Whether you are writing a promotional email or printed brochure, the message you want your company to convey has to ultimately convert to sales. Design is an important factor in delivering a complete message, but the copy inserted will have a great impact on overall performance of your marketing deliverables. Here are some marketing copywriting tips to help you out:

What are you writing about?

Identifying what the marketing piece is about is a must. Is it about a specific product, sale, or event? Next, identify what is the outcome needed or desired from promoting the item or event. Are you looking for attendee registration, foot traffic, or online sales? Finally, what type of promotional piece are you creating; an email, social ad, or postcard?

A simple outline of these elements will help guide the initial direction on the piece that you are developing.

Who is the audience?

Who will be receiving the promotional item? Will there be multiple versions going to different audience segments?

A detailed segmentation grid of the audience and what they will be seeing is valuable in knowing how many pieces and how much time is needed for development.

What is the outcome of the piece?

Sitting with the marketing strategist and designer during the kick-off of the project will aide in understanding the overall direction of the piece in terms of how it will look, how it will be delivered, and the emotions that need to be invoked from the audience that will influence the desired action of the intended audience.

The marketing strategist should provide a detailed segmentation grid that showcases what piece goes to what audience and what the design and copy directions are for the creative team to produce the correct pieces and minimize rounds of revisions.

Call to Action

With the pinpointed desired outcome from the marketing piece identified, the copywriter now has the ability to create that call to action. “Learn More”, “Give Now”, “Shop Now” are all clear and simple call to action examples. The statements are telling the audience exactly what they want them to do and by clicking that button, they will be shown exactly how to complete that task.

Urgency

This can be built around the developed call to action, as we want customers to act now – not three days from now. Creating a sense of urgency within the copy will compel your audience to register or buy the offering now!

You can do this within the copy by: setting a deadline and that space or product is limited.

Creating FOMO (fear of missing out) for your audience will convince them that they need to act before they miss out on a great opportunity.

Persuasive Techniques

Research shows that there are certain words that persuade consumers more than others. Some of those words are: now, because, you, new, limited, free.

Not only do they highlight specific aspects of copy by calling out the ‘what’s in it for me?’ mentality, those words automatically create a sense of urgency.

‘Now’, it calls on a specific time to take action – immediately. ‘Because’, it provides immediate reason to a proceeding statement. ‘You’, highlights who the company wants to complete the ask and who will benefit. ‘New’, it is something that a consumer can be the first to have before anyone else. ‘Limited’, inclines this will not be a product or service anyone can get. ‘Free’, everyone loves an offer where they do not have to pay.

By incorporating one or all of the words above, your copy will be able to speak directly and clearly to your audience.

Writing for Scanners

Even if you write the most beautiful copy in the world, majority of readers will only scan the copy. The audience will only read what catches their eye and move on, so creating a full engaging piece will provide great impact on the reader and conversion rates.

Creating a stand-out headline will draw the scanners in to read the text, which should be complimented by a sub-head that keeps the reader engaged to understand what the piece is about –enticing the reader to continue looking through the piece.

Ultimately, the way you want your consumers to react to your advertisements and marketing pieces is to come away with a sense of confidence and satisfaction in their decision. ‘It is okay to spend that $75 on clothing, because I got a good deal and they will look great on me!’ ‘I needed those new tires and this is a great sale.’ ‘I’m so happy I got to register for that workshop because I want to learn how to do that.’

Yes, you will scoop in consumers that did not intend to buy and will solidify the effectiveness in your marketing. However, your marketing pieces should provide the push that your consumer needs to sign-up or purchase a service or product they already needed or wanted – they were just waiting for the nudge and affirmation in their choice. Incorporating effective marketing copy with the tips above, your company can achieve just that.

With Colleen Eakins Design, we can consult and aide you in the development of your marketing strategy and design to bring your words to life.