October 20th is National Day on Writing, so what better blog to give you today than my favorite copywriting secrets?
Copywriting sounds like a technical word, but it’s not. If you’re a business owner, you use copywriting every. Single. Day.
Did you send an email to a client today? That’s copywriting. Have you put together a presentation or a pitch? Copywriting. Do you write social media captions, video scripts, or email newsletter?
Well, that’s more content writing, but they’re usually one and the same.
Entrepreneurs have to use writing in their everyday lives, so it’s time to step up your game. The secret to copywriting is that it’s generally used to sell, which means you need to be extremely convincing.
How can you do that?
Do you want to attract more clients and boost revenue?
I promise you that if you only skim the headings in this blog, then you’re already set up for failure (spoiler alert; one of the ways to become a better writer is to actually read!).
Buckle down— it’s time to take your business a little more seriously.
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Copywriting Secrets For Personal Brands
Great copywriting is the secret sauce to a successful business. Because we use it so much, it’s vital that you learn how to improve your writing skills.
Copywriting doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re writing to sell. Once you’re good at it, however, you’ll be able to sell to those reading without them even realizing that that’s what you’re doing.
So, let’s dig into copywriting secrets that you can start using for your business today.
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10. Write To Your Ideal Client
I know this one sounds tiring and basic, but it’s always overlooked. If you haven’t taken to time to actually write down who your ideal client is, you’ll never know how to write effectively.
It’s time to lay it all out.
Your ideal client is going to be the person you would most like to work with. It’s easy to say you want to work with anyone willing to pay you, but believe it or not, that will make it more difficult for you to find clients.
Niching down on your clients is just as important as niching down on your expertise. That way, once you and your ideal client find each other, the connection will be irresistible.
Is your ideal client a male or female? Are they between the ages of 18-25 or 25-35?
Who are they?
You also want to dig into your ideal client’s personality on top of standard demographics like age, gender, location, and salary. What worries do they have? Do they have any particular problems that you can help them with? What are they, and what can your personal brand give them to help them reach success?
9. Titles Matter
Let’s talk about your titles for a minute. A title can refer to:
- Website page titles
- Email subject lines
- Blog titles
- Ad buttons
There’s a reason why CTR (click-through rates) are highly stressed when it comes to copywriting. Click through rates identify how often a person clicks your ad, email, or blog.
The less interesting your titles are, the worse your CTR will be.
How can you improve this writing skill? It takes practice and research. Look through your emails and see which ones have the most opens. Check your Google Analytics to see which blogs get the most clicks. Usually, you’ll begin to see a pattern.
A title should be around 60 characters or less. I always recommend capitalizing Every Word In Your Title so that it draws attention.
As to what type of titles you can use, there are a few common copywriting secrets proven to earn you more clicks.
Coschedule is a great resource to check your titles. They have an A.I. that tests your title’s strength and tells you how you can improve it.
By their measurements, emotional words really intrigue audiences. Through Coschedule’s study of 1 million different headlines (and 100 social media shares), they determined that:
- Lists posts are the most likely type of post to be shared 100-1K times
Example: 10 Steps to Finding Work-Life Balance
- Use ‘You’ & ‘Your’ in your titles because posts that used ‘I and Me’ were almost 3 times less likely to be shared.
Example: Why Is Personal Branding Important to Your Business and Your Career?
- Use words like ‘free’ or ‘how-to’ to show the reader they’re winning something or learning something new.
Example: How To Stay On Top of Trends For Your Brand
8. Identify Your Tone of Voice
Knowing how you write is going to be your secret weapon. You don’t want to write like your competition because then writing in your industry becomes stale and boring.
And they won’t remember you specifically.
Journaling can help you figure out your voice, plus, it enables you to get into the writing routine.
You don’t want to write your business copy the same way you journal. All you really want to determine is what tone of voice comes most naturally to you.
Do you write:
- Casually
- Professionally
- Blunt and honestly
- Informatively
Knowing your tone will help establish your personal brand voice, making your writing unique and identifiable so that people will remember you.
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7. Write To a Friend
You can also simply write your copy like you’re writing a letter to a friend. Imagine that you’re explaining something to a friend about your business. Or imagine how you would speak verbally to them if they were right in front of you.
Generally, you wouldn’t use technical industry words. You would try to put it in layman’s terms so that your concept or tip is easy to understand.
You need to do this for most of your writing. Don’t assume that your audience understands exactly what it is you’re saying.
This is my favorite copywriting secret because it’s the easiest to use and understand. If you think your audience would appreciate blogs, emails, or captions in a more formal tone, then write the way you would talk during a presentation!
6. Read Blogs and Articles
Reading can really help you when it comes to writing. In fact, most professionals would say that reading more can help make you a better writer.
However, I think there are a few other benefits to reading before you write as well.
For one, it improves your copywriting. It’s always a good idea to read blogs from other people in your industry to see how other industry leaders write.
You don’t want to mimic their tone of voice (you already figured out your own, right?), but it helps you understand what type of writing your audience is reading.
Reading also helps with writer’s block. If you can’t think of what to write next, pull up a couple of articles relevant to your industry. I’ve even had to do this a couple of times today! That’s why I always recommend reading 1-3 articles before tackling your own copywriting.
5. Write Consistently
Starting a blog or email newsletter and then leaving your potential clients high and dry leaves a bad impression.
People always talk about posting consistently on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. And yet, people don’t realize the same rule applies to your blogs and copy. You have to be consistent for your readers, and you have to be consistent in order to get better at copywriting.
Like I said, you’re consistently writing for your business anyway. So you can’t stop doing it. You need to write once a week directly to your ideal client. Whether that’s an email newsletter, a blog, or a couple of social media captions is at your discretion.
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4. Learn SEO
Just like writing, SEO requires consistency.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO blogs contain a specific keyword that your ideal client is likely to type into Google. You can find these keywords and their monthly search volumes on free services like Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest.
Now, if you’re looking for copywriting secrets that can work for you continuously, this is it.
You could have written a search engine optimized blog a year ago that is now bringing you in new leads and new clients.
The trick with SEO is to do keyword research. Once you figure out what your ideal client is typing into Google, you can start answering their questions in the form of SEO blogs.
There’s a learning curve when it comes to SEO, so I recommend figuring out your writing style before you dive into this.
3. Ask Your Friends to Read your Work
If you’re not sure if your writing can be understood by the general population, ask your friends to read your work.
They’ll be able to tell you if it sounds like you, if it’s understandable, and if you rattle on for too long.
As you get more familiar with writing consistently, you won’t need to do this anymore. Instead, you’ll be able to gauge which copy performs the best by looking at your analytics (I highly recommend using Google Analytics for your website).
It’s also worth showing people within your industry your work to get some initial feedback. These people are going to be a lot more honest about the quality of your work.
Don’t take it personally if you get some negative feedback. This is advice you need to hear.
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2. Include a Call to Action
A call to action is included at the end of all of your writing. Even if it’s a bit of content like a blog, ultimately, that blog includes a little bit of copywriting because it ends with a call-to-action (see below).
This is essentially what makes writing copy. The copy is going to persuade your reader to take an action.
What can be in your call-to-action copy? It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. You can tell them to follow you on social media, sign up for your email newsletter, or buy your product or service.
Generally speaking, you can mix up your call-to-action from time to time. Just try to stick to the same three so that your readers see it more than once. Likewise, it’s smart to include a small CTA at the end of all your blogs, social media captions, and emails!
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1. Ultimate Copywriting Secret: Free Writing Tools
If you’re a weak writer, then you can get free help from writing tools like Grammarly.
Keep in mind that these A.I. tools are not always accurate. I find that a lot of times, it gives me terrible suggestions.
It also seems to discourage using words that showcase your personality. Words like ‘absolutely’ often get an underline with a recommended change.
Grammarly’s paid version (roughly $10 per month) is your best bet if your writing is off. Not only will it give you better word suggestions, but it can tell you if your writing has any plagiarism, bad sentence structure, and if your writing is clear.
By the end, you’ll have an overall score out of 100 to tell you just how bad (or good) your copywriting really is.
Another great free tool to use to improve your writing is the Cliché Finder. This helps you find and replace phrases in your writing that are overdone and dull. it can also highlight spelling mistakes that you may have missed in Grammarly.
