More Than Words | 9 Reasons Your Business Needs a Copywriter
Did you ever see that movie, Hitch?
The one where Will Smith is a dating coach who helps men to woo women for lasting, meaningful relationships?
Well, that’s what copywriters do.
But for businesses.
One of the best lessons I learned from my mentor at the start of my career was this,
The best product isn’t the one that sells. The one that sells is the one with the best marketing strategy.
I mean, think about it.
You’re on your way to work, you’re in a hurry but you need to stop off and grab some breakfast.
You spot two cafes en route.
One of them has a bright shop front with words like Organic and Fresh. There’s a sticker in the window showing off their 5 star rating on Trip Advisor, and a strapline that says Nourish Your Body & Soul.
Then there’s the other place.
It looks a bit drab. There’s a sign hanging over the door that says ‘We Make Breakfast’.
That’s it.
Which one are you going to go to? No brainer isn’t it.
(It’s the first one, just to be clear).
At this point you haven’t tasted, smelled or even seen the food. But the words in the window have roused your imagination. You can almost picture your fresh, organic breakfast. Your taste buds are tingling and your stomach is screaming at your brain to get in there.
Then there’s the social proof letting your know that other people love this place too.
And who doesn’t want to have their body and soul nourished?
Now let’s look at two other businesses. Yours and one of your competitors.
Let’s call your competitor Bob.
You both have a website. The digital version of a shop window.
Your product is better, your service is better. Obviously.
But Bob hired a copywriter.
A copywriter who optimised his SEO and wrote a compelling meta tag to get people to click on Bob’s site. A copywriter who used Bob’s story to convey his unique value proposition.
A copywriter who understands Bob’s audience and knew just what they were looking for and why.
And what about you?
You didn’t hire a copywriter. So when anyone clicks on your website, they see a block of text that tells them what you do.
That’s it.
They don’t feel inspired. They don’t feel moved. They’re not picturing how much better life will be with you in it.
They buy from Bob.
Damn Bob.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
If you’ve got a business that’s not doing as well as it could be, and you know you’ve got something great to offer, there’s a good chance it’s not you.
It’s your copy.
But how? Isn’t it just words?
No. It’s not.
Copywriters are writers with specialised knowledge in marketing psychology. It’s our job to make people feel things.
Because we make 70% of our decisions based on how we feel, even if we don’t admit it to ourselves, and even if we like to back it up with logic and facts later on.
And copywriters aren’t just writers.
We’re researchers. We do our digging and we get to know your target audience well before putting pen to paper. We find out what they need and why they need it. And we speak their language so that the message lands.
The same goes for you.
We’ll get to know you and your company inside out. Your brand personality, your unique selling point, your value proposition.
Then we’ll weave it all together into something that lands with clarity and precision.
Easy.
So where do you start?
There are a whole host of things copywriters can do, and we all have different specialisms, from sprucing up existing copy to coming up with whole new concepts and campaigns.
But here are 9 ways, just for starters, a copywriter could make some noise for your business.
Branding and Tone of Voice
Have you ever visited a website and seen a wall of text that’s about as inspiring as a dropped pie?
Or got a promotional email that sounds so salesy you feel like you’ve just walked into a used car lot?
Do you want to call the company behind the uninspiring words? Would you want to be stuck in a lift with them?
And what about the email? Are you intrigued? Or do you just press delete and block before getting back to what you were doing?
Because so much comes down to tone of voice.
Tone of voice can tell you a lot about a business. Their personality. Their energy. Their values.
And people buy from people they resonate with, so it’s essential to get this right.
But it’s not about having a voice that pleases everyone.
It’s about having a voice that reaches and connects with the right people. Your target audience. The people who are looking for you.
Exactly you.
Ah. There you are.
2. Website Copy
Let’s go back to that dry, uninspiring copy from the last section.
That wall of text, if you can get through it without falling asleep, might tell you what the company does on a practical level. It might say something like We deliver high quality services for customer satisfaction…blah.
What does that even mean? What does customer satisfaction look like to them? Is it the same as what it looks like to you?
On average, people bounce away from a website within 10-20 seconds. So you don’t have long to grab their interest.
Have you had that feeling when you visit a website and the words are warm and inviting? You feel like you’re talking to a human with a vibrant personality.
You start to think, hey, I like this company. I feel like I could work with them.
Your website’s homepage is your first hello.
A skilled copywriter will make sure it makes a great impression.
3. Blogs & Articles
So, you’ve got your website with all the bells and whistles.
Your products and services are sparkling.
The customers you do have absolutely love what you do. You’re nailing it. But what about the ones who don’t know who you are?
Yet.
Blogs and articles are a brilliant way to expand your reach.
First up, they establish you as an authority in your field, building trust by showing off your expertise.
That’s why people are 131% more likely to buy from a brand once they’ve read their content.
And blogs help with search engine optimisation (SEO). Someone types a question into Google, up comes your blog…you get the idea.
Which brings us nicely onto…
4. SEO
Google wants its users to have the best experience. Because, you know, they’re Google.
That’s what they do.
When someone types something into a search bar, Google will bring up the most up to date, authoritative information.
It does this by constantly crawling and indexing everything on the web.
There are lots of ways to boost your search engine optimisation, much of which goes beyond the scope of this blog. But one of the ways Google finds the answers to questions is by searching for keywords.
So, one of your must haves is on-page optimisation via keywords and meta tags.
But I don’t understand all this stuff! I hear you cry.
You don’t have to.
A copywriter will do this for you.
Simple.
5. Social Media
You know how this works.
You know you have to leverage social media if you want to reach a wider audience.
But where to start? And what to write? How often?
Aaaaah, I’m not an influencer!
You don’t have to be.
6. Product Descriptions & Brochures
If you’re in eCommerce, you already know about the benefits to an online store.
But unlike a physical one, prospective customers can’t touch and hold your stuff. All you have are photos and words.
So, when people browse your products you need to do a bit extra to get them to sparkle and pop.
You need words that get your customers to feel what they would feel if they were holding the thing in their hands.
We have all sorts of tricks up our sleeves for doing this.
Have you ever read a travel blog that made you want to book an impulse trip to Alaska?
A copywriter did that.
7. Landing Pages
Think of the last time you were gripped by a story.
Perhaps you picked up a book and couldn’t go to bed until you’d read just one more chapter.
That’s what a landing page needs to do.
Did you know that 60 - 90% of people click away from landing pages after taking initial interest in an ad? 60-90%. That’s huge.
Once you’ve grabbed their attention with an ad, the landing page needs to keep the momentum going, keep them reading, wanting to know more, so they click through to the next stage of your marketing funnel.
8. Email Marketing
Let’s go back to the salesy email from the beginning of this blog.
You want to close it down.
You want to block the sender.
You might even want to take a shower.
But what about those emails that have you clicking through to a sales page and taking up a discount before you’ve even noticed what you’re doing?
Remember that rejuvenating collagen boost subscription you signed up to last summer on a whim?
What about that time you signed up to an audiobook service because they made you feel excited about soaking up all those bestsellers, and emailed you with a compelling, time limited offer?
Yeah. Like that.
9. eBooks & Newsletters
Another member of the high value content family.
If you’ve got a list of subscribers and you want to bridge the gap between ‘subscriber’ to ‘paying customer’, an eBook can do a lot of the heavy lifting.
An eBook shows you have the required expertise.
You can be trusted to handle the situation.
You’ll get the job done.
eBooks can also be a great lead magnets for building your subscriber list in the first place.
Throw a hook out there in the form of an eBook and before you know it you’ve got a bursting dance card, all chomping at the bit for your next offering.
And just like the rest of your copy, eBooks need to be engaging.
They also need to be consistent with your brand’s personality and tone of voice.
They need to be written by a copywriter.
So there you have it.
9 ways a copywriter can help with your marketing. And these are just for starters.
Unless you’re a writer yourself, I’m betting you have enough to get on with. The things you do best.
Well, this is what we do best.
If your car broke down you’d call a mechanic, right?
Don’t let Bob win.
Screw Bob.
We know your product is better. Let’s go tell everyone.
A free call with me is a great place to start.
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