Writing compelling copy that resonates with your target audience can be challenging. Not only does the content have to be compelling, it must be concise in order to keep the customer engaged. It has to have the ability to capture and keep an audience’s attention just long enough for them to click on that call-to-action!

Great content provides businesses and organizations with a plethora of opportunities to educate customers, become the expert in their industry, and avoid the traditional, pushy sales tactics. How you approach content writing, whether it’s a blog article, an email campaign, or Facebook ad campaign makes or breaks your opportunity to win that potential customer over. If your goal is to write concise, compelling copy to reach your audience without having to think too much about it, here are some quick guidelines to consider:

Get to Know Your Target Audience

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore enemy signals. – David Ogilvy  

To influence someone, you must speak their language! Learning as much about the target prospects before casting a net can give you a better chance of capturing their attention. What are your customer’s pain points, interests, challenges? What are their shopping preferences? What are their goals? Accurately isolating your target prospect’s problems will illuminate some of the benefits and solutions they seek. You cannot write copy unless you know:

  • Who you’re writing for
  • How this person thinks
  • What this person needs 

Add Exclusivity

Another way to get prospects in the door is making them feel important. A sense of exclusivity that they’ve been “hand picked” or “randomly chosen” will go a long way. How someone sees his or herself is at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – that’s how important feeling important is to people. Making people feel special… that’s what marketers have been exploiting for years.

Don’t Forget Urgency

Also known as #FOMO (Fear of missing out), many people really fear that if they don’t take action now, they will miss out on an amazing opportunity. One way to increase the chance that a prospect will take action is to add a sense of urgency. In contrast, the more relaxed and comfortable a person is, the less eager they will to take advantage of a promotion you’re offering. Copy that leaves a prospect thinking that your offer will stand the test of time will not get them to pull the trigger. They’ll most likely sleep on it, review the pros and cons, and forget that they saw your ad. Time sensitive language such as “offer ends tomorrow,”  “hurry,” “last chance” can light a fire, make your prospects uneasy, and encourage action.

But Don’t Talk Down to Your Customers

As great as a product or service may be, speaking down to your prospective customer is a sure fire way for them to turn you away. While you may want to charm them with your witty sales pitch, at the end of the day, customers want to solve their problem. Treat your customer on an equal level, maybe even a little higher since you are the one who needs the sale.

Why Should They Buy?

What is the single most important thing you want to communicate to your audience? Communicate to W.I.I.F.M. (What’s In It For Me?). Your customers need to understand how a product or service is going to benefit them. What you want to accomplish most of all in your copy is exploiting the greatest value your product or service has to offer. Communicate why your product is better than a competitors’. Outlining all the benefits your product or service before you began writing help you better relate to your audience and discover the differentiators that will help you stand out from the rest.

Copy is Still Important

A lot of the web is very visual nowadays, but that doesn’t mean that copy should take a back seat. Very often, business owners and marketers jot down copy as an afterthought, ensuring that all is good and grammatically correct and then send it out; then they wonder why they don’t get results they want. A website can be have a beautiful design, but if it does not have the information a customer is looking for, they will move on to a competitor’s site. Great copy should be able to tell customers how to buy and how easy it is. Copywriters, including greats like David Ogilvy, treated his campaigns like his own children. He nurtured and fought for them, producing some of the most powerful campaigns in advertising history.

The truth is, crafting content and copy takes time. Some copywriters will take weeks to craft the perfect headline, but it will be well worth it.

To sum up, here’s what great copy should look like:

  • No sales pitches 
  • Offer a value proposition 
  • Relate to the audience 
  • Well written
  • Interesting headline
  • Feeling of exclusivity 
  • Sense of urgency 
  • Call to action 
  • Clear and concise