100 Great Copywriting Ideas by Andy Maslen
by Stuart Clark
I really like Andy Maslen. Next to Drayton Bird he’s probably the man whose books I’ve learnt most about copywriting from. I’d recommend his first, Write to Sell to anyone, and do quite frequently in fact.
He’s just released two new ones, the first of which I’ve just finished. It’s part of a series called 100 great ideas. Andy’s contribution is called 100 Great Copywriting Ideas.
It’s not a book you should read from start to finish. As the dust jacket says it’s “more tapas or dim-sum than three course meal. You can start anywhere you like and pick and choose whatever takes your fancy.”
So that’s exactly what I’m going to do with this review. Rather than offer an overview of the book (it’s 100 ideas about copywriting, what more is there to say?), I’m simply going to share my favourite 5 ideas from it.
So here goes.
Idea #12: Subject lines
Are subject lines the most important element of your email copy? Possibly. They’re certainly what initially encourages your recipient to open the email, as opposed to trashing it. Andy’s tip for subject lines success is simple: put your hot words upfront and back them up with a benefit. Like this…
Stuart, Improve Your Copy With These Simple Ideas
In just the first two words I’ve included my recipient’s name and what the email will help them do: improve. How could they possibly resist?
Idea #31: Why I hate teams
Andy gets an email from an internet knowledge sharing network. The opening line reads:
We think we love you!
Now quite apart from the fact that this line just sounds wrong (it sounds as if they’re not sure), it doesn’t make sense. Righting in the collective isn’t personal enough.
When you write an email to someone you sign your name. So why do so many companies sign off their comunications, “The Customer Service Team,” “The Relationship Building Team,” The we-don’t-give-a-toss-about-you-team.” Because that’s just it. Writing in the collective is anonymous and unnaccountable, it says loud and clear: “we don’t care about you.”
If you want your marketing communications to be credible, sign them from a real person.
Idea#35: Tips for powerful emails
This tip follows on from the previous one.
When it comes to writing emails remember it’s a personal medium. So aim for a convesational tone of voice.
WRONG: We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for registering with us at www.effectivecopywriting.com
RIGHT: THanks for registering with us at www.effectivecopywriting.com.
Weed out any formal language too. Rather than “purchase” use “buy” – for most people, email is an informal medium. Treat it that way.
Also, give your readers lots of opportunity to act, don’t just wait until the end. They may not read that far.
Idea #57: Use storytelling techniques
Storytelling is part of what makes us human and it’s a great tool for copywriters. Andy suggests giving it a try when you’re writing the About Us section of your website and I completely agree. I’d add Corporate Brochures to this as well.
There’s nothing more tedious to read than “Boring Company has been a market leader in the Tedium industry since 1940. For over 60 years we’ve been supplying dreary mediocrity blah, blah, blah… you know the stuff.Far better to engage your clients using fiction techniques. Take your readers on a journey alongside the hero of the story: your client.
Idea#77: Watch your readability
You want to make your copy as easy to read as possible. There’s one way you can do this, using a nifty little tool on Microsoft Word.
It basically analyses the average number of syllables per word and the average words per sentence to calculate a percentage score. The higher the better. You’re looking for a score of about 60, that’s Plain English. Any lower and you run the risk of your customer not understanding what you are on about. And once that happens your communication is only going one place: the bin.
Keep your sentences short and your words even shorter. That’s all there is to it.
So there you have it. Like I say, this book is packed with great ideas on successful direct marketing copywriting and email marketing copywriting.
Give it a go.
Tags: Andy Maslen, Award-winning Copywriting, better copywriting, Copy, Copywriting, copywriting secrets, Digital Marketing Agency, Direct Marketing Agency, Email Subject Lines, Online Advertising Agency, Online Copywriting, Readability, sales letter copywriting, screwfix, Search Engine Marketing Agency, tone of voice
