What is copywriting?
Don’t feel bad if you have confused it with copyrighting — lots of people do. But whereas copyrighting means “securing rights to intellectual property”, copywriting simply means writing copy — that is, writing text that promotes your product or service.
Copy can be printed: a flyer, a newspaper ad, a product label. It can also be digital: text on your website, a blog post, product descriptions on Amazon, even those few lines accompanying an Instagram product photo.
It can also be something else — something you haven’t thought of but will realise in a moment.
We’re in the age of video — does written content still matter?
It’s true that video is now the most used marketing tool, according to this Hubspot report. And Wyzowl Video Marketing Statistics 2020 tells us 85% of marketers use it. But it’s not as simple as saying video is better than copy.
To start with, you often need copy in order to create a video. Yes, that’s right. A video script is also copy! (I told you this was unexpected.)
Next, copy can have many advantages, as this article points out:
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Lower cost. It’s a lot cheaper to produce good copy than good video. Video means equipment, filming, editing etc. In order to write copy, all you need is pen and paper. (All right, I mean a computer with a decent keyboard.)
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Less time spent producing it. Copy is also a lot quicker to write, edit and publish than video.
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Easy to keep up to date. You can still edit text after it’s published online — it’s not the same with video.
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Helps your prospects find you. Copy can include a lot more keywords than a video description can. So, if you are thinking about search engine optimisation, copy is crucial.
At the end of the day, your choice depends a lot on your product and audience. But most likely, you will want to use both video and good copy.
What makes good copy?
This is an easy one. Just check:
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The obvious — good copy is honest. Your copywriter presents the real characteristics and qualities of your product.
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It’s also simple and clear. Your prospects must find it easy to read and understand and uncluttered by useless info.
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In the case of digital copy, it works best for you if it includes search engine optimisation (SEO). This means it includes the keywords your prospects are most likely to type when they are searching for your service.
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And in all cases, your copy must address the right audience and speak its voice.
How can my copy speak my audience’s voice?
Who would you send to a police department in order to sell them training software? A shy software developer who speaks code — or a retired police officer who knows your product well?
It’s the same with copy. Your copywriter has to place himself in your audience’s shoes as much as possible and talk the way they do.
- If you’re selling to professionals in a specific area, your copy should use their jargon.
- If you’re targeting a specific age range, it should sound close to their way of speaking.
- If you’re selling abroad, your copy must not only use the local speech, but also respect the local culture.
In this last case, you have two possibilities.
Number one, you can translate your original copy. But you should take care to actually transcreate it — that is, to adapt the copy to your foreign audience’s language and culture.
Number two, you can create original copy for your foreign market from scratch.
What your best option is will depend on your product or service, your audience, your budget, and time constraints etc.
But in both cases, it’s important that you work with a team of native translators and copywriters. They will ensure that any cultural differences between your country and theirs are taken into account in your ads and product descriptions. They will use the right words and tone to convince your prospects they can trust you. And they will make sure to optimise your copy for search engines by using those same words your prospects will search for.
This matters because, as we saw above, copywriting is an essential marketing tool. Which means you must not only use it, but also be sure to make the most of it.