Copywriting 101: The Complete Guide to Writing Amazing Marketing Copy
Author: Céillie Clark-Keane
Last Updated: September 5, 2024 | Copywriting
Copywriting is a fundamental element of marketing. Your copy appears in your ads, on your website, across your social channels, and more. That’s why it’s so important to have strong, persuasive, and attention-grabbing copy. In this crash course in writing great copy, we’ll cover what copywriting is, what a copywriter does, and how to write great copy.
Contents
What is copywriting?
Copywriting is creating text that’s explicitly meant to encourage an action. This kind of writing includes all types of ads—social, search, out-of-home, and more. But it also includes headlines for a graphic encouraging event sign-ups, sidebars persuading a website visitor to start a free trial, or headlines offering a promotion in exchange for a newsletter sign-up.
This is all copy with the expressed goal of eliciting an action. This purpose is more important than the length of the copy or its placement.
This page from Rakuten directs visitors to two actions: one click for each audience it is targeting.
This purpose is also the primary difference between content marketing and copywriting, too.
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Copywriting vs. content marketing
Copywriting drives the reader to a specific action, while content marketing informs, educates, or entertains the reader. This is a longer-term strategy to grow your audience, build trust with your readers, and ultimately inspire loyalty to your brand.
Now, does content marketing sometimes point you toward an action? Absolutely. Here’s a good example.
This excerpt from a blog post about ad copy directs readers to another relevant post about ad copywriting tips pretty explicitly in that last sentence. This is a super common practice in content marketing, but remember, it’s not the explicit purpose of any piece of content. That’s one line in a long, in-depth post that breaks down why ad copy examples work well.
Another easy-to-spot difference is the medium: While content can refer to anything from infographics to videos to long-form writing, copy is always text. Text that’s trying to persuade its reader into an action.
What is a copywriter?
A copywriter writes ads, headlines, social media posts, and more content with the purpose of persuading a reader to take a specific action, whether that’s signing up for a demo, booking an event, or downloading a guide. This is a common role on a marketing team, where the copywriter will support any or all marketing channels.
It’s also a common role in an advertising agency, where the copywriter will work with clients to produce copy. This copy may include captions or taglines for a photo or even scripts for a video. But it’s most likely that the copywriter’s contribution is the writing, not the vision or the visuals.
The adorable ad concept? Probably a creative director. That tagline? Copywriter.
The fundamental types of copywriting
We’ve established that the definition of copywriting is broad because action-driving content can appear in tons of different places.
But even though that range is possible, there are a few common types of copywriting that come up more often than others, especially in marketing.
Here are those common types of copywriting:
- Advertising copy: Ad copy is probably what comes to mind when you think of copywriting, and for good reason. This copy appears everywhere, in print media, across social media, on the Google SERP, even on the radio or TV. The goal is always the same: to get your attention, capture your interest, and convince you to act.
- Website copy: Website copywriting appears on the homepage, the about page, the product pages, the side bars, the navigation bars, and even the footer. The goal here is usually to direct the visitor to engage further, whether it’s to sign up for a newsletter, click to a deeper page, or fill out a form.
- SEO copywriting: Writing copy for SEO involves optimizing headlines, subtitles, and metadata with the goal of having the page rank of the SERP.
- PR copywriting: The goal of any PR copy in a press release, announcement, or even campaign blurb, is to get media to cover your story, whether it’s traditional print journalists, digital coverage, or even influencer spots.
- Email marketing copy: When you’re writing email copy, you might have different actions as your goal for each piece. The goal for your subject line is to encourage opens, but the goal for the email copy might be to download a guide or even forward the email.
- Social media copywriting: Writing for social media involves drafting posts, optimizing bios, and creating captions. The goal of social media copywriting might be to follow your profile, go to the website, or click a link to view content or even check out your product.
- Direct response copy: This comes up in ecommerce a lot. That’s because direct response copywriting drives an immediate engagement, like putting an item in a cart or completing a purchase.
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11 tactics to make any copywriting stronger
Whenever you’re crafting copy, it’s important to keep the context of the end result in mind. We talk about this a lot with social media, since it’s an easy example: You wouldn’t write the same copy for LinkedIn and TikTok, because they’re different platforms.
Still, there are some things that can make any copywriting stronger and more effective. Here are the essential elements of all great copywriting:
1. Be clear
Clarity is so important. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the process of creation. You need to write taglines for a product launch. You fill out ad copy for a Facebook ads campaign. This is especially true when you have too much to write, too much to do—which is often the case when you’re a marketing team of one or you’re running your own small business.
But when you’re writing that copy, remember that you’re communicating with your audience. They should be able to understand not only what you’re saying, but also what you’re asking of them. Take these two Facebook ads from Supergoop, for example.
The copy in the first ad is so much better because it’s clearer. “Discover” gets me to a fun new beauty product way quicker than the language in the second ad. Plus, making room on my shelf sounds like a chore. Avoid that kind of confusion and ambiguity.
2. Write within the limits
Your copy will be stronger if you’re writing with the constraints and context of its place in mind. That’s because you’ll be able to know how much space you have to get creative—we’ll spend more time on this soon—and how efficiently you need to convey your message. The context will also let you know what else your audience is looking at.
For instance, if they’re on your website, they’re seeing your other page copy or pop-ups. But if they’re on social media, they’re seeing ads from other brands and content from friends and creators. And if they’re on the SERP, they’re seeing your competitors.
So make sure this context is top of mind while you’re drafting.
3. Know your audience
This is so important, even though it seems like common sense: You need to know who you are writing to to persuade them into action. So get to know your audience.
If your brand has buyer personas, make sure you’re familiar with them. If your company has customer interviews or spotlights, keep up with these. The demographic information is useful, so you can glean basic interest. The motivations and pain points, though—these are more useful.
Here’s a great example from the formula company Bobbie’s homepage.
The tagline appeals to a common ground with parents: “Our babies made us do it.” The language is casual but confident, with “mom-led” prominent and a well-placed “damn” in the parenthetical. These hints make the visitor want to learn more about the founders and how they started this company. It encourages you to click that button and read the story. As a new mom myself, and part of the target demo, I can confirm that this is motivating. Reader, I read the story, then I bought the formula.
4. Get creative with language
Copy should encourage an action, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be explicit or, worse, boring. You want to grab your reader’s attention because this will make encouraging that action more effective.
So take a look at great copywriting examples for inspiration, and then start drafting. Choose your words intentionally to surprise your readers. Use humor if that works for your brand. Include wordplay to entertain your readers and let them in on the joke. Be sure to keep your audience in mind here, too. Writing and editing tool Grammarly does this really well with its punny use of “word” in its website headline.
5. Appeal to emotions
People make decisions based on emotions, and this is important for your business. Harvard Business Review research shows that customers with an emotional connection to a brand will actually represent more value to the company.
Use this for your copywriting. Consider the emotional impact you’re looking to evoke, whether it’s happiness, hopefulness, or even anger. Then use emotional words for your copy.
Transforming your life is more emotionally appealing than, say, “take a remote spin class.”
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6. Keep it concise
Copywriting is often a practice in doing more with less. Taglines for image or video-heavy ads don’t leave much space, and ads on search and social have strict limits. That’s why keeping it concise and to the point is key.
Even when you have the space for more context and more explanation, less is more. Take this full-page magazine ad, for example.
This is an old ad for a Chex cereal. Two-thirds of the page contains images of a woman about to eat a spoonful and a picture of the box to make sure it’s easy to spot in the grocery aisle. The copy takes up about a third of the page, but much of this is white space. The copy is almost exclusively exclamations. Some of them are one word, including my personal favorite: “Yum-m-m-mmm!” This ad gets the idea across—people love this new flavor of Chex—in about 20 words. Short and sweet.
7. Tell a story
We crave stories. Neuroscientists have found that reading fiction and engaging with narratives, offers a full sensory experience in our brains, and the immersive experience helps foster an emotional connection.
Creating this emotional connection by using stories helps make the audience more invested in the outcome and more likely to remember your ad. That’s why using a narrative—or the implication of a narrative—in your copy is effective.
Here’s an ad that captures a story in just a few lines. This is an advertisement for Australian tourism that ran after travel opened up after the pandemic lockdowns. The copy references this lightly by including a “Welcome Back,” and even in the tagline about saving the “first” look. This, of course, is that “first” look after the country’s tourism reopened.
8. Use your brand voice
The best copywriting is effective, recognizable, and memorable. Using your brand voice helps with all three of these, since your company’s distinctive personality appeals to your target audience. So brush up on your company’s brand identity and make sure to incorporate that voice whenever you have the opportunity.
A great example from Liquid Death, a company with an incredibly specific brand voice.
9. Learn to leverage AI
There are tons of AI tools specifically for copy. Open AI’s Chat GPT works for generating captions, website copy, or even taglines, or you can use a tool like Copy.ai that is specifically created for sales and marketing.
An example prompt and output from Copy.ai. Not perfect (those ? should be emoji), but it’s a start.
Now, let’s be clear: Don’t type in an AI prompt to create taglines or generate Facebook ads and call it a day. Regardless of what some AI proponents might say, the output is a starting point. It’s a way to avoid a blank page so you can shape, edit, and rewrite, or use for inspiration for new versions. But it’s a great first step that way.
And speaking of editing your copy brings us to our next tip.
10. Proofread your copy
Your copy should be error-free. This might seem like we’re being sticklers, but it’s important. Not only for your copy, but for your business.
In a survey of 1,800 people, Tidio found that grammar and spelling errors can have a real impact on your brand—and even your revenue. Over 50% of respondents shared that grammar mistakes ruin a company’s professional image. 35% said that grammatical errors can impact the company’s credibility.
The good news is that this is an avoidable risk. Take the extra time to proofread your copy before finalizing it.
11. Test and optimize
The best way to improve your copy is to, well, keep improving it. Whenever possible, set up copy testing to A/B test your copy to determine which versions perform better. You can do this with your Google Search Ads, with website copy, and even social ads. Once you get feedback, make changes to continue optimizing. Then make sure to remember what works—and use that.
Leveling up from copywriting 101
We covered all the copywriting basics here: what copywriting is, who copywriters are, which types of copywriting are, and how to make your copywriting even better. If you’re looking to learn more, check out the following resources:
