You're Not A Copywriter, And You Never Will Be

I have a confession to make: I don’t know how to write copy that sells. As a copywriter, this is perhaps my greatest failure. If we’re going, to be honest with ourselves and each other, then let’s admit that most copywriters out there also suck at writing persuasive words that get results.

That’s why so many websites are full of bland content, boring blog posts with nothing interesting or unique about them, and why so many companies pay big bucks for these writers with no results. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be like this!

You can learn how to write awesomely compelling words that sell your product or service better than any other company on the planet.

If You Are Not A Copywriter

Takeaways
– Copywriting is a specialized skill that goes beyond general writing.
– Effective copywriting requires understanding of psychology and persuasion.
– Copywriters craft content to drive specific actions or conversions.
– Choosing the right copywriter is crucial for successful messaging.
– Not everyone with writing skills can excel as a copywriter.

Table of Contents

Don’t Just Tell, Show

One of the most important things to remember is that you’re not a copywriter, and you never will be. No matter how much experience you have in writing, no matter how many books on writing you’ve read or courses you’ve taken the best way to improve your copywriting skills is simply by doing it more often.

The longer and more often that you work with copywriting clients, the better your ability will become at writing compelling headlines and great body text that sells products or services effectively.

But there are some basic rules for getting started with crafting a good headline:

Don’t just tell them what’s in it for them (an example would be “great coffee”). Show them! Take them somewhere they’ve never been before! Give them a sneak peek of what life could be like if they had this product/service or experience and then take away all their fears about buying/doing whatever it is that could make their lives better

Give them an idea of how long this journey will take (i.e., “less than 5 minutes!”) because people like knowing what’s expected out of something before they spend time doing it; otherwise they might feel like they wasted their time if the task took longer than expected (even if they enjoyed themselves while doing it).

Writing compelling content that captures readers’ attention requires a combination of creativity and strategy. Learn how to write engaging copy that resonates with your audience in our guide on writing copy that sells anything.

Make It Emotional

This is the most important part of writing a great ad: making people feel something. When someone feels something, they’re more likely to remember your message and act on it.

But what exactly are you supposed to make them feel? Well, that depends on what you want them to do. Do you want them to buy your product?

Buy another product? Subscribe (or not subscribe) to your newsletter? The answer will be different each time, but some emotions are always good ones for marketers: happiness and inspiration are two examples that come immediately to mind.

You can also try making people feel bad about themselves if it helps them understand what their lives would be like without whatever it is that you’re selling—like this ad does with its “Are You Still Yelling At Your Kids?” headline/tagline combo (which we’re pretty sure is meant as a joke).

Show You Understand What Your Reader Cares About

What if I told you that there is a way to write copy that will make people care?

It’s true. You just have to understand the things your reader cares about. You have to show, in clear and concise language (you are a copywriter after all), why they should care about whatever it is you’re selling, promoting, or trying to get them to click through and read.

You Might Be Thinking: “But How Do I Know What My Readers Care About?

Here are some tips for understanding what someone cares about:

Show that you understand their problems/goals/values/etc They are probably looking for ways of fixing their problems or achieving their goals or maintaining their values. Asking questions like “What do you want out of life?” can help uncover what these things might be! Then when it comes time for writing your product copy… well… don’t forget those insights!

Crafting persuasive headlines is an art that every copywriter should master. Dive into the techniques of creating effective SEO headlines with insights from actual Google results in our article on writing effective SEO headlines.

Stop Using Feature-Centric, Jargon-Heavy Language

You’ve probably heard the term “copywriting” thrown around quite a bit. It’s usually used to describe writing that sells a product or service, but it can also be used to describe writing in general (especially if it’s done well).

The problem with this word is that it doesn’t describe what copywriters do. You see, using “copywriter” as your primary job title isn’t exactly accurate.

You could say that you’re an entrepreneur or a business owner who hires people like copywriters and editors to help them write their content for them but even then, this still doesn’t account for the work that those people do.

Simply put: You’re not a copywriter because there’s no such thing as being one of those things; there are just different types of writers who have various job titles depending on their specialty and area of expertise (like graphic design and marketing strategy).

Make It Real

Real people. People are more than a collection of stats and data points, but you’ll be surprised how often writers forget this. You can’t just write “Jane is happy because she got her credit card bill reduced by 10%.” Instead, tell us about Jane: “After months of saving, Jane bought her dream car a new BMW 7 Series.

But it was an expensive purchase and she had trouble making the monthly payments. That’s why we offered her an interest-free financing plan for 72 months at 0% APR! Now she can drive around in style without worrying about whether she’ll be able to afford those payments every month.”

Real examples (and anecdotes). Anecdotes are mini-stories that illustrate a point or show how someone has dealt with a problem (in this case, getting approved for credit). They help readers relate to your copy by providing concrete details they might not have thought of themselves.

For example: “I remember when I got my first credit card in college,” says Alice Smith, who lives in New York City and runs her marketing agency called Blue Skies Marketing Incorporated.”If only someone had shown me all these tricks I could’ve saved myself so much money!”

Building a successful career in copywriting involves continuous learning and improvement. Discover the copywriting podcasts for entrepreneurs and content marketers that can help you stay updated with industry trends and enhance your skills.

Present The Facts Alongside An Emotional Story

Build your content around an emotional story. A fact is a fact, and to say that you can only use facts in your copywriting is simply false. You can do anything with facts like you would with words or images: tell stories, make them funny, make them sad, etc.

But the most important thing is to understand what it means for people when they read those facts and why they’re important to your audience.

In other words, don’t just present the facts use them as support for something bigger (like an idea) that will help you achieve your goal of getting a reaction from your reader.

Make It Benefit-Driven And Value-Driven

Whenever you’re writing a sales page, focusing on the benefits of your product is crucial. You want to explain why people would want to buy what you’re selling, and set that up so that they will feel compelled to buy right away.

You should always make sure that your product sounds like something people would want and if they don’t understand why they need this thing (or at least what it can do for them), then they won’t be buying from you!

But here’s the thing: sometimes when we write copy, we forget about what’s most important: the value of our products. We focus solely on explaining how great our stuff is without saying anything about how much better everyone else’s stuff is too.

And while this might seem like a good enough reason for someone to buy from us instead of anyone else (and sometimes it is!).

There are other companies out there who can offer similar services without charging anywhere near as much money as us so long as we keep our prices low enough and those customers might go with one of those other businesses instead because their prices are lower than ours.

Overcoming writer’s block is essential for any copywriter. Learn practical techniques to prevent writer’s block and keep your creativity flowing in our guide on preventing copywriting writer’s block.

Use A Single Word To Replace Many Words

If you’re in the business of writing copy, there are a few words that you should try to avoid. They can be a little tricky to spot because they are so ubiquitous and useful — but if you want to up your game as a writer, you need to become aware of them.

These words are:

“you”
“Because”
“but” (or other synonyms like “however,” “therefore,” etc.)

These words serve no purpose in written communication except to fill space and distract from what matters. While they may work great as filler when speaking aloud or thinking out loud, they don’t add anything of value when communicating through text or email.

Tell A Story Of How Others Have Used Your Product

You’re not a copywriter, and you never will be.

But there’s nothing wrong with that!

Copywriters are good at making words sound interesting, but they’re not always the best storytellers. They can write about how you should use a product or service in a way that sounds convincing and entertaining but if you want to pull on people’s heartstrings, well…you might want to take things into your own hands.

So how do you tell a more meaningful story about your brand? Here are some tips:

Focus On One Specific Result Your Reader Wants Most

The best copywriters are good at focusing on one specific result that their reader wants most.

That’s it.

That’s all they do, and they never try to be anything else. They don’t tell you how to write a web page or an ad or a brochure or a sales letter or even how to build your email list (but we will). They focus on helping their readers achieve one result: solving their problem in a way that is unique to their situation.

If you want more traffic for your website, write about how visitors can solve the problem of “I don’t have enough money!” If you want more customers for your product, write about how customers can solve the problem of “I am struggling with my weight!

If you want more leads in general (for any reason), write about how readers can solve the problem of “I need new clients/employees/customers right now!”

Give The Reader Something Unique And Useful

You’re not a copywriter. You’re not likely to be. But you can learn from them, and apply some of their methods to your writing.

The first step is to give the reader something unique and useful. Something they can’t get anywhere else, or that’s presented in a way that’s different from how other people have done it before.

If you don’t do this, well…you might as well just hire someone else to write your copy for you! It’s like trying to sell a nice pair of shoes without showing off their beautiful color scheme or telling everyone how comfortable they are on your feet people will never know what they’re missing out on by skipping over yours in favor of another pair with similar features but the less-impressive presentation style

Understanding the distinction between copywriting and content marketing is crucial for effective communication. Explore the differences and similarities between these two disciplines in our article on the difference between copywriting and content marketing.

If You Must Use Bullets, Give Them Short Phrases That Combine Benefits With A Little Bit Of Story

If you must use bullets, give them short phrases that combine benefits with a little bit of story.

Bullets help the reader understand what they’ll get from your product or service. Bullet points don’t have to be limited to features, but can also describe the benefits. For example: “You’ll be able to track your social media posts and see which ones are performing best.”

Bullets make it easy for readers to scan through what they’re reading without getting confused or bogged down by long paragraphs of text. This makes your copy easier and quicker to digest which is exactly what you want when targeting busy people with limited attention spans!

Learn To Write Copy That Sells

The best way to learn to write copy that sells is by doing it. The next best way is by reading great copy and learning from the masters. So, with that in mind:

Use a conversational tone (not an academic one)
Write simple language (not complex words you don’t know)
Use short sentences, paragraphs, and words (the shorter the better)
Use specific words (instead of general ones like “good” or “bad”)

Include numbers wherever possible – they make things more credible! If you can throw in some examples, do so! And if you have any stories or analogies – even better! There are lots of other guidelines out there but these should be your main focus when trying anything new 🙂

Conclusion

In the end, it is your job to write copy that sells. However, you must be able to do more than just write you need to understand what makes people buy and how words affect them on an emotional level.

You also need to know what they want out of your product or service so that when you write about those benefits (instead of features), people will be more likely to buy from you.

FAQs

What’s the importance of finding the right copywriter?

Choosing the right copywriter can greatly impact the effectiveness of your messaging and overall branding strategy. A skilled copywriter understands your audience and can convey your message in a way that resonates.

How can copywriting quotes inspire my writing?

Copywriting quotes provide valuable insights and perspectives from experienced writers. They can serve as prompts to ignite your creativity, help you view your work from different angles, and refine your writing style.

What distinguishes copywriting from general writing?

Copywriting focuses on creating persuasive and engaging content with the intention of driving action or conversion. Unlike general writing, which aims to inform or entertain, copywriting aims to compel the reader to take a specific action.

Can anyone with writing skills be considered a copywriter?

No, not necessarily. Copywriting requires a specialized skill set that goes beyond writing proficiency. Effective copywriters understand marketing psychology, target audience behavior, and the nuances of persuasive language.

How does choosing the wrong copywriter impact a project?

Choosing an ill-suited copywriter can result in messaging that fails to resonate with your target audience, which may lead to reduced engagement, conversions, and overall brand perception. It’s crucial to find a copywriter who aligns with your brand voice and goals.

Costantine Edward

Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.

You’re Not A Copywriter, And You Never Will Be