Your ultimate guide to successful copywriting in 2024
Copywriting is the skillful blend of persuasive writing that drives people to act. Whether selling products, generating leads or building company awareness, effective copy is clear, concise and directly addresses the audience’s needs. Using language that resonates with your audience is key for success.
A good copywriter can persuade potential clients to:
- Click on the provided call-to-action (CTA) button
- Follow the company’s page on social media
- Fill out an application form
- Search the links and click on them
- Enquire for more information about your product or services
Five core copywriting skills:
- Research: Knowing your audience, product and competition
- Clarity: Being able to craft a clear, concise and memorable message
- Storytelling: Crafting stories and narratives to engage readers
- Persuasion: Understanding how to influence and convince readers
- SEO writing: Optimising copy for search engine algorithms
How is copywriting different from regular writing?
Copywriting is different from regular writing because its primary goal is to persuade or sell.
Successful copywriting often follows the AIDA model – attention, interest, desire and action. This model is designed to attract the consumer’s attention, generate interest, stimulate desire and prompt action.
Interest is the most important of the four, because if a potential client goes out of their way to consume your marketing, it will lead to more sales.
What is the right length of copy?
Think about your intentions and target audience. Then you will be able to decide what message you want to convey and whether it should be in the form of a blog, tweet, LinkedIn post, video, Facebook live video or Instagram story.
You can also decide the length of your content by deciding what you want someone to do after watching, reading and listening to your content. It is up to you what and how you want to present your sales copy in front of a targeted prospect.
Ensure you use a strong CTA in which you invite potential clients to buy your product or contact you.
How to write amazing headlines
Be specific
Your headline writing needs to be specific: it should tell your potential client exactly what they’re going to get.
For example, “Twelve key steps in applying for a home loan”.
Use a number
Numbers force you to write specific headlines.
For example, here is a headline without numbers: “Tax time is coming”. This is the same headline with numbers: “Five deductions you might be able to claim at tax time”.
The headline is now more specific, and therefore compelling.
Use the fear of missing out
FOMO (fear of missing out) can make your headlines more powerful.
While it doesn’t work for every situation, if you can use FOMO you should because it triggers a strong emotion in your potential clients – an emotion that makes them want to hear what you have to say.
Answer “What’s in it for me?”
You want to write headlines that are all about your customer. In other words, your headline should answer the question in your customer’s mind: “What’s in it for me?”
can help craft high quality headlines for your blogs, webpages and ebooks.
Master the lede or introduction
The lede is generally just as important as your headline and sometimes more so.
That’s because your potential client uses the first few lines of your copy to decide whether or not to keep reading. And if you lose them here, you’ve lost them for good.
Here are simple strategies that you can use to write compelling introductions:
- Start with a hook: The first sentence needs to immediately attract people’s attention and inspire them to keep reading
- Complement the headline: The introduction should tie in with the headline, so the writing feels coherent.
- Write eight lines or less: Whether it’s a blog post, video script, sales page or email newsletter, you want your lede to be short – no more than eight lines – so it’s punchy and attention-grabbing
Seven key steps to writing compelling copy
1. Mirror your client’s language for a stronger connection
What good is your copywriting research if you don’t use it to write your copy? Use terminology your clients have used in reviews, interviews or surveys. Using the same vocabulary builds rapport.
For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you might notice that when clients leave testimonials for you, they generally use simple, direct language; and when you do listing presentations, they often mention how keen they are to be kept in the loop during the sales process. So, when writing website copy and content marketing, you might decide to:
- Use plain English, rather than property terminology or corporate jargon
- Highlight your strong communications skills and outline the process you follow
Mirroring helps create a sense of similarity and fosters trust. When clients feel that you understand them, they are more likely to trust your expertise and advice.
2. Focus on selling benefits
It’s hard to avoid the trap of shouting about the features of your products/services. However, most purchases are emotionally-driven. Distil quick facts that clients care about – using icons, badges or bullet-points – and then focus on the benefits of your products/services.
3. Publish reviews
Including testimonials from happy clients on your website makes a potential client trust you and your products/services more.
4. Avoid overused words and phrases
Words such as “world-class”, “market-leading” and “innovative” are used so often that they’ve lost much of their impact. Instead, opt for concrete and meaningful language.
For example, a real estate agent might say they use “highly creative marketing campaigns” to attract more buyer interest and provide specific case studies to prove their claim.
5. Use adjectives sparingly
Adjectives are useful in moderation, but too many makes a piece of content hard to read.
6. Weave stories into your content writing
When potential clients read stories, they forget they’re being sold something. Any pre-existing barriers to your sales messages go down and your content becomes more engaging and persuasive.
7. Embrace a strong point of view
Great copy can often change the way people think about a specific idea or problem, along with what role your product or service plays in the solution.
To connect with readers, include a dash of personality and exclude corporate jargon for a conversational tone that resonates with your audience.
specialise in writing content for property and finance professionals.
7. Voice search
With evolving technology, online search methods are changing. Voice search optimisation, a variant of SEO, targets making your website compatible with searches made through smart speakers and smartphone voice technology.
In voice searches, the voice assistant usually presents the featured snippet as the answer. This snippet is the info in the box at the top of the results page on Google.
8. Video marketing
Video is a growing digital marketing tool that brings substantial benefits to your overall strategy.
Adding a video to a webpage boosts its chances of ranking on Google’s first page and having a video on a landing page can increase your conversion rate. When done effectively, video is highly impactful.
Conclusion
Armed with the skills to mirror your audience, sell benefits and craft engaging stories, you’re now equipped to not just communicate, but captivate. Whether it’s through attention-grabbing headlines, concise content or powerful calls-to-action, your words have the potential to reshape perceptions and drive meaningful actions.
At Sydney copywriting agency Hunter & Scribe, we firmly believe the art of storytelling can help you create a genuine connection with your audience, humanise your business and convey expertise and trustworthiness.
By crafting compelling narratives that bridge the gap between your business and your audience, our content marketing services will help you attract clients and foster lasting customer relationships. Contact us for more information.
