The Only 5 Tips You Need To Getting Content Right
This is it. This is all you need to start writing great copy.
THE GOAL
You'd be surprised how often people don't think about the actual goal of their writing. Marketers have a habit of diving into the content without a clear goal in sight.
"Start at the end. You can't write compelling copy if you don't know the goal of your content. Each paragraph and each sentence should contribute to achieving that goal."
HENNEK DUISTERMAAT
You wouldn't plan a holiday without choosing a destination, would you? That destination is your goal. Athletes, artists, even mathematicians need a plan to become better at what they do. With yours eyes on the prizes, you can stay focused and ready.
2. THE PROCESS
Before writing a single word, ask the following questions:
What do you want your reader to KNOW?
What do you want your reader to FEEL?
What do you want your reader to DO?
This process helps get a clearer picture of the intentions.
What do you want your reader to KNOW?
Your reader is more likely to hang around and pay attention to you if you stick to just one idea. Don’t share more than that or you risk your copy being unclear and confusing. So, pick ONE big idea that you want your reader to take away from your copy.
What do you want your reader to know?
“We’re running a training course on how to launch your creative career”
“We’re launching a gaming event and the winner gets a cash reward”
“Switch now and get 6 months free”
What do you want your reader to FEEL?
After you’ve clarified what you want your reader to know, you can dig deeper and identify how you want them to feel. We want to stir something in them that goes beyond logic and evokes deep down emotions, because these are what fuel action.
And choosing that feeling, means you can shape your copy to make it happen.
Maybe you want people to feel curious. Let’s say you’re trying to get people to come to your launch event.. You can try to stoke their curiosity... so you could open with a “What if?” question.
“What if you could map out your entire business plan, on one sheet of paper?”
Or maybe you might want them to be excited... so they’re fired up to buy from you.
Let’s say you're selling coaching for public speaking.
You could paint a picture of what someone's life would be like after being coached by you...
“Imagine closing your speech to a standing ovation.” That will make you feel excited, right?
What do you want your reader to DO?
Finally, you have to decide what you want your reader to DO after reading your copy.
This is your call to action and it’s where a lot of copywriters fall short. They forget that you if you leave someone hanging after reading your copy, they’ll go elsewhere. And that means your copy hasn't completely succeeded at its goal.
Begin by starting with the phrase “I want to...” and then finish that sentence. That finished part would be a clear indication of what the call-to-action is.
Always have a call to action for everything you write and don’t assume your reader already knows what to do.
3. THE HERO
“People aren’t interested in you. They’re interested in themselves”
DALE CARNEGIE
You’re not the hero in the story. You may be providing a service but your customers are the ones benefiting from it, and frankly without them your services wouldn’t be required. This is a fatal mistake many brands make. Many leaders want to prove themselves so they position themselves as the hero and that only sets them up for failure. If you show customers that you care about their needs they’ll be more likely to trust you, but more importantly market for you by sharing their experiences.
“Heroes are often ill-equipped and filled with self-doubt. They don’t know if they have what it takes. They are often reluctant, being thrown into the story rather than willingly engaging the plot. The guide, however, has already ‘been there and done that” and has conquered the hero’s challenge in their own backstory.”
DONALD MILLER, BUILDING A STORY BRAND
Be the guide and the authority they can trust. When you remember that your brand will also be valued and remembered.
4. THE AUDIENCE
Let’s go beyond the standard demographics of age, gender and job title to understand your customer.
What we need to do here is step into his/her world. What are his/her challenges and pain points? What are his/her dreams and goals, in life and work? The answers will help you understand what motivates him/her to choose your products. So here are three sneaky tactics you can use to get hold of this information.
1.) People use social media as a forum to gripe about problems they’re having, to boast about successes and swap knowledge. So go to social networks like (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Reddit etc) and run a search for your target audience.
What are people talking about? What do they like/dislike about products or services like yours?
Delve into groups, listen in and follow relevant hashtags and you’ll get an instant window into the minds of your customers, and what they truly want from you.
2.) Check out review sites like Amazon for unfiltered and unbiased comments about products similar to yours. Scroll through the comments on industry blog posts, YouTube videos and articles.
What are people’s challenges and expectations? What they do love or hate about your product? What do they want more or less of?
These are the things you need to address in your copy.
3.) My third and final tip is to actually go and talk to people. Your sales team, your colleagues and of course your customers. What type of questions are people asking? Can you see any patterns or recurring themes in those questions? Have a genuine interest to really get under the hood. As you’re doing your research, make a note of all the memorable messages you come across, using the EXACT words and phrases of your customers.
Not only will this make your writing more vivid, but it’ll help to gain your readers respect. They don’t want to be spoken to in marketing language, they want to spoken to like real people.
5. THE CONTENT
Write like you speak.
Imagine you're at a cafe, enjoying a matcha and chatting with a good friend.
You've just taken on a new client and you're explaining what they do. Would you say this...
“Cool Name Co's drag and drop website builder utilizes an integrated e- commerce platform and responsive themes, allowing users to create an optimal viewing experience, without any technical knowledge.”
Most probably not because nobody talks like that! Your friend will tune you out before you finish. So why do we write like that and expect readers to listen?
SERIOUSLY??
As soon as people touch their keyboard, they start sounding completely unnatural. Like robots.
Which makes their copy hard for people to read. And when that happens your readers lose interest and your copy becomes useless at selling anything. The simple trick?
Write like you’re actually in that coffee shop with your friend.
Writing in a conversational tone changes everything. And it’s the only way you’re going to get people to read and absorb what you’re saying.
So forget everything you were taught at school and write like you speak.Because when you do, your writing will be more interesting and you’re gonna be 95% ahead of most copywriters. So keep it casual, even if you’re selling B2B products! Let’s retell the story of Cool Name Co.
“With Cool Name Co’s drag and drop website builder, you can build beautiful responsive websites and online stores, in minutes. No coding required.”
We’ve just made the copy more compelling. By making it more conversational, it sounds less robotic, and more like you’re talking to a human being. In a nutshell, conversational copy boosts conversions.
How can you make it more conversational, you ask?
That’s an entirely different lesson, but I’ll give you quick tips that will help.
Write for one person. This makes the reader feel special like you’re addressing them personally.
Use simple language. The standard is to write like a 7th grader. If they have to decode your language then they’re not absorbing what you’re trying to tell them.
Ask questions. Posing questions helps your reader connect and process the copy more intently.
Use short sentences and phrases. Break long sentences into parts to make it easier for the reader to grasp. And you can start your sentences with and, but, or because.
Use contractions. We don’t say ‘we are’ or “I will” or ‘he is’ when we speak. You’ll sound more human when write it the way you say it: we’re, I’ll, he’s.
