7 Tips to Keep Your Copywriting Fresh in 2021

It’s heartening to see signs of the world recovering with a number of new vaccines on the horizon this year. The return to normalcy is finally within our reach. With the festive season officially over, and virtual offices getting back into full swing, it’s time to focus on creating another years’ worth of compelling content. Daunted? You shouldn’t be. Creativity is in high demand as the world’s economy starts to rebuild. Businesses will continue to ramp up their digital presence online and will need the help of professional copywriters.

The good news is 2021 is still yours to shape. So, we’ve collected a couple of our favourite tips from industry-leading experts in the content marketing sphere alongside our useful Wordwise blog guides, to help you keep your copy fresh and on point in 2021.

1.   The importance of a benefit-led, eye-catching headline

Mandy Glidewell, Director of Marketing at CentricsIT advises copywriters against creating clickbait headlines, “It's not just annoying—humans are psychologically hardwired to feel negatively about your brand when they experience cognitive dissonance in association with it. When you click a line of copy expecting something substantial, only to be disappointed, your brain associates that feeling of disappointment with whoever or whatever created that experience for you.”

Tom Treanor, Chief Marketing Officer of customer data platform, Treasure Data, agrees and also touches on the importance of writing that successful headline. “Focus on great headlines. Your copy can't get clicks (or sales) if it's not read. So, a headline that communicates the value of what's below and the key topic covered will help attract the right reader for your content and help drive sales.”

First impressions matter – and articles are no exception. Whether you’re creating an informative blog post, a long-form thought-leadership article, a concise press release, or a personalised email marketing campaign, the title should not only grab the reader’s attention but also lead them further down the yellow brick road to conversion. Eye-catching, clickable headlines featuring relevant keywords and character lengths that are suitable across different social channels will climb the ranks of Google’s Search Engine Result Pages (SERP), and ultimately help promote the visibility and reach of your piece. 

So, if you’re looking to find the sweet spot between enticing your customers and pleasing the Google Bots, click here.

2. Stop selling and start serving: be more authentic and empathetic in your messaging this year

Paige O’Neill, CMO at leading content management company, Sitecore, comments, “Is there any word that you have heard more during the pandemic than “empathy”? Everyone I talk to — industry analysts, fellow chief marketing officers (CMOs), copywriters, partners and customers — has empathy on their mind. That’s because brands are realising that in order to move forward into the next realm of customer experience, they need to be truly empathetic to their customers and seek to understand long before they seek to market or sell. And they know that empathy isn’t something that can be created or faked. Brands are recognising that they need to stand for a higher purpose than just selling.”

We believe that brands will continue to communicate how their company is helping to support local businesses and communities that are struggling during the pandemic, so empathetic marketing will be one of the key elements that copywriters should learn to weave into their marketing messages. Customers are looking for responsible brands and real, empathy-driven brand experiences that address customers’ needs and pain points, so they can relate with the brand on a humanistic level. Take a look at how three big brands used empathetic marketing in their content to win the hearts and minds of their consumers.

3. Above all else, make your copy personal

Melissa Kandel, Founder and CEO of Little Word Studio explains, “Personalisation is essential. If you're writing to land a new client or reach a targeted customer base, understand their specific needs and personalise your message accordingly. This shows not only that you're really listening to them but also that you're uniquely positioned to solve their exact problem or pain point.

Since the pandemic began, consumer preferences have shifted significantly, with customers becoming more cost-conscious than ever before. While it is true that many customers will gravitate toward lower costs brands, others will choose to purchase from brands they trust during times of uncertainty, as humans link trust to reliability. And one of the main ways of building and maintaining trust with customers is by personalising their brand experience.

However, customers don’t just want personalisation – they expect it at every touchpoint along the customer journey. To create copy that resonates with consumers in 2021, content marketers and copywriters need to look beyond mass email blasts and bombarding customers with nonstop offers, instead using customer analytics and audience segmenting to tailor their written content. Need more info on how to establish great relationships with your customers through copywriting? We’ve got a few suggestions.

4. Craft an irresistible offer through storytelling and big data insights

Matthew Stafford, Co-Founder of consulting company, Build Grow Scale explains, “The most important aspect of copywriting that drives sales is crafting an irresistible offer that converts. Contrary to what people think, top copywriters don’t get paid to write — they get paid to think. The words a copywriter carefully chooses are there to chauffeur their "big idea" to the market. If it lands on a highly targeted audience, it will likely result in a marketing breakthrough.”

Chief Marketing Officer of Roadster, Michelle Denogean, echoes Matthews point while emphasising the importance of customer data insights, commenting that storytelling in 2021 “is actually two things: data and customer stories. If you have data that shows why something works and how it will benefit the end customer, and you combine that with a case study, quoting someone just like the target customer seeing success, you have a winning formula.”

At Wordsmith, we believe that truly emotive storytelling has the power to lower customers anti-marketing defences because deep down we’re all hard-wired to be receptive to stories. However, this year, and for the foreseeable future, smart copywriters and content creators will start to combine their innovative storytelling techniques with customer data. As data science and business intelligence tools continue to advance, the best storytellers will continue to be drawn to the forefront of some of the world’s most memorable marketing campaigns. Not only does data-driven storytelling trigger emotional persuasiveness and boost engagement, but it also effectively skyrockets marketing ROI and helps to establish brand loyalty with consumers. If stories activate the emotional centres of the brain and data activates the logic centres, simultaneously activating both parts of the brain through data-led storytelling can lead to incredible results.

Take a look at 3 industry examples of how copywriters and content creators utilised big data to create some of the most memorable marketing campaigns to date here.

5. A little bit of humour goes a long way

Comedian and author of Humour that Works: The Missing Skill for Success and Happiness at Work, Andrew Tarvin explains, “Humour can help drive attention and break through the clutter. If you get a consumer to laugh, you get them to listen. If you get them to listen, you get them to learn, and ultimately act.”

Successfully infusing humour into marketing messages has the potential to break down customer barriers, make the brand more personable and demonstrate humanity. Humour has also been linked to building positive brand associations, and even increasing the likelihood of purchasing intent.  Whether it’s your local coffee shop’s zingers written on a sidewalk chalkboard, or that wacky Super Bowl ad that will be forever stuck in your subconscious mind, you can’t deny the lasting impact humour has on recall. But remember, proceed with caution. You may find there’s a very fine line between being amusing and down-right offensive. So, before you start trying to impersonate Jim Carrey in your next pithy email, why not take read our article on how to captivate audiences with humour, without becoming the butt of the joke.

6. Seal every piece of communication with a direct Call To Action (CTA)

Marisa Salcines, Chief Communications Strategist for Cielo Nuevo Communications highlights that after content creators and copywriters share their value proposition story, “it needs to be followed by a compelling and persuasive call to action, and close with a loop back to the opening snapshot/scene you have painted for them. Be wary of incorporating too many details, as this may unintentionally separate you from the audience you are targeting.”

In 2021, it’s more important than ever before to emphasise what action you want your customers to take from your interaction, whether that’s on email, through an article, a social media post or even the contact form on your website. It’s vital to keep those lines of communication open to encourage them further down the marketing funnel so that potential buyers and return customers keep your brand front of mind. The more value and relevance copywriters use on their “Call to Action” copy, the more dramatic effect it will have on their conversations, click through rates and potential sales.

At Wordsmith, we believe the “call to action” is your kicker in copywriting – it tells your readers exactly what you want them to do, so be as specific and as clear as possible! But why are they so effective? One of the most famous psychological studies in history, Stanley Milgram’s controversial obedience experiment, proved that people tend to obey instructions and calls to action when as asked to do something – even if they might not want to. To find out more about the psychology behind great copy, click here.

7. Let your content breathe

And the last piece of advice is another tip from Melissa Kandel, Founder and CEO of Little Word Studio, “Like a fine wine, good copy needs to air out before it's ready for your audience to taste. After you write something, switch tasks and forget about it. (Really!) When you come back to your copy a few hours or – if the deadline permits – a few days later, you'll be able to analyse its creative import with fresh eyes.”

Some of the world’s best writers go to extraordinary (and sometimes bizarre) lengths to get past creative blocks and procrastination hurdles to find their writing groove and create a literary masterpiece that converts their readers. While no two writers’ daily routines are the same, there are tried and tested methods backed by science that can help you craft some spell-binding content. So why not grab some inspiration from these 4 successful content creators for the perfect writer refresher course to start your year off on the right note? Who knows, the smallest change in habits can lead to remarkable copywriting results if you find the right strategy that works for you.

Although the barriers to entry are low in the copywriting world, seasoned veterans know it's a learned skill with its own required talent. As we welcome in the new year, some may stick to the same, dated tricks of the trade, but we believe that the most successful copywriters out there will be those that break away from the mould and flex their creative muscles so their copywriting continues to be fresh and on point, no matter what 2021 brings.