Chapter 11. Copywriting
It’s about time we got to this.
Pre-note: Hitting the highlights
A lot of grammarizing goes into writing copy. You need to concentrate on verbs, sentence structure, etc. This book won’t cover all that, because...
? Whoah – it would be tiresome to read
? Too much would just state common sense
? We read those rules in school
Rather, we’ll address what’s relevant to your copywriting needs.
Helpers
The we reference is best
Question: When you communicate with your prospect, how should you refer back to your company?
Answer: “We.” As in, “We want you to improve your life.”
Make lists
You need to give the prospect a mountain of information, and wordsmithing it all out is painful. The cure-all answer is to make bullet points. In other words, write lists. Let’s see how bullet points benefit everyone:
For you, making bullet points...
Lets? you put your strongest “reason to buy” first
Cuts? all the fat from the copy
Gives? you a place for every possible selling point
Turns? writing into a mild pleasure
Squeezes? more details into less space
Is? easier than making sentences flow together
For your prospect, reading lists...
Spares? her the fluff she didn’t need anyway
Answers? her demand for immediate information
Lets? her scan down to what interests her
Is? easier than wading through mega-glonks of text
Gets? her through the copy and into the response zone
For the organization, reviewing bullet points...
Lets? them zero in on content – and that’s what matters
Gets? them to say, “We can use this list for other projects”
Is? easier to digest, because it gets to the essentials
Reference: “Don’t try to artfully weave extraneous points,” on page 134.
White space is better
Let’s say you have five bullet points, but they look crowded in the layout.
There has to be one bullet point you can cut. The prospect will find the white space more inviting, and he’ll never miss that bullet. (President Andrew Jackson even had a bullet removed.)
Bridges
Bridges, a.k.a. transitions, are links that help you turn wide-ranging points into a slick piece of copy. Some of the most popular bridges are…
Also?
And?
In? addition
“List of bridges” begins on page 147.
Reference: “Oh, that flow,” on page 135.
Cite examples
Here’s a short message on a big subject. Advertising doesn’t lend itself to convoluted explanations, so give examples. Then you’ll make everything clear.
Examples rule because they are simple to follow, easy to identify with, and entertaining to read. Goodness, everyone likes a story. So, rather than writing a dissertation that puts the prospect through a wringer, just give a “for instance.”
Use metaphors and similes
They provide an instant picture of what you’re getting across. For example: “Our competitors are venomous snakes, and they’ll sink their long fangs into you. Beware!” There are positive metaphors too.
Avoid words nobody says
Don’t use words people don’t use. Like, concatenate. Maybe 5% of the English-speaking world understands that word. Paradigm is another one. Perhaps more people know catalyst, but not enough for you to use it. Reason: These mysterious words will turn the prospect off a little.
Here are more words real people seldom say:
panacea?
quarrel?
? whereupon
? feedback
fatigue?
deadpan?
peers?
? horseplay
Spruce up the obvious moments
When something is unmistakable, have fun with it. For example, if you’re showing a week of events for fathers, say Mondad, Tuesdad, Wedsdad, etc.
Lather, rinse, repeat
In your copy, it’s necessary to say your theme many times and ways, because – surprisingly – the reader will tune in rather than turn off. He won’t attack you for repeating yourself, because he probably won’t notice. Meanwhile, you’ll sell him a lot, because repetition gets the prospect to finally absorb the message. So, restate! Because it sinks in.
Rephrasing – saying the same thing numerous ways – is necessary, because you don’t want the reader asking, “Didn’t I just read this?” For example, here is the same message with four different treatments:
1. You’ll save more if you buy now.
2. Purchase during our limited-time special.
3. Don’t hesitate, because you’ll lose this low price.
4. This awesome deal is going away – act today.
Also, while you don’t want to be a repetitive pest, you want to get pretty derned close to being a repetitive pest. Reason: Repetition is a top way to trigger response. See, the prospect won’t contact you until he absorbs your message. Repetition gives him the message so often he does get it...and he responds. It’s that simple. Therefore, think up many ways to get your central message across, and distribute them in your copy. You’ll get more prospects.
To be sure, repetition is one of the most underused methods in advertising, and it’s one of the most powerful. The crux of the matter is this: In our lives, experiencing anything a lot makes it familiar – like driving a car. However, bad advertisers believe they can say something twice, and the prospect will get the message. Would you ride with someone who’s only driven twice?
Hoo boy, Onse Isenough doesn’t agree with all this. He reads your copy and exclaims, “You keep restating the same stuff! You don’t need to say this so often.”
Not true, Isen! Sure, you’re reading the copy closely, because you’re a coworker. But the prospect isn’t. When he reads the same point repeatedly, it gets into his head, and he acts upon it.
In addition, because advertising is already a little bothersome to the prospect, you have some latitude. Since the prospect is putting up with your ad, he won’t get bent out of shape when you make the same point often. This gives you opportunities to push the message further into his mind. If it’s the right message, he is more likely to respond. Plus, if you wrap it up with a timely offer, you should be in great shape.
So, your challenge is laid out. You have to acquire the space, willingness, and discipline to drum that message repeatedly – inside your copy and across your advertising.
Repetition over reasons
Making your main point repeatedly is more important than trotting out many different copy points. The prospect has less need for details, and more need to soak up your message.
“OK, stop talking about repetition!”
Sorry…can’t do that just yet.
Let’s say we have a main theme, like, “It makes your operation run smoothly.” But we also need to make such unrelated points as…
“You? get more choices.”
“We? have five locations in the city.”
How can you tie everything together and still create repetition? Make those unrelated points connect to the main theme. With our theme – “makes your operation run smoothly” – you can weave in your unrelated points thus:
“You? get more choices. Select the one that works for you.”
“We? have five locations, so the solutions you need are close by.”
Rephrasing for the sake of clarity
The prospect wants to understand what you’re saying. It’s good to make the same point multiple times, because he can move from confusion to clarity. Rephrasing gives him a clearer view of your picture. He figures out what you’re getting across.
Note: Confused people will not buy your product! They will immediately reject everything and move on.
Messing with English
Those who write medical journal articles have to adhere to a strict (boring) writing style. Life is better for you, because you can get creative and get away with it.
Play on words
For example: If your ad has golf as the image, copywriting is an easy putt.
You can tell the prospect to take a swing at it…follow through...and make a hole- in-one. Don’t say he’ll perform below par.
Why use puns? Because otherwise, your copy will be as dull as golf on TV. Better to have him sticking around for your next bad wordplay than running for the 19th hole.
Also, shh! People say they dislike puns, but most folks enjoy them in an oddball way.
Make up words
If your product is for enjoyment, create your own words for it. The impactificatiers in your sentensations jumpitate the slumbulating prospect.
Advice
Cut the convoluted negatives
Here is an example of a convoluted negative: “You can’t afford to miss avoiding another long night.” OK, is this for or against long nights? Instead, say it quickly and positively: “Sleep supremely for a low price.”
Never use definitives
Companies and writers would love to make ironclad statements like, “It works every time!” However, there are always exceptions, so definitives don’t find a place in copy. Here are some examples of definitives…and ways you may get around them.
Definitive
Non-definitive
Two notes:
1. This book is not a legal guide. None of these words will help or protect you.
2. Someone might say, “Those non-definitives are so non-committal.” Yes, and read any copy from the multi-billion dollar corporations. You’ll find few definitives and many non-committals. This is because they know what they are doing.
Know the importance of what you’re saying
You have power! Ah, ha, ha, ha! Don’t use it carelessly, or you’ll regret it.
And you’ll lose that power.
Convincing
Get a little amazed that nobody has crystallized the sales message to the extent you think is possible. While others may be clever, they aren’t sending out the convincing messages. Make it your goal to be highly persuasive, and accomplish it.
“Here’s how that works to your advantage”
Take a feature (“our wheels have more spokes”), and say this to yourself:
“Prospect, here’s how you’ll benefit from this.” Then express it. Then put it into your copy.
Using the product name in the copy
On one extreme, it’s wrong to be snooty and rarely say your product’s name.
Because: The prospect needs to know what the product’s name is!
On the other extreme, it’s wrong to say the product name so often it awkwardizes your message. Because: The prospect needs to absorb your message!
Climb out of a hole as you scale up a ladder
If you have to resolve some weird side issue while you’re marketing the product, the trick is to make everything work together.
For example, your product is called Djvaskt and the competition’s is Djvask. Oh boy, those are too similar. Don’t expect your prospect to know the difference between you both – it’s all too confusing. If you choose to ignore the name problem, your ads will sell a lot of Djvask. However, you can’t afford to run a “name differentiation campaign,” and the prospect wouldn’t pay attention anyway.
The answer is to tackle two objectives at once. How about this slogan: “Djvaskt suits you to a T.” It’s not an all-star line, but you’re addressing the name problem while you’re selling.
Upshot: Wasteful as it may seem, you have to invest budget, labor and time (BLT) to resolve these odd predicaments. Luckily, you’re smart. You’ll mix them into the overall effort.
The reader understands your constraints
If your ad is in a small space, don’t cram in details. Hit a few highlights, and tell the reader to access your Website to learn more.
1. Your prospect will understand. He’ll see you can’t fit the world into that space.
2. Hopefully, giving fewer details will jar his interest, and you’ll get more Website hits.
The process
Writing copy is no walk in the park. You have to put thousands of brain synapses into what you’re saying. Let’s figure out how to make this process a little easier.
Hurdles to jump
Following are copywriting obstacles and ways to get around them.
Hurdle 1: You hate writing copy
You really do.
Jump 1: Talk into a tape recorder
Jot down the mini-subjects you need to address in your copy. For example, you list out:
? Prospect doesn’t have money
Wishes? can get a better home
Family? is growing beyond house
The? place is falling apart
Then, get a big soda, find a peaceful place, and begin “copy-talking”
about those topics into your microcassette recorder.
Later, transcribe all this spoken text into your word processor, and edit it like a maniac until you have something. Editing isn’t fun, but it’s easier than writing. You can edit while watching TV.
Reference: “Editing – shaping up the copy,” on page 62.
Speaking copy (rather than writing copy) works for several reasons. Here are six:
Reason 1: It’s a snap to speak
Talking comes naturally to you, so it’s easier to say what you want to get across. It’s easier than thinking into a keyboard, anyway.
Furthermore, you automatically bypass dozens of awkward wording situations, because you don’t speak those in life. You only write them.
Further furthermore, you avoid the ornate wording traps writers get into. See “Avoid words nobody says,” on page 126.
Well-known advice: To see if something you wrote reads naturally, say it aloud and listen to yourself.
Reason 2: You’ll speak stronger copy
Your final copy will be more powerful, because generally, the spoken word gets to the point quicker.
For proof, look at a newspaper story. Most times, the quotes are more interesting than the reporting around them. The firefighter being quoted might have zero journalism experience, but he said what he felt, and that had impact.
Reason 3: You’ll strike the right tone
For example, if you need serious copy, you can get into a serious frame of mind and speak serious text. If you need loud and brash copy...well, you can be loud and brash, right?
Reason 4: You’re forced to plow ahead
Lotsa times, if a writer doesn’t want to move forward, he’ll keep refining what he already wrote. The result is two strong paragraphs but nothing more...and two whole pages are due.
Using the microcassette recorder avoids all this. It’s cumbersome to re-listen to what you spoke, so you have to plow ahead.
Reason 5: You aren’t tied to your word processor
Get out and enjoy the world. Take a day trip with a patient friend, and speak into your tape recorder.
To be sure, there are parts of your surrounding area you haven’t seen before. Now is your chance to visit them.
Reason 6: It helps you sharpen your message
After speaking on your subject for an hour, it occurs to you that your direction is wrong. There is a smarter way to approach the whole subject. So, you start over. And you’re glad you weren’t typing for three hours.
Hurdle 2: It’s all overwhelming
You say, “I don’t have the strength to attack this today. I will tomorrow.”
And, you fall further behind. (Uh oh.)
Jump 2: Feel the draft
Don’t try to accomplish everything in one sitting. Get something on paper today, and sharpen it tomorrow.
Also, choose any part of the assignment that you want to. Take the beginning, middle or near-end. It doesn’t matter. If a part is easy to accomplish now, attack it. The point is to do something.
Working in drafts works because as you work through the whole text, you get smarter about how it all works together – and you structure it better. (If that previous sentence went through another draft, maybe “works” wouldn’t be in there so much.)
Hurdle 3: It’s terrible
“Agh! This is crud!”
Jump 3: Run through methods
First, reference two other subsections from this book, because they help you get through creating ideas and lines…and those are building blocks to copywriting (what we’re doing now). The subsections are:
“?Put it down and pick it up later” on page 81.
“?Content and form” on page 75, because it gets into…
1. What you’re doing
2. How you’re doing it
In this subsection, we’ll talk about making a body of text work. The key is: Don’t run from the assignment, but run through methods in order. Try these:
1st? thought: “Let’s keep to the basics.” You’re communicating a central problem and a solution to the prospect. You’re also talking about other problems ad solutions. And you’re putting in a lot of features and benefits. This is all very do-able.
2nd? thought: “How can I restructure this again?” It’s easy to reorganize your text blocks in a smarter way, so mess with that for a while. Once you have it all in a logical order, your thoughts will shift to brushing up the wording – making everything flow together.
3rd? thought: “I’m lumping all these other features together.” Don’t try to artfully weave extraneous points (“comes in several colors as well”) into your copy, because…
1. The prospect won’t internalize them anyway
2. It’s painful to write them in well
Instead, list these points somewhere. For example: “Here is more you should know about Dwkliukjdj:
Most? experienced provider in Ohio
? Certified B46-122
50+? consultants
? Licensed in 32 states”
Reference: “Make lists,” on page 125.
Hurdle 4: You’re your own worst enemy
You stop you from writing copy.
Jump 4: Become someone else
Pick an influential person in your life, such as your Dad, and ask yourself: “How would he express this problem...and the solution for it?” For example: “My old boss would say, ‘You can’t let these people push you around like that.’ OK, how about this for the copy: ‘So, stop getting pushed around.’”
Summary: The standout people in your life have distinct perspectives and ways of expressing them, so call them up in your mind. They will be glad you did.
Editing – shaping up the copy
You emoted into the tape recorder, transcribed everything, and now you have a pile of verbosifications. Yes, you can grind all this into compelling body copy, because you’re not in depressing writing mode. You’re in do-able editing mode.
Certainly, it’s a tedious job. You move words around, reference the thesaurus, chop up sentences, make julienne fries, etc. There aren’t shortcuts, but at least you can do it with distractions around you.
Oh, that flow
What is flow? It’s making one sentence transition to another. OK: There are two paragraphs coming up after the following table. Here is how the sentences in those paragraphs will flow:
However, if you become outstanding at flow, people will enjoy your copy – though they won’t know why. Reason: Transitioning is an invisible art. When done well, it’s so seamless that the reader concentrates on your message, and she’s more likely to like it.
So, please: Recognize the need for continuity. You’re not just writing sentences and piling them up. You’re a one-person band who’s composing an original song, and it has to sound good.
Some ways to get in the flow
Use? many bridges. See “List of bridges” on page 147.
Go with? a long sentence with multiple commas, then a short one with no commas, then a long one again. Or use two short sentences. It’s your call. However, the long and short of it is, progressing in this pattern makes the copy more digestible. The sentences in this paragraph went long then short.
Give? lots of thought to what you said at the end of your just-finished sentence. It’s the launch pad for the sentence you’re writing. For example: “...your just-finished sentence. It’s the launch pad...”
Another point: Don’t expect the prospect to sort out scatterbrained copy.
The courage to be concise
Note: This contradicts everything that was said about repetition.
Three reasons to keep it short:
1. The fewer words you use, the more each one is worth.
2. It shows confidence. You know your statement is right, so don’t need to blunder and drone.
3. Your prospect is delighted to read, “Here are the key points:”
Blended yes, pureed no
Group input mixes in a lot of different thoughts and suggestions, and your ad will give the market a delicious shake. However, don’t allow too much group processing, or you’ll end up with muck.
This is tricky, because “the more input the better,” right? However, if they change the ad too much, it will lose the personal tone, and the prospect will dismiss it as corporate BS. And that makes a rotten shake.
Reference: “One-on-one communication,” on page 33.