Keep Your Copywriting Clanger Free

Need copy that connects to your audience and converts your readers into customers? About to start writing your marketing literature for the new year? Like to avoid a copywriting clanger at all costs?

 

Well-written copy communicates your story, reels your reader in and gets them to buy what you’re selling. And what’s more important than that?

It’s true. The words you choose will either sell or sabotage your services.

So, keep your written communications kink-free this year, by avoiding these five copywriting clangers.

Going on about yourself

If you’re looking to send your reader to sleep, go on endlessly about yourself and your business.

And don’t forget to include lots of sentences beginning with ‘we’ or ‘I’.

However, if you’d rather keep your prospect awake and engaged, focus on what you can do for them. Sell the benefits of using your business — how it will make their life better, less busy and easier.

Address your readers directly by using the words ‘you’ and ‘your’ frequently throughout your copy. This will make your readers feel like you are talking to them and will create the connection you need.

A painful first paragraph

When writing for any purpose, your first paragraph is paramount.

Make it drab, and your reader will undoubtedly flick over to Facebook or pick up your competitor’s content instead.

Try to make your first few sentences as engaging as possible.

If you can grab your reader’s attention with a clear and captivating opening paragraph, you’ve got a good chance of them reading to the end.

More text than a 19^th-century novel

Thanks to our digital age, we all have super-short attention spans.

We flick through, skim over and scan read.

Your reader simply won’t wade through masses of text to make sense of your messages. So it’s essential to separate your copy with subheadings, to perfect short paragraphs and to simplify sentences.

Be concise and be clear.

Less is most definitely more when copywriting.

An inconsistent tone of voice

Use an inconsistent tone of voice across your company’s communications and your readers will regard you as inconsistent. And therefore, potentially unreliable.

To avoid this inconsistency, create brand voice guidelines for your business. Guidelines make it easier to maintain the same tone of voice. This is particularly important if more than one person in your company creates content.

Think about what your brand stands for. Is it serious and reserved? Fun and funky? Whatever image your business aims for, try to reflect this in your writing.

Developing a clear and consistent brand voice will help make you recognisable and memorable to your customers and prospects.

Keeping your customers in the dark

If you don’t want any new business, don’t include a call to action in your copy. Not having a clear call to action will ensure your phone doesn’t ring and you have a quieter life.

However, if you’d like your reader to fill out your contact form, place an order or pick up the phone: tell them.

Tell your reader what to do next and make it easy for them to become a customer. Forget to include a call to action in your copy, and you won’t get the results you want.

I hope you’ve found this blog useful and it helps you to avoid making a copywriting clanger.

If you’d like a hand creating clear, captivating and consistent copy for your next marketing project, get in touch for a blunder-free 2017.

Happy New Year!

Laura