What is copywriting? Why the need for copywriters? How will you become one of the best copywriters? Not to confuse with “copyrighting”, which is proving creative ownership over an intellectual material, copywriting is a very tricky job. You have to be a content writer, an editor, a business writer, a researcher and many other genres all rolled into one. Given the seriousness of this job, it requires a great ability to think out of the box and not just settle for whatever is placed on your lap. Here are some tips on how to improve your copywriting skills.
1. Make sure the topic is clear to you
For every material, it is important that you stay on your topic and never stray. You can only do so if you clearly understand what you’re writing about. If you do, you can go ahead and look around for other information related to the topic. This is a very important prerequisite to researching about what you’re going to write. You can’t find anything if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
2. Be straight to the point
You have to make your material very easy to read. Using a lot of adjectives will make you sound like you’re beating around the bush. We don’t want that. Just be specific and go straight to the point so your audience will easily remember what you’re talking about. Don’t generalize either as it will just make you sound vague and distant. The secret to engaging material is for you to communicate, not discuss. There is a world of difference between the two. When you communicate, you focus on the benefits of what you’re trying sell to your audience. When you discuss, you focus only on the features of your products.
3. The simpler the better
Don’t try to sound too academic. Highfalutin words are definitely a big no-no. The simpler your words and terminologies are, the wider audience you’re going to reach. You want people to understand what you’re writing about; otherwise you won’t be able to market anything. For example, your copywriting topic is about smartphones. Surely there will be technical terms needed to describe what you’re trying to sell. But make sure you back it up with simple, easy to understand terms.
4. Get to know your target market
David Ogily is an advertising legend that said: “The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.” That is how intimately you should be able to get to know your target market, the one you’re copywriting for. What do they need? Which areas do they lack for which you have the very thing to fill? Identify their pains, their struggles and their disappointments. If you are able to do this, then you can push for what you have and what your product can do to ease their pains.
5. Rate yourself
The only way to determine how good you fared in your task, is by leaving your finished work for a few moments, maybe an hour if you still got time, and come back to it with fresh eyes. Read your work like it is someone else’s work. Look for flaws, be mean and severe when criticizing what you’re reviewing as if you are about to fire someone. It will help you edit your own work effectively and improve it some more.
Image credit: Alexander Parker on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0