Marketing, Copywriting Advice by Juliet Fay.
How many of you find it difficult writing the text for your websites? Often we know our business so well but find it hard to write a convincing business message for other people. Thinking through the project before you start can be very helpful.
Below is a Creative Brief Outline that you can use to help give you some structure when you approach writing sales text. You can use this to think about the whole project and again for each individual page. I have included some examples to give you ideas how you might use the outline.
Creative Brief Outline
1. What is the subject matter of your page?
e.g. logo design, driving lessons, internet marketing services
2. What do you want people to do when they’ve read it.
- click through for more information
- make an enquiry
- phone you
- make a booking
- visit your premises
- buy a product
3. What problem(s) does your reader want solved?
e.g. need an impressive image for their business, need to learn to drive, need more sales, need to promote their website.
4. What would their life be like when they’ve got what you’re offering?
e.g. Improved confidence in their business because of a strong logo; pass their test and enjoy freedom of being a driver; see an increase in enquiries or sales through their website and see their business grow.
5. What are the key points you want to tell them?
List all the key points or benefits of what you offer, and try to isolate the main benefit that makes you different from your competitors. You might offer exceptional service, Welsh speaking service, a free product, you might be the cheapest, the most exclusive or offer an exceptional guarantee.
How to put it together
use 3. (What problem is the reader suffering from?) to make your headline and opening paragraph. Try turning the problem into a question e.g. Is your website failing to bring in enquiries? Do you want to cut your heating bills?
use 3. (What problem is the reader suffering from?) and 4. (What would their life be like when they’ve got what I’m offering?) to talk about 5. (What are the key points you want to tell them?).
no. 2 (What do you want people to do when they’ve read it.) gives you the “call to action” e.g. Book now. This should come at the end of your text. If you leave this out, the reader may move on without getting in touch.
no. 1 Gives you the page title – the one that appears at the top of the page.
no. 1 No. 3 & No. 5 can help you find the key phrases that potential guests or customers may use when searching for your product. These key words and phrases should appear in your web content and behind the scenes of your website.*
*Google Key Word Tool in Google Adwords is a free tool that helps you test out different key phrases. You can see how often these phrases are used in searches and also get an idea of how popular that key phrase is with other businesses using Google Adwords.
If you want to manage your own content it is a good idea to learn more about key phrases. Look out for workshops on search engine optimization designed for business owners.
An SEO (search engine optimisation) copywriter or an internet marketing specialist can do the analysis for you and recommend key phrases for your business.
Marketing, Copywriting, Consultancy & Training 01267 249057 www.julietfay.co.uk
