Copywriting is a specific profession, where beautiful writing alone is not enough. There are discussions about whether a writer can become a good copywriter and vice versa. In essence, copywriting creates texts that aim to provoke a reaction, a response, an impulse – in a word: impact . If a text, even if it is not advertising, does not have a direct impact, then the copywriter simply has not done his job.
The English term " direct response copywriting " means exactly that: direct influence on readers, deliberately planned and subsequently achieved through text and graphic images for immediate response - buttons, links, forms, etc.
What are the steps to building truly impactful text?
Every good copywriting agency offers its services based on the following five steps for creating texts that can actually help its clients achieve their goals:
1. Determining the specific purpose of the text: it strongly depends on the nature of what is being sold: material goods, an idea, a charitable cause, etc.
2. Expressive means – thinking about how the main goal could be achieved, what words are appropriate, in what order. At this stage, the creativity of the copywriter plays a key role.
This step is the most time-consuming. Copywriting specialists advise using words and phrases that carry more implications and have a broader meaning, encompassing beyond what is being named, so that they can be interpreted by the target reader in a way that is convenient for him or her. On the other hand, it is desirable to avoid categorical expressions that narrow the scope of perceptions.
Typical examples of this could be:
- “Opportunity” instead of “once in a lifetime” – the latter sounds a bit fatalistic, and it doesn’t correspond to the truth. Readers are unlikely to have a one-way mindset and know that every campaign provides something valuable, but it is not the only such campaign in the consumer’s life.
- “Discover” instead of “Never seen before!” There is no way to know whether potential buyers have actually seen something similar to what is being advertised.
- “Exclusively” instead of “Only now!” Good copywriting agencies, in addition to style and perfect spelling, specialize in observing the measure – with any excess, the effect can be the opposite, as with an excess of the dose of medicine. Time can be a motivating factor, but when we do not give the reader a chance to think, but call on him to act quickly, he may doubt the quality of the product or service. It is also important to take into account national characteristics or the so-called mentality of a market – while for Americans, speed is almost equivalent to success, among the Balkan peoples it causes doubt, i.e. if there is haste, then something is wrong…
3. While building the text, support it with values, facts, evidence, examples. What exactly does this mean? Finding those moments that make our words convincing. Particularly indicative is the example from ancient history, in which it is claimed that Cicero 's speech caused the following reaction in the listeners: "How well he speaks!", while the result of Demosthenes' speech was different: "He leads us into battle!".
4. Once you have your sentences, paragraphs, bullet points, and sub-bullets ready, you should organize them by importance – from most important to least important. This may require a complete rearrangement of your finished text, but it is a necessary step to ensure that the text has the ability to have the impact you intended.
5. Once you have decided which text will have no effect, simply remove it.
Whether the texts are successful can be shown by feedback. As well as if a client is looking for the same copywriting agency again that they initially contacted. In numerical terms, this can be tracked by the clients themselves according to the number of audience reactions – how many times the buttons for selling or for contacting a consultant are pressed.
