Copywriting & Writing Are 2 Different Things

I have met many holistic practitioners who are great writers, and I am often impressed how they weave words together so they sound like poetry. But I have met few who are good copywriters. Writing is truly an art. But don’t confuse being a good writer with being a good copywriter. They are two very different things.

Copywriting requires a different skill set. It requires one to understand marketing and to present a service or product in a way that leaves people aching to have it. It generally requires copy that is concise and formatted in a way that is much different way then other writing forms. It involves understanding human psychology and doing research so you understand what your target audience wants and what they will respond to. It is precise and needs to grab attention right away. It involves setting aside what you want, as the person selling the product or service, and instead requires that you get in the head of your target market and speak directly to their wants and needs.

Be sure that you are thinking like a copywriter when you are writing your marketing copy. Otherwise your writing will not be effective, no matter how good of a writer you are. Happy copywriting!

Make Your Marketing Engaging & Actionable

To really engage your ideal prospects and clients, use the active tense when writing your copy. What this means is that you drop the long, drawn-out, descriptive sentences and you replace them with short, concise, action phrases. Take a look at the following example:

If you are over 50, you might be starting to think about your health more and more these days and you are probably wondering whether or not you should start looking for alternative options.

To liven that statement up and make it actionable, I would change it to the following:

Are you worrying about your health more and more?

Do you wish there were alternative medical options available for you?

Do you see how the second example grabs your attention much more than the first and makes you want to keep reading?

For effective copywriting, just keep it concise, simple and actionable.




Clarity Starts With You!

When you are writing copy to market your business, make sure you are using wording that is clear and to the point. You will lose people if you try to be too clever. Creativity is important, but when it comes to marketing, you need to use it in a way that doesn’t make people have to think too hard.

The goal of your marketing is to sell something, whether it is selling a product, a service or an idea. In order to be effective with your marketing message, keep it simple and direct. Make sure there is no question what you are asking them to buy.

If I go to your website, I want to know by looking at your navigation buttons what I will be viewing on those web pages before I even click on them. When I open your brochure, I want to be clearly directed to the areas that interest and apply to me, and what I am looking for. If I have to spend too much time searching for what I am looking for, I will probably just move on. Don’t you find that is true for you too? Make sure you avoid that happening!


Invaluable Holistic Copywriting Tip

Holistic practitioners and business owners often have many fancy terms at their disposal and I’ve often seen flyers and brochures that mention those terms over and over as if the reader knows what it means.

Many people who are your potential clients haven’t even heard of your product or service and using those terms will not help them understand it is something they might want to try. For example, a person might know that they want to relieve their back pain and release toxins, but they might not know that shiatsu is something that can help with that, and when they see the term shiatsu, they might very well just dismiss it altogether.

To solve this problem, use most of your copywriting explaining the benefits your product or service provides and how and who it will help. Use fancy terms sparingly and don’t assume the reader will have heard of those terms before.