Effective Copywriting - It's easy!

Writing copy for a brochure, website or even a letter can be a daunting prospect if you are inexperienced as a copywriter. This article gives some straight forward tips on how to produce effective copywriting whatever your requirement may be.

First of all, decide how much copy you need or want to write, this is usually calculated in terms of the number of words required. The factors to consider when deciding ‘word count’ for effective copywriting are:

• The media that the copy is required for such as printed media, website, emailer, advertisement, etc. For online media less is usually more, for a printed brochure more detailed information may be required.

• The amount of space available.

• The objective – a brief introduction, key sales points or unique sales points or a longer more detailed explanation. Decide what you hope to achieve from your communication and then the required word count will be easier to identify.

The next stage is to produce a list of the all the points that you want to make in your copy, everything that you want the readers of the copy to know. Then consider their importance relative to each other. Try to make sure that the most important points will have emphasis in the copy. Then think about the order in which the points need to be made so that the copy will flow correctly, it will have clarity, be easy to follow and will also have a logical pattern or argument.

Effective copywriting requires that you back up your arguments or statements with facts, figures and evidence wherever possible. The more respected and authoritative the source of the data that backs up your argument, the more likely it is that readers will take your copy seriously and take ‘on board’ your message.

It is particularly important that the spelling, grammar and the structure of your paragraphs are correct. When operating in a foreign language it is best to use professional translation services or at least have the copy proof read by a native speaker even if you are proficient in the language yourself. Many international websites in particular suffer for the fact that the quality of the English is not good.

Finally, it is always good to include in your copy a last sentence or paragraph that brings together all the key threads of your message or argument. This section can act as a ‘call to action’ to encourage the reader to take any next steps which you would like them to take such as buying, visiting a website, reading further or changing their behaviour.

Effective copywriting is fundamental to successfully conveying your message. It is every bit as important as media selection and graphic design and if you don’t get it right your campaign will fail. By all means have a go at copywriting yourself but if you are not sure that you’ve mastered it then it is always best to get professional help.