Tag Archives: web marketing

What is Copywriting – The function of Copywrite

Increasingly there are many people wanting to know what is copywriting. It is the art of selling through print. It has nothing to do with just putting content into your website or blog. This article is not copywriting. First of all, your starting point is having a product of service that you offer to a particular market.

Hopefully that market has a particular need or they have a problem. And your product or service fulfills that need. Communicating to that market is what copywriting will be about. You will try to sell that product to your market. There are many people who are involved in the noble profession of selling, as salesperson. This is one way to reach to your customers.

For those who are good at selling, there is certain the possibility of making a tremendous amount of money . But selling is a tough activity. You have to work long hours and face the possibility of rejection. This is why people want to know what is copywriting. Because it’s an activity that allows to sell without necessarily the drawback of live selling.

Many people want to know what is copywriting

To find out what is copywriting, you need to start by the beginning which is your headline. It should reach out to your prospect. The headline is the first sentence of your copy and it should grab your reader and bring him to continue to read. This is why selling with the written word is something entirely different from live salesman.

In finding out what is copywriting, you learn that fact that your headline should have four critical rules called the 4 U’s. Use them, and you will write a great headline. Don’t use them, and your headline will problematic. However, keep in mind that practice makes perfect and so you will get better over time.

One of the U’s that your headline should have as an expression of your desire to know what is copywriting is, usefulness. Your headline needs to give a reason to your prospect to keep on reading.

Freelance Copywriter in the World of Marketing

Freelance copywriter has become an expression that is nearly meaningless. Many use the word copywriting to mean anything that has to do with writing. This demonstrates a lack of understanding between writing and copywriting, which are two different activities, albeit close to each other. This is very evident on the Internet, where this lack of correct understanding has cheapened this very noble profession.

Could anyone call the legendary David Ogilvy, a freelance copywriter who would just create content on demand? What a debasement of the value of this great genius! Who is this man? Why talk about him? Was he one of those graduates from an elite school of journalism? No. He was a Scottish-born French Chef. Yes, you heard me, a chef.

Yet, David Ogilvy was among the greatest freelance copywriters in the industry. A simple man, he was Amish and a door-to-door salesman. He found a job in his brother’s advertising agency. He revolutionized the advertising philosophy.

Interestingly enough the expression “freelance copywriter” is composed of two distinct expressions with different meanings. A freelancer is someone who sells their work or services rather than working for a salary. In another word, he is an independent contractor.

The freelance copywriter is the marketing mouth of the product

The work of a copywriter is to sell print. Whether the print is offline or online, it has to do with marketing communication.  As, Ogilvy is so famous to have said, “If it doesn’t sell it isn’t creative.” This was a revolutionary idea. The world of writing encompasses many specialties. For instance, a journalist writes news, but may not be able to do copywriting. Editorial writing is another activity very much different from the above two. The characteristic of a copywriter is someone who writes to persuade a reader to take action.

Copywriting motivates someone to purchase a product or opt-in into a mailing list. But what distinguishes such writers from content copy, is the action. His or her work is measurable. It can be tested. He may write a brochure, a website or an email in order to ultimately bring a sale.  

It is rather amusing to observe many companies who are looking for copywriters with qualifications like a master in journalism or whatever lofty eligibility they may conjure.
The reality is that there is no such thing. Journalism is not copywriting. Someone with a degree may not be able to write persuasively to close a sale. It is interesting to note that the world’s highest-paid copywriter says that his education is the School of Experience.

Writing for content has its place in the marketing strategy of any business. Presentations, explanations and so on, are necessary. Having a blog is important from both an SEO perspective and a social approach. But the sales letter online or offline is  what drives your business and brings it to financial success.

Having a freelance copywriter working for you means not being burdened by salaries, tax, and legal obligations. By contracting someone to work for you, you simplify your marketing staff and you get copy that guides your leads to the sale button. Keeping in mind that nothing happens in business, until a sale takes place.

A copywriter will be able to write, for instance, two difference copies for the same product. The purpose is to test which copy is better. Both will run simultaneously, but competitively. This is called an A/B split test. This can also be applied for two versions of a web page. As a business owner or corporate executive, you want your visitors to convert.

You can see that the freelance copywriter has a definitive role in the marketing strategy of a business. One that is different from the content marketer or the press release writer.

 

Web Copywriting – A Tool of Marketing

First of all, I want to define what is met by web copywriting. Many people use this word without knowing its meaning and therefore mislead others. Web copywriting is copywriting for the web. This is as apposed as copywriting in the offline world such as in post office mail order.

Having said that, web copywriting has nothing to do with content writing. These are two different animals. Once upon the time, before the internet, the activity of copywriting was not much known except in advertisement agencies. Usually a copywriter would work for an agency or if he was a freelancer, he would have to be excellent.

Much has been written about copywriting. And there has been a growth in the professional development of that industry. With the Internet, we have seen the advent of what has been called web copywriting. Yet, whether copywriting is done online or offline, it is both a science and an art.

Web copywriting is a science

The science of copywriting is brought forth by the social sciences. Here we are talking about psychology, sociology, economics and marketing. The art aspect is characterized by human creativity, the ability to communicate and touch the sensitivity of others. People buy from those they like and trust. This apply as well in web copywriting.

Not everyone who has a website or a blog and writes some content is a web copywriter. What would that person be? A content writer. Not less important than the copywriter but yet the writing has different purpose. A journalist is a writer, but not a copywriter. As a web copywriter, you have a website, but next you need to have a product or service to offer.

 The web copywriting is a communication piece to your reader that explores his pains or challenges and presents a solution to them. It ends up with a call to action, that is, an order, a signature, since it is a letter and a P.S.

The Skills of Copywriting

When we speak about copywriting, what are we talking about? This seems to be an almost ridiculous question, but it isn’t. There are many kinds of writing. For example, novel writing is one of them. However, copywriting has nothing in common with novels. Those are totally different things.

Copywriting would be considered more likely as some form of commercial writing. Now, advertising is commercial writing, but is not copywriting. Writing advertisement requires different skills than copywriting. Writing an article is not copywriting. Many people are confused on that point and think that because they post an article in their blogs, they do copywriting, not so.

What is Copywriting?copywriter in ecstasy

The essential question is about intent. The question is why are you writing? The purpose of copywriting is to bring the reader to an action. And so this style of writing is not only commercial, but it is a tool of marketing, more specifically sales. In copywriting, you introduce a product and strive to convince the reader to take an action.

Whether you do copywriting in print, as on a mailed sales letter, or on a flyer or whether you do it on the web, the steps are identical. It’s not about the product. It’s not about the media. It’s about the person on the front of your communication piece. It’s about his or her needs and desires.

It is a human being who buys the product or service. There are some who are infatuated with the Internet and want to convince themselves that writing for the web is different from writing on print. I believe that this is not an accurate perspective. In fact, online marketing is complementary to offline marketing.

People have needs and desires. There are products and services out there that would offer a solution to them. In order to communicate the existence of these product, copywriting is done. Features and benefits of the product are presented.

 

Copywrite – The Form and the Art

Copywrite is a matter of practice. First let me say that you don’t need to be a genius or somebody like Ernest Hemingway. You don’t need to be a scholar or a PhD in literature. In fact that might hamper your accomplishment of great writing. The fact is that anyone can learn to copywrite.

Masters in the field were not born knowing how to copywrite. There are certain tools and principles to apply. If you know them, then you will know what makes a good copywriter. Next you will have to practice writing. It is all about how you learn, and what you use that makes the learning process effective.

The art of CopywriteYou copywrite in order to persuade someone to own a product or service that you provide. There are numerous places where you can get information that will help you to start an effective marketing campaign. Practicing the art of copywrite is what will help you make good copy. And there are many good methods available.

Copywrite – The expression of copywriting

Understand that in the field of copywrite, there are different styles of writing.  When we talk in terms of copywriting it is directly related to marketing. Another way to say it, is about commercial copywrite. This kind is totally different from writing a novel or writing poetry.

Copywrite is not a skill that you will be able to develop over the weekend. This is not something where you can surf the web, read a few articles and blog posts and think that “you’ve got it”. Learning this skill requires hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  

A master copywriter like Dan Kennedy is a multi-multi millionaire. He’s been at it since the 1970’s. Excellent copywrite pieces are the result of studying, practice and blood (figuratively). The kind of study is not what you do in college. It’s not even what you learn in a school of journalism.

 

Achieving Web Copywriting

Web copywriting is an exciting thing to do. But it can also have its challenges. What am I talking about when I use the phrase web copywriting? Well, first let’s define what is  copywriting. It’s not just about writing. Meaning a copywriter is not someone who writes. There is more to it than that.

There are different kinds of writing. For instance, you can write novels or romance, detective stories, books of non-fiction such as economics or politics. None of these are copywriting and they certainly aren’t like web copywriting.

Web copywriting is closely related to copywriting which is a form of marketing writing. You need to have a product or service to offer. You’ll need also a market to whom you can sell that product. Your copy is directed to that specific audience. In copywriting, you write in such a way that it persuades the reader of your market to purchase your product.

Web Copywriting needs to motive your reader

Besides persuasive writiWeb trafficng, you will need to guide your reader to take some action. Whether in print  or doing web copywriting, it is the same. You want your reader to click the button, to write down his name and address, and to pay you.

This is the call to action. Sometimes, it may not be the purchase of something. It can be to receive a free book or report or become a member of a list. But web copywriting always ends up with some form of action. You may see things like “limited supply” or “the offer is available only for a period of time.”

Such limitation is to give the reader a sense of urgency. Let’s face it, if the reader doesn’t take action now, he will never do so. Say the person is interested but thinks to himself, he’ll do it later, after feeding the dog, or after dinner.

After feeding the dog or after dinner, he might forget your offer and never buy it. So when it comes to web copywriting, there needs to be a sense of urgency in your piece.

Professional Copywriting

Professional copywriting is a vague expression for most people. Obviously everyone knows what is a writer. But then, what is a copywriter?

vague expressionThe meaning of the word has not changed for the last seventy five years. But it has expanded considerably. There are various shades in the meaning of professional copywriting. A basic definition would be writing that is persuasive enough to motivate someone to take an action. We all have read the work of copywriters.

We can distinguish two different styles of professional copywriting. One, would be for the offline marketing while the other  would be for the web. Both styles are different. It is true that there some basic commonalities.

The writer writes to people who have needs and wants. Yet the media is different. In the offline marketing, a professional copywriter would write a sales letter. Generally, in copywriting one does not write articles, nor advertisements. The copy is specifically for sales.

We all have received in the mail envelopes containing, well what we usually call “junk mail”.  Oh! But are they really junk? See, year after year we receive them in our mail box. It’s because people read them and act upon them.

The sales package offers a product or service. There could be many different pieces in the envelope. But there is a main page which  would be the sales page. It’s usually a very long, long letter. It may talk about a product or service. It will usually mention the problems that people encounter and how this product has helped them.

The end of the professional copywriting letter always finishes with an offer. The product cost so much, and order now. There is usually a bonus or two being offered. Then you will see a section for the customer to put his name and address.

The professional copywriter will always have a guarantee and a telephone number, perhaps a fax number too. The writer who wrote this letter is a copywriter. There is knowledge and skill being applied. The intention of this writing is to request a prospect to fill up the information and make payment.