5 reasons why an investment in copywriting will pay you dividends
Professional copywriting is an expense that businesses are sometimes reluctant to meet. After all, we can all write, can’t we?
Well, yes, we can. But an effective copywriter is more than someone who is just ‘good with words’. Find one with the right experience and an enthusiasm for business, and you’ll be getting at least five specialists for the price of one…
1 Copywriters are psychologists
Effective copywriting makes your organisation look professional and delivers the clarity needed to explain what you do succinctly and with impact. That’s something of a given.
But getting the copy right is more than an unquantifiable way to make your business look better. It makes a huge difference to your bottom line.
That isn’t because decent copywriters are accountants or business analysts. It’s because they’re psychologists.
To write great copy, you need to know what buttons to press. This means appealing to emotions and subconscious associations as well as telling your prospects how much your product is and what it does. How will buying it make them feel about themselves? Who else has it? Context is everything… and when you know this you understand how changing just one or two words in a headline can being you double or triple the previous level of response.
2 Copywriters are creatives
Most businesses recognise the importance of investing in design. But getting the copy to work with it can vastly increase the value of that investment. The right line turns an attractive image from a pleasant distraction into a stirring call-to-action. It’s the difference between the ad you saw on TV that impressed you and the one that made you buy the product. Just like good design, copywriting is an art… but it certainly isn’t art for art’s sake.
3 Copywriters are salespeople
A good copywriter can be your best – and most cost-effective – salesperson. Part of this is down to writing copy that engages the reader… not just making them think, but suggesting how they should act. Asking questions, providing answers, offering reassurance and closing the deal by showing them what they need to do next.
There’s an old adage in advertising: sell the sizzle, not the sausage. Insurance is freedom from worry right now, not some money you’d get later if something went wrong. A more efficient vacuum cleaner is the extra time you’ll get doing things you enjoy, not a machine for picking up dust. A new car is the satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re doing well for yourself, not a means to get from A to B.
Conversational, empathetic copy can make this approach work every bit as effectively as a skilled face-to-face salesperson.
4 Copywriters are digital specialists
Some copywriting skills translate well across different media, but writing for the digital environment has its own set of specialisms, challenges and considerations.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) awareness is crucial if you want to get your message to the right people – but this alone is no substitute for writing copy that people want to read. This is especially true now that SEO algorithms have the sophistication to search for meaning, not just buzzwords. And getting the reader to click on the right link is only half the battle – we want them to make a purchase, not recoil in horror when they realise they’ve been induced to read something that wasn’t what it seemed. Think how you felt when you followed an alluring ‘click bait’ headline, only to find an annoying fake news article. We’ve all done it!
5 Copywriters are a safe pair of hands
Back to the first point again… yes, good copy makes your business look professional – and part of this is protection against howlers. Most copywriters double up as proof readers, and pick up on errors that spell checks simply don’t ‘get’. The same goes for grammar.
If you think grammar doesn’t matter, then consider the difference between ‘Have you eaten, Grandma?’ and ‘Have you eaten Grandma?’ One is a polite question to an elderly relative, the other something that you’d only ever ask the Big Bad Wolf.
Copywriters know the rules. And just as importantly, they know when to break them. See how the dramatic pause worked there? If starting a sentence with ‘And’ was good enough for Shakespeare (who made up words altogether, as well as breaking rules) then who are we to argue…?
If you want to benefit from the input of ‘five specialists for the price of one’, get in touch with Base North Marketing. We can help you to create great copy – and put it to work for your business.
Please call me on: 07753 498964 or email: natalie@basenorthmarketing.co.uk