Copywriting. Isn’t that just putting a bunch of paragraphs together? You can do that right? Maybe you can. But can you do it really well? The importance of good copywriting is something often overlooked by businesses. Copywriting is an art that dates back to the 1860’s (that’s not a typo, that’s over 150 years ago), and it is something that is more technical than one would generally give it credit for.

Maybe you think your company’s writing is as good as it can be. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s a good idea to have a look at it objectively, from your target audience’s point of view. Are you getting your message across in the best possible way? Is there room for improvement?

What is copywriting?

First things first, lets chat about what copywriting actually is.

Copywriting is essentially the first step in the creative process, whether you are producing an ad, a website or a company brochure. It involves conceptualisation of the “big idea” which will drive all elements of a marketing activity – from general tone, to layout and even placement.

From there, it’s a matter of putting that idea into words, and into a structure that will evoke an action, emotion or reaction to your message. Unlike news or editorial writing, copywriting is all about getting the reader to do something, whether that is buying your product, engaging with your brand, seeing the benefit of using your service over a competitors or simply requesting more information.

The importance of good copy

There are many reasons to ensure the copy you put out into the market is of high quality and is focused on achieving the objective of the material you are producing. I have put a couple together below.

Portraying a professional image

While making sure the visual aspects of your brand are cohesive and consistent, poorly written content can often damage a brand (even if its been beautifully packaged). Whether its sloppy writing or grammatical and spelling errors (the horror!), your message will often be either overlooked or regarded negatively if the person writing your copy hasn’t invested the time to make sure it is well written and free of mistakes.

One of the first and most important steps in writing effective copy is making sure you have identified your audience and are using the kind of language, tone and call-to-actions that are appropriate for them. There is no use in writing a pamphlet full of industry jargon if you are trying to motivate a layman to take action.

Why are you writing this specific piece of copy or creating this marketing material? What is your objective? Are you trying to get your current customers to retain your services? Or any you trying to show prospective clients the benefits of switching from another product to yours? Defining this is fundamental to making sure your marketing activities produce the results you are looking for.

It is vitally important to keep your message consistent throughout all possible mediums of engagement with your audience. Whether its an ad, your website or your product brochure, the message you are trying to get across needs to be constant in order to reiterate what you are wanting your audience to do. The same goes for the tone and ‘personality’ of your writing. If one day you are writing in a super professional, serious voice and the next you’re writing with a humorous undertone, your audience is going to be confused and unsettled at the change of tone.

An important note to remember is that copy doesn’t necessarily translate across all platforms. Just copying and pasting your corporate brochure into various pages of a website won’t always make sense. Elements can be used, and the tone will remain the same, but the structure and your objectives will change.

Also, there is a significant technical aspect to writing copy for websites that needs to be taken into account to ensure Google likes (and understands) the content of your website and thus will see the value in ranking your website, as well as making sure that you are writing about what your web visitors are looking for, in a way that makes sense.

Whether you need brochure copy or website content, have a look at my page explaining my copywriting offering, or please contact me on natalie@thecreativelab.co.za or fill in a short form here and I will get back to you.