how to write great marketing copy for your startup

You’ve got a great product, it can speak for itself, right? Wrong. Well, unless it can *actually* speak for itself like Siri or Speak and Spell. The point is, failure to communicate your brand’s message and your product’s place in the market can spell startup death. Here, copywriter Tim Gregg explains how to get the message right…

 

Bad communication is the leading cause of startup failure. For lack of a coherent message, many great ideas never get off the ground. The concept is lost in a fog of clumsy sentences and vague descriptions. No-one gets it.

Copywriting is a skill every entrepreneur should master. You might have the Next Big Thing up your sleeve, but until you can explain it convincingly to a general audience, who cares?

You don’t need a marketing agency or a degree in creative writing – just an appreciation of how language works. Follow these simple rules to write better copy for your website, press release, or email campaign…

Keep it short

Especially on the web. Brevity is the golden rule of online copywriting. The average netizen has a three-second attention span, so cut the bullshit and get straight to the point.

Never use five words when three will do. Look through your copy and delete every word that doesn’t need to be there. Strip each sentence down to its bare essentials.

• Bad: “It’s our pleasure to announce the latest product in our range”
• Good: “We’re pleased to announce our latest product”

• Bad: “The new app we are building is for lovers of music”
• Good: “We’re building a new app for music lovers.”

• Bad: “We specialise in designing beautiful websites”
• Good: “We design beautiful websites.”

Avoid phrases like “there are” and “you can”. Most sentences work better without them.

• Bad: “There are three advantages to using our product”
• Good: “Our product has three advantages”

• Bad: “You can get updates by following us on Twitter”
• Good: “Follow us on Twitter for updates”

Shorter sentences are clear and punchy, and let you fit more information in each paragraph. By writing less you can say more.

Use the inverted pyramid

 

Everyone reads your headline. Most people read your subhead; maybe half read your first paragraph. But less than 20 per cent will read your copy all the way to the end.

So don’t waste your opening lines – that’s the prime real estate. Structure your copy like an inverted pyramid: big stuff at the top, small stuff at the bottom. Your first 20-30 words should answer the most important questions:

• What’s the product/service?

• What does it do?

• Who is it for?

• What’s the USP?

Use the later paragraphs to present secondary features and smaller details. But always state the important facts at the very beginning. Readers should get the gist of your product or service at first glance.

Keep it simple

Big, fancy words are the telltale sign of an amatuer writer. The best copywriting uses plain English and a conversational tone.

Replace big words with smaller ones whenever you can. Sometimes you need two or three small words to replace a big one; other times one small word replaces an entire clunky phrase.

• Bad: “We are embarking on a large project”
• Good: “We’re starting a big project”

• Bad: “We endeavour to provide an outstanding service”
• Good: “We work hard to provide a great service”

• Bad: “Our HQ is located in the vicinity of several major tech firms”
• Good: “Our HQ is near several big tech firms”

Check the thesaurus before using a big word. And never (ever) use those lame corporate buzzwords such as “leverage,” “synergy,” or “value-added”. They mean nothing at all and make you sound like a certified dumbass.

Some pointers on style

Anyone serious about writing copy should read The Elements of Style by William Strunk & EB White. The book is nearly a hundred years old, but the basic mechanics of good writing haven’t changed. For example:

Use the active voice

Sentences in which the subject performs the verb are tighter and more direct than sentences written in the passive voice.

• Passive: “Our service is recommended by thousands of customers”
• Active: “Thousands of customers recommend our service”

• Passive: “New ideas are always being worked on by our team.”
• Active: “Our team is always working on new ideas”

Use the positive form

Don’t sour the mood with negative words. Get rid of not, don’t, can’t and make a positive statement instead.

• Negative: “We don’t accept bad-quality submissions”
• Positive: “We only accept high-quality submissions”

Be certain

Make your statements clear and definitive. Cut out the weak quantifiers like mostly, almost, nearly, just about…

• Bad: “We are mostly focused on social game development”
• Good: “We focus on social game development”

Edit, then edit some more

No-one writes a masterpiece on the first draft. Relentless editing is the only way to produce lean, effective copy. Be hard on yourself – look critically at everything you write. Keep chopping and changing until you’re satisfied. The learning curve is steep, but soon enough you’ll find your voice. Now dust off that keyboard and get cracking…

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6 Simple Steps to Writing Seductive Web Copy

How seductive are you?

I’m not a great seducer.

I don’t have a string of conquests to boast about. I’m no modern Cleopatra.

But as a marketer and copywriter, I’ve studied the seductive techniques that big brands use to win customers.

How does Apple tempt us to part with our hard-earned cash and trade in a perfectly fine iPhone 4 for an iPhone 5?

How did Amazon ever persuade me to read books on a Kindle when I love the look, feel, and smell of real books?

The “secret” to writing seductive web copy is to follow a proven 6-step process.

To get started, you need to know exactly who you want to seduce …

1. Describe your ideal reader

Describing (and visualizing) your ideal reader makes your web copy much more vivid and personal.

This doesn’t mean that you will sell your product or service only to that person. It means that whoever closely matches your ideal reader should feel that your content is written for him.

Your ideal reader should become like an imaginary friend. You should know your ideal reader so well that you can start a conversation with her at any time. You know when she shakes her head because you say something she doesn’t agree with. You know what makes her smile or laugh. You know the questions she asks. You know how to charm and flatter her.

When describing your ideal reader, don’t just think about demographics like age, gender, income, education, and family circumstances. Do you know what he dreams of achieving? And what keeps her awake at 3am?

Whenever you’re writing web copy, imagine that you’re writing for your ideal reader. Your writing will become more charming, more interesting, and more persuasive.

2. Create a comprehensive list of features, benefits, and objections

You love to talk about your company. Your products. Your services.

Maybe you’re excited about the recent improvements you’ve made to your service, or about the new skills you’ve learned. Or, maybe you’ve spent many months developing new features for your products.

You’re selling your product or service, so that’s what you need to write about,right?

Wrong.

The hard truth is that nobody is interested in you, your company, or your products, because people are only interested in themselves.

Famous direct response copywriters like John Caples, Eugene Schwartz, and Joe Sugarman have all said it: To sell your products, you need to focus on the benefitsto your readers.

Before you start writing your web copy, finalize your research:

• Create a full list of features and specifications
• Translate each feature into a benefit for your ideal reader
• Consider the problems you help avoid
• Write down the objections to buying from you and decide how you can address them

Doing research and planning your web copy will help you create more seductive web copy.

3. Develop an enticing value proposition

Is your value proposition your magic pick-up line?

Many guys think you only need to know a few magic words to seduce a girl, but that’s — of course — far from the truth. You need to know the right words to start a conversation, so that a girl gives you the opportunity to show her how much fun it is to be with you.

Your value proposition isn’t a magic pick-up line either. It’s your conversationstarter. It entices your ideal reader to learn more about you.

A value proposition usually consists of a headline, possibly a subheading, and three to five bullet points. Your headline can simply state what you do or mention the key benefit of working with you.

Web visitors are in a hurry; they make lightning decisions as to whether a website is right for them or not. Your headline should be clear, credible, and concise. Don’t use clever wordplay.

As usability expert Steve Krug suggests: Don’t make your web visitors think!

4. Write a first draft

Let’s say a new reader has arrived at your site …

Your headline and bullet points encourage her to find out more about you. You’ve started a conversation; and now you need to charm her with your product or service — you need to describe your offer and persuade your web visitor to take action.

You might want a web visitor to buy directly from you, to set up a free initial consultation, or to sign up for your e-newsletter. But you need to persuade her to take action and address her objections to doing so.

If you have your list of features, benefits, and objections, it’s easy to decide which content to use on which page. Make your copy comprehensive and persuasive by mentioning all benefits of working with you, and by addressing all objections your visitor may have.

Writing web copy that works simply means persuading your ideal reader to take the next step in the selling process. Make sure your prospect knows what next step to take.

Feel free to be bossy and tell him exactly what to do NOW 

5. Edit your copy

Editing isn’t just about correcting grammar goofs and spelling mistakes. You need to make your copy more engaging, credible and persuasive.

Consider the following steps when editing your copy:

• Check your list of features, benefits, and objections to ensure you don’t miss any important sales messages
• Edit your web copy for scanners; create enticing subheadings and fascinatingbullet points; and follow the inverted pyramid
• Make your copy more credible and persuasive by using copywriting techniques
• Boost your web copy’s readability by tightening and simplifying your text
• Proofread to correct typos

Read your web copy aloud and imagine you’re talking to your ideal reader. Does he understand it? Does he like it? Does it persuade him to take action?

6. Optimize your copy

Do you want to seduce Google, too?

And tempt the almighty search engine to send you some extra traffic?

Usually when you write for your ideal reader, your web pages are SEO-friendly, too. Use the same words your ideal reader uses and you have a better chance of being found in Google.

Writing frequently about your area of expertise is good for your readers. It’s also good for search engine optimization.

Using the language of your customer is good for your readers. It’s also good for search engine optimization.

Developing a broad network of experts and web publishers in your topic, and referencing their ideas (including with links) in your content, is good for your readers. It’s also good for search engine optimization.

Always write your copy for your ideal reader first, and optimize for search engines later.

A “secret” to picking up more customers …

Creating seductive web copy isn’t only about writing.

The “secret” to being persuasive is to choose an ideal reader you love working with. Understand exactly who you’re writing for and what makes him tick. Answer his questions and make him smile. Hold an imaginary conversation together. Have some fun. And show him your passion for your business and what he’ll get out of that passion.

Your copy will be more engaging and seductive. And you’ll win more customers and more raving fans.

P.S. If you’re looking for even more in-depth tips on how all this really works online, download your copy of my new How to Write Seductive Web Copy.

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How to Write Good Article Headlines to Attract More Visitors

How important do you think well written article headlines are when it comes to blogging?

Surely an article’s content is the part that counts most and headlines are just something you simply add as an afterthought when you have finished writing your article, right?

In reality, if you want your blog to stand out from the thousands of competing bloggers, then writing good article headlines is one of the most important things you can do to entice people to visit your site.

Good headlines are so important that they are your 1 to 2 second window of opportunity to sell the premise that your article is worth reading or that your website is worth visiting. 1 to 2 seconds is the average amount of time that a reader scans an individual search item with their eyes before deciding whether to click on it or move on to the next one.

Effective headlines are one of the main weapons of choice for marketing teams because they work so well. The handful of carefully chosen words which make up a typical headline, if written well, can have the power to unlock people’s attention. This is how most news agencies sell their newspapers and even though some of the tabloid papers might have headlines which are a bit on the cheesy side, they still sell based mostly on their headlines.

So now we know how important headlines are, let’s talk a bit about how you can write better headlines. Below I’ve listed some tips you can use when writing your next article headline.

1. Make your headline as targeted as possible for your intended audience

Make sure that the headline you write accurately reflects the specific topic you are writing about or the solution you are providing. Your aim as a blogger is to get the attention of specific people who are searching the topic you are writing about and who will be interested in the content.

As soon as a web-surfer becomes a visitor of your blog, the baton is handed over to the content of the article whose task is to deliver to the reader the answer or solution they were looking for.

Therefore if your headline is misleading or your content doesn’t quite match the promise of the headline, then you are probably targeting the wrong people and your visitor will quickly become one of the bounce statistics in your google analytics report.

2. Use words which convey the promise of a solution or beneficial information

For instance take the following examples:

"xyz plugin will help triple your conversions"
versus,

"Why the xyz plugin will help triple your conversions"
Although the difference is subtle between the two headlines above, the headline beginning with the word “why” makes it far more effective than the first headline because it contains within it an implicit suggestion that the article will provide information about why the plugin works and the benefits of using it to get higher conversions.

Other effective techniques are to use numbers in your headline to convey a list of ideas or suggestions. For instance:

"7 ways to maximize your chances of making 50 bucks a day from your blog"
You may have seen many examples of headlines in the blogosphere using the above technique, and the reason is that this style of headline is very effective because humans love to quantize data into manageable chunks because it is easier for the mind to digest. Therefore when you begin with such words as “7 ways to…”, a large proportion of people will feel drawn to read such articles because of the promise of a quantized solution or list of concise suggestions or answers.

Other words such as “how to”, “what” and “when” are also very effective words to begin your headlines with. Don’t be afraid to be creative.

3. Include keywords in your headlines if possible

This is sort of related to point 1 but it warrants a separate mention. Keywords in your headlines are important because they are what your target audience are using to search for the answers to their questions.

Therefore having the keywords in your headline is like promising your prospective visitors a key to a door which may unlock some of the answers they are looking for.

In summing, your article headlines play a major role in the success of your blog in that they will usually determine whether somebody decides to click on your article link. Good headlines can mean more visitors, but whether they stay or not is then up to the quality of your content.

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A Quick Trick for Writing 1 Page for 2 Audiences

My first startup was a realtor rating site called What Customers Say. On the home page for What Customers Say, we had to speak to two groups: 1) realtors and 2) home buyers and sellers.

Naturally, the value + benefits associated with using the rating site were very different for realtors than for home buyers / sellers. But we knew we needed to speak to both groups because, well, we were a startup, and we were trying hard to grow both sides at the same time.

My second startup was Page 99 Test, a site where fiction readers rate one page of a book submitted by a novelist.

Once again, we had 2 groups to attract… and 2 groups to keep on the site. All with a single home page as an entry point. And with a single headline on that page.

Is it easy to speak to both groups? Um, no. When you’re actually faced with sitting down and writing the copy, you can only pray that someone walks in and gives you something else to do.

But even then – eventually – you have to get back to the task at hand.

Sometimes, you choose one audience and subordinate the other. That’s the easiest approach, from a copywriter’s perspective, and it’s what TutorSpree has opted to do. Even though they’re connecting 2 groups, the goal is clearly to focus on attracting students first, tutors second (see the tiny button in the top right corner):

Other times, you don’t have the luxury of choosing 1 group over the other, which then begs the question…:

What Happens When You Need to Attract 2 Groups Equally… on the Same Page?

Here’s what I do. When I’m helping my startup clients with this issue, I ask them to create a Venn diagram in which the values X, Y and Z audience derive from your product are listed, and the similarities overlap.

Simple, right? Well it’s amazing how rarely people actually sit down and do this exercise, given the simplicity of doing it + the heartache it can eliminate.

Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you were to write the home page for Appbackr, which is a marketplace-style site offering a solution designed for both app developers and app sellers / retailers. You want to speak to both groups in the same headline… so here’s what your Venn diagram might look like:

With that Venn diagram complete – and you know it wouldn’t take you long to do – you can then craft a single home page headline that speaks to both audiences:

Where App Developers & App Sellers Make More Money & Generate More App Installs

Once your headline has brought both groups into the page, you have a few choices for displaying content to each group separately:

1. Choose one group to target on the rest of your home page, and use a call to action to quickly drive the other group to a targeted landing page
2. Write for both groups on the same page, but use section headers to help people identify the right message for their needs
3. Write for both groups on the same page, but keep the page very short, driving each group to its own targeted landing page

Let’s check out what direction Appbackr takes. As you’ll see in the screenshot here, Appbackr first addresses both audiences in the headline… and then, below the PR mentions, employs the UX + messaging strategy from the third point above: they keep the page short and quickly drive each group to its own targeted landing page.

That’s it. Writing 1 page for 2 audiences is that simple.  I mean, sure, there are always exceptions…

But if you look deep enough – or even high enough – you’ll see that there IS overlap between what your 2 audiences are looking for when they land on your site. And that overlap can be used to help you craft the right headline to reduce bounce… and increase the likelihood that your 2 audiences will actually read the more targeted messages you’ve got for ‘em elsewhere on your site.

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Write effective website copy

Your website content should do more than just present information. It needs to engage the reader, boost your search engine rankings and reinforce your brand. According to Tina Judic, managing director of Spring Digital, there is one golden rule: keep it simple!

Firstly, the web is an active medium — we use it to achieve things. If your site doesn't grab and hold attention, visitors need only click their mouse to go elsewhere. Patience is not a virtue often found online.

Secondly, the amount of choice available means people behave differently online. They rarely read site pages word for word. Instead, site visitors will often scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.

One chance to impress

Once the visitor has arrived, you will only have a couple of lines (or even words) to ignite their interest. It is often tempting to employ clever headings to do this. You should, however, remember that web users rely on scanning, and clever phrases can often cause confusion.

In the same vein, convoluted writing and complex words are even harder to understand online. It's best to ignore jargon and boastful subjective claims ("best ever"). Web users are busy. They want to get the facts, fast.

This does not mean your copy should be boring; far from it. In fact, the shorter and more simple the language, the greater its impact can be. For example:

"We understand the entire web journey from start to finish, and design our websites with both SEO and user conversion in mind"

is not as engaging as:

"Our websites convert searchers into visitors, and visitors into customers."

Yet both essentially say the same thing.

What about search engine optimisation (SEO)?

You will need to identify and include keywords, alt tags and titles to make sure your content is found. Constantly repeating keywords can, however, not only attract the attention of search engine "duplicate content filters", but also means your readers, who are largely scanning content, may miss critical facts and figures.

It is important not to put all your eggs into one basket. Ranking number one on Google won't do much good if your site is confusing. So ensure you strike a balance between SEO and content clarity.

Form and function

Website readers will not sit and read through long paragraphs. Start with a headline followed by a short overview highlighting how your product or service will benefit the customer, rather than simply how it works. After that, it's important to vary the layout with:

• subheadings
• summaries
• quotes
• bulleted lists

It is also important to remember that web content is a conversation. People buy from people. Your content should appear as a direct dialogue between you and the reader. In an actual conversation, addressing the customer by name is best. When this is impossible (as in web copy) — "you" is the next best thing, so use it lots.

Bringing it all together

Above all, make sure your web copy is scannable, objective and concise. Use simple, convenient layouts to hold attention. Help them trust in you by avoiding overblown or clichéd statements, and make sure they can understand what you're telling them quickly, using straightforward language.

Ensuring your web copy gets to the point not only helps sell your products and, services, it reflects positively on your brand and can even lift your SEO rankings by avoiding repetition.

Keep it simple...

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