30 Dec How To Hit Home With Audience-Driven Copywriting

The renowned marketer, Gary Halbert, used to ask his seminar students the following: “If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side to help you win?”

The answers to this question varied among his students – from the advantage of superior meat, the best location, or lowest prices. Mr Halbert said they could get every single advantage, he would only need one advantage to beat them all. To get the “starving crowd”.

Although this insight can be applied to so many facets of business and marketing, it’s also very applicable to successful copywriting. As a copywriter, it is important to communicate with your “starving crowd” no matter what you are selling or who you are writing for.

Analyse and understand

In order to hit a target, you have to be aware of what the target is in the first place. The same applies to marketing and copywriting. If we are unaware of who we are targeting, there is no way that we can be sure that our message will reach the right audience. An important thing to remember, as Seth Godin put it, is that everyone is not your customer.

Many marketers make the mistake to say that they can target anyone and everyone because their product is universal. This is a big mistake.

Although there are multiple audiences that could buy your product, there are still drastic differences in how you will communicate to the various segments.

Here are the three main tips to accurately target your audience through copywriting:

Learn the lingo

You won’t use language fit for a doctorate in chemical engineering when addressing high school students, nor use “hip slang” when targeting a customer for a retirement home. Always be aware of your audience and what type of language they use. The worst thing your copywriting can do is to send your reader scurrying to find a dictionary (if they even go this far; most people will just lose interest).

If your writing can feel personal and as if it was written by your target audience, it will add a sense of understanding and sincerity to the communication.

What you want vs what they need

As a copywriter, it’s important not to get too caught up in what you want to achieve with your copy and lose the insight that you have into your target market. Always try to focus on what your target market needs, and indirectly, that will help you to achieve the goals that you set for your copywriting.

An important point to keep in mind is that although you know what your target audience is looking for, remember that no one in life has a singular focus. Large target groups can be broken down into smaller segments in order to make your copy really hit home. Your copywriting is a lot more likely to be successful if it is based on your audience’s specific needs, not what you think the broad segment wants.

State the obvious benefit

Once you are confident that you know what your market needs, what they’re looking for in the products and services they buy, then it is quite easy to figure out what benefits they are looking for – saving money, saving time, staying safe, improving their lives, etc. But it only resonates with them if you talk about it in a way that entices your audience and motivates them to act.

The business’s product or service might have universal appeal, but your copywriting won’t unless you know how to talk to your target audience. Make sure your messages sound like something they might say if they were in your shoes. Although it may be easier said than done, you have to start somewhere in order to gain insight into the consumer and to begin targeting them effectively.

25 Nov How to Stay Clear of Copywriting Clichés

Many say clichés have become clichés for a reason – that it is because they work. Others argue the exact opposite. In Stephen Fry’s opinion, “It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue.” Albeit that quote might be a bit confusing, it still rings true. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether a cliché is true or false, a simple fact remains… it is still a cliché.

A cliché can be defined as “a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought”. As a copywriter, using clichés means that your work might be seen as the opposite of creative or interesting.

Bad attitudes lead to painful platitudes

We all have used clichés at one time or another, and have gotten away with it. But this doesn’t mean you should continue to use clichés when you can avoid it. Don’t shift blame when it comes to your use of clichés either (as that is a cliché). Blaming the client, brief, or product is no excuse for delivering copy riddled with platitudes.

It is important to also ask yourself: Is the potential damage of using clichés truly something that you want to risk in your writing, even if you do it unknowingly?

Not only are clichés, well… cliché, but there is a lot more to it. Because clichés have become so generic, we can attach them to a wide variety of ideas and that, in turn, makes them ineffective.

Here are some tips on how to avoid the trap of copy clichés.

Critically assess and cut back

Before you can ensure that your copywriting is cliché-free, you must be aware of where they are creeping into your copy. Carefully look at the last 10 – 20 copy projects that you worked on and compile a list of phrases, adjectives, and images that you tend to lean on too much. With this list in hand, go about crafting your copy for your next job, and be very strict to not use any of these words and phrases on your list.

This will force you to find new words and ideas, and compel you to think critically about the meaning and power behind the new words being used. This is just the first step you can take to becoming the fully-fledged, silver-tongued copywriter that you always wanted to be.

Away with templates

Although you may not have it physically written down, most copywriters have a template they use for structuring certain content e.g. website copy or press releases.

As previously mentioned, go over past copy to see what structure you use over and over again and assess how you can make some changes to keep your copy fresh and interesting. Using templates can put a damper on your creativity and your copy can easily sound mechanical as a result.

Personality triumphs

Most copy becomes bland and dull because copywriters aim for a certain type of writing style that does not fit with their personality. It then comes across that most copy sounds like it was written by a well-versed robot.

Don’t always go with the flow… or in this case the cliché. You can stick to your brief while still bringing in some personality. Staying true to your personality will always win over following the status quo.