6 Copywriting Tips for the Non-Writer

If you’re a creative professional (like a graphic designer, photographer, or illustrator) understanding the basics of good copywriting can put more money in your pocket! How?

Next time you’re looking at a client’s (or a prospect’s) marketing materials, see how the copy stacks up against these six basic copywriting tips. If the copy you read is poor, you can recommend a rewrite. Then, you bring in a freelance copywriter to do the job and you charge an additional fee for project management!

Not only will you add more billable work to the project, your client will thank you for your strategic input, and view you as more of a marketing consultant.  

Six Copywriting Tips for the Non- (or Novice-) Writer

1.  “You” can make a difference.  The word “you” is perhaps the most important word in copywriting because it involves the reader with your message.  So instead of writing about what your company offers, write about what the customer gets. 

Whenever you’re tempted to write something like, “We offer the most advanced…”, stop.  Instead, begin the sentence with “You” as in, “You get the most advanced…” . 

2.  Features tell, benefits sell!  Good copy clearly communicates the benefit that your product or service delivers to the customer.  Poor copy, on the other hand, merely lists features and leaves them dangling, with no explanation as to how they will benefit the customer. 

Here’s how you avoid that trap… as you write about the attributes of your product, ask yourself, “So what?” Your answer will lead you to the benefit. 

For example, “This car comes with automatic four-wheel drive.”  {“So what?”}  “…so you’ll enjoy safe, worry-free driving, in all weather conditions.” 

3.  Reinforce your USP.   Make sure you remind customers of the reason(s) why they should buy from you.  Your Unique Selling Point (USP) is the characteristic of your product or service that sets you apart from the competition.  For example, “…the only downtown dry cleaners with in-by-noon, same-day service!” is a sound USP.

4.  You will not be graded for grammar.  Good copy not only avoids many conventional rules of grammar, it torments the daylights out of them!  This means you can do things that would make your grade three teacher squirm, such as starting a sentence with “And”.  And writing sentences that aren’t proper sentences.  Like this one.   

5.  “That’s” the problem.  Here’s one of the simplest editing tips around. When you’ve written your copy, look it over for all occurrences of the word “that”. You can often make a sentence much more readable by simply deleting this word.  And sometimes, you can delete whole phrases connected to “that” without losing the meaning of the sentence. 

6.  Tell your reader what to do.  How often have you seen a television commercial that ends with, “Now run down to the corner store and buy a Coke today.”?  Never.  Why? Because brands like Coke have decades of user experience attached to them.  By now, their customers know what to do, so Coke can afford to spend millions on an awareness ad with no ‘call to action’. 

Your ad or promotional piece; however, must have a call to action which tells the reader what to do.  Some examples are:  “Call today for a no-obligation quote.”, “Call now while supplies last.”, “Visit our website and enter this password for your free subscription!”

(Another idea for freelancers… why not use these six copywriting tips to evaluate and improve the copy in your own self-promotion materials?)