Copywriting is a way of convincing potential customers to take a specific action, by capturing their attention and persuading them to respond in a certain way.- such as calling a phone number, trialling a product, “liking” a Facebook page and so on.
The difference between good copywriting and bad copywriting appears to be minimal on the surface, but the difference it makes to your business could be significant.
Here are three areas where good copywriting is a non-negotiable:
Communicating your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
What differentiates between good and bad copywriting is its ability to communicate your unique selling proposition (USP) effectively. Delivering your USP in copywriting stands you out from the crowd and increases perceived value, credibility and expertise without you needing to state these outright. A good USP will get you the readers’ attention, which is the starting point of every sale, and if you get it right it should actually remain in a consumer’s mind.
Basically, a USP spells out what your business stands for. For example, BMW stands for absolute quality thanks to its slogan “the ultimate driving machine”. Bunnings stands for the lowest price, with its “lowest prices are just the beginning” slogan and guarantee to beat any lower price by 10 percent. Your USP will position your company in consumer minds and determine your business’ perceived value in comparison to the rest of the competition.
Creating value, value, value!
In an era of tight economic budgets, one word will become a key success factor for your business – value. The crucial thing is to actually create and deliver value for your customers. What’s the link between value and copywriting? Good copywriting will be able to communicate value and even create value in consumers’ mind.
For example, consider a company that sells recycled bags that cost 50 cents extra than normal and justifies this by saying: “You should buy our products because we package them in bags made from recycled materials”. This uninspired copywriting means consumers will see little or no benefit to buying the recycled bags. Does it seem like good value to you?
Consider the difference when it’s written like this: “When you purchase our recycled bags, you will have a peace of mind knowing that you have taken a step to saving the environment and making this world a better place”. Sounds like something that’s more likely to sell, doesn’t it? That’s because a some effective copywriting can easily create the value in the consumer mind.
Getting your content noticed
If you have a great content on your website, but aren’t getting the attention for it you deserve, the problem probably lies in ineffective copywriting. Some of these problems could include:
- Your headlines aren’t engaging enough and aren’t giving people any reason to click through.
- You haven’t thought about how your content benefits readers. Your content may be appealing from your perspective, but not necessarily beneficial from the readers’ point of view. You can’t expect customers to contact you or visit you if what you’re providing them is of little to no use.
- You haven’t given a clear direction that lets people know what you want them to do next. This could be as simple as asking them to call you, visit your store, or even “like” your Facebook page.
- Spelling and grammatical errors will make you look bad, and they certainly don’t help you to build a good reputation.
