This is a roadmap to help you develop a clear copy strategy for your brand. If you know where you want to get to, you get break that down into achievable steps. This will help you define you generate clear marketing content that is distinctive and focused on an end goal. Success in bite-sized chunks.
A roadmap of a copy strategy
A copy strategy starts by defining the task – what you want to achieve. Every communication will be better informed, better targeted and more compelling for the reader if you are specific. The first step is to define why you need copy? Is it an Easter product launch or end of season sale? What is the task?
What’s already out there? Briefly outline what is happening in your market – what’s new, what are your competitors up to? Is there anything you can learn – good and bad that will help your business?
What is your business goal?
- To grow market share
- Increase volume of sales or revenue
- Find more users/sign-ups
- Increase loyalty
- Shift brand image
This is you defining your business objective, the aim of the copy strategy.
Describe your customer – not in Facebook targeting terms 18-35 Male etc. – but in real terms. Who are they, what are their routines, likes, dislikes? You are about to start a conversation with someone, and it is much easier if you know and like them. You’ll instinctively know what words to use, how to start a conversation, what will push their buttons. Define your target market in terms that are relatable to a copywriter.
Is there a customer behaviour, an assumption or need that should be addressed? What are people doing now that you would like to change? Do you need your customers to look at an issue from a different viewpoint. Again this shapes how you word your copy.
What’s your brand tone of voice? Consistency is key. Develop a personality you can project in every communication. Think of the personality traits you want to project for your brand and reflect that in your writing.
Where are you having this conversation? Different mediums require different copy styles. Twitter with its short character limitations is a totally different ball game to a webpage.
What can we SAY that will make the customer DO?
Simplicity is key. You have just a few seconds to capture the attention of your customer.
But ask yourself, what transformation will take place. Attach that to an emotion and it becomes much more persuasive. This is your business proposition.
We’ve got how much time to do all that? Ready. Steady. GO.
Deadlines have a great ability to focus your mind on the task at hand. You can’t waive it off to another day. Give yourself a date to deliver and stick to it. Thinking without the doing is pointless.
Conclusion
Creating a copy strategy before your write anything will really help make your ads more effective.
It will help you focus your message. You know exactly what you want to say. Who you are saying it to. And where you are having that conversation.
Once you have a strategy, you can apply the thinking to all your ads, driving them to the same result.
If you’d like to find out how to write specific marketing content for your copy strategy, with a step-by-step approach that delivers results, check out my other posts. And be sure to leave comment if you would like me to cover a specific topic.
