Thread by @CopyHunter_, The Simple Way to Learn Copywriting (Full of actionable advice)Thread ~ What [...]

The Simple Way to Learn Copywriting (Full of actionable advice)

Thread ~

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is simply the art of selling through written words.

All words you read that are trying to make you take an action is copywriting.

So either you're the one who reads the copy or the one who wrote the copy.

1

Reading the copy means you are the customer, they will take your money

Writing the copy means you are the seller, you'll persuade them to exchange their hard-earned cash for your product/service

You want to become the copywriter who makes money by simply writing words

~

Learning Copywriting

1. Reading
2. Analyzing
3. Writing and getting feedback

~

Read

The most common way to learn copywriting is to read books written by a legendary copywriter who spends his life discovering what works and what doesn’t.

You are picking his brain when you read his books. You will know his secrets and the reasons how he made his copy.

~

But when I say reading, it's not only about books.

You also need to read their works. Read it again and again.

~

Analyze

You need to analyze their work.

This is one of the things you must do if you want to be able to write.

Reading will give you ideas. And analyzing it will help you understand more of what they're saying.

~

Let's say in their books, they are telling you how to write a headline.

In their copy, you'll truly understand what they're trying to say because you'll see how they used it.

Here's how to analyze a copy:

Think about what he is doing in each line.

~

- Why did he write this sentence?
- Who is his target audience?
- What is his big idea?
- What's his biggest promise?
- How did he write the headline?
- How did he write the first sentence?
- How did he turn the features into benefits?

~

- How did he state his claim and how did he prove it?
- How did he create flow by mixing - the sentence length?
- How did he write the story?
- What’s the objection of the reader and how did he counter it?
- Why did he use this word?
- What emotions did he use?

~

- How did he made his reader justify the purchase?
- Emphasise important sentences that greatly influence the reader to take action and discover how it works.
- How did he persuade the reader?
- Why is this sentence important?
- Did this sentence or word build curiosity?

~

Write a summary that explains, in detail, why the copy works.

~

Write and Get Feedback

The best thing to do to improve your writing skills is by writing

After reading and analyzing, you already have ideas to know how to write a great copy

Now is the time to implement your ideas

~

Simply implement what you've learned in reading and analyzing.

Use your notes and summary of analyzing the copy to guide you in writing from scratch to finish

~

Researching > Writing > Editing

After you finished editing, get a feedback

Join Facebook groups that offer feedback and post your copy there.

2 Facebook groups I know that gives feedback:

- Cult of Copy Colosseum
- The Gary Halbert Copy Club

~

I suggest you kill your ego because your copy will be ripped into pieces.

But you're only a beginner, even a legendary copywriter wrote a copy that didn't get results.

They got criticized and their copy was ripped into pieces.

But that's how you will improve.

~

If you're going to accept the criticism and apply their suggestions (probably not all) then you can write better copy.

Then just repeat this step.

What you will write about? Choose a product or service that you like.

Or a product of your ideal client.

~

Writing a Copy

The Three Phases of Copywriting:

1. Research
2. Writing
3. Editing

~

Research

Anyone can become a better copywriter if they do research properly.

In copywriting, research is the most important part.

This is where you will get all you need - including what to say, how to say it and when to say it.

~

Everything you will write into your copy comes from your research.

You shouldn't write a piece of copy without doing some research.

But most beginners focus too much on writing, they don't know that writing is the easiest part there.

~

And yet they're still having a hard time doing it.

Why?

It's because they lack research or they don't know where to start (I'll talk about this later).

Most of the time the research phase is their problem.

~

I'm not saying it's bad, but almost all copywriting books focus on the writing part.

Anyway, here’s what you need to find in your research:

- Who are your ideal customers?
- What keeps them awake at night?
- What's their motivation?
- What's their secret desire?

~

- What makes them happy, sad, fearful?
- What's your product?
- What does your product do for them?
- Why is it superior to alternative products?
- How can you prove your case?

~

After finding the answers, you already know the biggest desire of your target market.

Now learn the biggest benefit that your product has that will help your customer solve his problem.

Then when writing the copy, focus on that biggest problem and biggest benefit.

~

Everything that you'll say must align with it.

Of course, you can still state the other benefits of your product. But that biggest benefit must be the main focus.

~

Where you can find the answers:
Reddit
Amazon reviews
Facebook groups
Forum
Become a customer yourself
Talk to your friends that might be your target audience
Survey your market
Yelp
Read what your customers are reading
Watch what your customers are watching

~

Simple Way to Organize Your Research

- Desires
- Problems
- Stories
- Features and benefits of your product
- Proofs

~

Writing

You can say this is just 5% of copywriting

The reason why copywriters are having a hard time with this is that they either lack research or they can't start for some reason.

Here's why:

We have two sides:
1.) The perfectionist
2.) The non-perfectionist

~

When writing the copy let your non-perfectionist side go wild.

You shouldn't correct any mistakes. You just keep on writing.

You can't start because you want it to become perfect right away.

~

Don't correct it im the writing phase.

You can easily correct them later.

But for now, focus on bringing your ideas into life.

Write everything down even the stupidest thing.

~

Pro tip: Focus on your keyboard when writing and don't look into the monitor. Better yet if you'll cover the monitor.

If you’re writing in a piece of paper, focus on your pen moving from left to right.

Then write until you can't write anymore.

~

Once you are finished, go rest a little bit.

Relax your brain. Don't think about it.

Focus your attention on other things

Then come back with a clear mind, ready to correct all the mistakes.

~

Editing

The reason you can just write whatever you want in the writing phase is that you have this.

This is where all the professionalism comes from. This is where you need to make your perfectionist side turn over.

Correct all punctuation marks, spelling, and grammar.

~

Once you've edited it like a scholar, you need to edit it next as a copywriter.

Here's what you need to do:

- Read it out loud - it will help you spot the mistakes you've missed and helped you make the flow better

- Use "I" for negative and use "You" for positive

~

- Add a lot of subheads
- Bold, italics, underline, etc.
- Insert transitions
- Vary the length of sentences
- Remove unnecessary words that you can. Meaning, even if you remove them the meaning won't change
- Consider rearranging the thoughts
Make someone read it

~

- Read it aloud again
- Rest for one day and edit it again

End.

That's it. Hope you find value in this thread.

Let me know what you think.

And feel free to DM me if you have questions about copywriting.

Latest Threads Unrolled: