Copywriting tips: how a copywriter will improve your project
You’ve got a big project in the pipeline – your annual report, a new website or a corporate brochure. It’s something that people inside and outside your company will pay close attention to, a project which will affect how your company – and you – are perceived by people who matter.
Let’s look at some of the tasks involved. How many of them are you going to tackle yourself?
- design
- photography
- illustration
- website building
- content writing
It’s only the last one, isn’t it? In fact, you wouldn’t think twice about bringing in specialist help for the others.
Now ask yourself a different question. Which is the most important? Again, it’s the last one. No matter how beautiful your design or how fancy your website, your project will fail if no one reads beyond the first line.
The benefits of using a copywriter
Now you’re thinking of using a copywriter, what exactly will you get?
Thought. Good writing requires good thinking, a point George Orwell stressed more than 60 years ago. Your copywriter will help you work out what your audience wants to know and then construct a compelling story which will get those messages across.
Expertise. Once you’ve got your story straight, you still need the right words to express it. Flat, clichéd language won’t do. An expert copywriter will create interesting and original prose which grabs your audience’s attention and makes them want to read on.
If your project is online, you’ll need other specialist writing skills. Your copywriter will know how to write for both your audience and search engines, so people will find you.
Experience. Whatever your project, the chances are it’s not something you do too often. Choose the right copywriter and you’ll benefit from lessons learned from numerous projects over many years, with a better product as a result.
Value for money. Take a look at your budget and compare the copywriting costs to the total. For a big project such as an annual report, you’ll find that creating the most important part – the content – only requires a fraction of the overall cost. For any project, using a copywriter will save your valuable time and deliver a better return on your investment.
Additional resource. Ever notice how these projects coincide with your busiest time of year – your financial year end, a new product launch, a major marketing campaign? Using a copywriter relieves the pressure on you and allows you to focus on your project’s overall success.
Consistency. Whatever your project, it needs to be consistent with your other communications. A good copywriter will have no difficulty adopting your company’s tone of voice, so your project reinforces your brand.
If you liked this, try reading…
- Getting the most from your copywriter (part 1)
- Getting the most from your copywriter (part 2)
- Corporate reporting: what’s your story?
Tags: annual reports, communication, copywriting, corporate story, george orwell, using a copywriter
5 Responses to “Copywriting tips: how a copywriter will improve your project”
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Fantastic post, although some people do think they can design their own website, and write the copy.
I’ve had SEO clients come to me asking if their Geocities page can hit p1 of Google.
For anyone considering it, the answer’s probably “no”.
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All too often I find that clients take everything into consideration except the words. i.e. they will get the design done, the images commissioned, the back office bells and whistles in place and then approach a writer to put some words into the template. It’s do-able, it has to be, but far better to sit down with a blank piece of paper, decide what you want to achieve from your new/tweaked website, who it’s talking to, what it needs to say, how best to say it etc., THEN, once the copy has been written by a professional copywriter, not Dave in Accounts because he fancies himself as a bit of a scribe, set about getting it designed to complement the concept. Oh for an ideal world!
Hi Alasdair
Yes, that’s every copywriter’s experience, and not just with websites. Create the content and design together – it’s the only way.
Richard.
Hi Andy
The first time I put a website together, I did it myself. Then I realised my mistake and used a pro. There’s a lesson there, somewhere.
Richard.