Become a wordsmith. 10 Tips for Writing Great Copy
Words are incredibly powerful. They generate emotion. They compel an audience to act. They can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Differentiate a product. They seep into our subconcios. And can change behaviours.
Great copy can’t be outsourced to a machine. It is a deeply human practice. This has long been understood by the greatest wordsmiths of our time, especially in advertising and marketing. David Ogilvy, Joseph Sugerman and Rory Sutherland are leading communicators I have studied endlessly in my quest to become a better writer. This has been important for me personally as I stopped studying English in year 10, to focus on other studies such as in my graduate years. This hurt me. I had to relearn the art of writing and communication.
What I have learnt is that great copy is a skill that can be applied by anyone. To do this the writer must understand that to write good copy it must align to human emotions and behaviours. Once the writer understands this they become influential to an audience. Through words and their association with the reader's mind, the writer can pull in audience in and take them on a journey. Most of this will happen subconsciously. The reader won’t even realise it’s happening.
This article aims to break down the ways in which great copy is designed and used in advertising, marketing and branding. My favourite is the last one!
