1. They have clearly identified an audience that wants/need their product/service2. They have an offer that has been fine-tuned to get response from their targeted audience3. They have committed to a budget that will sufficiently expose the offer to their target audience
In marketing, where every word matters, copywriting can make
or break a campaign. It's the art of persuasion, the skill of storytelling, and
the science of understanding your audience rolled into one. However, even the
most seasoned marketers can stumble into common pitfalls that undermine the
effectiveness of their copy. Here are the five biggest mistakes and how to
avoid them:
The cardinal sin of copywriting is failing to grasp who
you're talking to. Your audience isn't a monolithic entity; they're diverse
individuals with unique needs, desires, and pain points. Crafting copy without
a deep understanding of your audience is like shooting blindfolded – you might
hit something, but the chances are slim it’s something you want to hit.
What to do: Develop detailed customer personas. Dive into market research, analyze demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns. Use these insights to create copy that resonates with your target audience on a personal and emotional level.
Quick Tip: Continuously refine your understanding of your target audience through social media insights, analytics, and customer feedback. The better you know your audience, the more effectively you can speak to them.
Your product or service isn't a solution in search of a
problem – it's the answer to your customers' pain points. Many marketers fall
into the trap of focusing solely on features or benefits without addressing the underlying challenges their audience faces.
What to do: Regularly engage with your audience to uncover their pain points. Conduct surveys, monitor social media conversations, and analyze competitor reviews. Use this information to tailor your copy, demonstrating how your offering alleviates specific pain points.
Quick Tip: Don't stop at surface-level insights. Dive deep into customer feedback, consult customer service reps, and talk to salespeople to unearth hidden pain points that your competitors might have overlooked.
Humans are hardwired for stories. They captivate us, evoke
emotions, and forge connections. Yet, many marketers underestimate the power of
storytelling in their copywriting efforts.
What to do: Incorporate storytelling into your copy. Whether it's through customer testimonials, case studies, or brand narratives, weave compelling stories that resonate with your target audience's experiences and aspirations.
Quick Tip: Embrace frameworks like the Hero's Journey to structure your stories. Position your customer as the hero, with your product or service as the guiding force that leads them to success.
Your copy may be brilliant, but if it doesn't prompt action,
it's not going to perform at its highest level. If your prospect/customer doesn’t
clearly understand – and be motivated to take – the next step in accepting your
offer, conversions will suffer.
What to do: Ensure every piece of copy has a clear, compelling CTA. Use actionable language, create a sense of urgency, and test different CTA placements and formats to optimize conversion rates.
Quick Tip: Personalize CTAs based on user behavior or segment. Tailor your calls-to-action to match the customer's journey, guiding them seamlessly towards the desired action.
Consistency is key to building a strong brand identity. Inconsistency
in tone and style can dilute your brand's message and confuse your audience.
What to do: Create a brand style guide that outlines your brand's voice, tone, and style. Use this guide religiously to ensure consistency across all your copy, regardless of the platform or medium.
Quick Tip: Before you release marketing or advertising materials, make sure it matches your tone and style to a point that it would be recognizable as you even if identifiers (e.g., logo) were removed.
By avoiding these five crucial copywriting mistakes and implementing the suggested solutions and tips, you can elevate your marketing copy from mediocre to mesmerizing. Remember, copywriting is both an art and a science – master it, and you'll unlock the power to engage, persuade, and inspire action like never before.
You're hit with their pitch about the ease of taking your Kizik shoes off and putting them back on at one of the most inconvenient situations for those actions with a regular shoe.
This billboard says “Welcome to Melbourne”... but ... it’s installed at Sydney Airport.
That's one way to get attention ... imagine that you’ve just flown into Sydney and you experience a moment of panic thinking you've just flown into the wrong city.
Then you see it's from Specsavers, an retail optical chain with advertising focused on people making mistakes because of poor eyesight that includes the slogan: "Should've gone to Specsavers."
The power of placement.
It's 2008 and Canadian Club is experiencing the 16th year of year-over-year sales declines.
They feel their problem is that Canadian Club is thought of as "your dad's drink". And young people, in their social life, don't want to be associated with their father's way of doing things.
So they turn to BBDO who gave them this campaign ... that embraced dads.
The BBDO team explained:
“The main obstacle was that the client didn’t want to remind this audience that Canadian Club was their dad’s drink of choice, someone who obviously isn’t that cool. Our [creative brief] mandatories were to show a cocktail, the logo, and whatever we do don’t mention 'dad.' When we read that it sparked a thought, which was: Wait, my dad might not be 'cool' anymore, but when he was my age he was a stud.”
