1. People dont care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
When people feel that we are on their side, they become more open to what we have to say and offer. This makes perfect sense and has been expounded to death at personal development, motivational, networking, counselling workshops, you name it!
But how do we apply this to copywriting? How can a copywriter make a reader feel that the brand/product/company care about him/her through something as lifeless and impersonal as a piece of printed text?
Compare these two headlines for a brochure selling a womens skincare product:
Headline A: How did you feel when you looked into the mirror this morning?/Had any facials lately?
Headline B: Discover the latest breakthrough formula in wrinkle prevention
Forget, for a moment, that you are the copywriter and put yourself in the readers shoes. Which headline will prompt you to read on and find out what that copy has to say?
2. Show em, dont tell em.
Many copywriting experts have harped on the importance of writing about the benefits of a product, rather than its features. For example, instead of This laptop has the latest generation processor running at XX GHz, write Download your favourite songs while watching movies online without the frustration of having to stare at characters that freeze every 3 seconds.
Can we take this one step further and SHOW the reader the benefits instead of TELLING him/her about them?
An exceptional copywriter would probably conjure up a scene where two hip-looking youngsters hanging out at a popular coffee joint are talking excitedly about the trailer of an upcoming, much-hyped over movie. They find the download link to the trailer at the WiFi-equipped caf, but while Teenager A screams gleefully at the sight of the hunky lead actor appearing on her screen, Teenager B frowns in irritation as she stares at her laptop with furrowed brows, occasionally stealing envious glances at her friends delight.
Easier to achieve this on an audio visual medium, you say? Well, great copywriting is just that using words to paint pictures and engage emotions. When a reader encounters a great copy, words translate into a mental audio visual and give him/her a mental multimedia experience that tugs at her heart strings.
And when a message leads the reader to arrive at the intended conclusion on his/her own, it becomes all the more powerful.
3. Write to express, not to impress.
Quality copywriting is not about stringing bombastic words into intellectual sounding sentences. A market-savvy copywriter understands that a persuasive copy is one that reaches out to the reader on a personal level, that above all, it cares about getting the message across to the reader in a way that he/she can identify with.
True copywriters put themselves into the target audiences shoes, and get the message across from the latters perspective. And when the readers feel that they are connecting with you, they are more likely to read to the end, and be compelled to take action. Thats what great copywriting is about one that compels the reader to take the desired action.