What Makes World-Class Business Copy?
Is it getting harder to reach our target audiences? Here’s a few arguments going around:
People can’t focus! ADHD is running rampant! Our attention spans are shorter!
I respectfully disagree, albeit for merely technical reasons.
What if the attention spans are as they always have been, we just have exponentially more competition for them? Let’s take filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
If you don’t know him, you’ve likely seen one of his movies. Spanning various Batman iterations, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk (among others), his films have grossed $5 billion worldwide. In other words, the guy is a titan of his industry.
If our attention spans have genuinely shortened, would these films - and their runtimes - have achieved such enormous success?
Dunkirk - 1 hour 46 minutes
Memento - 1 hour 53 minutes
Insomnia - 1 hour 58 minutes
The Prestige - 2 hours 10 minutes
Batman Begins - 2 hours 20 minutes
Inception - 2 hours 28 minutes
Tenet - 2 hours 30 minutes
The Dark Knight - 2 hours 32 minutes
The Dark Knight Rises - 2 hours 44 minutes
Interstellar - 2 hours 49 minutes
I posit that it’s not our attention spans, it’s all that is in dogged pursuit of them. This is why great copy must, for whatever reason, stop people. In their tracks, out of their train of thought, and into your subject line.
This strategy, which I’ll call “stopping power”, is the most difficult to precisely define of any of the ones that are about to follow it. It’s difficult to narrow down and describe because there can be a million ways to make someone stop. Some of them may not even have any immediate relevance to your product or service. But even if something irrelevant to you grabs the reader, be sure to guide their focus to what you offer as soon as possible.
One hack? Imagery is often quicker in gripping people, so depending on the platform/avenue, a great image with a great header is as good a 1-2 punch as you’ll get.
Now that we’ve established the high-level importance of stopping power in your business copy, let’s explore three other definitive traits:
Search Engine Optimization
Tricky? You bet. Ever-changing? Mmhmm. Flat-out boring? Perhaps, if you lack a passion for puzzles and competition.
Necessary? That would be the understatement of the year.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is probably the most vital aspect of web-based copy, but before getting into why, let’s establish (or re-establish if you’re loosely familiar) what it actually is. Our friends at Hubspot relay that SEO “Refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This makes your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that your brand, product, or service can provide via search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.”
Phone books and classifieds are dinosaurs. The world isn’t trending digital, it is digital. And do we think we’re going backward any time soon?
SEO is imperative because it doesn’t matter how compelling your website aesthetic is, or how spellbinding your copy is. Heck, it doesn’t even matter how superior your business or product is - if people don’t know about it, your sales suffer. And the way people know, is through search. Even if they first hear about your company through radio or another medium, guess what they are almost certain to do after? Head straight to the Google machine.
Your copy must be keyword-rich, particularly your page title and headers. If you provide the words searchers are looking for, they will be more likely to provide you their hard-earned money.
Brevity (Economy of Words)
Because there is more competition for our time, it’s up to creators to use said time as efficiently as possible. Here are some key ways to practice brevity in your copy:
Simplify sentences.
Ensure any technical language/industry jargon is wholly necessary.
After seeing your first draft’s word count, dare yourself to trim it by 10%. You’ll be shocked at your ability to do it
Be creative. Just never at the expense of relevance.
In regards to technical language, the kicker is that if it is necessary, follow through and define what’s needed as simply as possible (thus saving time for your reader who’d otherwise have to do it themselves).
As for the fourth item on that list, there can even be too much relevance. If you’re angling to promote something - say, a remote radio show broadcast you’re sponsoring, or a holiday sale - be careful to not repeat it too often, as reader’s patience will wear thin. Just think about those stores you’ve been in when 4-5 associates come to you asking how they can help you.
Purpose
The purpose of copy includes, but is not limited to, a call to action. Maybe it’s to educate. Particularly on social media, maybe it’s just to serve up a good laugh.
Whatever the purpose, all roads need to be it, and always lead to it. It is awfully tempting for us humans to veer off in writing, often to talk about ourselves.
The problem is that we humans are just as tempted to veer our attention off when other people do it (and that applies to writing and conversation alike).
Stick to the message and purpose. Be creative, but ensure all metaphors, stories, and so on reflect on what the underlying goal of the copy is.
The Best Web Copy Examples? Iliad Media Group’s Portfolio
Though our company roots reside in radio, we’ve successfully branched out into a multimedia powerhouse. Utilizing keyword- and SEO-rich copy that makes customers eager to buy through the power of storytelling, we’ve helped dozens of local businesses in the Treasure Valley have their best sales year in their history.
Want to join the club? It’s easy. Just as easy as it will be collaborating with our smart, fun, and caring creative team. Let’s chat, and while we develop a plan for your web presence, get you one free week of radio advertising.
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