Typical Copywriting Mistakes One Should Avoid
Typical Copywriting Mistakes One Should Avoid
Copywriters are now the hands of business owners when it comes to marketing their businesses online. With the tested potency of content marketing, more and more writers surface online. In fact, if you are looking for one, you can easily find the most competent in this world. Each of them has his own website. There are also some of them who are part of a company as they are the ones who are tasked to announce to the world about how the brand of a particular company can do a lot of good things to the buyers.
Indeed, copywriters these days are quite valuable. However, there are also times when they make irreparable mistakes. That is right and below are some of the most common ones and should be avoided, if you plan to become a reliable copywriter:
1. Writing as if you are the one talking to them. However, that should not be the case as after all, the writer here does not really count. You are representing the company, so the contents should be something your target audience can relate to as your goal should be to steer them to develop attachment to the brand you are talking about.
2. When you think a long copy won’t work. You might think that making a lengthy explanation will bore a reader and yes, that is true at times, while at the same time, it can also entice one. That is especially true when the topic is complex, and a reader is trying to dig more about it. In fact, this is already tested, and the lengthy explanation converts more than the shorter one.
3. When one is not following the appropriate process. You see, copywriting is not the same as a writer of a book where you can just twist the plots like the end can be put at the top to give hints and explain backwards. With copywriting, there is a basic process and that is the ‘why, what, and how’. Some copywriters right away jump to the how and this can create a messy content. You can easily get lost in the process.
4. Ignoring SEO is another crucial mistake done by copywriters. You can only ignore SEO if you are trying to tell a story or if you are writing a book. But if you’re bottom line is to generate traffic, SEO should be integrated in your content. This is the only way for your content to be more visible.
5. Not digging about the motivation level of your audience is a mistake. You see, you have to know where to start. And since your content is for your audience, see to it that it will really interest them by giving them something they need. This is why it is important to know more about them like if they already here your brand, yet they are not that convinced yet and so on. This will give you some hints on where to hit them.
6. Trying to jump to ambiguous assumption and using too much slang terms is also not a good idea. try to put yourself in the shoes of your readers, if there are a lot of things you don’t understand, will you still keep on reading? If there are things in your contents that are confirmed, yet your readers will find out that it is not true, will he still trust you? Indeed, you must first make sure of what you write and try to use a kind of language that will be easily understood by your readers.
7. Not giving thought abut the headline can affect the accessibility of your content. That said, aside from making your title eye-catching, you should make sure as well that it can be searched in the search engines. Thus, you can incorporate some keywords and see to it that the title really describes the content. This way your audience will be able to distinguish if this is the answer to the questions they have in mind.
8. Too much focus on the product you are advertising can bore your audience, especially if you’re a florist in Petaling Jaya. This is a mistake every copywriter should watch out. Yes, your bottom line is to flicker favorable action towards the brand you are promoting. However, if your content is just full of it like you are talking about the product in almost every paragraph, you will surely bore your audience. Not only that, they might think you are being biased as well. So, you have to be cautious when talking about your brand and make sure it will sync in the flow of your contents.
9. Using wrong terms is also one of the most common mistakes done by some copywriters. Like for example the when it comes to less and fewer. These two terms are easily misused and the effect is quite awkward. When you say less, the subject should be one that cannot be counted and it goes without saying that fewer is for something that can be counted. Another rule is less if for singular nouns and fewer is for plural nouns.
10. Using meaningless drivels can bore your readers as well. Maybe you are just using them as you find them being used by other copywriters. However, there are more appropriate words that can really make your audience understand you more. So, before finalizing your content, before making it available worldwide, you should check your words out and see if there are better ways to say them.
11. Not consistent across platforms is something that should change. Note that your readers can easily see your posts in different platforms and they can see as well if you are talking different things in each of them. You should be consistent if you want them to trust you. They might end up wondering as to what is really real!
12. Too much adjective can be annoying. Yes, adjectives are needed to make your readers imagine the item being described. However, they will be more confused if your words are too much. If you are using about 3 adjectives on one subject only, this can be puzzling. It would appear that you are just flattering them.
When you are a copywriter, you should be responsible for your words. Your story will be posted online and will be available to the whole wide world. Thus you have to be really careful and make sure that everything is real and not just for you to be able to write something. Note that your audience will hang to your every word. However, that will abruptly change the moment they find that something in your words are unreliable.
So, how can one become a good copywriter? Is there a formula that one has to follow? You can’t really say that there is an exact formula. However, there are some tips one can check. He does not have to follow every word of these tips, but this should inspire him or guide him in his quest of becoming a copywriter that can be relied on.
Define your niche
Yes, before finding a client that will entrust to you the marketing aspect of his brand, before you start using a pen and paper, you must first define your niche. You might say why you should restrict your work to only one niche? That is a good question of course, but for sure, you already heard about the adage, ‘jack of all trades; expert to none’. If you will be like that, you can hardly land a good paying job. There is a good chance that you might get some tasks from different clients, but no one will really give you the sole responsibility of promoting their brand to the online world. This is because you don’t have a specialization. You are just one of the many copywriters out there.
With a specialization, you might only have a few clients, or even just one or two, but you can be assured that you will be paid more as he will find you capable enough of promoting his brand. There will be no need for you to jump from client to client and trying to prove yourself to each of them every time.
When choosing your niche, you have to be sure that you can really live up to it. It should be a niche where you excel. For example, writing product descriptions for newborn gift set Malaysia shops. There should be no question about it and you should not have a hard time proving to your prospects how good you are in the field you choose.
Look for your client
After knowing your full potential, or what you can offer to your potential client, you can now start looking for one. This might be a struggle at first, but once that client will see what you can offer, everything will just pretty much fall into place. Besides, there are now so many platforms where you can look for your client. You only need to make sure that you only search from those reliable websites like Upwork and similar sites.
You can also create your own website and create a portfolio that can showcase your capabilities in writing. When that is done, you can start applying for gigs. You should be able to find a lot of them. Note though that most of them will ask a sample article first or a link where your content is posted. So, you should be prepared for that.
Aside from the Upwork, you can also check other platforms where you believe you can find clients like in Facebook, and more. In platforms like these, you can showcase your capabilities by sharing high-end contents and engaging in convos about advertising. You can also answer some questions if they have some.
Know your worth
Most of the time though, your client will already affix in their ads for writers the rates they can offer. That means that if you think they offer too low, you can just skip that and look for another. However, if you have to be the one to demand the price, you should know what’s your worth. Yes, and in fact, there are even times when you can work for free for that matter like when if you are still building your portfolio, you are trying to establish connections and so on.
A copywriter these days is quite valuable due to the advent of online marketing. This is why most clients who are looking for a copywriter will first make sure that their choice can really become an asset. Yes, you can be an asset to your clients if you know the things to avoid when writing and if you know how to become a good one. You may not follow these tips religiously, but they can certainly trigger amiable hints.