Why Every Entrepreneur Must Master the Art of Copywriting

Some might say that copywriting is a dying art but if you take a closer look, you’ll realize that copywriting is the foundation of all marketing.

It certainly can’t be that marketing will disappear anytime soon. And that’s exactly what they’re saying. The necessary implication of saying that copywriting is dying is that marketing will disappear. And that clearly won’t happen.

In contrast to being a dying art, copywriting is, in fact, now more important than ever with more people using the Internet than ever before.

As a result, effective and persuasive copywriting is one of the few things that allow businesses to stand out from the crowd, and it’s one of the things that sets them apart from their competitors.

But what exactly is copywriting and why is it so important? In this post, we’ll look at these questions in more detail. We’ll also deal with some fundamentals of great copywriting that entrepreneurs must know.

What Exactly Is Copywriting?

Let’s start off with defining what exactly copywriting is.

Now, this may sound like a simple question, but many people confuse content writing with copywriting. And it’s easy to see why. Many resources available online refer to these two terms interchangeably.

For example, many businesses say that they need copy for their website.

Now, is that “copy” referring to copywriting or content writing. Often, it refers to the latter.

An easy way to remember the difference is that copywriting is writing that is meant to persuade the customer to do something. This could be anything from making a purchase, to signing up for a newsletter or clicking on an ad.

In contrast, content writing is writing that is meant to inform and entertain a reader.

This includes things like blog posts and e-books. In simple terms, it’s copywriting that brings in the money, while content writing connects with the customer.

But the differences don’t stop there. The other difference between the two relates to the skills the writer needs.

While content writers are usually good at crafting a story to entertain and inform the reader, copywriting uses all kinds of different tactics and strategies to make writing more persuasive.

Consequently, copywriters can write content, but content writers can’t write copy. This is simply because they don’t have the necessary skills.

Why Is Copywriting Important?

Now, with that in mind, the next question is why copywriting is important for entrepreneurs.

Well, think about it this way.

What makes a business’s customers click on an ad on social media, subscribe to a newsletter, or buy a product on their website? The answer is copywriting.

This means that it’s used in anything from emails, sales pages, and product descriptions to ads, social media posts, and other persuasive writing.

So, with effective copywriting the chances are that a customer will be more likely to act based on any of these if the copywriting is convincing and compelling. Every entrepreneur should therefore master this skill to increase their conversion rate, and, ultimately, their revenue.

Copywriting Fundamentals Every Businessowner Should Know

But how do you craft great copy? It’s important to keep in mind that it isn’t just as simple as sitting behind a computer and starting to write.

There are some fundamentals every entrepreneur should know to make their copy persuasive, compelling, and convincing.

Write Like Your Customers Talk

Remember, copywriting is about connecting with potential customers and convincing them to take an action.

For this reason, it should use simple language and focus on using the language customers use when they talk to each other.

Here, it’s helpful to browse through forums, questions, reviews, and answers of potential customers to learn more about the language they use.

In this way, it’ll be easier to connect with them and eliminate the possibility of distracting and confusing them with complex writing.

The easiest way to imagine this is by thinking of a customer hearing, rather than reading what the business has to say.

Focus On Your Customer

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that businesses make when it comes to copywriting. They focus on themselves instead of focusing on the customer.

So, for instance, businesses often wax lyrical about the successes they’ve achieved and how many customers they’ve helped.

Here’s the thing, the customer doesn’t care how many other customers a business has helped.

The only thing they care about is whether the business can help them.

So, in other words, what’s in it for them. To do this properly it’s necessary to focus on the needs and emotions of the customer. This will be far more compelling than telling the customer how great the business is.

Keep It Simple

Think about it like this. A customer has a problem, and they go to a business’s website to find the product to solve their problem.

There, they find complex language with long sentences and intricate words. Will this make them stay? The answer is a definite no.

It’s simple, if the text is too complicated, customers will leave the page quicker.

And if they leave quicker the business has less time to convince them to buy its product.

As a result, it’s always better keep the text simple and sentences short. This makes it easier to persuade the customer and makes it far more compelling to read.

Use Urgency and Scarcity

A simple way to persuade a customer to buy a product or sign up for a service is by using urgency and scarcity.

This is simply because, if a customer doesn’t buy a product immediately, they’ll most probably never will. They’ll either forget about it or they’ll come across a different product.

By using urgency and scarcity, the customer is convinced that they need to buy immediately instead of waiting.

To do this, businesses can use things like limited offers, low stock quantities, or customers’ general fear of missing out. Here, it’s often also helpful to tell the customer what will happen if they don’t buy the product.

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that when using urgency and scarcity, the statements need to be backed up by real limitations. If they’re not, it could harm the business’s credibility.

Tell the Customer What to Do

Once the writing is done and it’s persuasive and convincing, it’s important to tell the customer what to do.

It’s of no use if the copy is compelling but the customer doesn’t know what to do with the information.

Therefore, calls to action are especially important in any piece of copywriting. Here, it’s important that there’s only one call to action. This leaves the customer with a choice.

They either leave the website, or they buy the product. If there’s too many conflicting steps a customer needs to take, they get confused and when they get confused, they leave.

Ultimately, the call to action is where the action is taken. For this reason, it’s crucial that the call to action is clear, obvious, and persuasive.

The Bottom Line

Far from being a dying art, copywriting is the basis for any successful marketing and indeed any business. Without effective and persuasive copywriting, there’ll be no sales. And if there’s no sales, there’ll be no business.

Because of this, it’s a vital part of any digital marketing strategy.

As a result, every entrepreneur should master the art of copywriting.

Whether it’s for their sales pages, emails, social media, or their website, they’ll use copywriting and its techniques daily.

Hopefully, this post was helpful to illustrate why copywriting is important and what some fundamentals are that entrepreneurs need to know.