6 Tips For Improving Copy
Good copy is crucial for many reasons. Its importance spans a wide range of mediums, from social media posts and blog articles to advertising materials and email campaigns. Good copy allows you to communicate with your audience more effectively and foster a deeper connection with them. Additionally, good copy aids in promoting your services and/or products. Therefore, good copy drives sales. Your copy’s topic and the copy itself both have to be quality to achieve these results. Here are 6 tips you should use to improve your copy overall:
Know your audience:
Understanding your audience is important when crafting effective copy. It’s crucial that your topic is not just relevant, but also resonates with your target audience. To achieve this, you need to know who you are writing for and what they care about. In order to do that, you should conduct research to build a profile of your target audience. You can analyze existing customer data, conduct surveys, and engage in conversations with current and potential customers. The insights you gain from this research will help you better understand your audience, and therefore help you understand what is relevant to them.
Edit Your Work:
Good copy reflects professionalism. Additionally, it enhances coherence, clarity, and overall impact. Therefore, it’s important to notice and fix any mistakes in your copy before your readers do. To do this you must proofread and edit your copy. Unfortunately, these two important elements in crafting good copy are often overlooked. After writing your copy, you have to proofread it to check for errors, but it is best to take a short break before doing so. This way, when you come back to your copy, it will be easier to find errors since you will have a fresh perspective. Once you return from your break to start proofreading, try reading your copy out loud. This will allow you to hear how the text flows, which can help you find grammatical errors in your writing. You can also have another person read the copy, since a fresh pair of eyes can catch errors that you might have missed.
Strategically choose your wording:
Using adverbs can make your writing too wordy. If your message is still clear and impactful without the adverb, it is usually best to strike it from the copy. You should avoid using exaggeratory words, as it often comes across as trying too hard or disingenuous. This can diminish your credibility. You should also strategically choose your wording based on your audience. Remember that different audiences require different approaches. While a creative audience might respond better to a conversational writing style, a business audience will likely respond better to precise and straightforward language.
Keep sentences short:
Get rid of unnecessary words. Shorter sentences are easier to read and understand. They allow readers to quickly understand your message. In digital content, where people’s attention spans are shorter, this is especially important. Remember, clear and concise writing is best.
Use active voice:
When the subject of a sentence performs the action, that means that the sentence is written using active voice. Using active voice keeps sentences from being too wordy. It also makes sentences easier to understand.
Use a compelling headline:
The headline is the first thing your audience will read, and if it’s not well written, it might be the last. A well-written headline is engaging and persuasive. It needs to grab the reader’s attention immediately, enticing them to keep reading. A headline can do different things to achieve this, like promising value or piquing curiosity. Generally, the shorter your headline is, the better. Shorter headlines are often more effective because they can be absorbed and understood by readers more quickly. This is important in catching a reader’s attention. However, you shouldn’t sacrifice clarity to achieve a shorter headline length. Make sure that your headline conveys the main idea of your writing while being clear and concise.
Use the above 6 tips to improve your copy’s topic and your copy itself to communicate more effectively in addition to selling more services and/or products. When your copy’s topic and the copy itself are both of good quality, you have an ultimate combination that can significantly enhance your communication efforts and help you achieve your business goals.
Terry offers over 15 years experience providing web, video design/production and print, as well as marketing and advertising. Battle-tested with regard to client needs. Diversity and understanding in skill set, constant exploration of new technologies, and a passion for personal education. Proven competence and knowledge in the entertainment, healthcare, beauty, sports and real estate industries.