Good copywriting is a vital part of any marketing strategy: it builds trust with your audience, develops your brand, and guides leads along your sales funnel.
Do it right, and it will pay off. But do it wrong and you might just be turning prospective leads off instead!
Keep driving sales by avoiding these five copywriting mistakes.
1. Not addressing the reader’s problems
While some of us are impulse buyers, or simply easily influenced, a lot of the time, we buy things because we want to solve a specific problem.
These problems can be described as a customer’s pain points. They may not even be looking to solve that particular problem at the time of browsing, but you’ll find if you remind them of it, your product will start looking much more attractive!
No matter what you’re selling, I can guarantee you it solves a problem for someone.
So, if you’re selling lightweight travel blankets, for example, start by addressing the reader’s issue with fitting everything into their backpack, or drying heavy towels between trips.
By reminding the customer of their pain point before describing the features and benefits of your product, you’ll set yourself up for a sale.
2. Not tailoring the copy for your target audience
It’s so tempting, when starting a new business or marketing plan, to try to appeal to everyone. Picking a niche is scary – it means you could potentially be ostracising a large segment of your prospective audience.
But no one is truly great at everything. And you shouldn’t pretend to be.
Picking a specific audience for your product or service will actually be better for your business in the long run. Once you’ve done your research and focused your marketing efforts around this group, you’ll find that they’re more likely to trust you and buy from you.
Plus, tailoring your marketing copy around a specific target audience means it’ll be easier to develop a tone of voice that appeals to them, a content marketing plan they’ll be interested in, and social media posts that grab their attention.
And trust me, it’s a million times easier and more straightforward to do all of those important things when you’ve got a specific audience in mind.
3. Writing too much copy for your homepage
There’s a time and a place for lengthy copy – it’s usually reserved for blogs, articles, or product descriptions.
Remember that not everyone who lands on your homepage or landing page is ready to convert. Clear and concise copy is best used here. It should be easy for the reader to scan the page and quickly find the information they’re looking for.
Personally, I think there’s nothing more off-putting than landing on a new website and being confronted by a huge mass of text. I’m not going to read it, I’m going to feel overwhelmed and move on. And that’s coming from someone as wordy as a writer!
If you really have to put a lot of copy on your homepage, break it up by using different formatting to highlight the most important parts. Add images and graphics, and try to divide the information into different sections if possible.
4. Being too pushy
We’ve already established that not everyone is ready to make a decision as soon as they land on your website. So, instead of bombarding them with blatant sales pitches and immediate calls to action, ease them into things gently with good copywriting and content marketing.
Encourage people to sign up to your email list and follow you on social media, and keep publishing blogs, guides and useful information. You’ll then be developing and nurturing that relationship with them until they’re ready to make a purchase.
That’s why well-written website content and blogs are so important – they keep leads interested and help you develop a relationship and level of trust with your audience over time.
5. Not adding a call to action
While pushy copywriting is a no-no, not including a call to action (CTA) at all means you could be losing business.
There should be a purpose behind every bit of copy you write. If you don’t add a CTA, you’re not reinforcing that purpose. CTAs can be as simple as including a ‘learn more’ or ‘sign up’ button at the bottom of a page or email campaign.
They help guide the reader into taking action, and without them, the reader may not know what step they should take next. They also make it as easy as possible for the reader to continue their journey along your sales funnel.
If you want to work with a freelance copywriter that’ll make sure your website’s free of common copywriting errors, get in touch!
