The Language of Copywriting
Writing advertisements and content is more than a skill.
Copywriting techniques are important. These are concepts such as fulfilling the promise of the headline, converting features into benefits, leads, call to action, top of the fold, and direct response, just for a few examples.
Every copywriter needs to be strongly cognizant in these approaches.
However, these approaches are simply the techniques that you use. They don’t actually develop anything when used in an arbitrary way.
Ask yourself this question …
Does a software developer make software just based on the knowledge of how to use programming syntax? Or, does it have to be combined with an idea on what the software is supposed to do for the user?
There’s other things going on. User interface, design, concept, and who is going to use the software. This is why a lot of software companies use frameworks like Agile because they realize that making software is more than typing code. It’s continuous cycles of quality control.
While “learning to code” is essential to have the ability to make software, without creativity and understanding of the territory that you’re in, you’re not actually going to make any software. It’s like learning how to do math, with nothing to count.
Likewise, a lot of copywriters believe that good copy conforms to the idea that establishing attention is enough.
An attention-grabbing headline isn’t good enough. It has to be the right words, and to the right people. Sometimes, copywriters settle for attention instead of what is selling.
Like the headline of this article establishes, the approach to copywriting is simply the tip of the iceberg. Beneath that iceberg are a lot of interrelations of the world of business, marketing, and political, economic, social and technological factors (PEST). A copywriter should understand marketing, because copywriting is a subordinate profession within advertising, which is subordinate to marketing.
That is why you should really hire a copywriter who takes the time to understand your business world.
Copywriting is simply a language. It’s the language of business communication, and memorizing the language doesn’t make communication. Knowing what to say allows communication to be effective.
