What’s Your Copywriting’s Personality?

August 28, 2008 | 3 Comments

If copywriting is salesmanship in print then all you’ve got to do is weave a benefit laden pitch that will persuade anybody to buy, right? Well, whilst that’s generally true, what you’ve also got to consider is that different people respond to your words in different ways.

The trick is to write in a style that appeals to your target group, rather than to as wide an audience as possible. You have to give your copywriting a personality that resonates with their attitudes and aspirations. And you need to reflect the personality of your client at the same time.

Why is personality important?

The internet can seem a robotic, impersonal place, so web copy generally needs to be more chatty and friendly than its offline version. The attention spans of online readers are also akin to that of goldfish, so you want your copy to be lively and energetic if you want to engage their interest and stop them swimming away.

The words on your website also define how you speak to visitors. A picture might (occasionally) say 1000 words, but no amount of jpegs are going to make as much of an impression as your writing.

People gauge the attitude and personality of your business through the words that they read. Are you a serious corporate organisation ‘driven to exceed expectations’? Or a fun loving, funky start up?

Different copywriting styles appeal to different personality types (generally divided into four defined groups which I’ll discuss next week). So you want your copy to speak in a language your target market will be happy to listen to.

So how do I give my copywriting personality?

Moulding an impression of your target buyer is one of the key tasks you need to do before you sit down to write. It’s not just what you say but the way that you say it, and your copywriting’s personality needs to engage with the passions, desires and habits of its audience.

To understand how to pitch your writing, you should be able to get plenty of information from your client on the types of people they sell to. Whether its hardnosed B2B buyers demanding the ‘optimum solution’, trendy self-conscious types or the data loving technically minded, you need to match the personality of your writing to that of the person you’re trying to seduce.

A useful tip is to behave like a method actor and immerse yourself in the websites and magazines your target group reads. Analysing the style of writing, noting the language used and copying some of it out (for practice) will help you to develop your copywriting’s personality.

When copywriting personality becomes a differentiator

Innocent drinks are the poster child for many aspiring start-ups. Launched by a group of milkshake infatuated friends with limited cash, over the course of nine years they’re now one of the UK’s most popular soft drink brands.

Standing out from the crowd is difficult in any marketplace. One of the ways they differentiated themselves, from all the other brightly coloured labels, was through their copywriting.

Their copy presents them as fun, quirky and witty. They were the plucky upstart taking on the big corporate brands, with a new approach to business, and people loved it.

Innocent drinks now dominate the UK smoothie market, and it’s in no small part due to the personality of their copywriting.

So what’s your copywriting’s personality?

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Copywriting

Lost in Google’s sandbox? Here’s how to find your way out

August 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

[Photo courtesy Hamed Saber]

Since moving to my new domain in March I’ve been stripped of my glorious Google page one rankings for my key terms (copywriter, copywriting etc), and left groveling with a begging bowl in the dank, dark depths of its search listings. Whilst a brief fall from grace was expected, I’d hoped it would only be a few months before Google learned to love me again.

However, when I noticed that my Yahoo page one ranking had been reinstated I started to panic.

Well, it would appear that Google has banished me to their ’sandbox’. This is a mystical (some would say mythical) place where new websites are held until they’ve matured enough to be allowed to hang around with the older sites on Google’s top listings.

Whether the sandbox is an actual Google policy or merely a theory is a debate I’ll leave for the SEO experts (which is why I’m being particularly diplomatic in this article).

However, there are some generally agreed reasons why the sandbox would exist and how you can find your way out:

Why have a sandbox?

Google’s continuing success (and future world domination) relies on providing the most relevant answers to search queries. Consequently, their mathematical algorithm for classifying websites has to be able to separate the dross from the silver.

It’s believed (by some) that Google introduced the sandbox to encourage website owners to build a decent volume of good quality content and links from other sites before they’d be allowed a high ranking for competitive keywords.

The sandbox was also (allegedly) introduced to stop people using ‘black hat’ tactics to deceive Google’s spiders (e.g. keyword cloaking and link buying). The idea being that rather than using quick fix tactics, webmasters would be forced to prove they’d obey Google’s rules and could play fairly before their websites would be allowed to run free.

So how do I find my way out?

Opinions vary. But it’s generally agreed that if you’ve got a new domain then you’ll serve a minimum of six months in the sandbox before you can earn Google’s trust and be let out blinking at the bright lights of a page one ranking.

The way to find your way out, and prove to Google that you’ll behave, is to regularly add content to your website that’s relevant to your business and attracts links from other sites. This is something blogs are great at: naturally building your exposure through commenting on other blogs and attracting links to your content.

Attracting links from other relevant sites is crucial. It’s believed that links are the decisive part of the equation for earning a release from the sandbox.

You can’t just build your website, paste its pages with a bulk order of keyword articles and then sit back for six months waiting for Google’s approval. You have to build up back links and then wait for the actual links to age before Google will even think about letting you free from their holding pen.

Quality content builds trust with Google as well as customers

Whilst black hat tactics might work temporarily, Google are constantly fine tuning their algorithm to open the trapdoor on those they consider cheats and to promote those who’ve put in the hard graft and become valued members of their online community.

So writing insightful, valuable and link worthy content is necessary for building trust with Google, as well as with your customers.

Hopefully, this post will go a small way towards encouraging Google to love me again, and expediate my early release for good behaviour.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Search Engine Optimisation

Junta 42 releases eBook: ‘How to attract and retain customers with content NOW’

August 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment

A great blog if you’re a believer in the benefits of valuable content for converting browsers into buyers (which I am), Junta 42 has released a new eBook on content marketing and why you should implement it as part of your marketing strategy.

The eBook’s 11 pages long, and provides some inspiring case studies and excellent advice on getting your campaign rolling.

Here are a few points I scribbled down:

2007 Forrester research showed that 90% of purchasing decisions begin online
Content marketing is the art of understanding what your customer needs to know and then delivering it in a relevant and compelling way
If you deliver relevant content you’ll become a trusted resource
The internet means prospects are no longer reliant on the traditional media to meet their information needs
With access to information at their fingertips, buyers are now more proactive in finding content to help them make smarter buying decisions
The reduction in editorial staff of traditional media organisations means businesses can fill the gap. The demand for content isn’t diminishing, it’s increasing
Content should have a call to action and your campaign must be measurable e.g. sign up to a newsletter or request a trial

So if I haven’t already convinced you of the marketing benefits of valuable content then please download the eBook and allow Joe Pullizi from Junta42 to have a try.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Blog, Content marketing