
If you’ve ever googled something and immediately scrolled through anything with an “ad” tag without stopping, it probably means the copywriters need to up their game. Alternatively—and I do this constantly—if you’re walking down the street and see some posters and do a double-take? Bravo, copywriter.
The most recent stop-and-stare that made me do a double-take. Snaps for tubi.
Copywriting is hard—take it from someone who is desperately trying to get better at it! It can make or break an advertising campaign. That’s why I compiled these 21 tips to help you write more compelling and successful marketing copy.
Let’s get started!
First things first, decide who you’re selling to. Get specific. If the prospects for your offering run the gamut, choose a subsection to target an audience more specifically. College students will react differently to marketing copy than family-focused suburban residents, for instance.
What do you want this marketing copy to compel someone to do? Do you want them to go to a website to make a purchase? Do you want them to sign up for more information? Or go into a physical location? Decide what you want out of your advertisement or marketing copy before you even start writing.
This Mailchimp copy encourages the visitor to choose their plan and sign up now.
When you’re writing compelling copy, an easy tactic is to increase urgency. Anything from “don’t miss out!” to “order now to have flowers delivered by Mother’s Day.” You’ll hear a lot of these on the radio, and let’s not forget that those commercials and other video scripts need compelling marketing copy, too.
When it comes to copy, stats are incredibly compelling. People love to know if 57% of their peers hate this kind of avocados—they must know, WHAT KIND?! It’s very clickbaity, but sometimes you gotta do what gets the clicks.
This is actually from Billie’s homepage, which touts razors made specifically for the way women shave. It’s a fact: We’ve got more surface area, and all razors are not created equally.
This has been suggested before as a great copywriting technique for persuasive ad copy—which sounds a lot like compelling copy, right?! This is one of my favorite moves when it comes to copywriting tips, because it takes so little effort. You can use existing reviews from your customer base to compel more people to convert.
Make it scannable; this is important. We are constantly getting hit with tons of information at all times—and as someone who loves to read (I watch TV with the subtitles on), even I miss 50% of the words around me. A big paragraph isn’t welcoming to the eye. Break out your copy into bite-sized pieces to make it more digestible for your audience. If you’re having trouble distilling things down, using a copywriting formula may help.
Using active is something I’m trying to be more conscious of. Let’s try that again.
I try to use active voice.
Way more concise and powerful, right? It’s punchy and less is way more.
Mary is a content writer/strategist at Starry, Inc. and an enthusiast of all things Internet. When she’s not writing words for work, you can find her eating extra-cheesy pizza while planning her next trip.
See other posts by Mary Lister
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