2016’s Most Important Copywriting Rules

While the face of digital marketing and the general rules for success online may be continually evolving and changing, some things quite simply never change. Perhaps the single most cogent example of this is high quality copywriting. Quite simply, superior copy to a certain extent automates your marketing strategy, in that it continues to help sell whatever it is you do while you are not present/offline. Quality copy has always been important, that with such extraordinary competition today, it’s nothing less than the number-one priority for tens of thousands of businesses globally.With each passing year, the quality copyrighting rulebook finds itself being added to, amended and corrected, though perhaps not quite on the same scale as other digital marketing standards. Nevertheless, its crucially important to keep up to speed on what is and isn’t proving effective with each given year, in order to avoid falling foul of potentially costly mistakes.So looking at things from a strictly 2016 perspective, what follows is a brief overview of the year’s most important copywriting rules when looking to grow your business:1 – Understand Your AudienceFirst and foremost, you absolutely cannot expect to produce even remotely effective copy if you do not first fully understand who it is you are writing for. It’s a little like trying to sell when you do not understand what it is they want to buy. Understanding your audience means exploring and acknowledging their problems or demands, in order to determine how you intend to solve them. This must be conveyed comprehensively and convincingly in your copy – the better you understand their needs, the better equipped you will be to satisfy them.2 – Establish Your USPFantastic copywriting skills are nothing without something of a unique selling proposition that separates you from your competition. What this basically means is establishing a unique angle from which to approach both your copywriting and your target audience. Chances are that whatever it is you do, the environment you are in is extremely competitive. You need to establish exactly what you’re USP is and then ensure that each and every element of the copy you produce is in some way linked with it. Otherwise, you are essentially just sharing generic information of little value.3 – Focus On HeadlinesInvesting heavily in a piece of content only to then throw together a mediocre headline as something of an afterthought is an extremely common approach to copywriting. Unfortunately, it also represents an extremely harmful and potentially costly approach at the same time. The reason being that your headline is nothing less than the single most important determining factor, when it comes to whether or not your target audience members will read the rest of the content. If you do not focus intensively on creating compelling, engaging and attractive headlines, you are effectively wasting your time with the rest of the copy.4 – Polished PerfectionReaders of your own personal take on the rules of spelling and grammar, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that your audience may not respond kindly to mistakes. Even a single careless error in an otherwise flawless piece of writing can significantly dilute both the appeal and authority of everything you have written. Not only this, but repeat errors can and usually will have a detrimental effect on your overall reputation.5 – Use PersonalityAlways be aware of the fact that writing professionally does not in any way mean writing without personality. Quite to the contrary in fact, as when it comes to striking a chord with your target audience, you need to make every effort to ensure that they see you as one of their own. They need to be able to identify with you, understand that you are a real person rather than a robot and take something away from your copy that they would not be able to find elsewhere. Write in your own voice, using your own personality and experiences.6 – Know Your GoalIt’s also extremely important to establish exactly what it is you wish to achieve, before setting about writing any piece of copy. Whether it’s to improve sales, enhance customer engagement, share information about a new product or anything else across the board, you need to know what it is you intend to achieve in order to achieve it.7 – Know Your PlatformsIn a similar vein, you also need to take into account before getting started the specifics of the platform via which you intend your content to be accessed. Depending on the platform you choose, you may have to edit things like length, attached media, tone, voice and so on.8 – Follow TrendsLast but not least, the very last thing you want is for your target audience members to in any way get the impression that you yourself are falling behind on relevant issues. Which is exactly what will happen if you do not keep up today with the latest trends, thus rendering it impossible for you to write about what’s relevant and important to your target audience members right now. This means being willing to do your homework to the extent required to ensure you are always right on the cutting edge of your chosen industry.