copywriting for non-copywriters
Post on 14-May-2015
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Welcome to
Copywriting fornon-copywriters
Alan Barker
I GAVE THIS SESSION AT THIS CONFERENCE:
I RUN THIS CONSULTANCY:
www.kairostraining.co.uk
... AND I WRITE BOOKS.
I’M ASSUMING THAT YOU’RE NOT A COPYWRITER. MAYBE YOU WRITE:
... REPORTS, EMAILS, LETTERS –
THE KIND OF WRITING I CALL
FUNCTIONAL
IT’S A BIT LIKE THE KIND OF WRITING WE WERE TAUGHT AT
SCHOOL.
NEWSLETTERS, MARKETING EMAILS,BROCHURES, LEAFLETS, BLOG POSTINGS- AND EVEN TWEETS AND TEXTS
BUT MAYBE YOU’RE FINDING
YOURSELF WRITING MORE
AND MORE :
... THE KIND OF WRITING THAT’S OFTEN
CALLED:
COPYWRITING
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
I LOOKED AT SOME OF THE GUIDES TO COPYWRITING, AND THEY SAID STUFF LIKE...
Copywriting: received wisdom emotions.
Show definite benefits, and start at once.
Tap the primal emotions.
... AND...
Copywriting: received wisdom #2
gets attention focuses on the target reader stresses benefits differentiates your organisation from
others proves its case establishes credibility and conviction builds value closes with a call to actionALL VERY GOOD, BUT -
HOW DO YOU
ACTUALLY DO
THIS KIND OF
WRITING?
LET’S THINK ABOUT THREE KEY VARIABLES...3
Three variables
functional copy
committed
reader contract
uncommitted
FIRST: THE CONTRACT THE READER MAKES
WITH YOU.
Three variables
functional copy
committed
reader contract
uncommitted
FUNCTIONAL: THE READER WANTS TO
READ
COPY: WE HAVE TO ATTRACT THE
READER’S ATTENTION
committed
reader contract
uncommitted
purposeinform perform
Three variables
functional copy
SO THE PURPOSE OF THE WRITING
DIFFERS...
committed
reader contract
uncommitted
purposeinform perform
styletext voice
Three variables
functional copy
.. AND THE STYLE WILL BE
DIFFERENT, TOO.
style
text voice
THE WORD ‘TEXT’ IS RELATED TO
THE WORD ‘TEXTILE’...
style
text voice
FUNCTIONAL STYLE IS ‘WOVEN’ INTO
COMPLEX PATTERNS...
THE WORD ‘TEXT’ IS RELATED TO
THE WORD ‘TEXTILE’...
Once final decisions are made about the available funding for 2011/12, this strategy will also need to involve making difficult decisions about the level and allocation of money raised from council taxpayers and the Mayor’s revised priorities across the GLA group.
LIKE THIS:
style
text voice
... AND COPYWRITING FOLLOWS THE RHYTHMS AND PATTERNS OF
SPEECH...
Here’s some advice for companies in search of a better bottom line: Send your workers home early.
Sound silly? It certainly does to most executives.
... LIKE THIS!
Three dimensions of copywriting
Sense
Sound
Structure
THIS PRINCIPLE PLAYS OUT IN THREE DIMENSIONS...
Three dimensions of copywriting
Sense
Sound
Structure
THIS PRINCIPLE PLAYS OUT IN THREE DIMENSIONS...
... AND I’VE GOT THREE SUGGESTIONS FOR
EACH...
Three dimensions of copywriting
Sense
Sound
Structure
AND THE FIRST DIMENSION IS:
Sense
Be clear
Be memorable
Use the senses: literally or metaphorically
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES -
Monkey visits German pizzeria, vandalises toilet
A PRETTY CLEAR
HEADLINE!
Sense: be clear
Sense: be clear
IF YOU’RE BOB THE
BUILDER – SAY SO.
Sense: be memorable
YOU CAN EVEN DRAW ATTENTION
TO HOW CLEAR YOU’RE BEING...
Sense: be memorable
YOU CAN
EVEN DRAW ATTENTION
TO HOW CLEAR YOU’RE BEING...
...IN FACT, THIS TAGLINE HAS BECOME
SO MEMORABLE, IT’S NOW LIKE A PROVERB.
Sense: be memorable
PROVERBS ARE INTERESTING.
Sense: be memorable
THEIR MEANING IS ‘OPEN’...
Sense: be memorable
...WE HAVE TO ADD SOMETHING FROM OUR OWN EXPERIENCE TO
MAKE SENSE OF THEM.
Sense: be memorable
NOBODY IS THE ‘AUTHOR’ OF A PROVERB;
PROVERBS BELONG TO ALL OF US.
Sense: be memorable
GREAT THINKERS CAN CREATE NEW
PROVERBS...
Sense: be memorable
... AND SO CAN GREAT COPYWRITERS.
Sense: use the senses (literally)
ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE OUR WRITING MEMORABLE IS TO APPEAL TO THE
SENSES...
Sense: use the senses (literally)
FROM TASTE TO SOUND...
Sense: use the senses (literally)
IN THIS EARLIER VERSION, THE COPYWRITER
HAD TO TELL US WHAT TO DO!
WE CAN FIND
OTHER EXAMPLES OF THESE
EFFECTS IN SIX-WORD STORIES...
...OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
FLASH FICTION...
Sense: use the senses (literally or metaphorically)
Window box, modest lawn, wildflower meadow.
HERE’S A SIX-WORD STORY THAT USES
THE SENSES REALLY WELL...
www.smithmag.net
(LOTS MORE SIX-
WORD STORIES HERE.)
Sense: use the senses (metaphorically)
METAPHOR IS A GOOD WAY OF
CONVEYING AN IDEA BY USING THE
SENSES...
Sense: use the senses (metaphorically)
AND WE CAN PLAY WITH
METAPHORS BY MAKING
THEM LITERAL.
Sound
Keep it simple
Give it rhythm
Play with patterns
THIS IS THE SECOND
DIMENSION OF COPYWRITING...
Sound: keep it simple
A BRILLIANTLY
SIMPLE BRAND NAME...
Sound: keep it simple
A BRILLIANTLY SIMPLE BRAND
NAME...
... REGULAR ALTERNATION
OF CONSONANTS AND VOWELS.
Sound: keep it simple
THIS COMBINATION OF VOWELS SEEMS TO
BE PROBLEMATIC...
Sound: keep it simple
WHEN SONIC SIMPLICITY WORKS, IT REALLY FLIES...
Sound: keep it simple... AND WHEN IT DOESN’T
WORK...WHO REMEMBERS IT?
Sound: keep it simple(and give it rhythm)
THE SIMPLICITY (AND DOUBLE MEANINGS) MAKE THIS SLOGAN SO MEMORABLE...
Sound: keep it simple(and give it rhythm)
... THAT IT’S BEEN STOLEN FOR ANOTHER CAMPAIGN!
Sound: give it rhythm
WHY NOT ‘PEPPER
AND SALT’?
Sound: give it rhythm
WHY NOT
‘PEPPER AND
SALT’?BECAUSE
WE PREFER
REGULAR RHYTHM.
Sound: give it rhythm
WHY NOT
‘PEPPER AND
SALT’? BECAUSE WE PREFER REGULAR RHYTHM.
STRONG – WEAK – STRONG - WEAK
Sound: give it rhythm
THE SAME EFFECT CROPS
UP IN ALL SORTS OF
PLACES – EVEN GREAT
LITERATURE...
Sound: playing with rhythmic patterns
... AND WE CAN PLAY WITH
THESE EFFECTS TOO, JUST AS WE CAN PLAY WITH
SENSE AND METAPHOR...
/troch/ ee/
iamb trochee
RHYTHM IS ALL ABOUT ALTERNATING STRONG AND WEAK STRESSES...
Sound: playing with rhythmic patterns
Sound: playing with rhythmic patterns
APPARENTLY, MANY ‘FEMININE’ BRANDS HAVE
IAMBIC NAMES...
APPARENTLY, MANY ‘FEMININE’ BRANDS HAVE
IAMBIC NAMES...
Sound: playing with rhythmic patterns
... AND MANY ‘MASCULINE’ BRANDS
ARE TROCHAIC... APPARENTLY...
Sound: play with patterns
WE CAN ALSO PLAY WITH
VOWEL SOUNDS (IT’S CALLED
ASSONANCE...)
Sound: play with patterns
...AND CONSONANT
SOUNDS (WHICH IS
ALLITERATION)
Sound: play with patterns
OR BOTH!
Sound: play with patterns
Pickles, pregnancy, puking, pain, premature. Priceless.
HERE’S A LOVELY
ALLITERATIVE SIX-WORD
STORY.
Structure
Inform or perform
Shape your sentences
Be unusual
INTO THE THIRD DIMENSION...
Structure: inform
A VERY EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONAL
STRUCTURE ISTHE PYRAMID:
Structure: inform
Say it first, then
support it.
... LIKE THIS.
BUT PYRAMIDS SIT STILL; THEY DON’T PERFORM...
A written agenda acts as:
a plan of the meeting;an objective control of the meeting;
anda measure of the meeting's
success.
Structure: perform
For sale: baby shoes, never used.
...LIKE THIS DOES!
Structure: perform
Every sentence takes you on a little journey somewhere.
[Susan Bernovsky]
Structure: perform
In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
And the earth was void and empty,and darkness was on the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the
waters.And God said …
WRITING THAT PERFORMS OFTEN MAKES STRUCTURES BY
ADDING...
Structure: perform
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE FROM A
(RATHER OLD) AD...
Structure: shape your sentencesOne day you’re in, the next day
you’re out.
THIS SHAPE – CREATING A
CONTRAST – IS CALLED
ANTITHESIS.
Summarise: shape your sentences
My fellow citizens: I stand here today...humbled by the task before us;
grateful for the trust you have bestowed;mindful of the sacrifices borne by our
ancestors.
AND THIS...
...IS CALLED A TRICOLON: A SET OF THREE
(HUMBLED...GRATEFUL...MINDFUL)
My fellow citizens: I stand here today...
humbled by the task before us;
grateful for the trust you have bestowed;
mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
...MUCH USED BY THIS MAN:
My fellow citizens: I stand here today...
humbled by the task before us;
grateful for the trust you have bestowed;
mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE WRITING ON THE NEXT
SLIDE. HOW WELL STRUCTURED IS IT?
Structure: shape your sentencesSo what is it that has made this festival
the gem that it clearly is? I think the answer is quite simple. Great music played by some of the most wonderful musicians, surroundings which offer the audience the opportunity to feel directly involved in the experience, while at the same time giving the performers the chance to be inspired and energised by the intense concentration of those listening.
Structure: shape your sentencesSo what is it that has made this festival
the gem that it clearly is? I think the answer is quite simple. Great music played by some of the most wonderful musicians, surroundings which offer the audience the opportunity to feel directly involved in the experience, while at the same time giving the performers the chance to be inspired and energised by the intense concentration of those listening.
IT STARTS WELL: A GOOD RHETORICAL QUESTION AND
A SIMPLE STATEMENT.
BUT THEN IT GETS HORRIBLY LOST...
Structure: shape your sentencesSo what is it that has made this festival
the gem that it clearly is? I think the answer is quite simple. Great music played by some of the most wonderful musicians, surroundings which offer the audience the opportunity to feel directly involved in the experience, while at the same time giving the performers the chance to be inspired and energised by the intense concentration of those listening.
AND THE GRAMMAR GOES WRONG.
Structure: be unusual
WE CAN PLAY WITH
GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES,
TOO...
Structure: be unusual
(IT SHOULD BE
‘DIFFERENTLY’
OF COURSE...)
Bald. Unreliable. Easily distracte
HERE’S A FUNNY SIX-WORD STORY THAT PLAYS WITH
SPELLING ...
Structure: be unusual
... COPYWRITING OFTEN PLAYS FAST AND LOOSE
WITH GRAMMAR.
Structure: be unusual
(WHICH FUNCTIONAL WRITING SHOULD NEVER
DO!)
Structure: be unusual
BUT IT HAS TO LOOK DELIBERATE – NOT LIKE A
SIMPLE MISTAKE.
Structure: be unusual
I CAN’T HELP THINKING THAT THIS NEXT
EXAMPLE IS ACTUALLY A MISTAKE -
Structure: be unusual
Structure: be unusual
Structure: be unusual
THERE SHOULD BE AN APOSTROPHE:
FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE
FOR ME, THIS IS ONE OF THE MURKIEST ASPECTS
OF COPYWRITING:
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BE
GRAMMATICALLY ‘CORRECT’?
TRICKY!
MEANWHILE, HERE’S A SUMMARY OF ALL MY
SUGGESTIONS:
Three dimensions of copywriting
Sense Be clear Be memorable Use the senses,
literally or metaphorically
Sound Keep it simple Give it rhythm Play with
patterns
Structure Inform or
perform Shape your
sentences Be unusual
BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com
Alan Barker
www.kairostraining.co.uk
Copywriting fornon-copywriters
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