By gbolade on Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 in Copywriting, General. No Comments
Copywriting and content marketing have become very important in the digital space. The amount of potential customers online is mind-boggling, therefore having content that gravitates people towards your brand is important. Copywriting and content marketing are intertwined, but they don’t mean the same thing. That said, what is copywriting?
Copywriting involves making content attractive to the extent that customers move past the reading phase to the purchase phase. Informative blog posts, insightful case studies, how-to guides and entertaining social media snippets help provide value for your audience.
This article highlights essential tips and skills that are essential in copywriting. Let’s dive in.
Copywriting vs content marketing
Don’t be afraid. This headline is not an advert for an upcoming boxing match. We just want to highlight the difference between content marketing and copywriting. Imagine this. Books, pencils, and erasers are all grouped under the term, “Stationery”. All these items are part of a larger category. It’s the same for copywriting and content marketing.
Copywriting is a form of content and marketing. Content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute, is “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing value, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and ultimately, to drive profitable customer action”.
Content marketing is an umbrella term that covers any content you create and distribute. It includes blog posts, social media posts, emails, print copy, press releases and so on. Copywriting involves three ultimate aim of attracting sales. A blog post which may be written just to educate may not be termed as copy, but can be referred to an example of content marketing.
Why is Copywriting Important?
Every successful content marketing strategy must have copywriting at its core. Its idea is to inform rather than promote that puts you as an authority in your niche or industry. Most people don’t really appreciate when they are being “directly advertised” to.
You most create copy or content in a systematic way without overly promoting your products or services which converts a fair portion of readers into potential customers and followers. Think of copywriting as a Call-To-Action: but on a much larger scale.
Essential Copywriting Skills
Every good copywriter needs a skill set that puts them at an expertise level when it comes to creating sales-inducing content. Some are listed below:
Your headlines must attract
Headlines are very important when it comes to copywriting as they must make the reader want to keep reading until the article is completely read. The reader must be excited about reading the rest of the content. To do that, having a headline that hits people once they see it is advised. Famous copywriter, David Ogilvy put it aptly when he said, “Five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy”.
Simply put, if a headline isn’t compelling enough, there is a higher chance that the rest the content will not be read. Research and recent studies have proved that 80% of viewers read the headline but not the body copy. Headlines must be direct, short and unique. Simply put, no one is going to read content unless they feel drawn by the headline.
Your writing skills must be top-notch
Copywriting involves having excellent writing skills. Use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling must be mastered by a good copywriter. You must also be able to create easy-to-read content and make complex topics simple. Writing great transitions and crafting compelling conclusions is also a must. Since copywriting involves writing compelling content, you must use the correct style and select the best vocabulary words within a specific content.
Your audience must be able to relate with your content
One thing you must be able to do when writing good copy is to put yourself in the mind of the reader. Understand their pain points, so you strive to create content that can solve their problems. You must listen to the needs and desires of your audience, and research on the language they use.
Doing keyword research is very important, as it helps you understand what your customers are searching for online. By writing in a way that the reader can relate to, you can lead them to do what you want. You must highlight their problems, and also give solutions to the challenges. You must focus on benefits, not features. Good copywriting should speak to the reader in human terms.
Be direct in the way you write things instead of using exaggerated language to drive home a point.
A good copywriter must specialize
The task of content creation is only possible from someone who has deep experience and interest in a niche. While some writers can learn quickly about an industry and produce wonderful content, it is important to have experience and interest. Specific content needs writers that are well versed in that particular niche, otherwise, there is a high probability that a low-quality content will be churned out.
Don’t go yet, read this.
We do hope this article helped you understand what you need to do to become a better copywriter. Content marketing strategies keep changing, so self-development, a fresh set of understanding, and skills are needed to improve. Do you need a digital agency that can attend to all your copywriting needs? Look no further. Mactavis is a digital agency that has worked with different websites and brands on their copywriting needs.
For your comments, suggestions or inquiries, please contact us or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @MactavisDigital. You can also check out our portfolio to find out what we have done in the past. We would be happy to hear from you. Really.
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