Most communication professionals know these copywriting rules: Rule #1 Clear Not Clever Rule #2 Speak to the 1 Person Rule #3 Your Customer is the Hero - You're the Guide Rule #4 Poke your Customers Pain Points Rule #5 Benefits, Not Features But the biggest challenge I find is when you use Rules in Creativity - it stops you from being creative! In today's issue, I'm taking the lead from some big brands and breaking a few copywriting rules. Want examples?
RULE 1: CLEAR NOT CLEVER This rule does the round in copywriting circles where it's better to be clear, not clever and to choose words that are: - Concise - To the point - Easy to understand. BUT Being Clear and Clever are not mutually exclusive. Often there's a sense of not being professional if you use humour but using clever humour and being self-aware gives your brand a good dose of personality and humanity that instantly connects with your audience and is the quickest way for your copy to be remembered and shared. BREAK IT: BE CLEAR AND CLEVER
RULE 2: NICHE YOUR MARKET AND WRITE TO THE 1 PERSON Writing to the 1 person in your target market makes sense if you have a specific niche that has a specific problem BUT you are more likely to alienate potential clients if you have more than one target market and focus on the wrong problem and solution A better way is to write to your target market's commonalities Find the commonalities in your market and write to a) The things that trigger their buying process b) Their common villain (internal or external fight) c) Their common Goals and Desired Outcomes BREAK IT: WRITE TO YOUR TARGET MARKETS COMMONALITIES
RULE 3: YOUR CUSTOMER IS THE HERO -YOU'RE THE GUIDE Another overused rule is trying to not write about the company Copywriting is meant to bridge the gap between what you want to say and what your customers want to hear - At some point, you will have to talk about yourself. Although great for storytelling - when positioning the customer as the hero and the brand as the Guide you may come to realise that you are not as unique as you hope you are and there are a lot of guides out there just like you! You don't have to be better - you just have to be different and a good differentiator is to Paint your solution as your customers hero
BREAK IT: YOUR SOLUTION IS YOUR CUSTOMERS HERO
RULE 4: POKE YOUR CUSTOMERS PAIN POINTS
Pain points are the areas where your target audience feels frustrated, vulnerable, or uncertain.
Solely focusing on the areas that are most painful for your audience and reminding them can leave a negative impression. Over-agitating pain points starts to feel more like an insult with you telling your audience what they are doing wrong.
Start talking with them, instead of at them, and write with empathy. Imagine you’re sitting next to them having an honest conversation.
BREAK IT: SHOW EMPATHY AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU REMOVE THE PAIN
RULE 5: BENEFITS OVER FEATURES
This rule slips by most copywriters because they stick to the myth that their customers buy on emotion rather than logic
It's simply not true
Yes, Emotions attract your customers But Logic makes the final push for the sale
And if you have to write complex or technical copy it's impossible to stay away from your features
Turn your product features into a benefit and create value for your customers
BREAK IT: TURN YOUR FEATURES INTO BENEFITS
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