13 Short Copywriting Lessons That Have Made Me a Better Writer

Sometimes a piece of good, simple, advice can be game-changing and bring you a fresh perspective on a matter you have been trying to understand.

Apart from writing daily, here are 13 lessons that I value:

1. It’s always about the reader — Even when you are writing an About Us Page. Copywriting is all about selling; the best way to do that is by making your customer the hero. Make every detail of your company about them.

2. Research, research, and research — There are no guess works in copywriting. The better the research, the more clearly you can write for your visitors and describe their problems.

3. Start with the conversation that is already happening inside your customer's head — This works well for landing pages. Want to grab your visitor’s attention fast? You start by carrying on the conversation that is already happening inside the head of your customer. You can find this by researching your audience and keeping notes on how many times a particular word or phrase comes up. Make our visitors write their copies.

4. Follow the rule of 1 — This idea came from the original copy hacker herself, Joanna Wiebe. Copywriting power comes from having focus, and the best way to get it is to follow the rule of 1. One reader, one big idea, one promise, and one offer.

5. Use short sentences — The longer the sentence that you use to explain certain concepts to your reader, the more difficult it is for them to comprehend the entire matter, and this lessens the engagement that they have with your content because humans, in general, now have a lot shorter attention span. See what I did there?

6. Clear > Clever — You must make things sound clear to your audience. Not clever. Not interesting. Clear. If it is clear, people will keep reading, and you can keep overcoming objections and giving them more reasons to buy.

7. Test, test, and test — There are two types of writers, one that uses data to learn and optimizes copy, and the second one that fails. So use heat mapping tools, analytics, and popup tools to understand your visitors better. Remember, copywriting is a process.

8. Keep a swipe file — When you get stuck, swipe files help you overcome writer’s block. In addition, they can assist you in improving copywriting by helping you to understand different writing techniques and structures that already work.

9. Use active tone — The use of active voice places readers in the present with you. You should use an active voice to draw attention to the action. Readers will be more engaged as a result of this since sentences will be more action-focused.

10. Have a purpose behind what you write — Copywriting has no fluffs. If something isn’t making your visitors push through the next stage of the funnel, then they are just distracting.

11. Speak your ideal customer’s language — This is what we call the Voice of Customer Data. If the reader finds the exact language they use to describe their problems and pain points, you can better position yourself as the solution.

12. Results>Beneits>Features — We all have settled the debate about when to use features and benefits, but you should always talk about the tangible benefits of using your product.

13. Use call to value — Don’t amplify the act of proceeding. Amplify the value of proceeding. Instead of phrasing your call-to-action as more work for your visitors, remind them of the reason to proceed. The benefit of the amazingness they’ll get when they click the button and move forward. For example, instead of downloading an Ebook, Say, Download your swipe file of 100 headlines.