Copywriting is not easy.
It took me weeks to write my first article when I first started copywriting. I didn’t know where to start or how to create a simple structure. My first article was just a melange of random and unorganized ideas compiled in a messy document. Luckily, I had some friends who were more knowledgeable in the area and gave me good advice to get started.
And look at me now! 4 years into the making, and now I am a full-grown copywriter! I owe lots to many people who helped me along my path, and I am thankful to them… So, today, as a way of showing my appreciation, I also wanted to give back to others, to the people in the same position as I was writing messy articles and didn’t know where to start; this article is for you.
These are some lessons I’ve learned from friends, mentors, books, and my experiences. I wish I had fully understood the lessons when I began working as a copywriter, and I know they will be helpful for you and your journey in the copywriting world.
These are the 7 lessons I learned working as a copywriter:
1. Think About The End Result
To honestly write something that makes sense, we have to think about our project as a whole.
Being a copywriter, you can work in many different areas, like working on ads, websites, newsletters, scripts, and/or articles. No matter the project, whenever you start working on something, try to picture the result and create a structure around it.
Think about what your project will look like once it’s finished, what the purpose of your project is, and what you (or your client) want to achieve by doing it. And once you have a clearer idea of how you want it to look at the end, you’ll avoid writing random thoughts like I used to do when I started.
This advice helped me a lot; by focusing on the result, you can attain a better focus and pay attention not to drift too far from your goal.
2. Never Start With A Blank Page
Okay, now you know what your project will look like. Now, the only thing you are missing is waiting for a ray of inspiration, right?
Wrong.
As a copywriter, waiting for inspiration is utterly wrong. Random inspiration is just the best-case scenario, but as someone who deals with deadlines and deliveries, you don’t wait for inspiration; you look for it. That’s why we never start with a blank page.
Sitting in front of your laptop, racking your brain with a blank page, is just another form of torture. You should never start writing just by looking at a blank page, and not even by writing random ideas… Start by reading.
Read background material, do extra research, ask questions, and look for inspiration elsewhere other than your blank page. Do whatever you can to best understand your audience and the context in which they’ll engage with what you create.
You can also analyze the work of your competitors and think about What they do well, what could be improved, and where you would add your secret sauce… And once you have all of that figured out in your head, you’ll have what you need to get going.
3. You Are Not The Main Priority
For most people, this is a hard-to-swallow pill. As you could’ve figured from the previous point when you are writing, you are not genuinely writing for yourself; you are writing for your audience and client.
When you start your project, those two personas must be your goal. Your client, because, at the end of the day, he’s the one that has to give the green light to your project and your audience because they are the ones that your product is truly for.
You need to earn your audience’s attention, and you do that by empathizing with them. Think about their needs, concerns, and dreams. And now, with that in mind, what can you say — on behalf of your client — that might be relevant and meaningful to them? This is the place you should start from.
Thinking about your audiences’ needs and the problem your project is solving is one of your first duties as a copywriter. Only when you master that skill will your writing truly attract the masses.
And well, the other part of the deal is your client. Even though you think your writing is truly a masterpiece, it could never see the light of day if your client doesn’t approve of it. Some CEOs won’t understand TikTok jokes aimed at a 16-24 year audience.
That’s why when working as a copywriter for these kinds of companies, you need to care not only about your project but also how you communicate your ideas to your clients. You should create a sales pitch for your presentations if you want your ideas to see the light of the day.
This is one of the few lessons I wished someone had told me sooner before I spent many hours working on a rejected project.
4. Understand The Reason Behind What You’re Doing
You should never create just for the sake of creating. If your writing will be used in real life, every word, every message, and every paragraph in your project should serve a purpose.
Think about what you and your client hope to achieve from this project. After your audience sees/hears it — digital ad, social media post, video, audio spot, billboard, etc. — how should they feel? And what should they do?
You should know the answer to all of these questions and make sure that everything is clearly defined and agreed on because your project’s success will be determined by whether it achieved what everyone agreed it should.
You might sometimes feel that since you are the expert, the client should follow what you say; sadly, it isn’t that simple. You have to improve the way you communicate your ideas in order to sell the concept as you envision it and convince the client to pitch in and trust you with this project.
Take hold of the project and fully understand its goals and challenges so that you can write the perfect copy that will blow everyone’s minds.
5. “You” Is The Most Important Word In Advertising
Speak directly to your readers.
As you might’ve been able to notice while reading this article, almost every sentence I wrote is directed to you. I’m always speaking to you and communicating my ideas to you. Doing this is a MUST when starting to write your project.
Even though you might be writing from the commodity of your room, office, or agency, real humans worldwide will read the ads, articles, and/or scripts you will create. And to reach them — to move them — you need to speak directly to them and make it about them.
Using the second person will help you to connect to your reader on an individual and personal level. That’s why you should write as if you’re speaking to your friend, with attention, warmth, and care, as if you are starting to converse with someone. That is the right way to make your readers feel special and not like another grain of sand on a whole beach.
6. Speak To The Right Audience
When you begin your writing journey, wanting everyone to care about your writing is a common mistake. It’s not about selling a bone to a cat but selling seeds to the birds.
You need to focus on the people who are already interested/need the product or service you’re writing about (or are thinking about).
Those people will actually care about what you wrote, and to those people, you have to show them why they should buy your product — instead of a competitor’s — and why they should do it (or raise their hand about it) now.
You have only a few seconds to get your audience to stop and read/hear what you have to say. So, assume they’re already somewhat interested — and get to the point.
Try to reach out to your target audience and find buzzwords, phrases, and catchy lines that you know will get their attention. Remember, even a cliché is helpful if you find an innovative way to use it.
7. Let Your Projects Breathe
So, you have just finished writing an excellent article, ad, or whatever. Once you are finished, you might be excited and most likely will feel a rush to publish or submit it to your client. However, the most recommendable thing you can do now is to be patient and sit it overnight.
If you can avoid it, never send your copy the day you write it. Let it breathe, and look at it the next morning with fresh eyes and a clear mind… That way, you’ll spot what needs to be fixed (because there is always something that needs to be fixed).
Remember, essential things will reveal themselves to the well-rested. Even though you might be excited to get your article, ad, or script approved as fast as possible, sending it without double-checking it with fresh eyes can end up harming your work and your reputation due to repeated spelling mistakes, poorly written sentences, or simply because you wrote something you didn’t like.
These situations can be avoided by just sleeping through your article for one night and rechecking it in the morning.
That’s It For Today, Folks!
I hope learning these 7 lessons can help you as much as they helped me. Remember to take your time to thoroughly analyze what every lesson means so you don’t commit the same mistakes I did.
I would love to show you many more tips and lessons in the future, so if you want to learn more about copywriting, please reach out and let us know!
Good luck!
See more articles by Ender Cárdenas.
