stolen” vs “Someone stole our phones.”)

Be concise but clear-Short sentences work well because they’re easier to understand than long ones (e.g., “Do you love ice cream?” vs “Do you love iced desserts?”). However, if there’s too much information left out from one sentence then it will make sense only after reading several paragraphs so aim for a balance between brevity and clarity!

Why Does A Brand Need A Voice?

A strong voice is what makes your brand stand out and have a unique identity. It also helps you build trust with customers, which is crucial because people are more likely to purchase from a company they trust. When you have a consistent tone of voice across all of your marketing materials, it strengthens the image that customers already have of your brand.

It can be difficult for non-writers to understand the importance of copywriting it might seem like nothing more than words on paper (or screen). But if you want more sales, don’t underestimate the power behind these simple sentences!

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How Can You Find Your Brand’s Voice?

Your company’s audience will tell you who they are and what they want if you just listen. Listen to your customers, listen to your competitors, and listen to your employees and their customers. Then speak accordingly. If you’re not sure where or how to start listening, there are plenty of tools out there that can help:

Listening tools like Google Analytics allow businesses to understand where their website traffic is coming from (and why). These reports also show which pages on a website get the most visits and whether people find them through paid ads or organically based keywords.

Social media listening software such as Hootsuite allows users access to all of the conversations happening around brands on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter without having to be logged into each platform separately. 

This makes it easy for non-marketers within an organization who may not have experienced using social media before but do want access at their fingertips when necessary!

How Do You Know If Your Brand Has The Right Voice?

If you’re not sure your brand has the right voice, try this quick test.

First, read through some of your content. Are the words conversational? Does it sound like a real person wrote it? Do you find yourself skimming over sections that feel too formal or technical? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then chances are good that your brand’s voice needs improvement.

Next, take another look at all the copy across all channels: website, social media posts, and emails (including newsletters). Does the tone feel consistent throughout? If not, which pieces are strongest and why? 

Finally and most importantly is anyone engaging with any of it besides yourself (and maybe a few other people)? If so… congratulations! You might just have found what we call “the perfect pitch” for your business or organization!

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What Is the Tone Of Voice And Why Does It Matter?

If you’re a copywriter, you’ve probably heard the term “tone of voice.” But if you’re not, let’s start with the basics:

The tone of voice is what makes your brand feel like home to your customers. It’s the personality of your brand and it tells a story about who you are as an organization. Your tone of voice can come across in everything from social media posts to product descriptions on Amazon. 

But most importantly, it’s how people experience you and that experience can make or break whether they become loyal customers who love buying from your company again and again.

The Difference Between Tone And Voice

The difference between tone and voice is a bit like the difference between attitude and personality. The tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject matter, while the voice is the character of your brand.

Voice refers to how you communicate with customers, what kinds of words you use, and even how you format your copy (bolded text, for example). It can be said that it’s everything about how someone perceives an interaction with you or your brand that isn’t directly related to its functionality and so it shouldn’t be confused with message or content.

The tone is best described as an overall mood in which all messaging takes place. If voice represents who we are as individuals (or brands), then tone represents how we feel about our relationships with others (or customers). 

For instance: I speak differently when interacting with my husband versus when talking with my colleagues; I write differently when working on press releases than I do when blogging about marketing trends, and these different styles all reflect different attitudes towards both audiences as well as topics being discussed even if those topics are identical!

How Do You Choose The Right Tone Of Voice For Your Brand?

The first step in creating a tone of voice is knowing who you’re talking to. That sounds simple, but it’s not always easy. You have to be able to identify the most important person on your team: the customer.

It’s easy to forget that behind every brand are real people with real needs and desires and if you don’t understand what those needs and desires are, then how can you speak directly to them?

How do we go about uncovering these insights? We begin by asking ourselves questions:

What is my audience’s personality like?

What are their values?

How does my brand measure up against their expectations?

What are my goals for this project or campaign?

Why am I doing this project/campaign in the first place (and what do I hope it will accomplish)?

What are the best ways to come up with creative ideas for marketing messages?

Copywriting skills are valuable beyond marketing, even for non-writers. Explore our comprehensive guide on copywriting for the non-writer to grasp the fundamentals of persuasive writing, allowing you to communicate effectively and persuasively in various contexts.

There Are Many Ways To Come Up With Creative Ideas For Your Marketing Messages

Brainstorming

Asking questions

Mapping out ideas

Using your own experiences or expertise as a starting point for new ideas, then adapting them to fit your target audience’s needs and interests. For example: “What’s something I love that would appeal to my target audience?

How can I make this idea more relevant?” “Can I find a way to incorporate the latest news or trends into this idea?” This is called reverse engineering taking an existing concept and making it even better by focusing on how it applies specifically to your audience.

What Are Creative Brief Templates And How To Write One?

A creative brief is essentially a document that details what you want to accomplish with your content and how you want it to look. This will help you make sure that whatever writer you hire gets the right information so that they can create something that fits your brand personality and style guidelines.

A Good Creative Brief Template Will Include The Following

What are the goals of the project? Why do we need this piece of content? What will its purpose be?

Who is our audience? Where do they come from, where do they go after this piece of content, etc.?

What are our objectives with this project? How does it tie into our overall strategy/brand story/etc.?

What tone do we want to use for this piece of writing—is there anything specific we should avoid saying or doing here?

Why Do Research Before Writing Content?

Before you even start writing your copy, you must do research. Why? Because research is the key to creating content that is relevant to your audience.

Researching helps you understand the problem your audience is facing and how they’re feeling about it. It also helps you understand the solution they are looking for the way out of their problem or challenge and how they want to feel after reading your copy. 

Research gives insight into the language they use and what terms and styles resonate with them most strongly (this part might require some intuition as well).

If there’s anything I’ve learned from my study of psychology and human behavior, it’s this: 

People are creatures who respond best when we acknowledge them as individuals with unique needs, wants, desires, fears, etc., instead of lumping them all into an undifferentiated mass called “the market” or “our target audience” just because we need some kind of shorthand so we don’t have to think too hard about who exactly our readership consists of!

How Much Research Should You Do Before Creating Content?

If you’re creating content for your company, you should always do as much research as possible.

Research can help you understand your audience and what they want to learn about. It can also help you determine the right tone of voice for your messaging, which will help keep them engaged.

And if that weren’t enough, the more research you do the more likely it is that all of those elements will fall into place naturally you won’t need to artificially make things work or force them into place at all.

In other words, doing your research upfront saves time and effort in the long run (and makes life easier).

The Importance Of Making An Outline Before Writing

When you come up with an idea for a piece of content, whether it’s for your blog or another piece of writing you need to do, the first thing you should do is an outline. An outline is simply a list of the most important points you want to cover. Almost every great piece of content I’ve ever read was written as if it were just one big outline.

If you’re going to write anything over 1000 words long (and especially if it’s going to be longer than that), outlining will help ensure that the main points are easy-to-find and well organized. This makes your copy easier for readers to follow and understand, which helps increase engagement and conversions two things every business owner cares about!

A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating An Outline

The first step to creating an outline is to write down the purpose of your copy. The reason you are writing it. For example, “to get people to subscribe to my email list” or “to get people to buy my product/service”.

The next step is to create a list of all the benefits that come with subscribing or purchasing your product/service. This will help you determine what points you should include in your copy and how much space each point should take up on the page (I’ll go into more detail about this later).

You can use bullet points or any other kind of format that works for you. For example:

Subscribing means I’ll receive tips like “How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy” delivered straight into my inbox every Monday morning!

Purchasing means I’ll be able to book my travel itineraries without needing help from anyone else!

What Should A Content Marketing Strategy Include?

The content marketing strategy should include a content calendar. The calendar will be the guide that tells you what to do and when to do it. Your team needs to know how long it’ll take them to complete each task on the schedule, so they can plan accordingly. 

The calendar should also help you figure out which projects can be worked on simultaneously so that nothing falls through the cracks or is delayed unnecessarily.

A good content marketing strategy also needs a content audit. This involves measuring the effectiveness of your company’s existing content against competitors’ offerings to gain insight into where there are opportunities for improvement or where there may be room for growth if certain topics aren’t being covered well enough yet!

Another important part of constructing a solid copywriting strategy is developing an editorial calendar with key dates highlighted so everyone knows exactly when something needs to be done; this includes deadlines for editing work done by freelancers like yours truly 🙂

What Are The Most Effective Tools In Crafting Content Marketing Strategy?

But you don’t have to spend a fortune. One of the best ways to do this is by using tools that are freely available on the Internet. Google Analytics and its suite of complimentary tools can be used for monitoring the performance of your website, tracking search engine traffic and keywords, identifying site issues, and improving user experience. 

The Google Keyword Planner gives you insight into which keywords people are searching for about your business or industry, while their Autocomplete feature tells you what people are typing into the search engine box before they hit enter (as well as what they’re likely to click next). 

If you want more advanced data about trends in your field, try Buzzsumo; it helps find content that has been shared across social networks so you know what kinds of topics have gotten traction with readers in the past and which ones might also be worth pursuing as part of your strategy moving forward.

You may not realize just how useful these tools can be until after using them for a while—but once it clicks? It gets really exciting!

Takeaway Writing Successful Content Requires Preparation, Creativity, And Planning

The bottom line: preparation, research, and planning are the keys to successful content. If you plan out your content beforehand, you can be more creative when it comes time to write. 

Additionally, if you know what kind of information people want or need from you (and how they’re going to use it), it will make writing easier and more effective. When all three elements come together in harmony preparation, research/planning, and creativity you have a recipe for success!

Conclusion

Content marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to gain visibility, build trust, and earn more sales. But for your content to be effective, you need to know how to write it well. Good copywriting has the power to make or break your brand’s reputation and even drive more traffic to your website. 

By following these tips and best practices for writing copy that resonates with their audience, your business can reach new heights!

Further Reading

Guide to Copywriting in Marketing: Explore this comprehensive guide that delves into the art of copywriting in the context of marketing. Learn strategies to craft compelling messages that resonate with your audience.

Copywriting in Content Marketing: Dive into the realm of content marketing and copywriting with this insightful blog post. Discover how effective copywriting can drive engagement and conversions in your content campaigns.

Ultimate Guide to Copywriting: Neil Patel’s ultimate guide offers an in-depth understanding of copywriting techniques and principles. Enhance your writing skills and captivate your readers through persuasive content.

And here’s the “FAQs” section with questions and answers:

FAQs

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is the art of crafting written content to persuade, inform, or engage the audience. It’s commonly used in advertising, marketing, and content creation to influence readers and prompt specific actions.

How does copywriting differ from content writing?

While both involve writing, copywriting focuses on driving specific actions, such as making a purchase or signing up, through persuasive language. Content writing, on the other hand, aims to provide valuable information and educate the audience.

What are some essential copywriting techniques?

Effective copywriting involves techniques like using compelling headlines, creating a sense of urgency, addressing the audience’s pain points, and incorporating storytelling to capture attention and encourage engagement.

Can copywriting be applied to different industries?

Yes, copywriting is versatile and applicable to various industries. Whether you’re in technology, healthcare, finance, or any other field, the principles of persuasive writing can be adapted to resonate with your target audience.

How can I improve my copywriting skills?

Improving copywriting skills involves practicing regularly, studying successful copywriting examples, understanding your audience, and continually refining your ability to communicate your message succinctly and persuasively.