One of our classes introduced copywriting to its students, and we touched the surface of the topic. However, in today’s blog, we will go through the nuances of copywriting we learned in our latest class on copywriting.
We all know what copywriting is: the art of persuading others with a compelling line that draws attention, ignites desire, and forces the audience to take action. Well, we will go beyond and understand its intricacies and how you can master it.
You all must be familiar with what copywriting is, or if you don’t have any idea, we highly suggest you watch our Day 3 class. This blog will mainly target the technicalities of copywriting and its best practices. You will get the basic idea of copywriting and other kinds of content writing too once you finish our Day 3 class.
Introduction to Copywriting
We will provide a brief introduction of the topic. But before that, we want you to think about the last time you were persuaded by any television ad, a banner that you saw on the road, or a notification from a shopping app that made you purchase a T-shirt impulsively.
Well, if you figured out something, that’s great, or even if you did not, copywriting must have played a role in your life subconsciously. For example, some people are driven towards buying Amul pasteurized milk, because – Amul doodh peeta hai India.
Or if you were a fan of Sachin Tendulkar in your childhood, which almost all of India is, and the secret of Master Blaster’s energy was Boost, why would you buy something else? Your favorite cricketer says, Boost is the secret of my energy, and you are persuaded to buy it.
Importance of Copywriting
Copywriting plays a crucial role in defining the voice of a brand and taking it to the masses. It helps in promoting the brand and manages to paint a good picture for the audience. It is widely responsible for four things, as we learned in our latest class:
- Grabbing Attention
- Building Trust & Credibility
- Driving Conversions
- Boosting SEO
A good copywriter never fails to grab the attention of his/her audience. Copywriting is mostly about grabbing attention, it’s like hitting the bullseye. If you can’t grab attention, it will be hard for you to build trust and credibility among the audience for your brand. Once you are done with grabbing attention and building trust, you will automatically drive conversions, and if you have an online presence, it will help in your website’s SEO.
Key Copywriting Skills
Mastering copywriting requires years of trial and error, you cannot conquer a skill without practicing and doing it again and again. In order to develop copywriting skills, you must keep a few things in mind.
- Clarity and Simplicity
- Persuasion and Emotional Appeal
- SEO Fundamentals
- Grammar and Punctuation
- Creativity
You should be clear in your dialogues, and it should not confuse your target audience. An emotional appeal is also required to persuade effectively. Know the pain points or vulnerabilities of your audience and use them to your advantage. Notice how Surf Excel displays a child who is always keen to help others and, in the process, gets his clothes dirty. Since the target audience of Surf Excel are mothers, it easily strikes a chord with them through its tag line ‘Daag Achhe Hain’.
If your brand does not have an online presence, you need not worry about the SEO fundamentals. But almost all the brands have some footprints on the internet, hence, copywriting improves your brand’s online presence. Creativity is also a crucial part of copywriting, however, you must have a thorough knowledge of grammar and punctuations before you get yourself in the copywriting business.
Also Read – Content Optimization for Yoast and Article Structuring for SEO
Copywriting Techniques & Best Practices
One of the best techniques of copywriting is the AIDA formula. Once you have mastered this, you can easily hone your copywriting skills. Let’s understand the AIDA formula in detail.
AIDA formula
- Attention: Grab attention with a powerful hook.
- Interest: Keep them interested with relevant details.
- Desire: Create emotional appeal.
- Action: Include a strong CTA.
As we discussed earlier, grabbing the attention of your target audience is the first and foremost thing in copywriting. You have won as a copywriter if your copy is being noticed and people are talking about it. You won’t be able to generate interest without grabbing their attention first. We shall understand the AIDA formula in depth with the help of an example.
Example:
- Attention: Struggling to save money?
- Interest: Learn simple strategies used by experts.
- Desire: Save ₹500/month without giving up what you love.
- Action: Download the free guide now!
Now, the line ‘Struggling to save money?’ will instantly catch the attention of people who are facing troubles while building up their savings. This will narrow down your target audience and filter out unnecessary people. The next step is to generate interest among the audience, which will be accomplished by the line ‘Learn simple strategies used by experts’.
The penultimate step of the AIDA formula is to ignite desire in your customers’ hearts. The line ‘Save ₹500/month without giving up what you love’ helps users to get an urge to save their money. Lastly, write a compelling CTA that drives them to purchase your product or idea. Hence, copywriting is the process of taking your target audience’s attention to lead them to take an action.
Also Read – SEO Content Writing Essentials: A Beginner’s Guide
Power words and emotional triggers
There are a set of words that bring excitement, a sense of urgency, or other emotions out of a person. Some of the examples are, ‘Flat 75% off’ which will make you think for a while, ‘Oh my favorite brand is having a sale, that too flat 75 percent off.’ Now the word ‘Flat’ did its job to embed the thought of buying clothes from a mall even when you don’t need it. Other examples of these power words that work as emotional triggers are mentioned below:
- Exclusive
- Free
- Guaranteed
- Proven
Conclusion
Copywriting is a very good niche if mastered correctly. When you start to understand the vulnerabilities of your audience, you start to connect with them on a deeper level. Copywriting is an art form, and it requires observation and attention to detail. Just like any other art, you can master copywriting as well if you walk on the right track and take inspiration from the right source. Nothing in this world is unattainable, and it’s never too late to start learning a new skill.
About The Author
