When you’re marketing your business online, effectively communicating the value of your offer to the right people and convincing them to buy from you is pretty important. I mean, the health of your business kind of depends on it, right?
If your products and services aren’t converting, you’ll be stuck doing a lot more marketing just to keep your business afloat.
No pressure, though. 🙄
There’s no writer’s block quite like the writer’s block you get when you’re trying to write better marketing copy. Marketing copy needs to do all the things – stand out from the crowd, attract your ideal audience, connect with them on a deeper level, and then convince them that what you have to offer is the best possible option for them.
And, if you’ve never written marketing copy before — or maybe just not very much of it — coming up with copy that’s effective in turning your audience into customers can be pretty terrifying.
But it honestly doesn’t have to be!
In this post we’re breaking down our best secrets for how to write better marketing copy – the kind that helps you stand out in a noisy marketplace, connect with your people, and sell them on your awesome business.
Follow the Rule of One
The Rule of One is a super simple concept that will revolutionize your copywriting and save you tons of time.
I know, I know. Sounds too good to be true. But it’s not. Trust me.
It’s the idea that every piece of copy you write should be ultra-focused on ONE audience, ONE objective, ONE offer, and ONE call to action. This not only brings clarity to your messaging, it also simplifies your jobs to do.
You can stop trying to convince everybody. You only need to convince the one group of people who will be most interested in what you have to offer.
You can stop trying to do all the things with your message. You only need to focus it on the one primary thing you need it to do at this specific point in time.
You can stop trying to talk about a million different things or make a million different offers. You just make one strong offer.
You can stop asking your audience to like and comment and click to shop. You just ask them to do one thing and give them a single button to click.
When you try to cram too many things into your marketing copy, it becomes confusing and overwhelming for your audience. They don’t know what to do next, so more often than not, they’ll just click away. If you focus on one thing at a time, and make sure your copy drives that one thing forward, that’s what your audience will focus on too.
When you think about your copy in this way, it’s a lot easier to make sure that you’re hitting the key points that matter. You can focus on creating a message that resonates with your people, and figure out the best way to get them to take the next step.
Tell them the value and what’s in it for them
Want to write better marketing copy that attracts your audience and turns them into raving customers? Then write your copy for your audience!
Here is where I want to make one important distinction that will change the way you think about how you write your copy.
It’s super important to talk about your business, your products, and your offer. After all, you’re trying to get people to trust your business, want your products, and take you up on your offer.
But how you talk about those things is just as important. Keep in mind that at the end of the day your marketing copy is supposed to charm and convince your audience. So even though you’re talking about your business or your products, it’s still not about you. It’s always about the customer.
Identify what’s in it for them.
What will they gain from doing business with you?
Why should they care?
How will it benefit their lives?
What are the things that matter most to them, and how does working with you impact those things?
Remember, as people, we’re all inherently a little selfish. We’re always looking out for our own best interests, right? Your audience is no different. They want to know what’s in it for them before they commit to anything.
When you’re writing your copy, always focus on the value that your customer will get from working with you. Stop talking at them about your business. Instead start engaging in a conversation with them about why what you offer is exactly the solution they’ve been looking for.
Ask for what it is you want
Let’s be honest for a sec. We’re all freaking busy. We all get inundated with tons of messages every day and get pulled in a million different directions. Ask yourself how often you read through an entire blog post, Instagram caption, website, or email.
I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s not that often. Mainly because time is something I’m perpetually in short supply of.
So hear me when I say that if people have to make time to read your content, they certainly don’t have time to guess at what you want them to do when they read it!
You want them to do something when they read your ad copy or your promotional email? Then ask, friend!
I know as business owners this can make us uncomfortable sometimes. We don’t like asking for things because it makes us feel like infomercial salesmen or the ladies on the home shopping network.
But ask yourself this:
If you really believe your product or service can better the lives of your audience and have a positive impact on them in some way, then don’t they deserve to know more about it and how to get it?
At the end of the day, the surest way to get people to do what you want is to straight up ask. Very true in marriage. Also true in your business.
You can’t expect people to read your mind. Well, you can. But you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you do.
Whatever it is you want people to do, ask for it, tell them what’s in it for them if they do it, and make it easy for them to do.
Mirror the language your audience uses
One of the easiest ways to connect with your audience is to mirror the language they use.
If you’re trying to write better marketing copy, make it a point to talk to your audience in a way that feels natural and comfortable to them. Pay attention to how they talk about your industry. Listen to how they vocalize their wants, needs, pain points, and frustrations. Then use those same words and phrases in your copy.
Not only does this make your content sound more genuine and authentic, but you’re essentially letting your audience come up with your copy for you, which saves you a lot of frustration and time lost in writers block.
Wondering where you can find this magical language to mirror?
Your social feeds are a great place to start, particularly the comments section. Your competitors’ social feeds are great too. If you sell physical products, reviews of your own products or reviews of similar products on Amazon or Etsy can be absolute goldmines. Give them a read and keep notes of words or phrases you can swipe for future content.
When you can connect with your audience on an authentic level, it makes it a lot easier for them to trust you and to want to work with you. The more you can sound like someone they’d want to hang out and chat with, the more they’ll feel like you understand them.
Sell the features and the benefits
You’d think this would be obvious, but I see it happen all the time.
So many businesses write copy where they talk about their product or service in terms of what it does and how it works without ever showing why that thing matters to the people that are supposed to want to buy this life-changing product or service.
Writing better marketing copy is all about writing in a way that swoops in and convinces your audience to take action. Once it’s done, you don’t want them thinking about what the product does and how it works, you want them thinking about why that thing will make their life better or easier or solve a problem they didn’t even know they had.
Let’s say you sell underwear. You might think that product pretty much sells itself. Everyone needs underwear, right? Unless you’re one of those people who swear by going commando. (No judgment.)
But there are tons of underwear brands out there. How do you convince people to buy yours over the twenty other brands crowding it on the shelves?
You don’t tell your audience it’s made of cotton and has a 3-inch elastic waistband. Just about every underwear brand can say that. You tell them it’s soft, comfortable, and doesn’t ride up. You tell them it comes in a bunch of funky patterns, because why shouldn’t your underwear be fun and funky?
Talking about the features of your product or service is important, but make sure you talk about the benefits too. What’s the point of having a soft, comfortable, non-bunching pair of underwear? Why would your people want that, what’s the end goal?
The end goal is to buy your product and feel good about it. Your copy has to get across how your product will make them feel.
you might also want to read: The 5 Essential Ingredients to Creating Your Irresistible Brand
How you write your marketing copy or content can have a huge impact on whether or not someone takes action. But keep these five secrets in mind and you’re on your way to writing better marketing copy that sells.
And if all this talk of marketing copy has got you feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry! We’re ready and waiting to partner with you to develop a marketing strategy that drives sales for any business type–so get in touch today!
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