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17 Tips for Great Copywriting

Copywriting, Tips

17 Tips for Great Copywriting

No matter what the offerings are, every business ultimately relies on words to convince, convert and generate sales.

To write influential copy, it’s actually much more important to master human psychology.

If you’d like to level-up your copywriting skills, then you’re in luck: I’ve got 17 stellar copywriting tips for you [we’re talking about advanced tactics that are also really easy to implement].

This article basically condenses years of experience into an actionable list of the best strategies.

Let’s do this.

Write with your eraser

You get 100 bucks for every word you rub out from your title.
Trello lets you work more collaboratively and get more done.
Work collaboratively. Get more done.

Don't exaggerate

An honest line always feels warmer.
The new Volkswagen. More space. More comfort.
They said it couldn’t be done. It couldn’t.

No one cares what you can do

Everyone cares what you can do for them.
The worlds first portable digital media player.
1,000 song in your pocket.

Avoid the passive voice

It’s indirect and awkward.
A stupid person has to make sure it is kept simple.
Keep it simple, stupid.
It’s being loved by me.
I’m lovin’ it.
Bigger fish will be fried by me.
I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Don't kill your personality

The best brands feel “real”.

To our valued customer,

As efforts to contain COVID-19 continue, we hope you’re supported in taking every measure to protect your health.

Melanie here, CEO of Andie

I’m writing to you from my living room as my dog Sara proofreads – we’re both working from home today..

Avoid “landing page words”

Unlock, unleash, enhance, exceed, empower, supercharge, etc.

Real people don’t use them.

Supercharge your frontend skills by building real projects.

Join our empowering community helping each other get better.

Improve your frontend skills by building real projects.

Join 22,000 frontend developers helping each other get better.

Find the tension

“Pleasant” gets forgotten. Conflict creates interest.

Business insurance made for you.

Life insurance you’ll love (really).

Insurance for the digital revolution.

Forget Everything You Know About Insurance.

Instant everything. Great prices. Big heart.

Write how you talk

Casual. Colloquial. Full of pronouns.
The boss is wondering how he’ll quickly transition the team to remote work. Employees are stressed, work feels disparate, projects are stagnating, and it’s tough to visualise and manage everything.
You’re wondering how you’ll quickly transition your team to remote work. People are stressed, work feels scattered, projects are slipping, and it’s tough to see and manage everything.

Avoid “contained” titles

Write something that pulls your reader down your page.
Social media intelligence for your startup.
Do you know the value of your Facebook content?

Write scannable copy

Formatting matters.
I feel sorry for this ad. It’s well written. Lots of short sentences. All flowing into each other. But unfortunately, you’re reading it second. Or perhaps, not at all. Let me explain. Before your brain reads anything your eyes scans it. Your eyes then call up your brain and say either “Hey, this looks easy to read!” or “Don’t go there soldier”. When you dump a lot of words into one long mega-paragraph it’s the latter. Your eyes say, “Stay away”. Your brain says “Roger that”. And no matter how good the copy is, it won’t get read.

Everyone scans!

You see, everyone scans the page before they commit to reading the whole thing.

So keep it light!

They think how does this feel to my eyes?
“Easy” or “Damn that’s a lot of words”.

And suck ’em in!

“Easy” sucks you in. And before you know it, you’ve read the whole ad!

Stories make you memorable

I couldn’t list The Ten Commandments. I could tell you what happened to Adam and Eve.
Cardigan is a small town of 4,00 people. 400 of them used to make jeans. They made 35,000 pairs a week, For three decades.
Then one day the factory closed. But all that skill and knowhow remained. Without a way of showing the world that they could do.
That’s why we have started The Hiut Denim Company. To bring manufacturing back home. To use all that skill on our doorstep. And to breathe new life into our town.
As one of the Grand Masters said to me when I was interviewing: “This is what I know how to do. This is what I do best.” I just sat there thinking I have to make this work.
So yes, out town is going to make jeans again. Here goes.

More periods, fewer commas.

Periods mean short sentences. We like short sentences.

Commas mean long, painful sentences, like this one, which New Yorker writers think are clever, but real people find torturous, because they wind on and on without actually saying anything.

Kill adverbs. Kill adjectives.

They’re flowery. They’re vague. They try too hard.

Effortlessly create email lists from LinkedIn.

Turn any LinkedIn search into a really valuable list of verified emails.

Create email lists from LinkedIn.

Turn any LinkedIn search into a list of verified emails.

Think slippery slide

Every line of copy should lead to the next.

Watch this ad. You won’t be able to stop.

Fence sitters don't buy

Go to the edge.

Everyone Wanted.

For pleasant journey. Low wages, fairly cold, long hours of clear blue skies. Safe return probable. In event of success life as normal.

Men Wanted.

For hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. In event of success honour and recognition.

Your first line is crucial

If people don’t read it, they’re not going to read your second line either.

Keep it short.

We focus on nearly every muscle in our body, yet neglect the one area we value most, our face.

With Jawzrsize, it just takes 5 minutes every day to exercise the muscles…

Your face has 43 muscles. Don’t neglect them.

With Jawzrsize, it just takes 5 minutes every day to exercise the muscles…

Copywriting is selling

Don’t romanticise it. The goal isn’t to be clever or cute.

The goal is to inspire action.

Connect Your Sales Teams With Your Future Customers.

Request a Demo.

Connect Your Sales Teams With Your Future Customers NOW.

See Drift On Your Site.

Strategy Led Design & Development.

I’m a freelance designer & developer working with agencies and startups to build strategy-led brand designs and websites.