Do you want to know the detailed copywriting process involved in writing a master copy that converts like hell?

If your answer is “yes” then you are at the right place on the internet.

So, let’s get started with the detailed copywriting procedure.

5-Step Copywriting Process

In this article, you will get to know about the detailed copywriting process to write a great copy for various needs such as for writing emails, sales copy, ad copy, and any other types of copywriting.

In order to write a great copy, you need to follow a proper procedure that would make your copywriting work very easier. If you don’t follow any set of processes then you may miss out on certain vital elements that make the copy good.

Having a map on your hand will guide you throughout your journey of writing a very good copy.

Here we go with our first step-

1) Preparation

Preparation is the most vital part of any great work you do. Whenever you go out on a holiday trip you obviously do good preparation to make your holiday pleasant. Right?

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. – Benjamin Franklin

In this first step, you need to collect all the information that you require to write your copy. And the best way to collect information is to ask questions. Here are some questions I have jotted, and also you can add your own as well.

Product/Service information:

• What the product or service is?
• What are you going to sell?
• How are you going to sell?

You need to understand what you are selling then only you can start your copywriting procedure.

Buyer’s Persona:

• Whom am I going to sell?
• Who are my target customers?
• What is my customers’ interest?

The buyer’s persona would help you understand your buyers. It will have all the information on how your prospective appears, what are their interest, what are their pain points and much such information that would help you understand your buyers.

Know the utility:

• What need does the product/service satisfy?
• What help does it give?
• How is it helpful to buyers?

When you understand what problem does the product/service solves then you can easily find out the pain points associated with your targeted customers and based on that you can craft the copy.

Key features:

• What are the key attributes of the product/services?

Every product has its own features and you need to write them all in a notepad so that you can explain those features in your copy. These features are what make a product/service unique.

Benefits:

• How the features of the product would help customers?
• What is the usefulness of the product?
• How is it going to solve any problem?

All the features you noted down should be associated with benefits. If any feature doesn’t provide any benefit then that’s obsolete. Always tie your features with benefits.

Price:

• How much to charge for the product/service?
• Is the price too high or low in comparison to competitors?
• Would my target audience can afford the product/service at this price?

While fixing the price you must take care of the cost incurred in developing and marketing the product. Then add the profit margin over your cost. There are many factors involved in deciding the price, here’s how to decide the price of the product.

Competitors or Alternatives:

• What similar products are out there in the market?
• What features and benefits do they provide to the customers?
• How my product/service is different from theirs?

What is your Unique Selling Proposition? What makes you different than your competitors? Wrap your advertising message around that USP and communicate it in a clear and concise manner.

Lynda Resnick

You need to understand the alternatives of your product and what features they have and how they are offering the product/service. In your copy, you should stand out with your unique attributes.

If you are similar to all others out there in the market then you will fail to impress your prospective customers.

What will make you stand apart from the rest is your USP-Unique Selling Proposition.

Seller/Company Background:

• How is the seller’s history?
• What products/services were marketed earlier?
• What recognition does the seller have, any achievements or awards?

What gives good credibility to the offer is your background profile. If you are a good well-known company then chances are that people recognize you and know-how are your products and services.

A good seller can sell well even if the product isn’t that good. People often see brand loyalty when they are purchasing a high-priced product.

For example, Apple is a very trustworthy brand. People trust the company and it gives the assurance to the customers that the product they purchased is of good quality.

What the offer is:

• What offer are you proposing?
• Is the offer going to boost more sales?
• How much would it cost for the offer?

Keep an offer to sell your product. An offer is- what you have got for your customers, how is it useful for them, and what you are expecting in return. Offer must be digestible and should be what they need. Because they won’t buy anything for useless reasons.

Rejections:

• Why would someone reject the offer?
• What are the reasons that would lead to refusal of offer?

Try to find out all of those reasons for which someone would reject the offer. And try to counteract those reasons for rejections.

For example, if someone would say that the price is too high. Then provide a discount for a limited time.

Credibility:

• What would help in providing credibility to the offer?

Add any such thing that would give credibility to your offer like, Associations’ approval, Bestseller award, or users’ testimonials.

Guarantee:

• What guarantee would help in giving the assurance to buyers?

You may provide 30 days money-back guarantee, after-sale offer, free maintenance, and many more. These guarantees would give them assurance for their buying decision. And this would help in generating more sales as people would use these with a risk reversal in mind.

Offer Limitation:

• How long the offer or deal will be valid?

Whenever you are offering any deal keep it limited for a certain quantity or duration. This acts as FOMO. And people would be in hurry to grab the offer.

Method of payment and order:

• What are the suitable methods for payment and order for my prospective customers?
• Which method would be easier for the prospective buyers to place an order?

This is the most important part of the copy as it leads to the conversion procedure. If the procedure of buying would be complicated then prospects may not buy the product and move their hands back.

So, make it simple for them so that they can order hassle-free.

 

2)Organize the information

In the copywriting process, organizing the data collected in the first step is very important. In the first step, you have collected all of the information that would help you in writing your copy. And after collecting, it’s time to organize the data that are necessary to add to the copy.

It’s not necessary that all the information you collected should be put into the final copy. You can refine the data as per the need. Unnecessary information would make your copy less attractive.

And the purpose of the copy is always to keep your reader’s mind hooked to the copy. So, it is wise to organize those data in a proper way.

 

3) Start writing your copy

After you have organized data and refined them, it’s time to start writing the copy.

Here are some steps involved in writing your copy-

Decide your HEADLINE

• A headline must be concise and straight to the point.
• Emphasize the important information.
• Grab attention with the lucrative offer or the solution to pain points.
• Prospective customers must be able to connect.

The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.

David Ogilvy

Structure the body copy

• Make a great opening statement with an elevator pitch.
• Hook the reader with suspense or something interesting.
• Use the information collected in the first step to craft your body copy.
• Wherever possible give some bullet points.
• Use graphical elements or photos.

Use all of those details to include in your copy that would be useful in persuading the prospective customer. And writing the body copy is an important part of copywriting process. And in no way it should be handled carelessly.

The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.

David Ogilvy

(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)

End with a strong CTA(Call To Action)

• Write a strong compelling Call-To-Action.
• Use the active voice and clearly mention what your reader has to do.
• Never give multiple action statements. Just give one task to do.
• Along with CTA give the guarantee and use FOMO techniques.
• Explain to them why they should take this action and what they will miss if they don’t take the action right now.

Call-To-Action is the part of the copy where the conversion takes place. Without CTA there isn’t any copy. The main purpose of copywriting is to persuade people to take action and without an action statement, it is incomplete.

 

4) Read it. Edit.

• Read the copy several times.
• Tweak wherever possible to make it better.
• Make the copy easy to understand.
• Make it skimmable.
• Remove jargons.

Edit your manuscript until your fingers bleed and you have memorized every last word. Then, when you are certain you are on the verge of insanity…edit one more time.
― CK Webb

Your first draft would never be a great one. You need to edit it and make it better. Check your headline, is it attention-grabbing? Look at the body copy, is it clearly explaining the purpose statement of the copy? Is the CTA backed by meaningful reasons?

There is always room for improvement. And never be in hurry before submitting your final draft. Take your time. Wait for some days and then again read the copy and look if it is good or you can make it better.

5) Taste and test

• After you complete your first draft keep it aside for a few days and then review it, if everything is fine.
• Allow others to review it.
• Test your headline by asking few peoples review it. Ask them if they are able to understand the headline and would they continue reading further.
• Check the body copy, whether it has contain all the details that would help people to make decision.
• Is your copy addressing the reader, are you using the words “You” and “Your”?
• Try to write another ad copy with some variations.
• Is your offer lucrative?

Let people review your copy and accept their opinion. It would help you in making the copy better. Test the headline if it is attention-grabbing and creating a hook. Make sure the body copy is persuasive enough and covering all the elements that would help in making decision for the reader.

Final Words

You can always tweak and test to make your better. Never be in hurry to launch your copy. Take time, Take reviews. And make it better.

Let me know in the comment section if you follow some different process for copywriting.