What is copywriting?

Copywriting is the practice of writing text for marketing purposes. It is intended to sell your products or services while advocating for your brand.

The rationale of copywriting is to lure or persuade people to take a particular action. This action can be to make a purchase, download an ebook, sign up for newsletter, or any other type of conversion.

Copywriting comes in many different forms — social media posts, writing web pages, crafting advertisement messages, designing flyers, brochures, or any other form of content that is geared at swelling the ROI of the said business.

One thing we must note is that copywriting is much more than just mere words. A successful copy tells a compelling story and represents your brand identity. It pulls on the strings in the minds of your prospects that trigger them to engage in a decision-making process for whatever they read about your business.

But, what really makes a great copy? You are right. Read on…

10 Undisputable Elements of the Most Persuasive Copy

1. Grammatically sound

No one is perfect in this world, that is a fact. But if your ad has significant spelling or grammatical errors, then there is a problem. When people discover an error on a copy, especially short form copy, it gives them a negative perception of the brand, product or service.

The main issue here is that never make an error when spelling a world that is fundamental in your brand or business. For example, imagine a graphic design ad flyer with a heading like this:

Graphics Designing Master Class.
Instead of: Graphic Design Master Class.

This is a great blow, especially to someone who has had some previous knowledge about graphic design.

2. Persuasion

A great copy is persuasive. You must write in a way that convinces someone to complete the desired action. They must be moved emotionally.

Why should someone buy your product? Why should I sign up for a newsletter? Why should I visit your physical store? Why should I like your page?

Don’t tell someone in an ad to stop smoking; tell them to adopt practices that will keep their liver and lungs safe, and also prevent them from stroke and heart attack. Likewise, you don’t sell insurance; you sell protection.

Let’s change our wordings in writing to our prospects. That will increase conversion. Read more about The 3 Key Steps to Get As Many Clients As You want.

3. Jargon-free

Leave industry-specific terms out of your ad copy.

If you’re a doctor, someone out of a medical field should be able to understand when you communicate. Avoid industry related jargons.

For example, a doctor announcing to an audience to attend a free medical consultation on bronchitis will make no sense to a common man. We know us but cough ohh. Lol.

Great copywriters know how to take a complex subject and explain it in terms that an ordinary person can understand. Adopt such practices.

4. Strong call-to-action

Explaining your brand products, services or company mission is just half of the battle.

You also need to leave your audience with a clear direction of action or what desired action you want them to take.

Every piece of advertisement must have an ultimate goal and it should be clear to whoever is reading it.

No prospect should be frustrated after reading your copy or your advertisement, and not know the action you want them to take.

Call-to-action (CTA) should be precise and specific.

Don’t even leave a sign of contemplation in their minds. You will lose them immediately.

At the end of this post, you will find my offer for a free consultation call for your business.

5. Direct

A great copy is straight to the point. You must be able to convey your message in a few words as possible. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, and avoid leaving your audience to do the summary for you.

If a copy is not exceptionally interesting, most users will leave it half way if they can’t clearly figure out that it is all about.

I am not saying that long copies are bad. Let there be a reason for that.

6. Captivating lead

One of the strongest traits of a copywriter is the ability to create a stunning lead. From headline, sub headline, introductory sentences, you need to grab the readers by the throat. if you are still reading this, then I have grabbed you already. Lol… don’t mind me.

Use action words, numbers, enticing facts, where possible.

Remember, the purpose of a headline is to get someone to read your opening lines, and the purpose of your opening lines is to get them to read the next paragraphs, and next and next.

Example: which of these headlines will you be attracted to?

• How to Completely Eliminate Belly Fat Without Giving up on the Foods you Love — Within 21 days or less!

• The Best Way to Cut Belly Fat

Think about it. You get it, right? Okay, let’s move on.

7. Channel specific

Each piece of copy you write can’t necessarily be re-used on every marketing channel or platform. A flyer should have different copy from a billboard. Emails should have different copy from a social media post. Instagram copy should be different from Facebook.

Even if you are promoting the same exact product, you need to write uniquely for every advertisement or distribution channel, depending on its mood of consumption.

So, the tone, style, length, and delivery factors should be considered here.

Example, YouTube is better with videos, Facebook better with longer text and images, videos, Instagram better with images, videos and very short text, TikTok better with videos, etc.

8. Audience awareness

In addition to the distribution method, you need to have a clear understanding of who will be reading your copy.

A person on your landing page may not be familiar with your brand, whereas an email subscriber already knows who you are. So you won’t necessarily have to introduce yourself and share your brand story in every email campaign. That’s a waste of valuable text, and with the repetitive nature you can easily lose the attention of your audience.

Summarily, create copy that is appealing to your specific audience at a particular stage of the customer acquisition chain. Don’t try to target everyone at a time.

9. Clear understanding of the offering

It’s a common mistake for copywriters to dive directly into the writing process. But you shouldn’t start writing a single word until you have a firm grasp of the product, service, brand, or offer that your ad is addressing.

Let’s say you are a freelancer that has been hired by MTN Cameroon to create marketing content for their new internet tariff plan, unlike any other. Depending on the complexity of the offering, it could take you hours or days before you would even consider writing anything.

If you don’t have a clear understanding of the offer, it’s impossible for you to convey that message to another person.

10. SEO friendly

This element is exclusive to website copy.

It’s always in your best interest to write text that makes your content search-friendly. Use keywords that will help your pages rank high in SERPs (search engine page results).