The Helium Guide to Copywriting
Copywriting text promotes a person, product, business or idea and can be used in an advertisement or variety of other media. The main purpose of writing marketing copy, or promotional text, is to persuade or encourage the reader to act – in other words, to buy a product or subscribe to a particular viewpoint. At Helium, copywriting assignments appear only in Marketplace.
Copywriting can include:
- Slogans
- Headlines
- Direct mail pieces
- Taglines
- Web content
- Press releases
- White papers
- Print ads
- Brochures
- Email newsletter content
Tips for success at copywriting:
- Know the product or service that you are writing about. Your job is to sell readers on what you are “selling” and persuade them to act. Step one is knowing the product or service that you’re trying to sell. Do research, talk to product managers, study websites and know the competition. If it’s a product you’re selling, try it out firsthand. Make a list of the benefits and selling points, and then start writing.
- Know your audience. What demographic, age group or lifestyle are you targeting? Knowing your audience will help you set the right tone and capture readers. Promoting women’s shoes to a predominantly male audience will probably not prompt much action.
- Go with what works. Do your homework and find copywriting materials that have proven to be successful. What print ads captured your attention? What email newsletter copy or website content persuaded you to act? The materials that stand out or prompt you to buy into a product or idea are examples of copywriting success. Decide what elements caught your attention and use a similar formula, style or words to create successful and unique copywriting text. The key is to draw inspiration, not plagiarize.
- Give your copy a purpose. Use every element of your text to sell or persuade. For example, the goal of your headline or lead paragraph should be to capture the attention of your readers and entice them to read more. State the benefits up front.
- Don’t use humor. Simply put, humor doesn’t work here.
Writer resources
If you are interested in learning more about copywriting, here are some helpful resources and tutorials: