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If you’re a new business owner, looking to break into freelance copywriting, or genuinely curious as to what copywriting is, you should read on.
If you’re an avid reader, you’ll understand the impact that words can have on us. It makes us imagine, it makes us feel, and it can change our perspective. The right words in a fictional book, for example, can throw us into the pages, and we begin to picture the world that we are so engrossed in.
This is what the power of words can have on us, and it’s why it is one of the most important marketing tools.
What is copywriting?
Copywriting is the art of using words to persuade someone to take action. Most people know it as persuading and encouraging customers to buy a product or service.
What makes it so important?
Using copy for your business, whether it’s an email ad, a landing page for your website, or a blog post, gives you a unique opportunity to build a relationship with your customers. You can play with words and persuade customers to buy your products or services.
However, it’s not that simple.
If you have your own business, it is probably easy for you to write about your business and what it offers. After all, you know your business the best. But simply writing blocks of text about what you think your business can offer just won’t cut it; there’s an unprecedented amount of research that comes before writing persuasive copy. Why? because you need to completely capture the essence of who your customers are, what they want, what they do, how they think, and how they act before you can begin communicating with them.
As a customer, there is nothing better than feeling understood.
Think about it: how can you give your customers what they want if you don’t understand what they need? With any product or service you are trying to sell, you need to understand its features and how it benefits them (the customer). You can only do this by knowing your target audience. Do the research, and everything else will start to string together.
Once you’ve understood how your product or service can benefit your customer, you’re now evermore closer to striking gold. You just need to find the right words to tell them how. Be honest, be direct, be concise, and above all else, be helpful to the customer. They need to know that your product can make a difference to them.
What does effective copywriting mean?
It means that you’re able to talk about a product or service to a customer in a way that matters to them. Whether you’re working in-house for an agency, attempting to go freelance, or creating copy for your own business, successful and effective copy is the bridge that attracts and retains your customers or clients. What happens if you write copy for a client and they start to see more customer engagement and sales? Well, that would mean that they are likely to use you again, or even suggest to their buddy who is also running their own business and needs help with their copy that you’re the person for the job.
That’s why copywriting is more important than you may think. It’s more than just words on a screen – it’s speaking the language of the customer, your business, and your product at the same time. That’s not an easy thing to do. But if you can do it, you’re already ahead in the sprint race.
Upcoming article: How to learn the product you’re selling