Copywriting Basics for Beginners

What is the writing?
Copywriting is usually described as copywriting, or the writing of advertising copy to promote a person, business, opinion, or idea. It can be written in plain text, as a radio or television advertisement, or in a variety of other media. The main purpose of writing marketing copy is to persuade the listener or reader to take action, like buying a product or service, or subscribing to a certain point of view, for example. Copywriting can also serve to dissuade a reader from a particular belief or action.

According to Wikipedia, “Copywriting can include body copy, taglines, headlines, direct mail pieces, taglines, jingles, World Wide Web and Internet content, television or radio commercial scripts, press releases, white papers, and other written material incorporated in advertising”. medium.” A copywriter or the person who writes the ad copy can contribute ideas for print ads, mail-order catalogs, billboards, commercials, brochures, postcards, online sites, email, letters, and other advertising media.

The art of writing
The art of writing advertising copy is based on the assumption that words can change an audience’s thinking, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. If the writing on a copy fails to arouse attention, interest, desire, conviction, and action, it has failed in its task and intent.

One of the oldest copywriting formulas is AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. An ad that doesn’t capture the reader’s attention won’t be able to do anything else. Only after attracting attention can an advertisement arouse consumer interest and create desire for the product, service or idea presented. Finally, the ad must stimulate some action on the part of the customer, otherwise it will have failed its purpose.

Technical Writing
Some techniques a copywriter can use to write persuasive copy include:

• Clichés or buzzwords, such as now, new, here, finally, and today.
• Action words, such as buy, try, ask, get, send, try, look, look, come and many more.
• Emotional or exciting words, using adjectives that enhance events, such as splendid, amazing, charming, beautiful, and wonderful.
• Alliteration or a way of repeating sounds that are pleasing to the ear, but not exaggerated, obvious, or irritating, such as ‘Let the train do the work,’ ‘Don’t be lazy, ask for Haig,’ and ‘Well, go Shell’.
• Colloquialisms or writing to imitate informal speech, such as ‘Pick ‘n Choose’, ‘Fish ‘n Chips’, and the use of words, such as, don’t, would’t, won’t, what’s, and other abbreviations
• Punctuations and grammar, like, ‘Save the kids. Now.’ ‘He writes his name in gold. Remy Martin.’
• Repetition, such as the use of the same word to open each paragraph, hiding the brand or company name throughout the text.
• Intertextuality or the association of a text with other texts or signs, such as the use of the word ‘lock’ to associate it with security, or the use of a statement, term or sign from a film or other medium.

When writing a headline for a print ad, keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Make the headline an important persuasive component of the ad.
• Appeal to the reader’s self-interest with a basic promise of benefits
• Inject as much information as possible without being cumbersome or long
• Limit headlines to 5-8 words
• Include the brand name in the title.
• Entices the reader to read the body of the text
• Entices the reader to examine the ad image.
• Never change the font in a title
• Never use a headline whose persuasive impact depends on reading the body copy.
• Use simple, common and familiar words.

When writing your subtitle, keep the following in mind:

• The subtitle should reinforce the title.
• The subtitle should encourage the reader to continue with the body of the text.
• Subheadings should encourage a more complete reading of the entire ad.
• The longer the body text, the more appropriate the use of subheadings will be.
• Keep the use of subheadings to a minimum, as they can clutter an ad.

When writing body copy, keep the following in mind:

• Use the present tense whenever possible
• Use singular nouns and verbs
• use active verbs
• Use familiar words and phrases
• Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs.
• engage the reader
• Support the amazing
• Avoid clichés and superlatives

Common mistakes in writing
Some common mistakes to avoid in writing include:

• Vagueness, resulting from the generalization of words or imprecise meanings.
• Wordiness, where economy of words is paramount because a copy has to fit into a limited space and time before it bores the audience.
• Sadness or lack of originality, where the use of tired clichés and superlatives can create a boring and outdated image for a brand or company.
• Beyond creativity, where creativity is taken overboard for creativity’s sake. A copy must stay true to its main responsibility: communicating the sales message.

conclusion
Writing good copy requires much more than what is mentioned in this article. It requires research, thinking outside the box, and many other aspects. For more copywriting tips, check out the many resources available on the web and read the relevant books by professional copywriters.