Businesses use marketing copy to communicate with potential customers and clients. The right words in the right places can attract customers and convince them to take action. Marketing copy can introduce your product, tell a story, explain features and encourage people to buy your product.
In this article, we discuss what copy marketing is, what makes copy marketing successful, the difference between copywriting and content marketing and how to write effective marketing copy.
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4 How to write effective marketing copy?
What is marketing copy?
Marketing copy is content written to promote or sell a product or service or to persuade readers to take a certain action.
Marketing copy is a useful tool for educating customers, providing resources, and detailed contact information to help businesses increase awareness of their products and services.
Different types of marketing copy include:
- Long-form: Long-form copy refers to articles or posts that contain more copies than the average, generally 1,000 words or more.
- Shortform: Shortform copy includes fewer copies, usually between 500 and 800 words.
- Web content: Web copies appear on company websites and may include staff biographies, company history, and service descriptions. Web content can also include blogs and online magazine articles.
- Social media: Social media copy includes posts on social networks designed to sell or promote a product or service. These posts often include direct links to purchase products.
- Sales: Sales copy is any descriptive or promotional content and can appear in advertisements, advertorials or product catalogs.
- Technical: Technical copy is copy that focuses on product or service features and customer support through user guides, white papers, and proposals.
- Public relations: Public relations copies refer to copies designed for public-facing media, such as press releases and company statements.
How to make good marketing copy?
Many elements make for good and effective marketing copy, including:
- A clear call to action: Good marketing copy convinces readers to take the next step of engagement and respond to the call to action immediately.
- Easy-to-read sentences and tone: Copies should be easy to read, engaging and persuasive.
- A solution to a reader’s problem: A successful marketing copy speaks to the intended audience, addresses a particular problem, need, or interest and identifies the problem and offers a solution.
- Emotional reaction: To hold the reader’s attention, marketing copy can be emotional, funny, or surprising. Surprising the reader or initiating a strong feeling can help make your product and company memorable.
- Company brand and personality: Effective marketing copy also speaks directly to the different elements of a company, product or service. Copy is a representation of the company, and the components that make a brand unique should stand out in marketing copy.
Marketing copy is successful if it meets productivity and ROI goals. This can be measured by the following metrics:
- Increased website traffic
- Increased number of clicks
- Improved email or phone inquiries
- Increased number of newsletter subscribers
- Increased time spent on the website
- Improved social media engagement, including likes, comments, shares and follows
- Increased conversion rates, or the number of website visitors or social media followers who become paying customers
What is the difference between copywriting and content marketing?
Copywriting and content marketing differ in purpose and scope. Copywriting serves to convince readers to take a specific action, such as calling a business or signing up for a conference. Content marketing serves to increase customer and website traffic or increase brand awareness.
Copywriting and content marketing require different strategies to be successful. Effective copywriting is concise and direct with a clear call to action. For example, a copywriting call-to-action could say “Learn more on our website”.
Content marketing, on the other hand, is often more descriptive and clear. It focuses on educating and attracting readers rather than selling something to readers. In the previous copywriting example, the “learn more on our website” call to action could link to a landing page containing content marketing copy about a product, service, or team member.
Copywriting often appears in the following media:
- Print and television ads
- Direct mail campaign
- Sales email
- Banner ads on the website
Content marketing appears in the following spaces:
- Blog
- Article
- Podcast
- Landing page
- Educational e-mail
- Advertorial
Here are 21 tips for writing effective and compelling marketing copy.
1. Define your goals
Before writing any copy, decide what your specific goals are, such as increased website traffic, new social media followers, or more in-store visitors. M
Knowing your goals ahead of time allows you to brainstorm solutions to the problem and integrate the solutions into your copy. Because copy can be used for many marketing purposes, you can choose the type of marketing copy you’ll write—whether it’s a blog or an ad—once you know what your goal is.
2. Know your audience
Identify your ideal customer and thoroughly research this persona, including:
- Likes and dislikes
- Family lifestyle and habits
- Career goal
- Interests and hobbies
- Main concern
Understanding who you are writing to can increase your ability to offer readers what they want and need.
3. Use the right tone
The voice and tone of the marketing copy must reflect the values and corporate culture that the copy represents. An international corporate law firm may benefit from a formal and professional tone, while a local skateboard shop may opt for a relaxed, conversational, and friendly tone.
4. Add a strong opening
A marketing copywriter has little time to get the reader’s attention. Choose bold, descriptive headings that tell readers what information you provide and why it’s important to them. You can also ask questions, explain how to do something or offer personal reflection. Take a look at the following examples of titles:
- Do You Know How Much Your Retirement Will Cost?
- Why I Decided to Open My Own Business
5. Prioritize the reader
Write with the reader’s interests and feelings in mind using “you” and “your” statements rather than “I” and “I” statements. For example, instead of writing, “I think my customers are ready for discounts and sales,” try “You don’t want to miss the sale of your favorite product this weekend.”
6. Troubleshooting
Once you know your target audience, you can determine what products or services you offer that can help meet the specific needs of that audience.
For example, a dog grooming business could target busy professionals with mobile services promoting copy, such as “Too busy to cut Fido’s hair? We come to you!”
7. Make your content exclusive
Create a sense of exclusivity by sharing a small piece of content and offering readers more opportunities through a strong call to action, such as subscribing to a newsletter or providing a phone number or email address. Only readers who take this step receive additional content or exclusive offers.
8. Emotional attraction
Using strong emotional language can increase reader interest and engagement. For example, holiday advertisements for a grocery store often appeal to the emotion of getting together with family and making memories.
Consider a copy that evokes some of these emotions:
- Shocked
- Surprise
- Sukacita
- Comfort
- Anger
9. Make readers laugh
Making readers laugh can help them remember your brand and share it with others. Humor can be silly, surprising, or dramatic.
For example, self-referencing copy is unexpected and might include a line in a social media ad such as “Stop scrolling! I’m trying to sell, I mean, tell you something.”
10. Help the reader understand
You can increase the impact of your copy by using examples and metaphors, which help create meaningful and memorable images. For example, an information technology company could use an everyday example to illustrate how their security software works, such as a door with 1,000 locks.
You can also use analogies to help explain abstract concepts. A health care company can use analogies to better illustrate to patients how certain medical procedures work.
11. Include unique benefits
To differentiate your product or service from the competition, you can share the unique differentiating factor that sets your company apart. Here are some examples of the unique benefits you can include in your marketing copy:
- Handcrafted products
- Special license or certification
- Environmentally conscious practice
- Ethically sourced supplies
- Industry Awards
- Community engagement
12. Integrate statistics
Statistics can add credibility to your writing, making it more persuasive. Instead of using terms like “most people”, consider using percentages or other numerical data.
13. Simplify sentences and paragraphs
Find the simplest and clearest way to communicate your message. Simplify your writing by:
- Write shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs
- Choose smaller, more reader-friendly words
- Use lists or bullet points instead of paragraphs
14. Use the customer’s own words
Including testimonials and success stories in your copy helps readers connect with your brand. Seeing real people experience real results can help validate your marketing claims.
15. Show, don’t say
Instead of telling about a feature or service, try to show readers the benefits through imagery and action. For example, a restaurant might replace a copy of, “Try our delicious large pizza” with “Enjoy 18-inch-high fresh grated mozzarella cheese with homemade pizza sauce and locally roasted vegetables.”
16. Choose an action verb
Choose the active verb over the verb “to be”. For example, you could replace, “This house is cozy and updated” with “Relax on the plush sofa, and explore all the comfortable upgrades.”
17. Include a specific and creative call to action
You can increase your conversion rates and sales by including a clear call to action in your marketing copy. Creating urgency encourages readers to act quickly. You can use phrases like “limited supply” or “offer ending soon”.
Calls to action vary depending on the step you want your readers to take and can include:
- Call
- Visit website
- Sign up for email list
- Sign up for or attend an event
- Buy the product
Also, consider using a creative and clear call to action that grabs the reader’s attention. For example, instead of “Call for more information”, a swimming school could use “Dive into swimming lessons this summer by calling us today.”
18. Optimize your content for appropriate media
The higher your copy ranks in internet searches, the more likely it is that potential customers will find your site and make a purchase. If you write web copy, use search engine optimization techniques to improve your content’s search ranking, including:
- Using keywords
- Add title and subtitle
- Editing meta description to include keywords
- Define high-ranking similar content types, such as lists, blog posts, etc.
If you’re writing for print, try to include a catchy headline that will encourage readers to stop and read.
19. Edit and double-check
The first draft is your chance to write freely and explore lots of different ideas. The editing process is critical to streamlining your great ideas into effective content. When editing, you can improve settings and clarity by:
- Adding organizational elements such as titles
- Remove unnecessary content
- Apply proper spelling and grammar
- Ensure a consistent tone
20. Ask someone else to read a copy
Consider asking one or two authors, editors, or supervisors to read your copy before publishing to make sure it’s error-free, makes sense, and communicates your intended message.
21. Test your copy
Use two or three different versions of your marketing copy and test which version works best. You can use metrics such as click-through rate, sales, and phone calls to compare the effectiveness of each version of your copy.