4 Ways to Better Your Copywritting

August 12, 2018

Words are so powerful. Words can help us transcend time and space. They remind us of the past, they drive us into our future. Words are addictive, playful and they help us communicate. They get stuck in our heads and are with us to the end.

In advertising we have many ways to communicate your message. This essay explores varies ways to master copy. From Structure to Legibility Wildfire explores four ways any client can approach copy better.

So with all these tools how do clients and creatives team up? Our approach is about partnering with the agency. The client supplies some of the specifics and the Marketing premise and Wildfire creates the spit and polish.

So like great movie writing, a great comic strip or a great novel, your advertising writing should be about delivering it in one knock out round! Yes it’s not that easy and it often takes many rounds and rewrites. To write great copy within the framework of an 30 sec TV commercial or a poster selling a product has to be straight to the point but has to do so many things in so little words.

So tell a story! Storyscape it! Find “the hero” and “the villain” (i.e. the product and the problem) and put it in a believable story. This holds the communication together making it memorable and punchy. Story is the delivery system (through your single minded proposition or idea) that helps the marketing and brand personality resonate with your target audience.

Below Wildfire demonstrates 4 ways clients can master the basics of Copywriting:

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1. Be Confident At All Times and Be Singleminded!

Over the years, Wildfire has done a lot of catalogues, billboards, print and posters. Clients always seem to have tonnes to say and often front up with seven or eight premises and benefits that are all underlined “MUST HAVES” in the brief. So with the target audience loathing the amount of messages and the amount of advertising that they digest daily, why do marketers what to highlight so many benefits? My question to this is … Wouldn’t you just put your “best foot” forward?

The other little analogy here we’d like to illustrate at Wildfire, comes from the recent rise in the online dating websites. Prospective dates don’t like too little small talk and shallow first impressions, but they also don’t like too much about a person in the first few “meet and greet” introductions. They have seen your profile, they like you, but if the first few things that burst from your mouth or your text interactions are endless waffle of how good you are then really it’s awkward, creepy, a little unbelievable or there is no mystery or intrigue to entice the person to want to date you. So when marketing a brand you have to think “how do you win your prospects over with confidence?” It reminds us of an old saying.

“Confidence is silent. Insecurity is loud!”

This saying speaks volumes.

If you are a confident market leading brand, you don’t need much to sell your product. There is brand trust already there. But if you are a brand that is competing with a market leader then why look insecure? Why demand benefit lists as long as your arm? Truly the sub-plot of what you are asking an intelligent copywriter to do is go against their training. So put your best proposition forward and “fake it until you make it” … keep to your single minded propositions. Keep it simple. Let the audience discover your truth and beat the brand leaders with consistency, confidence and persistence.

There is always a different perspective to this too. Yes! If there is a compelling argument or “a real need” to be informative, educational, instructional and highlight the benefits in longer copy, flyers and brochures then you can do this. Then do it and do it well. Yet be to the point, keep it entertaining and branded, because so often clients and marketers believe that you can and should write a novel inside this material. This is long form copy and it has to be light and conversational do its job well.

2. The Basic Hierarchy of copywriting and it’s Use In Design.

We at Wildfire suggest you resist the urge to look insecure. Unless the writing is highly relevant or requires specific detail that elevates the brand and the product. There is always exceptions to every rule.

But really within these editorial designs copywriters, journalist have a arsenal of tools at their disposal to create great effective copy and carry the reader through this information engaged and inspired by the client or author of the communication.

There is a Hierarchy to copywriting and Storyscaping in modern design communications. Writing with these principles in mind confidently delivers brand story, benefits, employs product history or back story, can evoke emotions and create a page turning brochure or a engaging flyer with the perfect tone of voice and call to action.

The Classic Structure

• The Headline:

  This is the most important opener. This is where you “break the ice” with the audience and it must have; and idea, a promotion, a premise, hook, punchline or proposition. Ask a question, be exciting, solve a problem, but do something more than just present “a Title” a brochure or flyer.

• The Sub- Headline or Qualifying Line or Deck:

  This is where you elevate your hook or underline your premise with some justification, authority, further premise or ground braking statistic. An Award reference or explore something more emotional that drums home the punchline.

• Intro/preamble:

  More for longer copy, but a pert preable or introduction can be good if you need your reader to wade through some technical details. It’s a good way to entice them into taking the time to get behind you and your product.

• Optional titles/creative headlines to paragraphs:

  Breaking paragraphs up is often important in reports or annual reports or long copy brochures when explaining a complex and dynamic product. Like chapter headings titles help readers navigate long copy and can really guide them through what’s relevant or exciting to them.

• The main copy or text:

  Either keep it short and sweet or if you have to go for longer copy try to find some relevant and entertaining stories to infuse within your copy. Examples that demonstrate your point, analogies, idioms and humour are all great ways to keep the reader interested.

• Optional Quote/ testimonial or Pull out from the main Copy:

  Magazines do this all the time. They take a great point out of the text and highlight it graphically on the page. Sometimes statistics or at other times a grand quote. But something big, juicy or just really damn interesting is a great way to hook your reader into your article. Wildfire’s tip after all the magazine editorial is that you always design the “Quote” or “Pull out” in the layout either exactly where the quote is in the story or design the quote so you read it first and then find it shortly after in the copy. Anyhow this is just a personal preference.

• Lists or Bullet points:

  Not a great fan! Because, we believe and think they get overused. The design often takes up a lot of layout space and people could write better more creative powerful writing in a sentence than just presenting laundry lists of benefits. It can come off as lazy writing so be mindful of their use. We mention them here just as a guide and yes as part of our big list within a list![insert big smile here.

• Optional Price Points, Boxes and Panelled text or Flashes highlighting extras:

  Using graphic tools to highlight copy can really engage your user. Design these elements can be great fun for a designer. Finding balance in a layout and finding relevance is important. Don’t ever just use one as a gimmick. They are very powerful tools on the right advertising material and often using them unexpectedly is really clever too. “Spoof the flash!” Wildfire suggests and always looks deep into this when clients flipantly ask for flashes and tables and infographics. Research your competition, research your design trends, beg the question “are you just following or are you leading?” What is the use of these elements overtime in the same advertising arena? And be very clever with their use. Make the call! Great use of graphic elements will always elevate your story and copy if done well in the right time and place.

• A Punchline or Conclusion or Closing line:

  Every single minded proposition has a few ways to say it. Sometimes you have a killer punchline but you need to set it up and surprise the reader. Sometimes this is best saved until the final line. So if you liken your punchlines to a boxing combination and go for a knock out round and a strong combination of ideas punchlines can be killers!

  Lets take this little combo:

1. A headline can be a powerful hook to get the reader in.
2. The copy in a few quick sentences can highlight a few more benefits and qualify your products premise. Prime the punchline and up the excitement.
3. The Closing line seals the deal and slams home the punchline delivering a combination of call to action and confidence that resonates with the audience.

• A Call to Action:

  A super cool tool to use. It can also be done well or done with out the target audience even knowing it. It’s often how you set up and stage your words. like a great performance copy can sweep you of your feet and in the end have you rising in the stalls applauding the writing. It doesn’t always have to be … “call us on this number today!” Be innovative be clever. Think long and hard over how you want to sell yourself and how you create action out of customers.

• Optional Terms and Conditions, Folios on pictures/graphics or Footnotes:

  More an editorial thing to do but don’t discount this in advertising and marketing brochures. Educated people are accustomed to formalities and legal requirements because it demonstrates the quality and importance of the document. Get it right, do it well and allow for this in your designs. Or find other ways to house the information like direct your reader to the website for a policy disclosure document. At any rate Wildfire have mentioned it hear as part of a complete list. When it comes to design if companies need this on documents we want to know about it upfront in the briefing so we can design the UX or the UI according to the either the client or find a innovative way of maybe keeping this information accessible but out of the main thrust of communication.

• Company Tag line:

  In our Brand essence workshops we often come up with great tag lines that elevate your company or products. But because this is more of an umbrella for what you stand for or the essence of your company it often stands alone from the day-to-day copy, headlines and marketing push of the advertising. So great to include with formal corporates, but in a lot of cases you can just leave them off depending on the type of brands you are advertising.

• Contact information and social media considerations:

  All import these days is how you connect with your audience or customer. There are so many ways so be mindful of how much stuff, and I mean ‘Stuff’ you put on the base plate of your advertising.

  That’s it! We think we covered everything! It hopefully gives you either a checklist on what you can employ or a perspective on all the different things you use to create exciting and informative copywriting.

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2. Set Up, Turn and Punchline.

“Setting up” combinations. Creating suspense and intrigue, or presenting a problem to be solved is a great way to “turn” the clients mental thoughts to their needs. The deliver your Knock out “Punchline!”

Copy writing is an art. You have to move like a butterfly and sting like a bee! Surprise your audience! Suspend their disbelieve! Take risks and create some character and personality in your writing. Then you become engaging. Then your deliver your cleverness and they get it! Because they have been entertained, given something, you haven’t made it boring and they love to unwrap your idea as they move through your story.

Set up your premise. Lay on some charm and humour or tell your story with some punch and then take the set up from earlier and deliver your winning lines! This combination is like a great cartoon, a great joke, a three act movie script or the use of triplets in music. The human experience and peoples senses are always looking for resonance with patterns, rhythms and synergy of life. So when writing your need to be aware that you just can’t beat your audience or readers over the head with a baseball bat! Hide your cleverness in your copy and find rhythm and pause and them engage.

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3. Copywriting That Delivers 1:4.

The concept of writing an idea that has the power ratio of 1:4.

It’s a little hard to describe, but here goes! When you are writing copy you are looking for the right combination that gives you “goose-bumps”. The words tickle your imagination and give you the feeling that you have “cracked and idea.”

The copy-lines should have a surreal quality about them. They communicate something bigger than you could have ever imagined. This is the power of 1:4.

When I was first introduced to this concept it was explained to me like a maths equation or an economics problem. It’s funny then, that an ex-accountant turned creative director was explaining it. But go with me on this.

If your marketing and advertising spend equates to a concept that ONLY just sells through and doesn’t elevate the brand or the promotion then you have a 1:1 or 1:2 advertising concept or copy-line. Think of the value in emotional terms. Say if your marketing idea is just a “20% Sale” then you are underselling your creative even more! You have to find an emotion trigger to elevate the concept. Just competing on price isn’t really anything with emotional value. It’s too rational. Then Because of the discount factor in the Marketing strategy you actually have a negative strategy as it is going to cost you money to advertise create the advertising and put it out to media. Thinking retail now you are going to spend all this money backing an idea that has NO return on Investment … It’s a 1:1 idea! Plus you client is going to discount the products by 20% too! That’s not helping your client stay in business and it’s not really giving your client great advertising premise.

Just saying “Hey guys this month everything is 20% off” is retail suicide.

The 1:4 concept demands that you create a concept that has a “call to action” or “a creative line of thinking that elevates your brand.” Advertising is about promotion, elevation and adding value to the marketing. You have to think “can we create a new platform?” a new way to sell the same old tired products that everyone wants or needs. Can we create a concept that gets us to look at a product in a different way that no one expects?

A recent idea that did very well and was a 1:4 idea was the “Western Australia Tourism, DUNDEE spoof at the American Super Bowl.” In the past, although over done now, was the invention of “Brand Power” Advertising and before that the invention of “The Stocktake Sale” or “Clearance Sale”. These sales don’t sell on price they sell on “an idea.” The fact that they maybe “a limited time only” event or seasonal creates emotion and excitement. But even if they do have a discount aspect to them, they also have items at full price so when people get in a shopping frenzy they buy, buy, buy like crazy. Hence they have a 1:4 effect on the sales rather than a 1:1 effect damaging margins and profits.

In advertising we are in the game to make our client’s money, not waste it on bland and dumb ideas. We about changing customer behaviour and perceptions. Sure the client has to take the creative risks, but it’s simple maths! Better to offer your client 1:4 ideas and get lucky several times than offer 1:1 and have to break even every time to stay relevant as a creative agency.

At wildfire we like to “Think Big!” We love chasing the idea of 1:4 concepts and writing lines that have big appeal. It’s it time you bought a piece of our thinking to spark your next campaign ideas?

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4. Legibility, Typography and Understanding That ‘Less is More’.

Legibility is so important and readability too. Copywriting can sometimes lack in both. Infusing ideas into copy editing and rewriting, well you can lose the thread of the idea or lose the plot along the way.

This is why less is more and keeping to singleminded propositions. It’s best to stick with one key concept and drive it home in 1, 2, or 3 simple acts across a poster, flyer or brochure. If it’s a billboard people are driving by so you need to get your message across in under ten words. Images can help with conveying your message, so deliver your copy so that the words evoke a response in your audience quickly and without any confusion to what you are alluring to.

People have to get the message. It has to be legible. It has to resonate! It has to be right on the money and concept must be poignant and elevate the brand so that the reader or customer or audience “get’s it!” It has to evoke a response. If it doesn’t or if it falls short in anyway (and there are many ways an idea can flop like a b-grade movie at the box office). Then as a creative you aren’t really doing your job.

Make sure the writing carries your idea. Conveys your concept well and if you can say it better stay up late and rewrite it a thousand ways until you find that magic moment where the idea comes to life like never before.

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