Every entrepreneur should learn these essential copywriting skills

Hiring a marketing agency means a brand gains access to a plethora of marketing capabilities – from expertly written copy across all promotional channels to eye-catching graphic design to public relations activities, and everything in between. However, with the recent tightening of budgetary belts due to the COVID-19 global crisis, more and more brands are becoming entrepreneurial by tackling their marketing themselves. For this reason, we’re offering up 4 of the most essential copywriting skills that every small business owner should master in 2020:

1. Put your reader first

Before you even think about putting your pen to paper (or fingers to computer keys), entrepreneurs looking to participate in some copy development should know who they’re talking to. Consider drawing up a simple persona for your ideal customer. Who are they? What do they enjoy doing? What will they enjoy reading? What tone (formal/informal) would best suit your brand, and will your readers relate to it? If you can respond to these questions, you’ll have a better idea of how you should write your copy.

2. Be completely authentic

This skill takes practice. As promotional copywriters, our first instinct is to hit the reader with the sales pitches, using ‘salesy’ language that might be better suited to a daytime television funeral insurance plan advertisement. The modern consumer can easily see through sales-babble and will turn off immediately once under the impression that all a brand wants is their money. Choose to speak from the heart rather, and remove any wording that might indicate you’re merely seeing dollar signs.

3. Constantly collect resources

Copywriters are continually developing their research skills, as this is an important part of the copywriting process. In fact, some copywriters argue that any copywriting job should be 2/3 research and 1/3 writing. However, entrepreneurs don’t really have the time to sit in front of a search engine, for hours on end, trawling through possible things to talk about. For this reason, small business owners should always be collecting resources that they come across for repurposing as part of their marketing.

4. Don’t forget a call-to-action

A final skill that should never be forgotten when writing copy is the call to action inclusion. If you’re following the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) model of sales copywriting, you’ll see that the final point is ACTION. In other words, your copywriting should motivate a reader to take action (call us/click here/find out more), and then offer up a tangible method of doing just that. For example, a blog article about a product can link to the product page where customers can find out more or place an order.

Crafting catchy copy is all about knowing your readers, being authentically you, and engaging with people on a humanistic level.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Discover the core copywriting and marketing skills every entrepreneur should have a handle on, with an accredited National Diploma in Copywriting and Digital Marketing from DSM! Contact us for more information on any of our life-changing digital marketing courses.