Copywriting – Page 7 – Express Writers

7 Timeless Copywriting Lessons from the Legend David Ogilvy

December 31, 2020September 29, 2016 by Adam Oakley

If you’re in the market to improve your copy and make your digital advertising more effective than it’s ever been, there’s one man who can offer some serious inspiration. David Ogilvy. One of the most successful advertisers of all time, Ogilvy is considered the father of information-dense advertising. First, let’s look at his life story–how he started one of the most famous, industry-shaping agencies of all time without prior experience writing a single line of ad copy, and one of his most famous high-ROI ads. Then, we’ll delve into 7 key lessons Ogilvy has left with us. Sit back and enjoy! A Nutshell Life Story of the Inspirational Copywriting Hero, David Ogilvy Born in 1911, the man was a literal genius, despite being a “college dropout” at England’s Christ Church, Oxford. He could sell anything, to anyone–a skill he learned at 24 years old when he decided to quit working at his “slavish” job in a hotel kitchen. Ogilvy started selling stoves, and got everyone to buy — from nuns and drunkards. In 1935, he wrote a guide that’s been named “the best sales manual ever written,” by Fortune. One of the best quotes from the guide: “The more prospects you talk to, the more sales you expose yourself to, the more orders you will get. But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of salesmanship.” In 1938, he emigrated to the US from England, and worked for George Gallup’s Audience Research Institute in New Jersey. This is where he learned meticulous research methods and unique copywriting techniques. In WWII, he worked with the Intelligence Service in Washington, where he wrote a ton of high-level content, making recommendations on matters of diplomacy and security. He applied techniques he learned at Gallup into a report for the fields of secret intelligence, which was picked up by Eisenhower’s Psychological Warfare Board and successfully put to work at Europe during the final year of WWII. Without a single ad penned in his lifetime, but simply a natural talent in sales, he came on and dominated the ad copywriting scene in the early 50s. After a quiet few years living with the Amish in Pennsylvania, Ogilvy founded the New York-based ad agency Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather in 1948 (which later evolved into Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide). He launched with financial aid from London-based Mather & Crowther. He had never written an advertisement in his life, and in their first twenty years, Shell gave him their entire business; Sears hired him for their first national ad campaign; and other clients included Lever Brothers, General Foods and American Express. It became to a point where Ogilvy said: “Getting clients was like shooting fish in a barrel.” One of his most famous ads was also one of his most unorthodox ones. He believed in spur-of-the-moment inspiration, and on a whim decided to take on a small-budget client, a shirtmaker from Maine, in 1951. Within a week after the following ad went live, featuring Ogilvy’s “whim” of using an eyepatch on the model, every Hathaway shirt was sold out. He passed away in 1999, at 88 years old. Sadly, his two greatest dreams never came true: he wanted ten children (he only had one), and he wanted knighthood (he was made commander of the British empire, close enough, in 1967). He was also inducted in the US Advertising Hall of Fame in 1977. The copywriting lessons he’s left with us have stood the tests of time and apply just as much today as they did in Ogilvy’s lifetime. Let’s dissect a few. 7 Mantras for Better Copywriting, Courtesy of David Ogilvy Prepare to be inspired by some of Ogilvy’s finest statements. 1. Invest the time in continually learning how to write well If there’s one quote he’s said that rings 100% true with the process of my writing career, it’s this one. Most people who are attracted to copywriting have at least some experience with writing. Whether that’s an English degree or a past as a high school journalist, writing experience comes in all shapes and sizes. However, even the best writers need continual practice in order to hone their craft and excel at writing. With this in mind, never stop working to improve your craft. Read books, take seminars, and study the masters. Not only will your writing improve, but your scope of knowledge will, as well. 2. Learn who you are writing for According to Ogilvy, researching the competition, product, and customer is critical for long-term copywriting success. While virtually anyone can create copy, only truly skilled copywriters who have invested the effort into learning their market can create targeted, highly effective content that influences audiences and sells things. 3. Do your homework and know what you’re writing about, but don’t be afraid to break the rules Good writing is harder without a great plan and the right research, which Ogilvy says so well. Yet, as Ogilvy puts it (and as he put to real life use in his work), don’t be afraid to break the rules–never abide by one set of rules: For best results, ensure your outline has the following components: 1. A headline. Your headline should capture your reader’s attention and make them want to click into your content. Boring, dry headlines need not apply here. 2. A sub-headline. This sub-headline is designed to offer a simple explanation of what you (or your content) does and for whom it does it. Perfect for converting the on-the-fence reader, this can help boost your conversions hugely. 3. Plenty of quality visuals. Use your outline to determine where you’ll place visuals and what the visuals will support. In addition to boosting your audience’s understanding of a topic, visuals also make content more compelling and can serve to improve its shares on social media. 4. A bulleted list of key points. To make your content outline as effective as possible, include a bulleted list of key points. (You can focus on creating a listicle or how-to, two hot forms of content, this way.) This helps you ensure you’re not leaving anything out while also serving to organize your content. 5. An outline … Read more

A Real World Guide On How to Be A Successful WAHM Copywriter

June 19, 2024September 26, 2016 by Shailynn Krow

Working from home full-time is just about every mom’s dream. No daycare costs, you make your schedule, and you still contribute to the household. The only issue is that you don’t have an office to escape to each day or your office looks like mine (i.e. full of toys, Mickey Mouse playing in the background, and kids tugging at your shirt for their fifth snack of the day). As an online copywriter working at home full-time, I understand what you’re going through. Three kids, two in full-time sports, one under a year old, and a full-time job at home; I am right there with you. So, how on earth are you supposed to juggle all of those assignments, kids, and still be creative enough to churn out killer copy when you’ve got everything else going on? I’m not going to claim I have perfected the art of working from home with kids, but over the past 10 years, I’ve developed a few skills that help me boost my productivity while managing the chaos of kids, family and household chores. Not all of these productivity hacks will apply specifically to you, but the good news is that you can customize them to suit your lifestyle. The goal here is to show you how to squeeze minutes out of what feels like seconds, and hopefully help you fit more assignments in each day; all without sacrificing your copy’s quality. [bctt tweet=”Learn 5 tips for staying productive as a WAHM, from one of our full-time writers #productivity #writers ” username=”ExpWriters”] What 5 Things Do I Do Each Day To Stay Productive As A WAHM Copywriter? Working from home is an art. Think of yourself as a juggling act tossing balls up into the air, whirling them around, and never breaking a sweat. Your mind is constantly on your assignments, even though you’re ironing a pair of pants, doing some dishes, or whipping up mac and cheese. Okay, well that is what is going through my head during the day; but, you get the point. Regardless of how you picture yourself, here’s what I suggest for getting more out of each day: 1. Shower & Get Dressed I cannot emphasize this one enough. Getting into the “Work At Home” syndrome is easy. You wake up, start working, and somehow it’s noon and you haven’t showered. I’m guilty of this too, so don’t worry. But, showering and getting dressed every morning psyches your brain into getting ready to work. Sure, your office is at home and the attire is more than casual, but that doesn’t mean you need to sport flannel pajamas. To be a great copywriter, you need to be awake. All of your senses should be in full swing — smell, taste, etc. You should be a virtual hamster running crazy on the wheel while working. You can’t do that when you’re still in “relax” mode. Entrepreneur’s Phil Dumontet suggests turning the water to cold for the last 30 seconds of your morning shower to help wake you up. You know what? It totally works. Surprisingly, I’m refreshed, less stressed about starting my day (even if I have a heap of assignments), and for some odd reason I feel cleaner. 2. Create An Online Copywriting Routine I have a method to my madness, and I’m going to share it with you. Even if I’m handling 10,000 words of assignments in a single day (a comfort area for me by now), I tackle it using the same approach. Now, you will need to develop a routine that works for your creative process; because we are all different in how we write. Here’s How My WAHM Copywriting Routine Breaks Down Research: I do research for my future assignments a few days before they’re Nothing kills my creative process more than having to stop and find resources. So, I find them all first. This also helps me tailor my content better when I start typing. Headline: I craft my headline long before I write. I know, I know. This goes against every online copywriting rule you’ve ever read. Most will tell you not to touch the headline until you’re done and here I am saying I do the opposite. However, having the headline written helps guide the rest of my content. I know my purpose ahead of time. If writing your headline after works better for you, keep doing it. Write, Write, Write: I don’t outline. I find outlines kill my creative process. If I’m pigeonholed into subheaders and bulleted lists, I feel stuck and robotic. Instead, I just sit down and start typing. Let it all flow and don’t stop. Don’t fix typos, don’t worry about grammar, and don’t care if you ramble away; that’s my motto. Walk Away: Depending on how my week is working out, I may work on something and not look at it again for a day or two, or it may be later that day. Regardless, I always walk away and let the piece rest. Edit: Once I’ve had a break from my work, I come back for editing. Smartblogger’s Shane Arthur shares his wisdom on how to edit your work, and I follow these tips daily. 3. Put The Rest Of The Family On A Schedule If you want to carve out work time in between the soccer games, dance classes, homework, and baby’s naps, you’re going to need everyone else consistent. I’m not saying create a rigid schedule that plans out every minute of everyone’s life. However, everyone needs to be consistent to an extent. That means nap times are around the same time of day, homework hour is the same time, kids have a bedtime routine, and the day flows smoothly regardless of what is going on. One of my biggest struggles as an online copywriter is constantly having to take a break right in the middle of my creative flow to do something non-work related. So, by having set work times, I’m less at risk for dealing … Read more

5 Smart Productivity Hacks for Copywriters Everywhere

December 31, 2020September 14, 2016 by Ashley

Ashley A. is a full time copywriter at Express Writers. As a copywriter, there’s virtually nothing more important than productivity. While productivity means getting more done in less time, it also means staying organized and producing better work – which is ideal for you and your clients. Unfortunately, copywriting productivity is something that many writers struggle with. In addition to the fact that most copywriters work from home, every copywriter I know is juggling multiple jobs at once – tending to the needs, questions, and concerns of a huge selection of clients at the same time. Needless to say, this can become a tenuous balance after a while, which is exactly why mastering productivity hacks meant for copywriters is so critical. Read on to learn more. 5 Copywriting Productivity Tips to Make You a Better Writer, Starting Now Copywriting is more important today than it’s ever been before, and the most successful copywriters on the web are the ones who know how to manage their time effectively. With that in mind, check out these five smart copywriting productivity hacks I use that will help streamline your days and produce better content. 1. Use a browser plugin to stop yourself from getting lost in the internet Copywriters spend a lot of time online, and if we’re not careful, it’s easy for things like Facebook and cat videos (or cat videos on Facebook) to eat up our hours. Without question, one of the largest challenges I’ve faced since becoming a professional copywriter is learning to put a lid on internet-based distractions. Luckily, there are several smart ways to do it pretty efficiently. My favorite way to keep internet distractions at bay is to use a browser plugin called Momentum. Every time I open a new tab (in Chrome), Momentum displays a personal dashboard that includes a scenic photo, an inspirational quote, a daily priority (which I set every morning), and a list of to-dos. Every time my energy starts to dip, and I begin to fantasize about watching a cat in a shark costume ride a Roomba around someone’s kitchen, Momentum reminds me what I’m supposed to be doing and helps me stay on track. Thank goodness for that. 2. Make your workspace a phone-free zone Before I was a copywriter, I worked as a legal assistant. In that job, I could check my phone all day long without my productivity taking a hit. The minute I moved into full-time copywriting, though, this ground to a halt. Maybe it’s because copywriting is such an involved profession, or because it requires so much focus, but I believe that one of the biggest distractions for copywriters is a buzzing cell phone. If I stop to check a text or pick up a friend’s phone call during the work day, I have an amazingly difficult time picking up where I left off, it takes me four times as long to get anything done, and the work I do churn out is sub-par. With that in mind, banish your phone from your workspace. It doesn’t matter where you exile it to, so long as it’s not face-up on your desk. While I’m writing, I leave my phone plugged in on the kitchen counter. This allows me to keep my productivity intact and churn out my work with fewer distractions. 3. Write yourself a daily to-do list While I use the to-do function on Momentum, my primary mode of organization is a huge planner that contains the contents of my entire brain. If I lost this planner, I’d be reduced to wandering the streets and sobbing like a lost child. It is that important. While the planner keeps me organized and prevents me from forgetting assignments or breezing past due dates, it also helps me hold myself accountable. Don’t believe me? No worries – there’s some good science to back this up. According to research conducted by psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews at California’s Dominican University, people who write their goals down are a whopping 42% more likely to achieve them. While this is true for big, long-term goals, it’s also true for daily goals. With this in mind, write yourself a daily to-do list. In addition to helping you meet your milestones, it will also motivate you to stay productive and fulfill your goals each day. 4. Take frequent breaks to boost attention Isn’t it odd that one of the most effective productivity hacks is to stop being productive? While it may seem counterintuitive, taking frequent breaks is one of the single most effective ways to stay sharp and driven throughout the day. In addition to the fact that stepping away from the desk dramatically reduces eye fatigue in people who work on computers (I see you, copywriters!), people who take regular, two-minute long breaks are 11.15% more productive than their peers. With that in mind, take frequent breaks throughout the day. When I feel myself starting to get distracted and bogged down, I set an alarm for thirty minutes. For that thirty minutes, I do nothing but write – even if what’s coming out is terrible. When the alarm goes off, I get up, make myself a cup of tea, or step outside for five minutes. And then I keep doing that until the piece is done. The moral of the story is this: sometimes you have to give productivity a break to stay as productive as possible. 5. Batch check everything (no exceptions) This is a tip I learned from the master of productivity – Tim Ferriss. In a world of push notifications, alerts, inboxes, and text messages, it’s incredibly rare that we get to spend any amount of time focusing on a single thing. Over time, this leads to mental burnout and rising stress levels. Luckily, you can combat it by placing some limits on your digital world and beginning to batch-check your virtual communications. “What can I batch check,” you ask? Great question. You can batch check your emails, voice mails, text messages, social media notifications, and alerts. To get started, define two times each day that you’ll … Read more

A Professional Copywriter’s Guide to Writing Creative Content for Boring Industries

December 31, 2020September 1, 2016 by Ashley

Ashley A. is a full-time copywriter at Express Writers. Let’s face it: being a professional copywriter often means writing about boring industries. While these industries may be incredibly worthwhile (RV rentals, for example, or tax compliance for expats), they’re far from titillating. Yet, our job is to make them seem like the best thing since sliced bread. Sound challenging? It is! I’ve been a full-time copywriter for years now, and, in that time, I’ve been asked to write about everything: from moving services to how to collect canine fecal samples. At times, maintaining creativity in the content I write for these companies has been challenging, but it’s a skill all good copywriters need to learn. Without it, you risk crafting sub-par content that does nothing to advance your client’s online presence and may, in fact, harm their reputation. So with that in mind, it’s clear that the role a professional copywriter plays in learning to craft creative content is critically important – even (and especially) when the topic isn’t that exciting, to begin with. A Professional Copywriter’s Guide: 5 Tips to Crafting Unique Content for Boring Industries Stumped on how to write unique content for uninspiring topics? Check out these five tips: 1. Find the Story Within the Brand or Topic Even if a storyline doesn’t immediately leap out at you, every brand has one, and every topic needs one. When I’m asked to write about something that strikes me as ho-hum or downright dry, the first thing I do is get to work locating the story. For example, the company offering RV rentals doesn’t want a blog post outlining the features of each RV – it wants content that inspires people to take the leap and rent an RV for the trip of a lifetime. The brand selling tax compliance services doesn’t want an elaborate list of impossible-to-decipher tax laws – it wants a compelling landing page that demonstrates how the services offered can help expats live the American dream. When you consider the larger climate of marketing, it’s clear that copywriters are out there working on every single day. Need an example? Consider Febreze, which was on the brink of becoming a multi-million dollar failure until some creative copywriter somewhere discovered how to tell a story customers could connect with. Case in point? Every brand has a story, and it’s your job to find creative ways to tease it out. 2. Put Yourself in the Reader’s Shoes For a professional copywriter, one of the most effective ways to make a boring industry interesting is to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. What are they looking for from this content? How can you arrange it in a way that better addresses their needs or provides more useful answers to their questions? What extra touch could you add to make it special? Consideration for the reader should be the core of your writing process, and you’ll typically find that viewing content from the reader’s perspective is an efficient way to find a creative approach and stick with it. 3. Understand that All Content has Value (As Long as It’s Well-Written) Even the topics that seem mundane have value. When you think about how and why the internet functions, it’s clear that the entire thing is a massive information-delivery service. People around the country and the world need to learn new things, find new information and answer difficult questions. And when these needs crop up, they head to Google. While articles with titles like “How to Collect a Canine Fecal Sample” aren’t what most copywriters consider the assignment of a lifetime, this lofty attitude doesn’t ultimately get us anywhere. Because here’s the thing: all content has value. While it may not be glamorous, somebody somewhere needs this information, and your job as a professional copywriter is to put it together in a clear, useful, and helpful way. When you view content this way, instead of looking down your nose at the topics that don’t immediately thrill you, it becomes apparent that giving everything you write your all is one of the best and most compassionate ways you can serve your clients and readers. 4. Develop a metaphor Sometimes, it’s just really hard to make a topic creative, and in these cases, one of the best things you can do is create a metaphor. For example, we’ve got a post on the Express Writers blog about persuasive copywriting. While the words “persuasive copywriting” on their own might not make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, saying that persuasive copywriting is the unicorn of online content will probably strike you as much more interesting. The moral of the story is this: if you can’t find a way to make a topic interesting, consider likening it to something that is. Metaphor works wonders in online content, and tying a dry topic to something more compelling or unique is an excellent way to help your readers connect with the subject matter. 5. Make the Most of Statistics One smart way to make a dry topic exciting is to draw in relevant statistics. For example, what if I told you that lots of people get hurt by icicles? Meh. Now, what if I told you that icicles kill more than 100 people in Russia each year? That’s more interesting, right? The human brain is wired to love specificity, and bringing in relevant facts and statistics is one of the best ways to get people to perk their ears up for a less-than-tantalizing topic. Plus, high-quality statistics are readily available for virtually every topic under the sun. Don’t believe me? Vending machines kill approximately 13 people each year. No, get busy researching. Professional Copywriters Rejoice: Creative Content is Possible, Even for Boring Businesses While the clients you write for are all doing their best to serve their customers and solve problems, some industries are just plain boring. Luckily, we don’t have to fault them for this. As a professional copywriter, your job is not to critique the industries we all work within. Instead, it is to find a way to craft compelling, unique … Read more

10 Deadly Mistakes Most Copywriters Make

December 31, 2020August 22, 2016 by Adam Oakley

Copywriters: they make the web go round. Bad news? They’re only human, though. So, of course, they make mistakes. It’s natural that even the best copywriters make mistakes. What you should know, though, is that some mistakes are more dangerous than others. If you’re a professional copywriter, avoiding the ten deadly mistakes that most copywriters make can benefit your career and help you earn clients. Copywriters Beware: The 10 Worst Mistakes of Online Copywriting Read on to learn more. 1. Plagiarism Believe it or not, plagiarism can happen… even if you don’t mean for it to. According to Google, plagiarism is simply, “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.” While most copywriters believe that plagiarism only happens when you copy, word-for-word, an entire article from someone else’s page, it can be much more insidious than that. In many cases, plagiarism can happen when copywriters are tired, busy, or stressed, and as a result, aren’t paying enough attention to properly citing their sources or re-phrasing ideas they’ve gleaned from other online content. Unfortunately, plagiarism is deadly no matter how it happens. Google isn’t particularly concerned about why you plagiarized a piece, and they’re happy to de-rank yours or your client’s content if they stumble upon copied text. Because of this, it’s essential to keep a close eye out for plagiarism. One of the best ways to do this is to use an online plagiarism checker, like Grammarly or Copyscape. While it may seem like one more step in your copywriting pursuits, it’s a valuable one that can protect you from serious trouble down the line. We’re currently building the world’s MOST POWERFUL online duplicate content checker (plagiarism finder)! Check it out and sign up to test it at beta.Copyfind.com! 2. Taking pictures directly from the search results Including a colored visual in a piece of content increases a person’s willingness to read it by a whopping 80%, so it’s understandable that you want to include images and videos in your content. Be careful how you do it, though, since simply pulling visuals directly from the search engine results page could easily wind up in a lawsuit. Online content is protected by copyright laws, and violating these laws by using someone else’s work without their express permission can result in a significant problem. Because of this, it’s critical to be careful about the visuals you use. To be on the safe side, pull visuals from high-quality stock image sites like Pexels or take your own screenshots or pictures. Whatever you do, be sure that the images you include are clear, quality, and relevant to your text. This keeps them interesting rather than confusing. Check out our free resource list of 20 top free stock photo sites. 3. Publishing sloppy content No matter how precise you are, typos are inevitable, and failing to read through your content before you publish it results in mediocre results that damage your personal brand. While most copywriters believe that a simple once-over with the Microsoft Word spelling & grammar checker is sufficient, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While this software will help you catch misspelled words, it won’t often catch misused words (“there” instead of “their,” for example) or chunky, confusing writing. Because of this, it’s critical to read back through everything yourself. Proofreading is a skill that’s essential to the success of copywriters everywhere, and it can indeed spell the difference between quality content and a disappointing turnout. For added confidence, you may even want to run your content through a grammar-checking software like Grammarly, which will pick up on things like passive voice and misused commas. While this is a simple tip, it can help your content stand out from all the rest. 4. Getting the voice wrong In many ways, copywriters are masters of transformation. In addition to being able to write well and produce content quickly, they must also be able to transform their voice to cater to a client’s specifications: formal one day, conversational the next. Unfortunately, many copywriters miss the mark on this. Developing a myriad of voices is a little bit like bodybuilding – it requires time, effort, and some degree of skill. If you haven’t taken the time to develop your various voices and tones, you’re going to lose clients to the copywriters who have. Because of this, it’s essential to master a variety of voices and to ensure that the one you’re currently writing in is indeed the one that your client wants. 5. Being too wordy Modern copywriters know that less is more, and it shows in their online content. Today, brands want simple, succinct content that helps them convey a brand message and connect with their consumers. They’re less interested than ever in verbose, drawn-out content that loses the marketing message and makes it difficult for readers to discern meaning. Because of this, today’s copywriters need to focus on keeping it short and to-the-point. Content that is too wordy makes it difficult for the reader to focus and, over time, can result in decreased conversions and leads for the client. Because of this, simplicity is key and the copywriters who know how to cut the fat are the ones who will ultimately succeed in the world of online content creation. 6. Forgetting the CTA Aside from the headline and opening sentence, a call-to-action is one of the most important lines in a piece of content. When copywriters forget to include it, then, the entire piece of content loses its authoritativeness and fails to adhere to the goals of the sales funnel. Meant to drive users to action, a call-to-action is a simple line that essentially tells viewers what to do next – be it click, download, share, or buy. Without it, readers are less likely to take a given action and the success of the content declines rapidly. In light of this, copywriters must know how to craft compelling, clickable CTAs that drive readers to want to act. This improves the efficiency of the content and … Read more

7 Mantras to Seriously Improve Your Copywriting

January 20, 2023August 18, 2016 by Adam Oakley

Repeat after me: I will become a better copywriter. Great, we’re off to a good start! If you love copywriting, you’re likely always looking for ways to improve your craft and become more efficient. Luckily, we’re here to help. If you’ve been looking to improve your writing skills and boost your expertise, read on to learn more. 7 Smart Mantras to Make You a Copywriting Guru 1. I will never stop reading Reading is essential to good writing. In addition to building your vocabulary, instilling new ideas, inspiring you, and helping you learn more about the industries and environments you work in, reading is a great way to keep the brain active and get more out of you day-to-day life. Yet, many copywriters simply breeze over the articles, books, and blogs that are most relevant to them. What a shame! If you want to improve your copywriting: commit to reading. While we hope you’re reading for fun, you should also be devouring everything you can about the art and skill of copywriting. CopyBlogger, QuickSprout, and HubSpot are all fantastic places to start. By reading everything you can get your hands on about copywriting and content marketing, you’ll grow your skill and knowledge in no time. 2. ‘I think’ is not a strategy Precision pays in the world of copywriting, and it applies to virtually every facet of this fascinating industry. To be a successful copywriter, you can’t go into anything without knowing exactly what you’re doing. For example, posting a blog just because you think it will be interesting to a company’s clients is never a good idea. Instead, you should do the research required to know that the audience will love the topic and to understand exactly why that’s true. This involves good target personas, keyword research, topic mining, and much, much more. Shunning the mindset of “I think” will also help you create more relevant and authoritative content. Instead of citing blurry statistics (“many marketers do the following…”), you’ll be able to blow your audiences away with solid statistics (“70% of marketers lack a content strategy…”). This, in turn, helps to make your content more authoritative and ensures that all of your writing hits the nail on the head. 3. I will be known by the content I create If you want to improve your copywriting, quality has to be your priority. Your reputation is your best form of marketing in the world of copywriting, and the web’s top brands aren’t going to want to work with someone with a reputation for sloppy content or less-than-reputable sources. With this in mind, aim to produce the best-quality content you can at any given moment. This means reading, editing, and proofing your content, and being vigilant about learning everything you can about new trends in the industry and the climate of copywriting as a whole. 4. I will measure and improve my performance If brands are going to hire you, they want to know why you’re the best choice, and if you can’t tell them, you’ll likely lose the potential client. Because of this, it’s essential to measure your performance. For example, how many of your content pieces have made it to the front page of Google? Have you ever drastically improved a company’s views or traffic in a given month? How many shares and comments does your most popular piece of content have? While there are dozens of different metrics by which you can measure your performance, committing yourself to keeping tabs on the outcomes of your work is a great way to ensure that you’re meeting the goals you’ve set for yourself and exceeding client expectations at every turn. 5. I will handle criticism professionally and promptly Let’s face it: copywriting is a job that comes with a fair level of responsibility. If you write a bad piece of copy, you’re going to hear about it. If your client is unhappy with your work, you’re going to hear about it. If you cite an irrelevant or incorrect statistics, you’re going to hear about it. While the gut reaction for many people in these situations is to get defensive, a copywriter that’s genuinely committed to improving their copywriting skills will understand that the only real way to handle these situations is to approach them professionally. Everybody makes mistakes, and ultimately it’s the professional who handles them the most efficiently who will succeed in the world of online copywriting. With that in mind, resolve client concerns when they appear, aim to produce the best possible content at all times, and double-check everything. Criticism alone doesn’t spell the end of your career, but the way you choose to handle it can. 6. I will connect with my readers on a real level In the world of copywriting, storytelling is a crucial aspect of success. Without good storytelling skills, a copywriter’s copywriting is just… writing. Why is storytelling so important in copywriting, you ask? Great question. Think, for a moment, about a brand like Freeze. Today, the fabric-odor removal spray brand is worth upwards of $1 billion. Just a few short years ago, though, the brand was on the verge of bankruptcy. Try as they might, Proctor & Gamble, the parent company of Freeze, simply couldn’t figure out how to market the fabric spray effectively. Until that is, they discovered the power of storytelling. No longer was Freeze just something that the mothers of teenagers used to de-stink shoes or the backseats of family station wagons. Now, Freeze is a must-have home good that can transform even the ickiest spaces into a tropical-smelling getaway. Need proof? Check out this commercial: As a copywriter, it’s not enough to just tap up a piece and send it off to a client. Instead, copywriting has to merge with storytelling. What’s the best way to appeal to a reader’s emotions and why? How can you weave elements of storytelling into a brand or marketing message? By asking yourself these simple questions as you create your copy, it’s easier than ever before to boost your copywriting skills to epic levels. 7. I … Read more

10 Commandments of Online Writing to Obey Immediately for Better Results in Your Content Marketing

December 31, 2020August 17, 2016 by Adam Oakley

It’s easy to approach online writing the same way you would school papers. Your first instinct may be to keep your language formal, professional, and terse. You want to sound like you know what you’re talking about and establish your credibility. Mistake number one. It’s equally as easy to approach writing online as if it’s your personal sounding board. You have a domain and a content platform – the world needs to know your opinions about your industry and anything else that rolls off the top of your head, gosh darn it. Mistakes number two and three. If you have fallen prey to these easy blunders, it’s time to get your head back in the game – the content marketing game. The above methods will not win you any ROI, so what will? The online writing gods require certain things from you if you expect to get anywhere with your search rankings and traffic. Follow these 10 commandments of online writing and you’ll get leaps and bounds closer to the ROI you need and want for your hard work. The 10 Commandments of ROI-Worthy Online Writing 1. Thou Shalt Write for Humans, Not Search Engines Yes, online writing needs to be optimized for search engines – but it needs to be written for humans. If the people in your audience aren’t top-of-mind every single time you sit down to write, you’re breaking the most basic commandment of web content creation. It’s really just simple logic: If you want to reach your target users, you must write for them. The rest should fall into place. Why is this true? David Risley for Search Engine Journal puts it like this, and he’s spot-on: “If your focus is on helping, provoking or inspiring your reader, search will more or less take care of itself.” That means you’re not adding keywords wherever you can, or sneaking them in where they don’t belong. It means you’re not wondering “How can I make this more search-friendly?” while you’re writing. It means you’re setting out to write content that answers human questions or solves human problems. It means you’re striving to be informative, helpful, and logical. Ironically, if you set out to write for search engines above all instead of humans, you’re going to get burned. Don’t do it. 2. Thou Shalt Use Keywords Strategically Keywords – those magic words and phrases that search engines glom onto. If you use them correctly, you’ll probably look like this: Without the strategic use of keywords, though, you’re going to be like the kid sitting alone in a crowded cafeteria. No one is going to join you at your content table and partake in your content feast. Keywords are the little flags that let search engines understand your content and index it. Unless you use them strategically, you won’t draw the organic traffic that can be so vital to leads and conversions. 3. Thou Shalt Not Neglect Thy Meta Data Metas, A.K.A. meta titles and meta descriptions, may seem inconsequential to your overall content strategy, but you’d be a fool to ignore them or gloss over their importance. Here’s a big reason why they matter: They can encourage more click-throughs for your content in search results. This is because search engine results consist of nothing BUT metas: Writing strong metas can persuade users to click. That’s powerful – ignore them at your peril. 4. Thou Shalt Proofread and Edit Thy Online Writing Look at the two short paragraphs below. Which one looks more credible, trustworthy, and professional? Which one is easier to read and understand? Proofreading your work and taking the time to edit is just one part of producing high-quality content. Neglect these steps, and you’ll not only hurt your chances of ranking – you’ll also inhibit your audience’s ability to understand you. 5. Thou Shalt Not Forget Thy Audience Niche Speaking of your audience, are you remembering their specific needs, wants, desires, and preferences at all times while you write? It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing what you think they want to hear versus what they actually want to hear. As a result, the content you write will be less relevant to them. This is something search engines will pick up on. Avoid this by conducting regular target audience research, referring to your personas often, and writing directly to them in your content, like you’re having a conversation. 6. Thou Shalt Research Thy Online Writing Topics For better content and online writing, research matters. A LOT. To be blunt, making claims without backing them up with facts, data, studies, and sources destroys your authority and credibility. Everyone’s knowledge depends on everyone else’s knowledge. When you add research to your online writing, you’re participating in this public conversation and showing you did your homework to come to your conclusions. You’re proving the accuracy of your work. Even more importantly, you’re giving credit where it’s due and avoiding plagiarism. These things are huge online, where it’s incredibly easy to steal content. 7. Thou Shalt Publish Regularly The most successful online writing, the kind that builds authority for a site and grows its search rankings, is published consistently, on the regular. Google is hungry. It wants fresh helpings of your content on a constant basis. It doesn’t like stuff that’s stale, outdated, or served sporadically. Read this Moz article about how content freshness affects Google rankings to learn more. (Hint: The stuff you posted two weeks ago is decaying!) Figure out the posting frequency that works for you to keep your content fresh, then stick to it. Your writing and content will benefit. 8. Thou Shalt Link Judiciously Along with freshness, successful online writing also requires some juice to help build its clout in the SERPs. To be more specific, it needs some link juice. Link juice does a few things: It helps search engines crawl your site It helps your audience navigate/browse your pages It adds value to your content This includes smart internal linking within … Read more

Your Guide to Persuasive Copywriting

September 5, 2022August 15, 2016 by Adam Oakley

We’ve all come across internet copy that is good — and web copy that is not so good. So what’s the difference? While a great deal of it comes down to skill (talented copywriters turn out better content than less skilled professionals), the big difference between outstanding and poor is a level of persuasiveness. Sound complex? It is. Persuasiveness boils down to many things. It’s about human psychology, the herd mentality, and emotions, to name just a few things. If you’ve ever wondered how you can create persuasive copywriting, this guide is for you. Read on to learn more. [bctt tweet=”Learn all about #persuasivecopywriting and how to weave elements of psychology into your online copy, in our guide.” username=”ExpWriters”] What Makes Copy Persuasive? Persuasive copy has a primary purpose: to get people to convert. When the copy is compelling, it plays on a reader’s emotions enough to get them to take a given action, be it to click, download, purchase, or share. To do this, copy must match the following standards: Well-written. Persuasive copywriting is professional-grade, free of errors, and clear. Succinct. Copywriting that is too long or too jumbled loses the meaning very quickly. Because of this, the most persuasive copywriting is short, sweet, and to the point. Intelligent. Nobody is going to be persuaded by copywriting that doesn’t come off as intelligent. To be persuasive, copywriting must be smart, forward-thinking, and well-rounded. Relevant. What is persuasive to one audience won’t necessarily be persuasive to another. Because of this, persuasive copywriting in a given industry must be of interest to the company’s target audience. [bctt tweet=”What makes copy persuasive? @JuliaEMcCoy lists 4 #persuasivecopywriting standards.” username=”ExpWriters”] How to Create Persuasive Copywriting: 5 Keys of Success Crafting persuasive copy is truly an art form. While it’s one thing to be a good copywriter, it’s entirely another to be a persuasive copywriter. Writing persuasive copy takes a unique set of skills and a fair bit of expertise. Luckily, it’s not out of reach for anyone who wants to dedicate the time and effort to learn it. If you’re dying to craft more persuasive copy for your site, follow these key tips: 1. Focus on the benefits of whatever you’re offering Think about the television commercials of today. Very few of them just list a litany of features before cutting out. Instead, nearly every successful commercial on tv emphasizes the benefits of its product. Consider something as simple as one of Buick’s most recent ads, which shows a happy couple leaving a beautiful wedding venue and climbing into their sleek Buick commercial. As this happens, one groomsman says to the other, “Didn’t I tell you to decorate their Buick?” “You did, but that’s not a Buick,” the other replies. The camera cuts to an image of the pastor’s old station wagon, draped in “just married” signs. The point: a Buick will make you seem sexy, high-class, and sleek. The ad communicates this without ever mentioning any of the specific features of the Cascada. This is a prime example of persuasive content. If the commercial had listed the Cascada’s features, it would have lost its audience immediately. Since it focused on the benefits, though, it’s racked up thousands of views on YouTube, and millions more on television. Case in point? Making your content more persuasive means focusing on benefits rather than features. When you can sell your customers a lifestyle, you’re in business. [bctt tweet=”How do you create #persuasivecopywriting? Tip #1: Focus on the benefits rather than the features of your product or service. Know more about @JuliaEMcCoy’s 5 keys to successful persuasive copywriting.” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Get specific Persuasive content doesn’t use generalities. Why, you ask? Because people don’t connect with generalities. Instead of hearing that “a lot” of people subscribe to a blog (so you should, too), people want to hear that millions of individuals have already signed up. For an example of someone who does this well, consider Tim Ferris and his “7 Reasons to Subscribe” post. Instead of saying “I have tons of monthly readers,” he says, “1,000,000+ monthly readers means something – the content works.” Are you sold? I am. This is incredibly precise, and it works because of that. The takeaway? Be as specific as you possibly can in your content – in everything from the statistics you use (What percentage of people do X? Where did the statistic come from? What year was the study you’re referencing conducted?) to the words you use. Generalities and vague pronoun references get you nowhere – specificity is essential. [bctt tweet=”‘Be as specific as you possibly can in your content – in everything from the statistics you use to the words you use. Generalities and vague pronoun references will get you nowhere.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on persuasive copywriting.” username=”ExpWriters”] 3. Appeal to reader emotions Persuasive content is emotive content. When readers, viewers, or fans connect emotionally to a piece, they’re much more likely to remember it, even after the advertisement, blog post, or video has disappeared from their screen. Consider the Airbnb “Belong Anywhere” campaign, which showcases various Airbnb hosts welcoming guests to properties around the world. If you didn’t tear up a bit, your heart might be made of cardboard. If you did tear up, you might be thinking, “Over an ad for vacation rentals??” Heck yes. And why? Because this ad appeals to your emotions – it appeals to the foundational human desire to be a part of something big, expansive, and loving, and Airbnb is using those emotions to position itself as a platform that can provide that feeling, in abundance, for anyone who wants it. If there’s anything to be learned from this ad and others like it, it’s that appealing to viewer emotions is a very powerful thing. In addition to making a connection that outlasts the ad itself, appealing to human emotions also makes your content much more persuasive. [bctt tweet=”‘Persuasive content is emotive content. When readers, viewers, or fans connect emotionally to a piece, they’re much more likely to remember it…’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on … Read more

Despite the Growth of Automation, Here’s Why Human Writers Aren’t Going Anywhere

June 19, 2024July 7, 2016 by Adam Oakley

“Hello, this is Sarah with Express Writers?” “Yes, hi. We’re a content automation company and need your services.” “I’d love to help. Can you explain your needs?” “Well, we’ve built software to create content that hits target audiences and is personable, but we really need human writers to add words and basically clean up the text. How good are your writers?” “They are great at writing–they’re actually human! We’d love to help.” ** I wish I could say we snuck in that sarcastic sentence at the end, but Sarah is actually much nicer than that. She’s one of our Content Specialists who answers our phones daily—and that was a call she got earlier this year. We aren’t disclosing company names for privacy reasons, but believe us when we say that a large automation company actually called in after they saw us on Google to confess that their “content automation” needed the human touch. And they’re not the first company to feel that way. [clickToTweet tweet=”In order to succeed today, you need to get personal, and this is something only actual people can do. -@ExpWriters” quote=”In order to succeed with today’s customers, you need to get personal, and this is something only actual people can do well. This isn’t likely to change anytime soon.”] Why Automation Will Never Replace Human Writers Did you know that 79% of top companies have been using some form of content automation for the last two years? At Express Writers, we use and love tools that allow us to automate some form of our content marketing process: i.e., Buffer for scheduling social media posts and visuals, KWFinder for honing down the best keywords online, and SEMrush for site audit and online presence analysis. But here’s why automation won’t come close to replacing the human writer. The written copy, the created content that fuels the automation, is always created by humans. Sure, you can plug the copy in any automation tool you want after it’s done, but first: you need real copy, crafted by a human. We rely on human copywriters to create every bit of human content that fuels our content automation part. We have a social media copywriter writing unique posts for every single scheduled post automated to go out in Buffer. We have a blogger and a content editor involved in the process it takes to create every single blog post of ours. The day a business or brand stops relying on humans for the creation part of it all, is the day they set themselves up for failure. On a more technical side, a few years ago WebProNews interviewed the CEO of a leading automation company, and reported that human writers aren’t going anywhere yet, because of the need for the human perspective and qualitative analysis in online content. To further this point, let’s look at what went on when content automation has been attempted. (Because let’s face it, trying to engineer the next automated writer replacement has happened.) A lot…went wrong. The Facts: Stories of Content Automation Attempts that Failed Take a look at content automation that went wrong. Buffer: A Leading Social Media Tool Closes their Social Content Automation Feature Remember the tools I mentioned that we use? Well, one of them, Buffer (a leading social media tool) used to allow you to automatically schedule already-created posts. These were curated and pulled for you in a Suggestions feed. With one click, you could add their “suggested posts” to your feed and schedule – without even reading the content that you’re sharing. It looked like this: Guess what happened to that handy-dandy social media automation feature? They did away with it, announcing that it was closing in 2015. Why? In their own words–it didn’t hold up to the standard of value they believed in, across social media. It encouraged the sharing of content that wasn’t personalized to the person sharing it. Here’s what they said in the announcement: (P.S. We love Buffer all the more for their commitment to truly valuable content sharing in social media.) Now, let’s go deeper. The last time someone tried to use actual robots for the most important part of content marketing, the writing part, things went terribly wrong. Let’s explore the automation failures of history to show you exactly how that happened. Content Automation Gone Terribly Wrong: The Story of Spinners & Content Farms During the days of yesteryear, sneaky content creators tried to devise a way to spin out tons of “quality” content without bothering with hiring actual humans to write, edit, and post it. They did this through a series of “black-hat” SEO tactics including content spinning, content mills or farms, and scraped content. I’m going to break down the key two methods used back then: article spinning, and content farming. #1: Article Spinning (Spun Right Down the Drain) There were actually programs called article spinners – and they still exist today. Take a look at the gibberish that “Free Article Spinner” gives you, once you type or copy in a block of text, enter their captcha, and hit Spin. (Yes, this program is still out there!) Content spinning, using article spinners like these, used to actually be a thing. Black hat SEOs used spinning software to take one article and “spin” it into dozens of new articles at the push of a button. As seen above, content spinning often resulted in low-quality, unintelligible writing that human readers couldn’t even decipher. Google Panda Farmer is one of the main reasons no one is spinning articles anymore. It was one of the biggest algorithms that ever happened (it went down early February 2011), striking down over 11% of the spam on the web, de-ranking all duplicate and most of the spun content, and decreasing by 90% the rankings of big sites like Ezinearticles.com, hubpages.com, Answers.com, Articlesbase.com, and similar places that housed a lot of cheap, thin content written only for SEO. (See a more indepth analyses of Farmer on Searchmetrics.) I like to think that Farmer was Google’s announcement to the web that it’s algorithm was human-based: created for humans, by humans. Not some robotic crap that you could “game.” #2: Content Mills (or Farms): Not Your Old McDonald’s Besides … Read more

How-to’s, Listicles, and More: Which Are the Most Readable Content Types?

March 24, 2022July 5, 2016 by Adam Oakley

If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you’ve probably noticed that some pieces of content are, well, hotter than others. Two content types have really stood out as winners. Specifically, the how-to and the list style, also known as listicle: Websites like BuzzFeed and Elite Daily use them as the virtual bread and butter of their marketing strategy. Even high-level industry leaders have started publishing more and more list-focused posts. While this may seem like a mere coincidence, it’s a trend that’s been sweeping the content industry for the last several years. The reason for this trend is that these list/how-to styled content pieces are intensely readable, which makes them perfect for an audience with a rapidly decreasing attention span, and an increasing focus on finding the material they want now. Read on to learn more. [bctt tweet=”What’s the trendiest content styles nowadays and should your posts follow these? @JuliaEMcCoy shares us the top 3 readable content types you should be publishing right now.” username=”ExpWriters”] Content That Cuts It: Lists, How-to’s, & Videos While the consumers of 2000 were looking for simple information, today’s consumers want a more comprehensive experience. Not only are they looking for information, but they’re also in the market for unique, high-quality content that entertains them and makes them feel special. If this sounds like a tall order, you’re not wrong. Creating content that works for consumers is more challenging now than ever before, and brands need to invest time and energy into learning to do it properly. One great way to get started with this, however, is to learn what customers expect from content. In the 2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey, the 3 most important content characteristics are informative (89%), accurate (89%), and simple (66%). However, among millennials, 41% still prefer entertaining content and 25% ranked “beautiful” as an important characteristic to see in quality content. With these things in mind, it’s easy to see why content has morphed the way it has. [bctt tweet=”‘In the 2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey, the 3 most important content characteristics are informative (89%), accurate (89%), and simple (66%).’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on the most readable content types today.” username=”ExpWriters”] Which 3 Content Types Are the Most Readable? While the customers of yesteryear may have wanted simple, direct content, today’s customers expect brands to get to know them, figure out what their primary concerns are and then concoct content that addresses those things (“how not to mess up your lentils,” for example). By keeping this in mind, you can craft highly readable content types that your readers will enjoy. 1. How-to Articles Despite the fact that the how-to article has morphed in recent years, it’s still incredibly valuable. People are as hungry for information today as they were 16 years ago, and the only difference is that today’s how-to’s need to be much more specific and targeted than they were way back when. For example, consider these BuzzFeed headlines: 18 Cheap Ways to Make Your Old Clothes New Again 7 Quick Ways to Actually Declutter Your Life 29 Clever Kitchen Cleaning Tips Every Clean Freak Needs to Know While these headlines don’t resemble the straight-up, verbatim “how-to” headlines of yesteryear, the message is still there. If you dig a little deeper, it’s clear the first article is really, “How to get more use out of your wardrobe,” the second is “How to get rid of clutter,” and the third is “How to keep your kitchen clean.” While the headlines may have been made more creative, the message is the same. To make your how-to articles more exciting than they’ve ever been before, it’s important to think differently. Because there is such a wealth of information available online right now, people are the most likely to interact with content that shows them how to do something differently. This is the key to making your how-to articles exciting, readable, and unique. Each of the BuzzFeed articles mentioned above does this, and it’s part of what makes them so popular. While how-to articles are already some of the most readable articles around, making them interesting, unique, and informative is a fantastic way to ensure that they provide as much value for your readers as possible. Tool Tip: If you really want to be sure your “how-to” headline is unique, the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer is one of my favorite tools. Every time I hit a 40-50% score result with my headlines, I see a ton of juice in shares, links and more come from my article. My blog on 15 tactics for better blogging got over 160 shares, with a headline scoring over 40% on the AMI tool. Need some words to infuse might into your headlines? Check out our resource of 120 power words. 2. Lists How-to’s and listicles can easily cross paths: simply because adding numbers to your headline gives it a higher psychological engagement factor. Unlike the how-to, however, listicles are broader-reaching and not necessarily designed to teach people a skill. Because of this, listicles are a fantastic form of content for any brand that wants to build traffic and promote engagement. Fun fact: numbers in a headline are like “brain candy.” We’re simply attracted to read them more – and some say odd numbers do ever better. For example, consider “14 Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes Even Non-Vegans Will Love.” Featured on the BuzzFeed website, this article is promoted by Sabra, a prominent hummus company). While this article could easily just say “14 Vegan Recipes,” it would never get as much traffic if that was how the headline was structured. Because this article quantifies the recipes as delicious by using the word “mouthwatering” and expands its audience by stating that even non-vegans will love the content within, it succeeds at creating diverse value that appeals to many readers. Lists are beneficial because they appear as simple, straightforward piece of content that says, “Hey, this is brief and to-the-point. Read it now.” [bctt tweet=”‘How-to’s and listicles can easily cross paths: simply because adding numbers to your headline gives … Read more