COPYWRITING | UX WRITING | WRITING
“You Can’t be a Copywriter If You Don’t enjoy Copywriting” Is Bullshit
5 tips from a design agency’s chief UX copywriter
This was exactly the face I made when Muhammad Usman told me we had a website project that had almost 15 pages and each page had subheadings which needed to be written in the form of a copy instead of mere features.
That’s like 150+ pieces of copy!
Do you know what he said in return? Just two words …
I know.
That’s all he said and walked away. Which had me thinking: Had I been possessed when I decided to help him with his startup?
But that’s not the point of this blog so let’s get to the part where you don’t have to love copywriting to become a copywriter.
I know this for a fact! Because I used to hate copywriting 5 years ago.
And now I’m the Chief UX Copywriter at a design agency.
So, if I can do it, you definitely can!
But first … a question.
Would you rather skip to the tips or bond over a story before the tips?
Wait, don’t answer that. I’m not skipping to the tips because where’s the fun in that?
Writing 150+ pieces of copy for a single project
After my best friend and Creative Director turned his back on me, I knew who I had to turn to.
Google, of course!
But that wouldn’t be enough. I needed to come up with a plan, a process that would help me get through this torture!
I decided to do it this way:
- Make a list of all the features I needed to turn into copy.
- Gather inspiration.
- And then tackle one feature at a time.
During this time, I discovered a really interesting fact.
People don’t want to know what features your product has. They want to know what those features can do for them!
But more on that later because I am a huge nuisance and I love hanging people out to dry.
Just kidding, it’s one of the tips and I told you I’m not skipping to the tips just yet.
Speaking of tips, here’s one of my previous articles with some insights into my first 3 years of copywriting:
Anyways, back to the story.
The first step was a piece of cake
The client had already provided us with all the information we needed to proceed with the website.
All I had to do was research the services and products they were offering and compile a list. The only problem?
It was a tech company and I HATE writing about that!
Hey, I’ve got nothing against it but come on, you have to admit it’s kind of dry for someone like me who only likes makeup and skincare and books and dresses and art and food and dance and …
If this is your reaction to my last sentence, I don’t blame you. I admit that it’s too much for “only” but you get my point🤷
After compiling the list, it was time to gather inspiration.
I call this process: Staring at https://www.apple.com/ and procrastinating the shit out of my time!
This was the project where I learned more about copywriting than any of the courses I had taken. Which brings me to the first tip:
1. Don’t just research, DO!
Immediately after gathering information, I turned to YouTube and Skillshare to learn more about copywriting.
Big mistake!
Because the more I tried to learn about the skill, the less confident it made me feel. I
- procrastinated
- felt the imposter syndrome hit really hard
- wasted time
Fed up of this, I decided to actually start writing whatever came to my mind.
It’s just you, Romi. Nobody’s going to judge you. Get it out.
I wrote 70 versions for a single feature before I started feeling confident about my work.
2. You won’t get it right in the first try
Or the second. Or the tenth.
Oh and the first copy? You’re going to cringe after writing it!
It happens to me every time, even after being a copywriter for 5 years.
After I was a bit satisfied with what was coming out of my mind, I decided to get feedback on the first feature before jumping onto the next one.
I went to the CEO and presented him three of the versions I thought were the best.
Before the keyboard warriors start typing away about the CEO being too available and idle; we were still just a startup so there weren’t many people and he was overlooking everything himself.
But guess what? He liked none of the three!
Him: Do you have any other direction you explored?
Me: Yes, I did.
So, I mustered up the courage and presented all the 70 versions I had written. And he chose one from the first 30.
Which means you should never:
3. Discard any of the versions
Because I had come up with so many directions, I thought the last ones would naturally be the best because we evolve as we practice, right?
Wrong!
We’re unable to judge our own work because:
- Sometimes we get too attached to it.
- Or we don’t have confidence in the earlier work.
So it’s better to keep all the versions and get feedback from the authority or even a friend or colleague. If you don’t have anyone who can judge your work, just take a break and then come back to it with a fresh mind.
You will find that you are not that much attached to it now and can judge it with better clarity.
4. Present the benefits, not the features
Now let me tell you why the earlier version had been accepted.
I had been presenting the features in most of the sentences I wrote. But there had been a time when I had accidentally talked about what benefit the users will get and how the feature will help them.
That was the one to get accepted.
When I asked Muhammad Usman the reason for accepting it, he told me:
People need to know why they should buy your product and what’s in it for them. They want to be able to trust you, connect and relate with you before they can even think of buying from you!
This was one of the times when I actually took him seriously and listened to him.
I do that very rarely! 😂
But did learning that make the process of coming up with the copy for this project any less tiring?
NOT AT ALL!
5. Copywriting is actually fun!
I would never have said this if I hadn’t attempted to write the copy for this project. But let me tell you why it’s fun.
After the first feature was done, I knew I had to present the benefits, but I was only writing them in the form of sentences.
But then I decided to try something new. I went to rhyme zone and tried to come up with a copy that had two rhyming words. This was so much fun.
But because I get bored really easily, I decided to try something new. I went to Apple’s website and studied their copy. That was when I discovered “the indirect copy”.
And I decided to give it a shot.
You don’t have to be stuck. Even if the company’s tone is professional, you can still be indirect and make a mark in the reader’s mind.
There are going to be separate blogs on the topics of rhyming copy and indirect copy so stay tuned for that!
After this project, I realized that copywriting is not as bad as I thought! If you really want to learn it, you can because there are no hard and fast rules here.
Heck, you can even skip on the grammar if you like, as long as the copy is memorable and can sell!
Hi, I am Romi, the Chief Copywriter at a design agency in Pakistan. I am also a blogger and ghostwriter for a Top Writer on Medium. I have worked with various clients ranging from startups to large enterprises, creating enticing and persuasive copy that converts. I also create SEO-friendly, engaging articles with the help of story-telling.
If you like my work and would like to get copywriting, blogging or ghostwriting services, hit me up at: romirafiq505@gmail.com and we can discuss your business right away.
