You Can’t Fudge Copy (Why a Copywriter is Worth the Investment)

One of the things we’ve talked about once or twice around here is the importance of great copy. It plays a critical role in attracting visitors to your website, helping prospects make a decision about your business, and supporting customers as they use your product or service. 

It’s kind of a big deal. 

But for something that’s such an important part of building and marketing your brand, few people actually understand the process of creating great content, or why they need a copywriter to do so. 

Today we’re giving you a peek behind the curtain to see exactly what a copywriter does, and why not all copywriters are created equal.

So, What’s a Copywriter for Anyway?

Copy makes up every aspect of your marketing. It’s on your website. It’s part of your social posts. It’s the foundation for blogs, emails, content offers, and white pages. It’s in your digital ads. There is not a single aspect of your brand that copy doesn’t touch. 

But it’s more than just random words on a page. Your copy has to be intentional and strategic. It has to be nuanced to fit each platform you use it on: copy for your website is going to take a different tone than copy for your social, which will be completely different than the copy you use for email. And all of these have to be written in a way that is grammatically correct and follows proper digital formatting. 

This means that copy isn’t something you can just punt. It requires specific knowledge and skill that not everyone has. 

This is where a copywriter comes in: she can help you take the knowledge and passion you have for your brand and your customer, and translate it into copy that compels website visitors to want to learn more about your company. 

A copywriter has to know how to get straight to the point for a headline or tag, but also how to educate and enlighten for a blog or a content offer. A copywriter has to write a subject line that will convince someone to open an email, and then hold their attention long enough that the reader follows their call to action. 

Basically, a good copywriter needs to be both an artist and a scientist. 

Art + Science: it Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Write

When most people think of a copywriter, it’s almost exactly in the same vein that they think of a creative writer. And while being a copywriter does involve creative writing at times, it is not the same thing as being a creative writer. 

Copywriting is just as much about science as it is about art. Take away the science, and your copy won’t convert. Take away the art, and your copy won’t compel. And if your copy can’t both compel and convert, it only serves to waste time and space.

This is the essence of what a copywriter does: continually dance across the line of both creativity and competence to craft copy that will grab your audience’s attention and earn their trust.

Wondering what the heck we mean? Let’s look at it in terms of your customer’s decision making cycle.

Intrigue and Inspire

You can’t write copy like you have all the time in the world for a visitor to decide they want to learn more about how your business can solve their problem. Know how long you actually have? Less than 10 seconds. In less time than it takes my kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance, your website visitors will decide whether they should stay or they should go. 

Your copy and design must pique their interest, and then inspire them to stick around and learn more. 

Educate and Enlighten

It’s not enough to convince your website visitors to stay, you have to actually enlighten them on how you can meet their needs. How well do you understand their exact problem, as well as the exact solution they require? 

If they’ve stayed on your site longer than 10 seconds, they obviously have some interest in trusting your company. Share what sets you apart and makes you more worthy of that trust.

Compel and Sell

Once you’ve educated your audience, it’s time to help them make a decision. It’s not beneficial for anyone to drag this process out. Your copy should compel your audience to either choose your business (this is the obvious goal) or decide that their solution lies elsewhere.

Think about some of the hires your business has made in the past: you’ve likely hired some applicants who seemed too good to be true, only to realize they definitely were not as good in real life as they seemed on paper. 

This is the last thing you want with your prospects. You want them to have no doubt your business is what they need, or you want them to move on quickly.  

We’d Like to Have a Word

We cannot emphasize this enough: great copy isn’t something you can fudge, make up, or leave to chance. It’s a skill, a profession. 

This means you will probably need to hire support to create copy that lives on your website, blogs, social, and more. You can hire a copywriter, work with a freelancer, or you could partner with Primitive.

We’ve spent the past decade working with hundreds of brands. Our copywriters are skilled in identifying what matters most to your customers and relentless in helping you balance the art and science required to create copy that converts.

But when you partner with Primitive, you don’t just get to work with our amazing copywriters. You also get to work with designers, developers, and strategists: our entire team of digital craftsmen who are dedicated to sharing your story and growing your business.

Ready to see what we can offer you?