With how powerful and convenient AI logic has become, it’s no surprise that people are starting to turn to AI for writing tips. In fact, LinkedIn recently made a post with the help of AI and community members on ways to show more initiative in writing. How accurate are these tips and do they hold up to the standards of professional copywriters? Join Wordsmith and let’s take a closer look at how our AI companions think!
Identify a gap
“One way to show initiative through your writing is to identify a gap in the existing knowledge, information, or resources that you or your audience need. This could be a question, a challenge, a problem, or an opportunity that has not been addressed or explored before.”
Although this tip isn’t groundbreaking, it is sound advice. In business, you can either be reactive or proactive:
· A reactive business waits until consumers voice their opinions and problems before acting
· A proactive business seeks out opinions and problems from their consumers
Neither option is bad, but being proactive does have its perks. For one, it does indeed demonstrate initiative – as audiences who feel like a brand is attentive to their needs is more likely to develop stronger brand loyalty. Furthermore, being proactive means that issues get identified earlier. It’s like going to the doctor for a regular check-up… it’s mildly inconvenient, but any potential cancerous growths can get treated and/or culled before it spreads.
The same logic applies in marketing. When consumers are frustrated (e.g. facing troubles in life, experiencing a faulty wheel from a suitcase they just bought etc), they won’t hesitate to voice their concerns on social media. Should enough people feel the same way, the situation may turn viral and become an even bigger deal. At that point, anyone responsible for damage control would’ve wished the brand was more proactive!
Of course, we can also think about proactiveness from a more positive angle. Let’s use FAQs (frequently asked questions) as an example. Many businesses provide accompanying FAQs whenever a new product or service is released. By anticipating and offering solutions to problems that consumers may encounter, we create two benefits:
· We can reduce pressure for customer support teams (especially if multiple people require help on the same issues)
· Letting the consumer fix things empowers them and makes them feel good about themselves – therefore, they’ll begin associating such emotions with our brand
Do your research
“Research means finding, evaluating and synthesising relevant and reliable sources of information that support your main point, argument or solution… you show that you thorough, diligent and credible... evidence and examples make your writing more convincing and persuasive.”
Another obvious point, as not doing your research prior to committing to a project could potentially waste your time and effort. As LinkedIn community member Tamara Gabbard points out, the AI should’ve ranked this point above identifying a gap – the process of researching could also help you to identify gaps!
With how easy it has become for people to gather information and factcheck, you should always assume that both consumers and competitors will challenge the claims you make. By demonstrating that you have done authentic research, it’ll also raise your trustworthiness in addition to initiative.
Use your voice
“Voice means expressing your personality, tone, and style through your word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation.”
Everyone has a unique voice. Be it in spoken dialect or in writing, no two people are identical. That said, you also need to be able to tell when it’s okay to use your personal voice and when you should change it up.
For example, if you have a habit of writing informally (using slangs, internet jargon, emojis etc) and did the same for a client in high-end fashion, you’d definitely raise a few eyebrows… and probably not in a good way.
If you are writing for yourself (such as a personal or company blog), then it’s fine to use your own voice. However, if you are a copywriter working on behalf of another business or client, then you should always confirm what sort of voice and tonality they are looking for first!
Offer value
“Value means providing useful, relevant, and actionable information, insights, or recommendations that benefit your audience… you also make your writing more impactful and influential.”
This tip is an extension of the gap that you’ve identified. Ultimately, the purpose of copywriting is to get a point across to the audience, be it news regarding a sale, information about a new trend, a solution to their troubles or even your opinion regarding a topic! If your writing doesn’t serve a purpose, then your readers won’t find the motivation to read through your work.
That said, we also know that commercial copywriting is… well, commercial. It’s rarely done out of the kindness of our hearts. We want something from our readers and our “solutions” are an elaborate transaction to get them to react a certain way (such as subscribing, enquiring further, leaving a strong imprint etc) – by offering them value and tactfully tacking on a call-to-action, we (hopefully) get what we want in return!
Seek feedback
“Feedback means asking for and receiving constructive comments, suggestions, or critiques from others who can help you improve your writing. By seeking feedback, you show that you are humble, open-minded, and eager to grow. You also make your writing more accurate and effective.”
Being open to critique is an essential aspect of improving at any job. In copywriting, feedback can come from all angles – co-workers, clients and even readers won’t hesitate to tell you their opinions. Although not everyone may be polite about it, you need to understand that very people do so out of pure malice or spite for your work. It’s important to not let your pride get in the way and realise that your work was probably not up to snuff (assuming their comments are legitimate).
Furthermore, some people are just inherently bad at giving actionable criticisms – some clients in particular are notorious for just saying “I don’t like it” without providing any further explanation. It’s definitely frustrating when this happens, but being a good copywriter is also about working with others. This means you need to put aside your frustrations and talk with the client to get them to better express themselves. Here are some things you can ask to (respectfully) pry into their thoughts:
· What did you specifically like and dislike about it? Being able to narrow down a problem is a more efficient use of time than having to scrap and rewrite from scratch.
· Can you give an example of something you do like? It can be an advert from a competitor, a blurb from social media or even non-industry related content such as a tagline for a brand of juice seen on the subway etc. (this is an important question to gauge their preferences, then extracting and applying to your content)
Keep improving
“Improving means revising, editing, and polishing your writing until it meets your goals and expectations. By improving, you show that you are persistent, meticulous, and quality-oriented.”
Practise makes perfect and it’s no different in copywriting. Although you should be proud of your work, know that there will always be elements that can be improved – maybe not now, but you’ll often be able to spot weaknesses when you look back at your previous works – which is why feedback receptiveness is essential to becoming a better writer. It’s a process that is physically and emotionally draining, especially if you get slapped with revision after revision, but it’s a journey that will demonstrate your perseverance and skill.
Aside from taking in feedback, what other ways are there to improve? Here are some things you can do:
· Read everything you can – you don’t need to be an expert on everything, but reading material outside of your usual work/life introduces you to new writing styles, techniques and content (e.g. fashion writing is a completely different world from technical writing)
· Create a collection of interesting pieces you come across and mark down what you liked about it – it can be on the content direction, the way a tagline was phrased, or even how the author structured their argument – use this collection as inspiration the next time you feel stuck
AI did a good job compiling this list, and while it does feel like most of these tips are common sense, you’d be surprised how many people try (and fail) to brute force their writing until it improves. Sure, it shows dedication and initiative – but it’s inefficient and not always going to work. What do you think about the AI’s directions and do you think they are practical? Let us know below!