The key to conversational copy writing!
The easiest way to get your readers to like and trust you - and so get them more likely to buy from you - is to get their liking and trust. And the best way to get your readers’ liking and trust is to write to them as if you were writing to a friend, or a favoured Aunt, especially with online copywriting.
In short, write like you speak. It’s much easier than you think and the benefits are huge: pretend you’re talking to your reader and narrate the copywriting to yourself as you write. See, you already have all the words you need and the natural persuasive skills already wired in. You use them every day as you go about your normal business.
I think there are 3 main reasons why business owners tend to write stilted, formal company copywriting which is dull, boring and lifeless.
First, schools and teachers don’t know how to write and they teach us to write reports in the sciences and humanities in the third-person passive. But no one actually speaks like that in real life! When a customer calls you or walks into your shop, I bet you don’t talk to them in the formal tones of a High Court Judge, do you? So why would you do your advertising copywriting like it?
Secondly, when we “belong” to a modern “tribe” - say, lawyers, mortgage brokers or whatever business or industry we’re in - we tend to slip into the lingo of that tribe. It’s OK writing legalese to another lawyer perhaps, but writing it to your client makes you about as popular as fleas.
Thirdly, there is the myth of “professionalism”. Many years ago, only the learned could read and write. It was a sign of an almost aristocratic status. To be “professional” is to be “learned”, and to sound learned, you have to write like a pompous, stuffed-shirt.
Being “professional” is about serving your clients’ needs to the best of your ability. That means communicating with them clearly, honestly, and openly. You can NOT do that while you’re writing copy that reads like a legal contract.
So regardless of what the teachers told you, your colleagues tell you and what all the “professionals” out there say, write like you speak, like you’re having a conversation with a friend or a favoured Aunt and you’ll find your copywriting having a much greater direct response than you ever dreamed possible.
Happy Copywriting!
Chris Cardell
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