Heard the word ‘copywriting’ but don’t know what it means? Or do you think that copywriting only applies to sales letters and you don’t need to bother with it? I’m about to show you why copywriting is important to everyone who is marketing online…
You may be confused about the term ‘copywriting’ and what exactly it means, let alone how to apply it. I’m about to show you a copywriting formula that is easy to remember…
Copywriting can be defined as the art of salesmanship in print though, these days, that can be equally applied to video, tweets, podcasts and even memes.
This is because copywriting, in its simplest form, is basically the use of persuasion to lead a prospect to become a buyer by the use of words. And, if you take that to its ultimate conclusion, you’ll realise that copywriting is an essential skill whenever or however you are creating a marketing message.
Whether you are creating a social media post or a promotional video or podcast; if the words you use are designed to grab people’s attention, pique their interest and lead towards a sale, you need to know this copywriting formula…
An Easy-to-remember Copywriting Formula
There are many formulae that advanced copywriters use, and each professional copywriter has their own technique that they’ve refined for their own use.
Thankfully you don’t have to worry about that. This is the basic Copywriting Formula that I use and is easy to remember thanks to its acronym AIDA.
AIDA stands for:
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
First of all, you have to grab the viewer’s or listener’s Attention.
It’s said that these days, you have but a few seconds to do this. As someone scrolls down a Facebook News Feed or a list of YouTube videos, their eyes glance over words and images so quickly that you need to capture their Attention fast.
You might do this by means of an arresting image or headline or both. Nowadays it’s quite common to have a provocative headline and sub-head around a video, or as part of the video thumbnail, in order to arrest the viewer’s eyes and rouse curiosity.
Having grabbed their Attention you now have to keep their Interest. This is where the words in the social media post or video or podcast, or the content on your linked blog post or sales letter, take the prospect’s curiosity towards deepening their fascination.
You should be providing enough information, and raising questions in their minds, so that they want to know more.
As they move deeper into finding out more about you, your product or the service you are promoting, gradually you turn that Interest into Desire. By showing them the solution to their problem you’ll help them realise that they really want what you have to offer.
And then it’s a simple matter of taking that Desire one stage further by providing a Call To Action. This might be as simple as a Buy Button or Add To Cart Button or you might end up promising them a bonus if they take Action today.
Everything leads to the Action
Most marketers get it wrong by concentrating all their efforts on getting the sale. They dive straight into giving out the salespage link or trying to force people to click the buy button without even considering the flow of AIDA.
It’s a bit like a guy entering a bar and asking the first woman he meets to marry him. It’s just not going to happen, is it? Yes, there’s a remote chance of him bringing this off maybe one time in a million, but why ruin the opportunities open to you?
However, imagine if the same guy starts up a conversation with a suitable girl, asks her out on a date, and builds a relationship that leads to liking, trusting and, eventually, loving each other. Then, when he pops the question, chances are she’ll say yes and buy his proposal.
It’s the same in marketing. Build the relationship with your prospect, using the AIDA formula, before you ever propose your opportunity, product or service.
Use the AIDA copywriting formula in all your marketing and you improve your chances of turning viewers into prospects and prospects into sales immeasurably.
Talk soon
