And these copywriting mistakes are easy to fix.
Are you making copywriting mistakes because you think you need to be a creative super genius like Salvador Dali to write copy?
Hang on. I hear you say, but he was an artist.
Yeah, I know. But I love him and want to throw his reference in a blog.
Any-what’s-it’s, the answer to the above question is no.
Copywriting is easy, simple and yep you can do it and do it well.
However, if you don’t do it well, it can cost you working with your dream clients. And you don’t want that.
So here goes,
The 3 copywriting mistakes that are costing you, dream clients.
1. Writing all about you is a copywriting mistake
Look, it’s ok if your copy is all about you. It’s natural to want to write about yourself, or your services or your unique products.
And, let me get complicated here. You should be writing the above.
Huh?
Say with me.
Copywriting is the science of using words to persuade. Which means you’re speaking about your service, products or selling yourself.
In a legal way, of course.
Let’s leave the illegal to the dark web.
(If that’s even a thing because I know I can’t find it.)
Back to copywriting mistakes.
You want to write all about your unique self, products and services but in a way, that benefits the reader.
Are you writing in the 3rd person?
Which means you’re writing from the point of view as an outsider looking in.
And uses pronouns like he, she, it.
(A pronoun replaces a noun if you’re a non-grammar junkie. And stops repetition in writing.)
So the above words? Get rid of them.
Why? Because when you write copy, you write to speak to one person.
Which means the ultimate word to use is you.
And to get super pronoun-y, don’t use possessive pronouns.
So if you’re saying, “my business” replace this with “I.”
- My business helps you write more memorable copy
- I help you write more memorable copy
See the second sentence is more persuasive and personable?
Or if you’re saying, “Our business” replace this with “We.”
- Our business looks after our clients
Nope.
- At Contently Driven, we look after you. We help you write memorable copy that sounds like you
Aaaah. Feel the personalness and persuasiveness floating in the air?
And finally.
You see how I changed “our clients?” Great. So please do that won’t you?
Our clients always becomes YOU.
But what about if you want to reference other clients?
Yep, I can read your curious mind.
Remember you’re writing to one person, right? So, make that one person the subject of the sentence.
How about saying something like, “ready to join hundreds of others who’ve learnt how to write memorable copy?”
You’re still speaking to the one person here.
Copy win.
2. Use big words? Don’t because it’s a copywriting mistake
You heard it. Don’t go and get all fancy and literature like because you think you’ll write better.
In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Oh, don’t use big words. They mean so little.”
Oscar Wilde wrote masterpieces which means he knows what he’s talking about right?
So, here’s why using big words is a copywriting mistake.
Because copywriting is a friendly form of writing.
Which means you write how you speak.
When I taught English internationally (for 3 years if you didn’t know), speaking skills were the most important lessons.
I mean, try teaching student’s English and then telling them to forget and change what they learnt when they speak.
Yep. I’ve been the bearer of that hard news.
Urgh. I’ll never forget all their poor brains and confused faces staring at me.
Anyhoo, the spoken English language is informal, and we don’t use big words.
Some people do, but most don’t.
So, if you have an idea for a smaller or easier word, then use it when you write copy.
And you’ll instantly have more compelling, friendlier and connecting copy.
Want to read about connecting through copy? I know you do. So, then you’ll find it here.
Fixing this one simple copywriting mistake means connecting with your ideal client?
Yup, you head it here.
Utilise > Use
Implement > Do
Understand > Know
Purchase > Buy
There are 4 word swaps to get your brain started.
3. Copywriting mistake number 3 – too many words
Now, this all depends on what type of copy you’re writing and for what kind of content.
You may have a sales page which is supper doper long. And that’s ok. As long as you make it visually appealing to the human eye. (And brain)
If you’ve made it this far into my blog, then your brain and eyeballs are happy with my copywriting style and layout.
- So, you’re now going to speak to one person using you, I and we
- You’re going to use simple words to connect with all your readers
- And thirdly you’re going to make your copy visually appealing
Here’s what I mean.
Getting back to your super doper long sales page, do these following things.
Break it up
- Use headings (And for SEO purposes as well)
- Use subheadings in a smaller font.
- You can use one-sentence lines (of importance) and then continue with a smaller paragraph.
- Pop in an image or two to give eyeballs a break from words
Space it out
Don’t have all your words and paragraphs continuing like the opening scenes of Star Wars.
I don’t know about you, but following those moving triangular lines of words were never easy for me to read.
So make sure you’ve got space between your lines, headings and paragraphs.
For example,
Think about the way you speak. And write like that.
You take breaths, so why don’t you hit the enter key there?
If you space out your copy in a similar way as you speak, then you’ll avoid making a copywriting mistake. And that mistake is your copy isn’t being reader-friendly.
Anything which looks difficult to read will lose eyeballs, aka your ideal clients.
Bold important words
Are you a skimmer? As in you never read all the words. It’s ok if you are, there’s no judgment here. Ever.
Because you’re you, and that makes you amazing.
However, I’m a read all of the words type of nerd. But not everyone is like me.
Which means by bolding essential words, you’ll catch the skimmers who may only pay attention to bolded words of importance.
And even better?
You’ll get your point across super-fast by giving your reader an idea of what you’re about. And have to say without them reading everything.
Hoorah say the skim readers and the I’m too busy to read things people out there.
Let’s be real, though. No one has the time to consume all the information that’s put in front of us daily.
So make your copy easy to read and consume because your ideal client will love you for sharing your message fast, persuasively and easily.
In summary of copywriting mistakes,
1. Always write in 1st person and 2nd person. I, we, our and always you
2. Use simple language
3. Mix it up and space it out
Change these 3 copywriting mistakes today because you’ll avoid making it tricky for your ideal clients to connect with you.
Over to you,
What are your copywriting challenges?
Do you think you’re making copywriting mistakes? If so, please tell me here.
Want more copywriting Do’s and Don’ts?
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