Getting copywriting right is an important building block in successful marketing. It’s what gets your message and brand across to your audience, so making sure it resonates with your audience and projects a solid and trustable reflection of your brand. So, let’s address some of the most common copywriting mistakes, and how you can avoid them to keep your marketing strong.
Not understanding your target audience
Shaping copy around your own preferences rather than the needs of your audience is an easy mistake to make. Afterall, it’s more straightforward to write to your own narrative than to strangers’.
But it’s important to cater your copy to your target audience’s desires in order to capture their attention and aspirations, so you can get your message across.
To avoid this error, prioritise understanding the audience; they shouldn’t be strangers to you! Take time to research and analyse the demographics, preferences and pain points of your audience in order to craft tailored messages that resonate with your consumers.
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Lack of clarity
It’s easy to get caught up in diving straight into complex terminology and overly detailed copy. This can confuse and deter readers who are faced with a dense overload of jargon.
Instead, you should ensure that your copy is clear and concise and communicated in a straight-forward manner.
- Avoid using too much jargon and keep your content focused. Resist the urge to add redundant adverbs, intensifiers and qualifiers; cut to the point. Keep sentences short and easy to follow.
- To maintain focus, keep one central big idea strung through all your paragraphs. Too many competing ideas can frustrate readers; remember the overall goal of your copy.
- During the proofreading process, try assessing the piece’s readability. Microsoft’s document stats tool gives a score for reading ease (aim for 70) and level (keep it below 7).
Get in touch with Digital Glue for help writing clear copy that will drive your business forward.
Poor formatting
Don’t let content usability and formatting blunders disrupt your readability! The content can be as good as is possible, but without correct formatting it won’t be read well. If it’s not easy to take in, your audience will likely give up and move on.
Here’s a checklist of questions to ask yourself to avoid formatting errors:
- Is the alignment correct?
- Are sub-headings clear?
- Is the font readable?
- Have I used short paragraphs?
- How will this appear on a mobile phone?
Weak headline
It’s the first thing your consumer will see, and often what they base their decision to click on. On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. So it’s important for your title to be punchy and capture attention.
Examine how to draw in your target audience. Draw on data from past interactions with social media posts, emails and website traffic. What kind of copy has performed best?
Consider:
- Asking a question
- Starting with ‘How to’
- Use numbers – 100 reasons why; Top 10
- Using testimonials or quotes
Insubstantial call to action
The call to action (CTA) is one of the most important features of copywriting. But a reader who comes across “sign up to our newsletter!” several times a day is unlikely to follow this direction. Without urgency or incentive, the desired goal of attracting more engagement, for example, will fade into the background.
To avoid this, make sure your call to action stands out to your reader by:
- Make it incentivising – provide a CTA that’s low risk and high reward.
- Start with an imperative – to be convincing, use strong authoritative verbs that direct consumers. For example, “join” or “shop”.
- Add a time frame – when you don’t assign a deadline, the temptation is to put it off. Create some urgency –people can’t resist the FOMO.
If you want to learn more about how Digital Glue can help you ensure that your business gets copywriting right, get in touch with the team.
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