Stephanie Donelson

I typically get one of two replies when I tell people I’m a content manager and a writer for a living:

• That’s cool, and has to be pretty easy!
• I hate writing, sucks to be you.

And to be honest my feelings on writing can be somewhere in the middle. When I’m inspired and in the zone it’s amazing and my fingers just fly over the keyboard, but other days I want to pull my hair out when the words refuse to cooperate and come together. 

Copywriting brings even more challenges to writing as you have to work in the principles of persuasion, focus on marketing goals, and drive action from your audience. More importantly, you have to listen and then translate what you heard into great content. 

So, who are you listening to?

• Listen to the developer or product owner: Why they made it, what it should do for customers, and how does it work?
• Listen to your audience: What do they want or need?  
• Listen to the competition: What’s working for them? Where can you be better?

Once you’ve listened and learned, it’s time to put it down on paper. Make sure you get the most out of your copywriting by following these best practices. 

11 copywriting best practices

1. Set goals

From ads to social media posts, each piece of content must have a goal or purpose. How does it further your brand’s story? How does it help your customers in their journey?

If you can’t think of a goal for your content then you probably shouldn’t write it. I’m not saying each goal should be something like: Increase conversions on the blog by 20%. These can be softer goals, like: Outline five benefits of our product and direct them to the free trial page.

Each piece of content should answer the following:

• What are your goals for this piece?
• What are the key takeaways?
• What action should readers do next?

2. Think of your audience

Use your buyer personas to shape your content, from its structure to the very words you choose. You have to know what content your audience wants, in what format they want it, and how to speak like one of them.

When I worked in hospitality, I’d comb through TripAdvisor and Facebook reviews of my clients’ properties to pull words and phrases from real reviews to weave into the copy on the website, in emails, or on social. Not only did it make the copy more authentic, it reaffirmed these key word choices when guests would read the reviews themselves. 

3. Find your POV

Your Point of View (POV) is also an important choice when it comes to your writing. I always recommend clients use second-person POV to make it easier for readers to insert themselves in your brand’s story.

• First-person POV: Uses words like I, my, me
• Second-person POV: Uses words like you and your
• Third-person POV: Uses words like they, them, he, she, it

Third-person tends to work well for luxury brands and companies who want to make their customers almost feel anonymous and part of an exclusive group.

I’ve seen a lot of success from brands who use second-person in their copy but then first-person in their CTAs, like: Show Me More.

4. Use active voice

It’s easy for many writers to slip into passive voice, but active voice makes our writing that much stronger, and makes it more concise. 

Passive voice: The door was closed by Jane.

Active voice: Jane closed the door.

If you spot any “it was… by” in your writing, you’ve got a passive voice problem. The grammar police will come after you, but most of your customers won’t even notice – unless English majors comprise your audience. But, active voice does improve your writing and keeps the story moving.

5. Use keywords

Keywords are important for SEO and to deliver your content to the people searching for it, but never try to force keywords into your work. Keywords should fit so naturally in the copy that people read right over them. 

Put your keyword in the headline of your work and try to work it into the first paragraph of your copy. Use semantic keywords or synonyms to build on your primary keyword term without repeating it ad nauseum through the rest of your copy.

I always ask for three keyword terms from my SEO specialists so I have options and can start thinking of related terms I can optimize my copy for. 

6. 5Ws & 1H

Remember writing papers in high school? Time to use those methods you learned then by applying the inverted pyramid and the 5Ws and the H to your writing. 

The inverted pyramid makes sure that you have the most important information at the top of your copy, and the most important information answers the 5Ws:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

You can save the rest of your coy for the How and share more details on the 5Ws. If I only read the first paragraph of your copy, I should know who the content is for, what it’s about, when and where it is, and why I should care. If you can’t answer those details, why would I continue reading?

7. Break it up

Similarly to writing like you’re in high school, remember how fast you zoned out when reading your textbooks?

That’s because no one wants a giant wall of text, especially when reading content online. We naturally want to skim and find the most important information, so break up your content with subheadings, bulleted lists, bold text, images, or even calls to action. 

8. Link your content

Another SEO element is adding a healthy amount of internal and external links to your content. Link to sources for your statistics or quotes, link to related pieces of content on your website, or link to your social profiles so people can see what you’ve been sharing online. 

The search engines use links to learn more about your brand and the content on your website and how it’s related to other sites. By adding links to your own content, you’re showing that your copy is credible, authoritative, and trustworthy. 

9. Lure readers in with your headlines

My original headlines are not good and they’re not meant to be. I use my first draft headlines as placeholders and guides to help me focus my piece and its main points. 

Once I’ve written the content and know what the key takeaways are, I’ll go back and revise my headline. If you’re having trouble with your headline, ask yourself:

• Who is this content for?
• What’s the content about?
• How will this piece help them? Or, what are the benefits of reading it?
• How can I guarantee clicks on my headline?

An easy template to use to find the perfect headline or generate ideas is: Keyword + number + benefit or emotional words

Make your headline searchable (keywords), concise, and clickable (benefits or emotional triggers). 

10. WIIFM

The WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) is extremely important in writing. It’s the same reason your name started popping up in email subject lines over the last few years; we’re always interested in what’s in it for us and our names signify it’s very relevant. 

Your content is not about your product, it’s about your customers and how your product makes their lives better. Focus on benefits and not features. Features by themselves mean squat to your customers, but if you explain the benefits those features bring, you’ve just made a sale.

No one wants to read a sales pitch or promotional material every time they see something from your brand. 

You know one way to work the WIIFM into your copy naturally?

Ask questions! Even if the reader won’t be able to answer you, it’ll get them thinking and can make them feel more connected to your content. Asking questions also makes your content seem more conversational and natural. 

11. Review & edit

Finally, schedule time for reviews and editing of your copy. You should also get a second set of eyes on your content to check for errors or unnatural keyword usage. 

One time I accidentally wrote a future social media post as “This restaurant is a great place to die in Estes Park!” Die, not dine. Luckily a coworker asked if our client was in the murder business and I added the letter in and saved myself from scaring guests away or ruining the restaurant’s reputation. 

Like anything, your copywriting only gets better with practice, so most importantly you need to devote time to working on your craft. Interested in other habits you can pick up to better your marketing skills? Read this post on the 10 habits of successful marketers!

Have any copywriting best practices you swear by? Tell me in the comments or give me a shout on Twitter at @sjdonelson303!