Copywriting – The Most Undervalued Skill in Marketing

Although most of us were raised in an environment where education was the priority, and writing a required skill, it doesn't always translate into effective copy writing.  Composing a well researched article is not the same as firing off an email and although we all have the ability to write, few of us have the ability to do so while being informative and entertaining. I’ve come into contact with countless agencies who have tried to outsource copywriting either for simple articles that will be syndicated for SEO purposes, or for blog posts that need to be of a high standard.

Every digital media agency should have an in-house copywriter, yet so few do. Many have copywriters and don’t even know it. It is likely your copywriter will also be an account manager or a web developer or one of your social media strategists. In print media this issue doesn’t exist because it’s an old industry, it’s been around for decades and due to the very nature of the industry good copywriting is heralded with the respect it deserves. But online marketing is still a relatively infantile world, still figuring out its morals and values.

Engaging copy is essential for marketing, it is the backbone of any successful campaign, on or offline. And trivial spelling or punctuation mistakes can not only overshadow a good campaign but can overtake it too, becoming the amusing focal point which quickly goes viral and turns the brand into a laughing stock. Not everyone can write engaging copy, it is a skill. It’s a skill that can be taught, true, but also a skill that must be practised, refined and implemented confidently, and unfortunately the majority of marketing agencies don’t seem to have the time for this sort of employee investment.

Those workers that have ten, twenty, thirty years experience in copywriting and are looking to branch out into online marketing are getting ignored due to an abundance of fledging search engine marketers and social media junkies who can cram a few keywords into a semi-literate sentence.
But the economic climate is also a contributing factor.  Both established and start-up marketing agencies have been and still are struggling over the last few years.  The recession has forced people to cut corners and save money where they can, so a skill such as copywriting - which everyone should be able to do anyway, is one of the first to get neglected.  Rather than pay more money on quality content, cheaper outgoing is a more attractive option.
These days copywriters need to work harder than ever to garner recognition. Producing dazzling content on time and on budget is no longer enough, we need to have a list of on and offline editorial contacts, we need to regularly contribute pieces to a range of different outlets, the more varied the material the better, and we need to save time to promote ourselves, our content and our expanding skill set.
Special thanks to our guest post contributor Zac Colbert. Zac Colbert is a writer wading through the SEO industry one debunked issue at a time, covering topics as diverse as sustainable living, online dating sites and music journalism.

How to Get ATTENTION

I want to start this post with a simple, yet profound question for you to ponder about your own business…

“What is the one thing and first thing you just do to get money in your business?”

The answers I hear when I ask this question from a live audience ranges from “Create a product” to “Make a sale.”

While these answers seem to make sense, the very first thing you must do in order to get money in your business is to GET THE ATTENTION OF YOUR TARGET MARKET.  It’s the critical first step to any marketing effort.

My mentor, Dan Kennedy, has this to say about this topic,

“It happens constantly and it is the hidden secret reason why so many marketing campaigns fall way short of their potential.  Not because the offer isn’t good or wouldn’t be welcomed by all the recipients; simply because many of the recipients never know about it because we fail to command their attention.”


Reread Dan’s statement.  It’s simple, yet profound.  Basically you can have the best product or service, yet if you are not getting the attention of your target market, you’re going to go broke.

Not too long ago I was visiting New York City.  While there, I strolled over to Times Square.  If you’ve ever been to Times Square you know it’s an overwhelming sensory experience.  There’s traffic noise, visual noise, people noise.  It’s a bombardment and if you stay there too long and your senses start to become numb.

Trying to market your product or services today is no different than standing in Times Square and yelling at the top of your lungs.  There’s no escape to all the marketing and advertising noise people face.  TV, radio, billboards, newspaper and magazines, direct mail, banner ads, pop-up ads, Google ads. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Your challenge is to cut through all the noise and clutter and create top-of-the-mind awareness with your target market.

Sadly… most marketing fails, because it is so “plain vanilla” and ordinary.  People are busy. They’re jaded, guarded, and skeptical. Some are cheap and down-right rude.

 Lots of folks have no time, no patience, and little interest in what you’re selling.  So how can you expect to get their attention by simply adding to the noise?

YOU GOTTA DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY!

One of the most effective techniques to grab the attention of your reader, either online or offline, is to use simulated handwritten notes and doodles.  In this day and age of computer-generated everything, the power of handwriting stands out.

You cannot help but see this technique used more and more.  It’s in the advertisements in your weekend paper; it’s on television commercials and in magazine ads. I’ve even seen it used effectively on book covers.  You are now starting to see its use on Web sites, blogs and squeeze pages.

The use of simulated handwriting goes back a long way in advertising, however, many copywriters and marketers give me credit for this most recent and widespread use of handwritten doodles with the creation of CopyDoodles®. 

As a matter of fact, marketing guru, Bill Glazer called CopyDoodles, “the biggest enhancement I have seen in the last 10 years for people that are writing copy for bumping the response and making the copy much more interesting.” 

Before CopyDoodles, the procedure to add handwritten doodles was both time-consuming and tedious.  Now you can add these powerful doodles to your marketing in mere seconds.

Over the years, my clients and I have done a number of split tests and across the boards the materials that contain handwritten notes and doodles always perform better than those without them.

Of course you have to know how and when to use them appropriately (just slapping a bunch of CopyDoodles on your materials without proper context can be counter-productive).

So why is simulated handwriting so effective?

Legendary direct marketer and author of Common Sense Direct Marketing, Drayton Bird, says, “The use of handwritten notes in the margins can add variety and interest to the eye and brain.”  Quite simply, the widespread use of computers, word processing and laser printers has created “homogenized marketing.” Meaning 95% of everything looks the same.  When you introduce a handwritten or hand-drawn element to the mix, it becomes very different in a simple, human-personality kind of way.

The effectiveness of a simple red handwritten note and doodle to a web page or direct mail piece can be huge and over time this type of copy cosmetic technique can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line.  Try it and see for yourself!

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Mike Capuzziis a marketing strategist, author, speaker and newsletter publisher.  Since 1998, he has been helping entrepreneurs and business owners improve their marketing and response rates.  He is the inventor of the wildly successful CopyDoodles, which allows anybody to quickly and easily add handwriting elements to their marketing.  For a FREE ebook on how to increase your marketing response and more information about CopyDoodles visit www.copydoodles.com.