Copywriter Mindset - No BS writing for marketing, sales, and everyday life
Good writing is a skill that increases your value whatever your offering is.
If you are tired of vapid regurgitated writing tips that are so basic they are insulting, then read this.
Note: These tips are not for beginners. To make sense of this article, you must already possess at least some professional copywriting experience.
It’s become a cliché because we need the reminder: It’s not about what you say; it’s how you say it. So, to write well, don’t focus too much on memorising catchy phrases and vapid idioms. Instead, let your confident, yet empathetic, mindset manifest through your wording. Keep the right mindset, and the right wording will come.
From appropriate mindsets flow appropriate words.
Consider these attitudes and mindset when writing copy:
Copywriting is like flirting; it’s all about the person whom you are wooing, not you. Talk about yourself when flirting, and you won’t get far. You need to show that you bothered enough to pay attention to your audience; what makes them tick, what they want, what they fear, what problems they want to solve, and what delights them. It’s not about you; it’s about them.
Be confident in your writing skill. You know that you write better than most readers. Yes, there are better writers than you out there, but no one is better at writing with your unique style. You are the best at being you. Trying to write like someone else only makes you an inferior version of them. Write like you can back what you say with absolute certainty. Tip: avoid hypotheticals and “maybes”, if you want to “sound” confident through your writing. Also, aim to be great, not perfect. Confidence is knowing you’re imperfect, and being OK with it.
Talk to and about your audience; not yourself. Recognise them, but don’t suck up to them; just acknowledge their identity, their concerns, their problems, their aspirations, their vision, their goals, their wants.
Recognise them for their individual circumstances, and make them feel special for their unique characteristics. Your audience need to understand that you understand their individual situations, predicaments, and dilemmas. Only then will they trust you.
Differentiate between what they need, and what they want. “Need” is different than “want”. People hate having to need something, so they are not willing to pay much for it; much like air and water (the things we need the most, yet we pay the least for). On the other hand, people love wanting things, and they are delighted to pay for what they want. You must focus on what they want. If your offering satisfies their need, turn the need into a want; an over and above desire to be fulfilled (by you). Make them want it by appealing to their hidden desires, rather than basic needs. Turn their need into a want. For example: People “need” water, but they “want” sparkling water.
Anticipate objections to your message, and address them before your audience gets a chance to doubt you. What are their barriers? Keep your audience’s objections in mind while drafting your message, and find a way to satisfy them beforehand.
Don’t appear too desperate to convince. You know your offering is great for your audience. So, act like it. Don’t over-sell it. You want to satisfy your audience’s wants more than you want to sell. And you don’t care if you don’t sell. Whether they decide to buy or not, you are still confident in your offering. Show this subtle indifference in your writing.
Don’t explain too much, and avoid giving your audience the obvious conclusion from your message. Let them connect the dots to conclude that your offering is ideal for their wants. Trust them to figure it out themselves. You respect them this way. Also, it makes it their idea to conclude that your offering is good for them. And people are more likely to accept their own ideas, than the ideas of others.
Your offering is not a one-size-fits-all solution. You must be specific about the problems it solves, and how your offering is unique for your audience’s unique problems. This means sacrificing plenty of clients for whom your offering is not a 100% match. This is OK, because if you are willing to lose customers for whom your offering is not ideal, then you earn trust from everyone. Let your audience figure this out themselves, without you saying it explicitly. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are smart enough to discern it. They will appreciate you for it.
Be concise. Add as much meaning as you can in as fewer words as possible. This means you allow your audience the benefit of the doubt to figure out the nuances in your message. Be direct, get to the point, and don’t beat around the bush. Respect your audience’s time and attention. If you don’t get to the point, you provoke suspicion, since deceivers tend to be indirect and confusing. Plus, readers don’t appreciate you wasting their time with filler. It’s disrespectful.
Every interaction is a negotiation. Make sure what your audience want, and present your offering as an over-and-above benefit to them, rather than a fix to a debilitation they have. Don’t emotionally blackmail them by suggesting that, if they don’t take your offering, they will suffer pain, shame, guilt, or regret. Instead, make it clear that they will be just fine without your offering, but they will be even better with it. Give them incentives, not threats. Incentives persuade. Threats debilitate, and they bring resentment against you.
And this is the most important tip…
Most copy is about what your offering can do, its specifications and its features. This doesn’t tell your audience what it can do for them specifically. Good copy tells your audience what problems your offering solves, and how it does that for them individually. Even better copy illustrates to your audience how your offering manifests their values, identity, meaning and purpose. This is what we mean by “know your audience”. It’s not about knowing what problems they need to solve; it’s about recognizing the identity they want you to validate. Present your offering in a way that validates, nurtures and grows their identity.
There you have it. Go forth and write.