I make my living writing copy for companies. The one question I am asked time and time again is what makes me think I can write better copy? They know their business better than me, so why shouldn’t they write their own copy.
Well, for starters, they can write their own copy. But if they do, they have to be able to take a step back and look at their business from their customers’ point of view – and that’s not easy.
When you are involved with a business, every aspect of it is going to be great as far as you’re concerned. You will get carried away with things that, quite honestly, your customers could give two hoots about. When presenting your business in writing, you must look at it through your customers’ eyes. You have to identify what is most important to them – and I can guarantee it won’t be the same thing that’s most important to you.
And there lies the problem. You have to get inside your customers’ heads to discover what benefits your product or service bring to their lives that are valuable to them. But more than that, it also has to be engaging, interesting and compelling.
So, to give you hand, here are a few pointers to show how you can improve your writing, and turn it into great sales copy:
Think about your reader
Many businesses, when they write their own copy, tend to write content that they would want to read, which is usually very different from what their customers want.
What type of people are your readers? What age are they? What are their likes and dislikes? Once you’ve delved into their psyche you must decide what tone to take. Should you write in a casual voice, one that is formal or conversational?
Grammar
You might think your sales message is most important, but your reader will be looking at your content and presentation. A big of that is your grammar, spelling and punctuation. Therefore make sure everything you publish has been proofread.
Your writing says a lot about your company – sloppy grammar gives the impression yours is a business that doesn’t care about attention to detail.
Headlines
This is what will determine whether your communication gets read.
If your heading is weak and uninspiring your audience won’t feel compelled to continue reading. So it really is worth spending a lot of time coming up with the perfect headline.
Make it simple
Don’t write in complex language or jargon. This isn’t an intelligence test, so use simple sentence construction and words.
Your readers’ only interest is in what you are going to do for them. If you write copy that is centred on your business and full of jargon, your reader will be switched off in an instant.
Target your reader in everything you write. Make sure you show the benefits of your product and service to them.
