You can speak English, right? So obviously you can put a couple of paragraphs together and you’re sorted, right? Writing good copy or content is so much more that that. Copywriting is one of the most essential elements of effective marketing, whether for web or for print.

It’s a pretty well known fact that in this day and age, you have about 10 seconds to grab your audience’s attention, before they move on to something else. How do you do that? A creative, succinct and provocative headline that entices them to read further. But its not just about a catchy headline – you need to write in a tone that is in tune with your brand’s personality. If you’re trying to explain the importance of life insurance, you’re not going to put together a flimsy headline that doesn’t invoke some sort of emotional response.

Who is this emailer going to? What action do you want them to take once they’ve read it? Writing an email for teenage gamers will have a very different tone and Call-to-Action than an email written for CEO’s of SME’s. The more you understand your target audience, the more you can refine your copy and ensure that you are getting your message across in a way that they will understand, and in a way that will induce them to take the action you are requesting of them.

Before sitting down to do anything, you need to understand what it is you are trying to achieve. Are you trying to get them to sign up to your newsletter? Are you trying to get them to buy your product?

Knowing the objective of your activity will influence the way the copy should be written. If you are trying to garner a strong emotional response in order to get your audience to take action, you will use strong, thought-provoking words right from the get-go, and not beat around the bush and introduce the topic slowly. Effective copywriting doesn’t start when you start writing, it starts way before that – you need to stop and have a good think before you actually write anything down.

Another important aspect that people tend to forget is that different mediums require different copy styles and tones. Website copy is very different to brochure copy, which is in turn, very different to the copy you would use for a promotional flyer.

Website copy is another beast entirely, in fact. Because we live in the age of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Google, writing effective website copy is actually more of a science than an art. While your brand’s personality needs to come through on the pages of your site, the technical aspects to writing great website copy need to also be clear and present in order to make the lads at Google take notice of your site. Learn more about the ins and outs of taking the next step of actually getting your site up on my website design page.

So, where do we start?

Some of the copywriting services I provide are:

• Website copy
• Brochure/catalogue copy
• Emailer copy
• Proofreading

I have given you a taste of my copywriting process, but, I can’t give away all of my secrets, so give me a shout on natalie@thecreativelab.co.za or fill in a short form here and I will get back to you, and we can chat about your copywriting needs.

My Work

If you’d like to see what I do for yourself, have a look at my work and browse through some of the recent designs I have produced for my clients. These pages are regularly updated with new projects, so don’t forget to visit often!