20Apr10 common copywriting mistakes

1.) Writing for themselves, not the reader – “we”-ing on the copy

            Write about the customer’s need/desire and how you can solve it, not about how “we” did this, “we” own that.  To be blunt, your reader doesn’t give tuppence about you, she cares about getting her need/desire fulfilled.

2.) Not having a compelling offer:

            Don’t just have info &/or pretty pictures in your ad, that’s a waste of money.  If you’ve got nothing to offer why are you contacting people?  No-one has time for that, and your ad will be skipped over (on the web or in a publication) or end up in the round file (if it’s come via the post).

3.) Poor psychology

            You need to push the reader’s ”buy buttons”: fear, need to belong, greed, reciprocation, curiosity, benevolence, insecurity, optimism, laziness, revenge, anger, pride, desperation, patriotism, love, envy, sympathy, disgust, lust, embarrassment, guilt, vanity….. there are hundreds.  Choose one only per communication.  Don’t be obvious.  DON’T be boring!!

4.) Writing weak headlines or email subject lines

            You have 3 seconds to grab attention.  Write hundredsof headlines and choose the best!  It should be at least 3 of the 4Us: unique, useful, urgent, ultra-specific.  It should be strong enough that, if you put just the headline & a phone number or email address, people would respond (like a Pay per Click ad on the internet).

5.) Using poor English (grammar, wrong words)

           The language must flow so people want to keep reading: motorway, not cart-track.  For that you need good grammar and the right words, otherwise your readers “bump” over the bad bits.   NB: ‘And’ & ‘But’ are fine at the start of a sentence (qv Fowler’s Modern Usage, Shakespeare, J. Austen, C. Dickens et al).  

6.) Over-wordiness (especially too many adjectives), jargon if irrelevant, MBA-speak

            Write for your reader.  Most are at least fairly intelligent, but may be ignorant: write to their level, don’t wear them down or under-estimate them.  You’d write an advert in a trade publication (read by people in the know) differently from one in a consumer mag.  Again, DON’T be boring!!

7.) Not breaking up the copy – paragraphs, sub-headlines, widows and orphans

            These create flow, readability –they reduce effort and make it easier for readers to get to the end.   A “widow” is the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of the next page, and an “orphan” is the first line of a paragraph that appears alone at the bottom of a page. Default widow and orphan settings are typically configured for two lines in order to prevent isolated single lines.  (Thanks to ZDNet.com for that masterly definition.)  If you want the reader to keep reading, orphans draw the eye to the next page – a printed cliffhanger.

8.) Not having a call to action

            Tell readers what you want them to do, by when; don’t let them “do it tomorrow” (they won’t).  If they don’t act now, you’ve lost ‘em.  Have a coupon, click-through, SAE (stamped address envelope) – whatever it takes to get them to act.  Ads that just give information plus a company name and address are a waste of money.

9.) Not proofreading -

            or better still getting someone else to do it for you.  It’s very hard to see your own mistakes: you see what you meant to write, not what’s there.  Do not rely on Spellchecker or Word’s Grammar thingy!

10.) Not hiring a copywriter!

           With all the above to consider, just think how much time, hassle and possible trouble it could save you….