If you recently graduated from college, you may think that you know a thing or two about writing. I mean, all those massive papers, case studies, and essays must have been good for something, right?
Probably not.
I have worked with hundreds of college students and recent grads who aspire to be writers, and in most cases, their classroom writing skills have not translated into great copywriting ability. The reason for this is that the intent is wildly different when you’re trying to communicate with customers than when you’re trying to communicate with your professors for a grade. The stakes in the real world are much higher, so here are six copywriting tips for entry level marketing professionals:
1. Learn about SEO copywriting…
“Search Engine Optimization” or SEO for short is all about encouraging search engines like Google to find and favor your content. Links to your article from reputable sources are at the core of SEO, but Google looks at over 200 different cues to determine which pages will reach the top of its results including the placement and frequency of key words and phrases. If you are going to work in the wild world of the web, you should be familiar with the basics of SEO…
2. …But don’t worry about it too much
“Modern SEO is all about crafting content so compelling that other people want to promote it by linking to it or sharing it, which increases your trust and authority and helps the pages you want to rank well for certain keywords.” – Copyblogger
Honestly, people are too hung up on good writing vs. good SEO writing. Google has been pushing them to become one in the same for a while now, and thanks to social cues, it’s gotten pretty good at doing so. If your writing is timely, interesting, unique, well-written, and adequately promoted, it will do well in search results.
3. Listen to and ask for feedback
Writing copy in a vacuum is insane. You should have people of different ages, experience levels, and interest levels look over your work before and after you publish it. When you do get feedback, cherish it, especially if it’s negative. I’ve found the best advice from my most critical readers.
4. Attempt to start a dialogue
No matter what the message you’re trying to get across, you want readers to feel like they can ask more. If you’re writing a sales pitch, you want potential customers to dig deeper; if you’re writing a blog post, you want readers to leave their thoughts in the comments; if you’re writing an email, you want recipients to click it. Good copywriting demands to be answered.
5. Bring your own voice
Back in school someone probably told you that your papers had to have a certain “formality” to them. I remember being taught that using “I” or “you” in a paper was frowned upon, and that might be true in academic settings, but in the real world? No way.
Almost any audience would rather be spoken to in a friendly, relatable way than in a corporate, structured, and condescending way. My favorite trick for keeping my writing relatable is to read every piece I write out loud before I publish it. If I come to a section and realize that I would never say that in casual conversation, I go back and edit it. It’s a quick way to make your writing feel less robotic and break those nasty habits they taught you in school.
6. Read more
Finally, it’s time to crack open your internet browser and get in the habit of reading more. Reading a few articles, sales pages, or whitepapers every day will give you a better idea what your peers in the industry expect. Not only will this help you become a better writer, it will also make you a more prolific one. Most of the ideas from posts that I write are inspired by another similar article online.
Writing good copy doesn’t have to be hard, but it does take some practice. Do you have your own advice for aspiring copywriters? Let me hear it in the comments below.
