Many formulas never offer exhaustive answers or solutions to questions or problems in general copywriting, since there are always variables and uncontrollable factors that can change the envisaged outcome. But, they can help as frameworks on which you can build or which you can customize and improve, according to a particular context and specific needs.
Two Leading Formulas of Successful Copywriting
Here are two tested formulas of copywriting that should improve your copy if employed correctly. These are the 4 U’s and the 5 S’s of copywriting. Together, they make the US which defines successful copywriting.
The 4 U’s of Copywriting
To be compelling and effective, copywriting needs to integrate the 4 U’s in Michael Masterson’s formula: urgent, unique, useful, ultra-specific.
1) Urgency
To persuade and convert, your copywriting should instill a sense of urgency, determining the reader to act. It’s that step which turns intention into action. This is done by building momentum throughout the copy and by finishing with a firm and clear call to action.
2) Uniqueness
To persuade and convert, your copywriting should make the reader believe that your product or service is unique, and that you’re the only one who can offer it. It’s not all about creating links. Don’t confuse content marketing with link building if you want to create unique, quality copywriting. The purpose of copy is not to cover hot topics, hoping to attract linking. You may increase brand awareness on a short term, but if your content doesn’t address the specific needs and desires of your users, your endeavor is in vain.
Link building plays its role, but you need to know how and when to use, and moreover, not to abuse it. To turn your prospects into loyal followers, you need to integrate your content into your marketing strategy. This means that you need to identify the type of content that has the ability to increase conversion rate.
3) Usefulness
To persuade and convert, your copywriting should inform, instruct, educate or help. In other words, it should contribute to achieving the definite outcome projected by the reader, which is to solve a problem or fulfill a desire.
4) Ultra-Specificity
To persuade and convert, your copywriting should focus on something specific. If you want to build credibility and become an authoritative figure in your niche, you need to concentrate on that and that only, proving that you can be trusted. Copywriting is not mindless chatter. Do yourself justice and write every line thinking that you are a prospect reading what you are writing. People click on your link because they need something – a product, an answer or a piece of advice. If your content doesn’t include a response to their needs, you’d better delete it before it goes online.
What Is Copywriting All About? The 5 “S” Words
It is not about writing for writing’s sake, but writing keenly aware of your customers’ needs. You are not writing to keep being read, you are writing to become indispensable. How exactly can you produce useful content that can become very important for your customers? By paying attention to the following:
- Solicitude
- Selflessness
- Specificity
- Stickiness
- Solidarity
Why solicitude?
The first and most important word means that your client’s needs and aspirations matter most for you. Your prospect’s needs and wishes must always prevail. But sometimes people don’t have a clear picture about what they need; that’s when copywriting comes in. Quality copywriting has the ability to uncover your prospect’s unknown needs. They may not be aware that they lack something, but they still come to you looking for an answer. Effective copywriting is intuitive and anticipates readers’ indefinite wants. That is why you must offer them useful and thorough information, so that they can choose, deliberate and decide what to do.
Why selflessness?
The second word is meant to draw attention on the amount of copywriting published that is uniquely focused on your business. Reduce the space allotted to the description of your company, of who you are. A monologue will only isolate you. What you can do is more important. If you focus on your customers’ problems and needs more than on your own self-presentation, this will result in a virtual dialogue: they ask, you answer, they solicit, you provide.
Why specificity?
This element in the 5 S’s pattern of copywriting overlaps with ultra-specificity in the 4 U’s formula. Your content must be everything, but not general. There is no general problem. You must have clear solutions to particular problems that your readers are confronting. People are looking for solutions to their specific problems; they don’t need to read a large amount of information about different problems that different individuals may encounter.
How can you have a sticky website?
Your content should be interesting, in-depth, which means well-documented, supported by clear examples. Relevant testimonials are always good to read. Your prospects need expert opinions. They will stick with you provided that you offer them real-life solutions.
How can you show your prospects your solidarity and why?
They must understand that you share the same aims and values, so that they can trust you. To turn them into your friends, you need to help them get to know you, like you and confide in you. Successful copywriting permanently tries to establish a connection with readers, with the purpose of creating a dialogue. You can attain that by informing, helping and entertaining through copy that is worth reading content because it serves the reader and adds value to his life, one way or another.
Copywriting – A Dead Serious Matter
In conclusion, copywriting is a great tool, which if used well, allows you to create remarkable copy that can boost your sales. To achieve that, your copy must be compelling, yet balanced and specific. Provide useful and valuable information, but make sure you constantly prove that your prospects’ needs are your top priority, and that the main purpose of your copywriting is to fulfill them. The US compound formula, which reunites the 4 U’s (urgency, uniqueness, usefulness and ultra-specificity) with the 5 S’s (solicitude, selflessness, specificity, stickiness, and solidarity) will help you use copywriting more effectively.