I was young so I didn’t really know any better. It was my first full-service advertising agency gig and I was trying to fit in. When writing copy for the variety of clients the agency serviced, I’d been mentally putting myself in the customers’ shoes in order to appeal to their needs and wants. That just made sense to me. That’s when I found a note in my box.
It was from the President of the agency and it said something like, “You’re doing a great job, but you need to pay more attention to our style. Your writing varies too much. It will come over time. Keep up the good work.”
Huh? Pay more attention to our style? I was confused. Was that why companies hired agencies? Because they liked their style and wanted their advertisements to look like all the other ads the agency produced? Apparently so. Coming from a previous job in the advertising department of a regional chain of ladies clothing stores, I didn’t know any better.
It wasn’t until I got away from that agency that I discovered I was right and the President was dead wrong.
Listen carefully. It’s not about your style… it’s about the customer.
You can’t write for buyers of women’s shoes the same way you write to someone shopping for a new mattress or a patient suffering from E.D. OK, I take that back. You can write to them all the same way, but the copy will fail.
One of the best traits a copywriter can have is to be curious about why people do what they do. If you can key in on the “why” then write to match the emotion and motivation behind it, you’ll see enormous improvements in the response.
Read Karon’s copywriting blog at https://blog.marketingwords.com.
When I had joined the first ad agency, I was a nervous student fresh out of
university. The fact that I was new to advertising, made me even more apprehensive. In the first few months, I just wasn’t getting the copy right. I was unable to inculcate the copywriting style in my writing. The hang of poem and story writing was leaving a heavy impression on my copy.
One fine day my boss’s scream drove me to collect the old magazine and start copying down the ad copies. I didn’t realize when that style entered into my sub-consciousness and started reflecting in my copy. I felt like a kid who all of a sudden realizes that he rode his bicycle all alone leaving his dad much behind, during his learning session.
It was that style, which added the final touch, to all my effort of understanding the customer’s psyche and coming up with good ideas.
Style does matter. I believe no one would care to read a well researched article unless the presentation is good.
The bottom line is do the research, present it with style.
Great Advice. To supplement this, I think you can use a particular style. My copywriting tends to be frank and humorous. Because of the side look for audiences that appreciate my style, and clients who serve them.
Here’s an article from my blog. I found that too many sales copy writers use the same words, until they fail to have meaning.
jasonsmillion.com/2008/07/eight-awesomely-bad-marketing-words.html
Welcome Jason. Thanks for the link. I disagree that the words are horrible to use, however. I think what you’re getting at in your article is that they are used arbitrarily. THAT I agree with. You should always back up what you’re saying. Arbitrary words like “solutions” or “needs” should not be used unless you can reinforce what solutions you offer or which needs you fill.
Amen Karen…keep it coming!