Good copywriting is essential to the marketing success of any small business. If you want to engage your customers, entice them to buy your products or get them to sign up for your newsletter, you need amazing copy to do the job.

Are you getting your start-up off the ground, operating an independent outfit, or running a small-scale venture with a partner? Whether you’re doing social media marketing, inbound marketing, content marketing or direct marketing, lacklustre copy can scuttle your marketing efforts before even they take off.

To make the best impact with your copy, follow these 10 essential small business copywriting tips.

1. Write attractive headlines

To hook your readers, you need an attention-grabbing headline. A catchy headline will compel your audience to click on your blog post, open your email or read your article.

Headlines that work well are those that promise a benefit to readers and offer useful content specific to the reader.

2. Focus on benefits

Your customers are not going to care about the features of your product or service. What they do care about is how your product or service can help them.

So focus on the benefits of your product or service in your copy. How will it make their lives better? What problems will it solve? How can your product or service help your customers do their job better, free up their time, save more money or improve their health?

3. Know your audience

Your copywriting should revolve around your customer. To do that, you need to understand who your customers are and what they’re looking for. One way to learn more about your customers is to create buyer personas.

Knowing your customers’ profile and how they make decisions will help you to create content that speaks directly to them. Provide them with useful and relevant content that will guide them throughout the buying cycle.

4. Keep it simple

These days, most audiences have short attention spans due to information overload. Many consumers, especially those with mobile devices, prefer to skim instead of read.

To maintain your audience’s interest, keep your content simple. Use short sentences, bullet points and lists to break up paragraphs. And leave out the jargon.

5. Write in the second person

Use “you” instead of “we” in your copywriting. When you write, speak to your readers by using “you”. Talking directly to your audience through this “one-on-one” speak creates a better connection with them. No one wants to read a website or brochure where it’s all about the company. When you put the customer at the heart of your content, you’ll get more leads that may eventually translate into sales.

For example, this blog is written for you so that you can learn about ways that can help to supercharge your content and improve the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

6. Understand your medium

It’s important that you understand the medium that you’re writing for. Writing a thought leadership article to be pitched to a national newspaper is completely different from writing a blog post to be uploaded onto your website. Writing a brochure is also different from writing a newsletter.

Whatever your vehicle, you’ll need to adjust your writing style accordingly.

7. Focus on SEO and your keywords

A web presence is not a “nice to have” but a “must have” for all businesses. But how can your customers find you if you don’t rank well in the search engines for the keywords related to your products or services?

That’s why you need to pick the right keywords to optimise and put in effort to make your search engine optimisation (SEO) a success.

8. Include a call to action

As a small business, you want to get the most out of your content. The end goal of any business is to get customers to buy your product or service. Depending on where they are in the buying lifecycle, you want to bring your customers one step closer to making that purchase by asking them to take a specific action. It could be something as simple as asking them to view another article, comment on a blog post, sign up for a newsletter or register for an account.

So always close your copy with a call to action, even if you are not directly selling anything yet.

9. Create an engaging lead paragraph

Your headline grabs your reader’s attention. But it is your first paragraph that holds their attention and entices them to read further.

Put the most persuasive arguments or the best ideas in your lead paragraph. The strongest points should be at the beginning of your article.

10. Always check spelling and grammar

Always review your spelling and grammar. Sloppy text can make your business look unprofessional.

If you’re not bothered to ensure that your copy is error-free, you could end up losing potential business.

Build your brand with sharp copywriting

If you’re trying to build your brand, sharp copywriting can help you tell your story and connect with your audience.

To get on the right track, follow our small business copywriting tips. But if you’re stuck or find that you have neither the time nor expertise to churn out expert copy, consider hiring a freelance copywriter instead.

Before embarking on a content marketing strategy, you first have to understand your buyer personas. Crafting buyer personas will help you in copywriting or curating meaningful and relevant content that will strike a chord with your customers.

Piecing together a complete picture of your buyer personas takes time and effort. To get the information required, you can tap on these sources:

• Market research
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Social media
• Search analytics
• Observations

Using the raw data from these sources, you can begin to build a comprehensive profile of your buyer personas.

Here’s a list of questions that can help you to get a deeper insight into your buyer personas.

Demographics

1. Gender

Is your persona a man or woman? Men and women value different things. How they shop, what they look for, what they ask, what drives them, what they are concerned with and how they make decisions are totally different.

2. Age

How old is your persona?

3. Generation

Is your persona a baby boomer, a Gen X, a Gen Y or a millennial?

4. Education

What level of education has your persona achieved? Did he finish high school or university? Did he study locally or abroad?

5. Marital status

Is your persona single, married, divorced or widowed?

6. Family lifecycle

Is your persona a teenager, a newlywed, just beginning to start a family, has several children, or is an empty-nester?

7. Size of household

How large is your persona’s household?

8. Location

Is your persona an urban dweller or living in suburbia? Does he live in landed property or a high-rise unit?

9. Income

Which income bracket does your persona fall in?

10. Social class

Is your persona affluent or middle class? Or does he fall at the poverty level?

Psychographics

11. Activities and interests

What hobbies does your persona engage in? What are her personal interests and what does she do in her free time? Does she like any particular type of sports, music or movies? Is she interested in fashion, technology or the arts?

12. Values

Does your persona value love, health, fun, comfort, happiness, success, adventure, security, family, honesty, loyalty or relationships?

13. Causes

Does your persona champion causes such as conservation, education, human rights or the environment?

14. Life stage

Is your persona job hunting, climbing up the career ladder, starting a family, part of the sandwiched generation or at the peak of his career?

15. Lifestyle

What lifestyle choices does your persona make? Is she religious, health-conscious, active, organic, high-tech or artsy?

16. Goals

What drives your persona? Does he prefer experiences, ideals, material objects or self-expression?

17. Personality

Is your persona a conformist, a leader, a trail-blazer, an achiever, a wanna-be, a materialistic person, a nurturer or a social climber? Is he laid-back or driven?

18. Attitude and opinions

What would be your persona’s attitude towards your product or service?

19. Networks

Does your persona belong to any associations, clubs or groups? Who does she mix with?

Work details

20. Career

What kind of job does your persona have? Is he a blue-collar or white-collar worker or an entrepreneur?

What kind of role does he play in his organization? Is he a decision-maker, an influencer or administrator?

21. Professional goals

Is your persona success-oriented, power hungry or fame-seeking? Or is she more concerned with wealth accumulation or work-life balance? What does she want from her career?

22. Responsibilities

What is your persona responsible for? What skills and knowledge are required for him to do his job? What tools does he need to do his job well?

23. Professional challenges

What challenges does your persona face at work and how can she overcome these challenges?

24. Purchasing decisions

Does your persona make purchasing decisions at work? Does he need to consult someone or get approval for the purchase?

Consumer behavior

25. Shopping patterns

Where does your persona shop – at the suburban mall or at luxury retail stores? Or does she prefer to shop online?

Does she prefer to pay by cash, credit card or internet banking?

26. Communication preferences

Would your persona prefer to connect with you through email, the phone or through social media?

27. Social networks

Which of these social networks does your persona use: LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Google+?

How often does your persona log on to social media networks?

28. Access to information

Does she tap on social media, get recommendations from friends or conduct research online in order to get information on products or services?

What publications, magazines or newspapers does she read? Which TV or YouTube channels does she watch? Which websites does she visit?

Does your persona prefer to access content online through mobile devices or a desktop computer?

29. Pain points

What are the real or perceived problems (related to your product or service) that your persona has? How would your product or service solve this?

30. Barriers to purchase

What could prevent your persona from buying from you? What would assuage his fears?

This list is far from exhaustive. The questions you ask may also differ, depending on whether you are doing B2B or B2C marketing – whether you are targeting businesses or individuals.

Once you know your persona inside out, you can bridge the gap with your audience by framing your content from your customer’s perspective. Use the same words or language that your audience would use to create that connection with them.

The words will flow easier when you are able to get inside the mind of your persona. You’ll then be able to create content that resonates with your audience and that converts better.

To succeed in content marketing, you need to create the right content for the right audience. Defining buyer personas is a critical step in developing content that is truly targeted.

Copywriting becomes much easier after you’ve built your buyer personas. By putting together a composite sketch of your customer, you can adapt your content strategy to address your audience’s challenges.

What are personas?

Personas are detailed profiles of your customers. Building a persona is like putting together an exhaustive dossier on the demographics, as well as needs, wants, goals, fears and challenges of your target customer.

What are their likes? How old are they? What is their job? Where do they live? How do they shop? What do they want to achieve?

Knowing everything about your personas will help you understand how your customers will behave throughout the buying cycle.

Most businesses have at least two personas. Some may have many more. For instance, a huge e-commerce outfit may have many different personas as each product can be targeted at different segments of consumers.

Personas for B2B and B2C marketing will also differ. In B2B copywriting, it is important to consider the persona’s job in the organization and his or her role in the decision making process.

You might even want to name your personas. Visualizing them as real people will help you to vary the tone and style of writing for each persona and tailor your messages accordingly.

Why should you map out your buyer personas?

The number one reason for sketching out a composite of your buyer persona is to understand what they want so that you can adapt and tailor your content and message to address their needs or pain points.

Mapping out your buyer personas will help you to determine the type of content you need to create, the topics you should write about, as well as the tone of voice and delivery style that will make a greater impact with your audience.

You need to consider the different types of personalities who may be interested in your product and service. Each persona has different desires and challenges. So you would not necessarily provide the same content or write in the same style for each of them.

When you target the right people and give them content which they will find relevant and interesting, this will align yourself with your buyers’ goals or priorities.

For instance, potential buyers of a new condominium project could include couples with no kids, young families or multi-generational families. Each of these segments would have different objectives in buying a home. So you’ll need to adjust your sales copy accordingly.

Another good example of persona targeting is in movie marketing. Have you noticed that there are usually a few versions of movie trailers and posters? This is to appeal to different segments of moviegoers.

Build your copywriting and content strategy around your personas. This will help you to better answer your audience’s questions and express your message more effectively.

Coming up: How can you create buyer personas and what questions should you ask?

The key to successful press release copywriting lies in creating a killer news hook. A newsworthy hook is like bait. It attracts your readers’ attention and makes them want to find out more about your news story.

Editors receive hundreds of press releases everyday. To stand out from the crowd and have a greater chance of securing media coverage, your press release needs to have a great angle.

To find your hook, put yourself in the shoes of your audience and ask: “Why should I care?” What is so unique or special about your story that would entice someone to read your press release?

Before you start copywriting, here are 15 ideas to help you create an angle for your news release.

1. Holidays and seasonal events

Year-round holidays and seasonal events offer you the opportunity to tie your story to such occasions. Take your pick from Chinese New Year, International Women’s Day, Earth Day, Mother’s Day, the school holidays, National Day, the F1 races, Christmas, the back-to-school season and many others.

Perhaps a new and unique children’s experiential learning exhibit can be timed to launch during the school holidays? Or how about having an exclusive and limited edition of a Christmas fashion capsule collection?

2. Current events

Can your news leverage on current events or social issues? If your news hook is related to what’s happening right now or key social issues, it’s likely to be of greater value to readers. This will make your press release more relevant and important.

In 2015, many corporations made the most of the wave of excitement surrounding the SG50, Singapore’s jubilee anniversary celebrations, to secure media coverage. They created SG50-themed events, promotions and marketing campaigns, capitalizing on the feel-good factor and the essence of what SG50 stood for – a celebration of heritage and a shared commitment towards a brighter future – to generate excitement for their brands.

3. Trends

Have you spotted any emerging trends lately? Look at trending topics on social media and in mainstream news. If they’re related to your business, you can use these changes in consumer behavior patterns to your advantage.

Perhaps there’s a trend of more people cycling to work to escape traffic congestion. If you are launching a new model of a foldable bike that’s easy to carry around, there’s potential for a feature story on your product.

4. Reaction

In today’s fast-paced news environment, editors and reporters are driven by deadlines and current news. If you move speedily enough, you can put out a press release as a reaction or response to recent news. This makes your press release very relevant and timely.

For instance, the annual government budget offers the business community an opportunity to generate some media mileage. Trade associations or business chambers can provide quotes and offer their opinions on how the budget proposals will impact the business sector or certain industries.

5. Local angle

Scan local, national or international news. Is there potential to localize news that is national or international?

Perhaps a certain industry in the global market is seeing a wave of layoffs but the local market seems to be doing well. Tapping on this, you could put out a press release that you are ramping up production and hiring more people instead, given the brighter prospects in the local market.

6. Human interest

The human-interest angle is one that is based on emotional appeal. It aims to connect with the reader and generate empathy. Focus on a unique or interesting personality or a group of persons. Invoke their personal triumphs or mistakes, tragedies or successes.

Do you have a story about overcoming adversity despite the odds? If so, use it.

7. Statistics

The media loves statistics because facts and figures can add more depth to a story. If you’ve conducted a survey or have written a white paper, you can send this to the press together with a press release.

Are you a credit card company and has seen an increase in payments for online shopping? Or perhaps you’re a human resource consultancy that has seen an increase or decrease in wages for a particular industry? For journalists, these statistics will be useful information for a wider industry piece.

8. Magnitude

Are you announcing something that is the biggest, newest or first-ever? Or do you have something that is record setting, trailblazing, pioneering or revolutionary?

Apple has a history of creating revolutionary products that have changed the tech scene entirely. If you’re in the same vein, then you’ve got yourself a big story.

9. Personality

Celebrities, well-known sports figure, political figures and other prominent members of the community are a draw for the media because readers like to read about them. This can give them further incentive to run your story.

Consider inviting a celebrity to participate in the marathon you are organizing to raise funds for charity. Or perhaps you’ve got a well-known football player in town to for the press conference of the launch of a new line of innovative running shoes. That would get media attention.

Alternatively, the opinion of prominent spokespersons or individuals can sometimes also be considered as news themselves.

10. Contrarian

You can make a statement by offering a contrary view or opposing position to a trending or hot topic. Offering a non-conformist opinion or a twist to the usual story can trigger discussion and help journalists write a more objective piece covering both sides of the story.

This works particularly well for “underdog” situations.

11. Milestones

If your company is marking a significant milestone or anniversary, don’t be afraid to trumpet this significant moment.

For example, if a shopping mall is celebrating its 25^th anniversary, how have the façade, retail mix and shopper profile changed over the years? What events are being organized to celebrate the anniversary?

12. Emotion

Does your product or service evoke a certain emotion? How does it impact your customers’ lives? Will it inspire or excite them? Find that emotional trigger to draw people in and you’ve got your hook.

Perhaps your product brings back happy memories of childhood or is a symbol of everlasting love.

13. Impact

Another potential hook is if you’ve got a story that will impact the audience of the particular media you are targeting.

Readers of a business newspaper will be interested to know about the state of the economy. If you’re a bank that has got an interesting forecast or view about the outlook of the economy and how this will impact businesses, that will be your angle.

14. Special event

Special events are often one of the easiest ways to generate media coverage. These events could include a: major concert, circus tour, huge rally, conference, grand reopening or fundraiser. Frame the event by capturing its uniqueness.

A major science conference could be unveiling a major scientific breakthrough or a rock star could be turning up on your country’s shores for the first time and playing to a sell-out crowd.

15. Novelty

If there is anything unusual, weird, over-the-top or even innovative about your story or its subject, that’s a window of opportunity to grab media attention. Highlight the impact on the audience.

One last tip …

Here’s one last tip. Find out who your target audience is. If you’re hoping that an editor will pick up your story, find out all you can about the publication or news medium and its target audience. How will your story appeal to its readers or viewers? Will it help them draw in more readers or get more clicks?

Everybody loves a good story. But it takes time and effort to write a great press release. Hook the reader by giving them value. Focus an angle that makes they care. Give them something to spark discussion, inform them or entertain them.

 

Writing clearly and simply is an art to which many aspire but few achieve. Crisp and concise content will make sure that your message comes across loud and clear.

Whether you’re blogging, tweeting, writing a speech, copywriting a brochure, developing a white paper, podcasting or crafting a video script, compelling copywriting is all about being understood.

Keep things simple with these 5 no-nonsense copywriting rules.

1.  Use clear language

Write clearly to get your message across. Short and precise words are better than flowery prose.

Have you often racked your brains, thinking of fancy words to sound smarter? You’re not alone. But there’s really no need to use big words to impress your audience.

There’s nothing more annoying than having to keep re-reading something in order to understand it. Sometimes, we forget that the simplest word can have a bigger impact. So use specific, easy-to-understand words, instead of vague ones.

Simplifying your copy can makes things easier to read and helps your audience to understand your message more quickly.

Tip: Try writing as if you are explaining your material to a 12-year-old. Your writing should be clear and simple enough for a 12-year-old to understand.

2.  Keep it short and concise

Good writing is concise. Short sentences are easier to read than longer ones.

Why use three words when you can use one? Example:

Do not write longer than you should.

Do not ramble. (shorter = better)

Simple sentences are more appealing to audiences, especially in web writing where short is sweet. This is because people tend to scan pages rather than read them.

The secret to writing shorter sentences is to get rid of the “mumbo jumbo” and go straight to the point. Get rid of unnecessary or repetitive words.

Tip: Make use of punctuation – use periods to break up longer sentences into two. If there are two ideas in a sentence, split them up.

3.  Edit ruthlessly

Less is always better. If it’s possible to cut out a word, do it.

Every word, phrase or sentence should add meaning or value to your subject. After all, who wants to read a long-winded article when a short, sweet and to-the-point version can be just as impactful.

Having the guts to ruthlessly edit your work can be difficult. But it’s a lot easier to do so once you realize that not everything from the first draft will make it to the final version.

Leaving out the fluff can mean the difference between an average piece and an awesome one.

Tip: If you do find it a struggle to trim the fat, leave your piece alone and tackle it again the next day. There’s always something that can be scratched out after looking at it again from a fresh perspective.

4.  Strip out the jargon

Your piece needs to be accessible. So use easy-to-read language.

Jargon is the technical, scientific or business language only people in the same trade, specialty, industry or organization will understand. Sometimes it can be easy to get carried away with jargon when writing a technical piece, especially in business writing.

But you can never be sure whether the reader is familiar with the terminology or has an in-depth understanding of the subject.

So if there’s an everyday-English equivalent for a technical term, use it. After all, you do not want to alienate your readers. Layman language makes more sense to your reader.

Tip: Always make it a point to understand what you are writing about, especially for a technical piece. Then try to explain it in simple English.

5.  Use active, not passive, language

Most of the time, it’s easier to read in the active voice. So try to use it more often in your writing.

Consider these sentences:

The structure was designed by a famous architect. (passive)

A famous architect designed the structure. (active)

The active sentence is shorter, punchier and more direct. It is more powerful and clearly identifies who’s doing what. An active sentence has more energy, keeping your readers more engaged.

On the other hand, a passive sentence is wordier and can make your piece lifeless. It won’t be surprising if this turns off your readers.

Use the active voice when you want your writing to be clear, direct and simple.

Tip: You can spot passive sentences by the use of “was” or “by”. Try rewriting them into active voice and you’ll see how the overall tone of the sentence has changed.

Conclusion

Writing clearly, simply and concisely will help your audience easily understand your message. This helps to capture and keep their attention. So choose your words carefully.