The Top Ten Epic Copywriting Fails. (AND HOW TO STEER WELL CLEAR OF THEM!).
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Not knowing who you’re talking to
This is one of the most common faux-pas of copywriting. If your words don’t appeal to your ideal customer, how can you expect them to be eager to buy from you? When creating any type of copy, think about the kind of person you’re aiming it at and try to write as though you’re talking to them. Who is your target audience? Tailor the language you use and make it more colloquial/formal/basic/ sophisticated/creative/technical/humorous/serious as appropriate.
- Boring and jargon-tastic content
Argh! Such a turn off. It’s a common mistake to assume a certain level of knowledge among every single person reading your copy. Depending on what it is of course, technically detailed language may be appropriate. But use your best judgment. If you’re creating web copy, blog posts, articles or social media broadcasts then writing exclusively in this way will alienate (not to mention bore the pants off ) many potential customers. Think about your copy as a conversation, and write as though you’re chatting to the person you’re targeting. Even when you do need to write about less-than-riveting subjects, you still have an opportunity to write in an engaging and entertaining way that will keep your readers reading.
- Not making it all about ‘you’
All too often content is littered with “we do this…” and “our products/services are…” or “we are qualified/insured for…” Big mistake! You should be talking to your potential customers about them. It’s essential to understand this fundamental aspect of buying psychology: people looking for products or services like yours are searching for a solution to a problem they have. They want someone to solve it for them and your job is to convey through your copy that you are the one to do it. So you need to show them you understand a little bit about them and their problem, and then tell them how you can help. And that’s why it’s so important to speak about “you” rather than “we”.
- Over-egging the features and forgetting the benefits
So much copy falls into the trap of reeling off the features of what you do and not giving the limelight to the benefits. This is really an extension of the previous point. Your copy must get over to your reader how working with you will benefit them (and help to solve that problem we were banging on about above!) Think about why your potential customer is looking for a product or service like yours. For example, when someone needs new glasses what they actually need is the ability to see the world more clearly. And when someone is looking for a new car, they want a way to travel from A to B in comfort and style. Let the detailed features take a back seat and think about what the major benefits are to your customers. Centre your copy around these things and your potential customers will be left in no doubt about how working with you will make a difference to them. Job’s a good’un!
- Too much (or too little) copy
Big blocks of text will overwhelm your visitors and a lack of information won’t likely be enough to compel them to take action, so the trick here is to strike a balance between getting your message across in a concise way (making it fun, engaging and informative) and including the right level of detail. You can easily test different sizes of copy and use Google Analytics to find out how long people stick around on the page for. If it tells you they leave after a few seconds and you currently have big chunks of copy they need to scroll through, you might want to rethink the way your copy is structured.
Want to see more fails? Get the complete Top 10 Epic Copywriting fails from our free download here.