Alan Barker

How to produce the best copy

Is it magic? Do you have to pay an outsider good money to get great copy? Well, maybe. But you can also build your own skills. The key is being adaptable: daring to go beyond your first draft. Here are five tips to help you.

Focus on the reader

Don’t talk about stuff; talk to your reader. Address them directly. Imagine speaking to them, and write down exactly what you would say.

Then edit the copy – ruthlessly.

Think benefits, not features. Why should your reader care about what you have to say? A colleague of mine talks about ‘tuning in to Radio WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?’ What matters to your reader? Corporates and business partners have quite different values and priorities to individual customers.

Think also about how the reader will encounter your copy: project proposals command quite different levels of attention from campaigning emails. How committed is your reader to reading? Are they sitting at a desk or scrolling on their smartphone? How can you capture – and hold – their attention?

Keep it simple

Two messages is one too many. Decide what you want your reader to do as a result of reading your copy and say what you need to say to achieve that action. Make the ‘ask’ specific.

Persuade in three dimensions

Great copy seduces. The reader feels that they’ve decided what to do, rather than being persuaded by you. You can seduce your reader in three ways: through reasoned argument; through credibility and reputation (why should we respect your organisation more than others?); and through emotion.

Most buying decisions are based on feeling rather than logic. And that’s as much about stimulating the imagination as about arousing emotion. Show, don’t tell: avoid emotive language that tells the reader what to feel or what you feel. The feelings should occur in the reader – not in the text. Use stories and examples and let them do the work.

Make it zing

You can bring your copy to life in (at least) four ways.

First, use power words: single-syllable words, human words, action words, feeling words, concrete words, words that stimulate the senses, and onomatopoeic words (chop, fizz, crash, scrape).

Second, use personal words: words like ‘you’ and ‘we’, but also words that name the people (and non-humans) that are doing things in your copy.

Third, use strong, specific verbs, and avoid abstract words (recognition, awareness, opportunity).

Finally, express your ideas as positives. Don’t write about what isn’t happening, or won’t happen; tell your reader what is happening, what they can do, and how the world will be a better place as a result.

Integrate your copy with design

All copy has some sort of design element. It might be no more than a paragraph break. Email newsletters can include colour and pictures; flyers have fronts and backs; brochures have covers and inside pages. Blog posts can include cross-line headlines (like the ones breaking up the text here) and standfirsts (short paragraphs sitting between the main headline and the body text – just like the copy in italics at the head of this post).

Make your copy work with the design, not against it.

Oh – and one final hint: work at least four times as hard on your headline as you do on your copy. After all, four times as many people will read the headline – or the subject line of your email – as read the body copy. Don’t try to make your headlines cute or clever. If you’re stuck for ideas, start your headline with ‘how’, ‘why’ or a number.

(Yup, that's what I did. Actually, I also used CoSchedule's free headline analyser. It doesn't entirely convince me, but it's great fun.)

If the headline works, chances are that they’ll read your copy. And all your hard work will not be in vain.

My copywriting course reveals more secrets of the copywriter’s craft. Take a look at the outline and contact me to find out more.

Why every good cause deserves good copy

If you work in a not-for-profit, you don’t need me to tell you that effective copy is at the heart of effective campaigning.

You know, to use the buzz words of the moment, that the third sector marketing space is increasingly crowded. You know that your organisation’s key messages need to cut through the noise. And you probably also know that charity communication is coming under increasing scrutiny: targeting your supporters must not become harassment. New data protection legislation, and the Fundraising Preference Service instituted by the Fundraising Regulator, quite rightly help people manage their communication with charities more easily – but they’ll also make campaigning more challenging.

The only copy that will work will be smart copy.

Many not-for-profits enjoy a productive relationship with copywriting agencies. But not every agency delivers what a charity wants or needs; and many charities simply lack the budget to go outside. Growing your internal skills is often preferable – and sometimes it’s the only option.

Where to start? How can you catch and hold your reader’s attention?  Get inside their heads and tug their heart strings?  How can you nudge them to act, donate or simply open the email?

And how can you convince your manager that your copy will do the job better?

The Directory of Social Change one-day copywriting course reveals some of the secrets of the copywriter’s craft.  If you produce marketing or promotional copy – from flyers to blog posts, from newsletters to direct mail – this course is essential. You’ll explore a range of copywriting techniques and have the chance to apply them immediately to some of your own copy. You’ll generate new ideas, organise them persuasively, and make your copy zing.  You’ll have a lot of fun.  And you’ll leave brimming with confidence. 

(OK. Full declaration of interest. I run this course.)

To find out more, take a look at the course outline. And then book your place.

Because good causes deserve good copy.