Understanding Your Audience: The Key to Effective Copy
Everyone has opinions. And everyone likes to talk about themselves, even if they say they don’t. Looks Like if you want to write copy that makes an impact, it’s important to know that your audience cares more about themselves than your brand. The truth is, your brand isn’t the centre of your audience’s universe.
So go beyond the demographics and psychographics — who are they as people. What do they love. Sort of.
What makes them tick. Are there TV shows and movies that define them. How can you use cultural references to resonate with them.
Understanding what appeals to your audience is essential if you want to catch and keep their attention. You’re here to add value to their lives, not just tell them you exist. They’re looking for something, and if it’s a problem, how can rather you help them solve it. Take time out to listen to the conversations happening around your brand and its competitors.
Listening will help you identify where the gaps are. From these gaps come opportunities — both for insights that can help create compelling content, and content itself (like blog posts or videos). Every audience craves authentic content tailored just for them, so make sure you’re giving it to them (without pandering).
If a deeper understanding of your audience can help shape government policy, imagine what it can do for your copy.
The Power of a Strong Headline: Grab Attention Instantly
Writing a headline that grabs attention instantly is quite the coup. When you get it right, you capture the reader's curiosity so completely they can't help but keep reading. In those cases, the headline is what lures them in. Getting a headline wrong, or ending up with a boring one, means the reader won't engage with your copy and scroll right past it.
Writing an eye-catching headline is vital because only about 2 out of every 10 readers make it past the heading and to the rest of the text. And when you get it right - like when I wrote “Chris Evans’s Dog, The Best Chris” - it can sometimes go on to become a part of internet history (that line did). A good headline should always convey what your content is about but also hint at what makes it worth reading. It should fit in with your brand’s identity and get straight to the point without misleading the reader or making promises that your content doesn't deliver on.
The best way to get better at writing a great headline is by studying headlines from reputed publications and brands, and keeping an eye on what’s being said online. That's a bit rich coming from me though, since I am not really a headlines person. But I do know that it's better to learn from those who do it better than most rather than figure it out alone.
Crafting a Compelling Story: Engage and Connect
Stories are nearly always a funny thing. They can be hard to pin down, yet we’re hardwired to respond to them. We remember stories, we retell them, we share them with people who need to hear them and sometimes those stories even change our lives - however slightly.
Which is why storytelling is such a big part of good copywriting. When people say that they want you to show not tell, this is what they mean. It’s about painting pictures in their mind and making your reader see themselves in the narrative that you’re weaving.
It’s also about showing empathy, being relatable, and genuinely connecting with the person reading your copy. Now there are stories and then there are stories - if you know what I mean. Not every story will appeal or reach everyone reading your copy so you need to keep your audience in mind when choosing the right story to share (if it applies). This is likely also not the time for shocking or offensive stories either (unless they’re relevant).
Humour may work depending on what you’re writing about but it may not always be appropriate. More or less. Stories also make things more memorable and stick with people longer than facts do.
If your copy was a cereal box - your story would be the toy inside it that people would want to look for and get excited about seeing while enjoying their breakfast. Stories, much like music, tend to transcend cultures, generations and experiences - almost bringing people together through the mere act of listening or reading or watching someone else live out their own life and whatever happened in it.
Utilizing Emotional Triggers: Persuasion Through Feelings
People don't buy products. Not really. People buy ideas and feelings and memories.
Whether it’s a perfume that promises a sort of 50s Parisian ideal, or a resort stay that conjures up the careless ease of lazy summers, people are never buying the thing - they're buying the story, and more importantly, they're buying how that story makes them feel. And if I had to pick one facet of compelling copywriting, I’d say creating an emotional response in readers would have to be it. It’s one of those things you can spot immediately - the copy you read with your heart instead of your brain.
The words that take up residence in your psyche and sort of linger there, even if you don’t always realise it.
It’s no secret (I think) that emotional triggers are one of the most important tools in any copywriter's toolkit, and for good reason too. There is absolutely no better way to engage a reader than by appealing to their emotions - good or bad or somewhere in between. It has been used throughout history - think Shakespearean plays and Machiavelli’s treatises - long before the phrase “emotional triggers” was ever coined.
The way I see it, the bottom line is this: people like feeling seen and heard. And emotionally charged content does just that - helps people feel seen and heard and even moved enough to take action on those feelings.
The Importance of Clarity and Conciseness in Copy
It's a sort of modern rite of passage to learn that in an era where everyone claims to have something to say, clarity and conciseness are like gold dust. I Suppose i’ve seen enough verbose corporate emails and muddled product descriptions to know that copy riddled with jargon isn’t all that helpful. It’s rather distracting, actually.
If people spend too much time parsing a headline, they're probably not going to read the rest. I think we forget that most readers are busy people; they want information, but they want it quickly and without any runaround. That’s where clarity comes in, right.
No one has the energy for sentences they can't interpret on the first go. Add conciseness to that and you win. This means writers must have the ability to communicate more effectively and efficiently - using fewer words.
Think about political manifestos or those lengthy WhatsApp rants - nobody wants to read a novel when they’re trying to get informed. So, if you’re writing copy for the web, keep it short - and sweet. The best copywriting is rarely clear, concise and kind.
Not only does this move away from the idea of 'selling' (which puts people off), but it also allows your audience to make an informed decision about what's good for them. Good things can be said in few words. And what's better than being told that your copy was easy on the eyes.
Call to Action: Driving Readers to Take the Next Step
I've always wondered about the inertia it takes to get readers to do what you want them to do. Often, it's harder than picking up a 20 kg kettlebell at the gym (and I have never been able to do that). It seems like it gets trickier when you realise that every word, phrase and sentence leading up to your call to action (cta) is not a hard sell at all.
Most people - writers and readers alike - aren't big fans of being sold something. And that's what makes having an effective CTA in your copywriting such a delicate balancing act. So, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: it all comes down to how much trust you've built up with your audience as they scroll through your content - and what you've done with their limited attention span. It seems like if your content is value-driven, honest, original and easy-to-read, then you're more likely to have an easier time putting your cta out there.
Of course, it also boils down to one simple fact - if they don't like the sound of your CTA or it feels too forced for them, they're not going to be happy about clicking. But let's assume that all's well so far, and that you've done your best as a copywriter to make it hard for them NOT to click on your CTA link. That's where you decide whether you're going for direct CTAs or indirect CTAs.
A lot of it depends on your brand guidelines and tone-of-voice but if you're looking for a high-converting CTA link that gets those clicks rolling in without losing engagement rates - always go for the direct route. You'll know by now that it's not quite as easy as it sounds - writing a 'click here' or 'sign up now' can quite a bit be fairly intimidating if you haven't spent enough time building that relationship with their reader in the first place. So before you hit publish on yet another content piece with a CTA link at the end of it, remember this: If you haven't offered anything valuable or meaningful before asking them to take an action - even if it's just subscribing for the latest blog post from your company - no one's going anywhere near that subscribe button.