The 10 Must-Have Copywriting Skills to Succeed

Copywriting is a remarkably creative skill and art, and not just a short-term job. As with any creative talent, it takes time and patience to get good at copywriting. 

It’s not enough to have the skill to write well. A lot of other skills are needed to be the best copywriting pro you can be. Throughout producing copy, a copywriter will work with many different tools that help with organizing ideas and strategies.

Want to work as a full-time freelance copywriter, or you just want to enhance copy for your business? This tutorial will provide you with all the skills you need to get your feet wet in copywriting. Let’s dive in!

What is Copywriting?

The craft of copywriting entails crafting persuasive prose to promote products or services. It’s a marketing strategy that aims to increase sales while giving your company a voice.

Copywriting’s primary goal is to encourage readers to perform a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service.

A few examples of how copywriting may be used include advertising, web pages, brochures, white papers, social media, and company taglines.

Copywriting is more than simply words. As a business, you can’t afford to have bad copy because your writing influences the reader’s decision-making process. You sell emotion and lifestyle through copywriting, not items or services.

The 10 Must-Have Copywriting Skills to Succeed

What, therefore, makes for excellent copy? You can use the elements listed below to analyze and improve your writing reflexively, even without doing so explicitly. 

You can recognize other people’s strengths and shortcomings, notice them when they occur, and turn them into gold. Best of all, these elements are all surprisingly simple.

Here are the ten most important things to concentrate on in copywriting:

1. Correct Grammar

Having flaws in your writing, such as grammatical or spelling mistakes, might detract from your overall objective.

This bad view is exacerbated when consumers detect a copy error, particularly in short-form material. A few-word misspelling on a landing page or sales email can have a significant impact. 

This means that you should not be tempted to hasten the process. Edit the text in an editing program. Pronounce the words aloud. Before going online, make sure to triple-check your work. If you feel the need, have another person proofread your work.

2. Persuasive Ability

Convincing writing enhances sales. An effective piece of writing will compel the reader to act on your instructions. Is there a compelling reason for someone to purchase your product? What’s in it for them if they join your email list?

When you sell luxury, you’re not selling timepieces. When you offer insurance, you’re selling protection. Decide on the emotions you want to evoke in the reader, and then craft your writing to elicit those emotions.

3. Avoid industry-specific jargon

Avoid using industry-specific jargon in your writing. The average person should understand what you have to say if you’re not a lawyer. As a doctor, make sure your text is understandable to non-medical audiences.

At all costs, avoid the use of slang and acronyms. Assuming that everyone knows what your acronyms stand for is a dangerous assumption, especially if it’s part of your company’s brand image.

A fifth-grader should comprehend what a great copywriter is trying to say when they take a complex subject and simplify it for their audience.

4. A clear and compelling call to action

It’s just half the battle to explain your brand, products, services, or company’s objective. It’s also important to offer your audience a clear path to follow after your presentation.

What do you hope to accomplish with your copy? The reader should be able to understand it.

You need to communicate clearly if you want people to buy your product or service. People should not be left in a state of uncertainty as to what they should do next. Create compelling call-to-actions (CTAs).

5. SEO Friendly

This component is unique to webpage copy.

Writing text that makes your material searchable is always in your best interest. Utilize keywords that will help your pages rank highly in search engine results.

Keywords are only one component of high-ranking content; there are many others. While SEO-friendly material is vital, it will not inevitably determine your success or failure. Don’t shoehorn keywords into your writing if it detracts from its quality.

6. “Don’t beat about the bush”

Copy that gets right to the point is always the best. Make sure your message is apparent in the fewest words feasible. Avoid using “fluff” or “filler” terminology in your writing.

Learn the art of writing copy that grabs the reader’s attention immediately. Your readers may get confused or lost if you employ extended sentences.

7. First Impressions Matter

First impressions are everything in copywriting. You must grab the reader’s attention with a headline, subheader, subject line, or introduction phrase.

Use action phrases as a way to attract the reader’s attention. Start with a compelling statistic, number, or fact to get your audience interested.

An old copywriting cliché states that the goal of a headline is to get someone to read the first sentence of your article. People are more likely to read your second line if they’ve already read your first, and so on. The rest of your material won’t have a chance if your lead doesn’t enthrall your viewers.

8. Be Channel Specific

Copy you write for one marketing channel may not be appropriate for another. The copy on a landing page and the copy on a billboard should be distinct. Copy in emails and social media posts should be separate.

If you’re promoting a single product or campaign, you must tailor your message to each distribution channel.

If you’re writing for a specific channel, you’ll need to adjust your tone, style, length, and delivery. The deeper down the sales funnel you go, the longer your copy will be on average.

As a general rule, this is true in most situations, even if there are exceptions. A few phrases will suffice for a billboard designed to raise awareness of a brand. The copy on your homepage will be shorter than on your internal landing pages. The copy on an item’s page will likely be more detailed than on a landing page.

Unlike product sites and landing pages, email copy has a distinct tone.

So, think about it first instead of writing a copy without considering how it will be used. Always be aware of the audience you’re writing for and make adjustments as necessary.

9. Audience Sensitivity

In addition to the means of dissemination, you must clearly grasp who will read your copy.

A visitor to your webpage may be unfamiliar with your brand, whereas an email subscriber is. So you don’t have to introduce yourself and reveal your brand’s history in each email campaign. That would be a waste of time and effort, and the repetition can soon lose your audience’s interest.

Create content that appeals to your particular niche. Avoid attempting to target everyone. A company that sells surfboards and skateboards does not target the same demographic as a B2B enterprise SaaS vendor. Recognize the difference.

10. Understanding of the Product or Service

Inexperienced copywriters are often tempted to go right into the writing process. The product, service, brand, or deal you’re writing about should be thoroughly understood before you begin writing.

Assume you’re a freelancer hired to write material for a company’s landing page. The amount of time it will take to write anything depends on the complexity of the offer.

It’s impossible to explain an offer to someone else if you don’t comprehend it.

To Wrap Up

Copywriting skills is all about craft, which means you have to understand the do’s and don’ts of commercial writing.

You should learn shorter copies as a novice before tackling more significant tasks. Before moving on to landing pages or white papers, begin with headlines and value propositions.

As with any other skill, practice is the most excellent method to enhance your copy immediately. Not every piece of copy you write will be the best. However, with practice, you will become much better.