What is Copywriting?
A lot of people have asked me what exactly copywriting is since I launched this website. So for the inquiring minds (hello, Google fans!) I thought I’d share a little information about it.
First, let’s define it.
What Copywriting Means
Copywriting is simple, straight-forward wording that is meant to provide information, sell a product or service, or both. The easiest example is the pages of a website. The About, Services, and Contact page of a site have to have words on them in order to be useful, right? Those words are referred to as “copy,” and usually have a similar tone or feel to them, called “branding.” (Forgive me if this is information you already knew, but I’m approaching this from my teacher perspective, and every good teacher knows that vocabulary is the base of any lesson).
Why is it important?
I could write several paragraphs about this question alone, but we’re all busy, so I’ll keep it simple. Every business has a brand, and your brand is your business’s personality. You want people to vibe with your personality because that’s what’s going to get them to spend their money on whatever product or service you’re selling. The only way to do that is with your words. Every banner, email, social media post, and even video ad (people still watch those!) wouldn’t exist without words. Copywriting is how businesses communicate with their current and potential clients, so it’s arguably the most important aspect of your business (aside from, of course, providing something of value).
How does it work?
The first step to writing effective copy is to clearly define your product, or service. Before you can sell anything to anyone, you have to have a clear understanding of what it is that you have to offer. Ask yourself three questions:
How would you describe it?
What’s unique about it?
What benefit does it provide/what problem does it solve?
These questions will be especially important if you’re in an already-saturated market, like photography. There are not only tons of photographers in the world, but technology now allows anyone with a phone and a few filters to call themselves a photographer (by the way, the majority of my photos are created this way. No shame in my budget-friendly game!) My point is that in order to set yourself apart in the photography market, you’ve got to be able to define what sets you apart from the rest.
The second step is to imagine your perfect client. Think of the person that you are trying to work with/sell to/work for. Are they male or female? How old are they? Do they have kids? Are they working? What are their favorite foods and hobbies? Actually write out the answers to these types of questions and dream up your ideal person. Now, write as if you were speaking directly to them. No matter what you’re selling, if you tell your ideal client about it in such a way that they feel like you are reading their mind, they’re going to want to buy from you.
But how do I do that? Glad you asked…
The third step is to do your homework. By “homework,” I mean stay in tune with who is actually buying what you’re selling. What kinds of people are checking out your website or social media page, and what content is resonating with them the most? This is the part where analytics are insanely helpful. For example, if you’re a photographer who mostly markets on Instagram, you’re able to use the Insights feature to know how many people saw your posts, and which ones they engaged with the most. You can then use this information to plan your future content, and you can even see what times of the day your followers are most active so that you can schedule your posts when they’re most likely to create engagement. (By the way, if you aren’t able to see these features, it’s because your account is still personal. In order to view insights and analytics, you’ll need to switch to a business profile, which you can do under Profile>Settings>Account>Switch to Business Account…you’re welcome!)
Finally, create conversions with Calls to Action. If you’re brand new to copywriting, CTA might sound like an official top-secret program, but it just stands for Call to Action. This means prompting your audience/potential clients to do something specific. It can be things like:
Adding a “Contact me today!” link that takes website visitors to your contact form.
Typing, “DM to schedule your session” at the end of your Instagram caption.
Adding, “Tag two friends who you know would love this!” to your social media post.
Whether you’re trying to get your audience to make a purchase, contact you, or simply create more engagement in your posts, a direct Call to Action should get you the results you want.
All of these steps are equally important, and don’t work in isolation. You have to do them together if you want to see results, and that is going to require consistency. Copywriting is not a set-it-and-forget-it aspect of your business.
Getting Started
If you’ve never given much thought to your copy, it’s never too late to get started, but please don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to go back and fix everything you’ve done up to this point. Start by being intentional with your future copy, and work on your optimizing your past work little by little. Remember that all things are hard at first, but the more you work on it, the more natural it will be. (Notice that I didn’t say it will eventually be easy. This is hard work!)
If you’re thinking, OK, Laura, all of this sounds great, but I’m just NOT a writer! Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that this isn’t an aspect of your business that you can afford to ignore if you’re serious about it. How I wish we lived in the days where marketing and actively selling weren’t necessary and business owners just had to create something valuable and people would buy it, and then they all lived happily ever after. Today’s consumers have an abundance of choices, so unless you’ve invented something that nobody else has, you’re going to need to put some effort into this selling thing.
Now for the good news: you can pay someone to do your copywriting for you! Yep, there are tons of people like me (I know, shameless plug) who will take your product or service and do the leg work of writing and selling it for you, so you can focus on what you do best. Hooray!
I hope you found this information helpful! Don’t forget to share with a friend if you did :)
P.S. If you’re interested in working together, follow this link to contact me (See what I did there?) You can also subscribe below to receive updates from the blog.
