Traditionally, businesses have stepped back from the arduous task of copywriting their materials and left it up to…well…the copywriters! If you’re a person who really hates to write, you really can’t blame them for that. Not everyone was born to be a writer. With the right amount of information and a little bit of effort, however, everyone can be an effective copywriter.
- You don’t have to be a writer to write.
Before everyone out there spending their nights working on the Next Great American Novel goes up in arms, let me point out I said “effective copywriter”, not brilliant author who’s going to make millions the moment your manuscript goes to print. If you’re looking for someone to re-create a masterpiece and write a guidebook to the industry with your company’s name on it, you might want to call in a writer. On the other hand, if you’re working on creating a script for your direct marketing materials you’ve already got all the writing skills you need to make it work.
Here’s how:
1) Identify your customers’ weak spots. What do you have that they don’t-but they ought to? Think of that “something” as the topic, and your assignment is to tell them why they want it and how you’re going to give it to them.
2) Prewrite. Seriously. It’s tempting to put your pen to paper and just let your thoughts come tumbling out, but you (and your accountant) will be a lot happier if you take the time to put those thoughts into some kind of order first. Make a bulleted list of points you want to talk about, then shift them around so you have a definitive outline to work from.
3) Write. Now that you have your outline, it’s time to write it all down. Explain each point carefully, and make sure your custo
mers are both interested and entertained. Remember, if it makes sense, and they can relate it to their life, you’re in. If it sounds like a bunch of professional drivel, full of jargon and uninteresting points they don’t have a prayer of understanding, you just wasted your time.
4) Trim it down. Ask an author about the secrets of copywriting and the first thing they’ll tell you is to get rid of the parentheses and eliminate the word “and”. We always, always ramble when we first start copywriting on a project, because we have so much to say and so little time to say it. There’s a reason editing was invented! If they don’t need to know it, take it out. If it’s off-topic, take it out. If it doesn’t really fit, take it out. Ideally, you’ll have about one-half to two-thirds the amount of content you started with, and your content will be ready to roll!