Perfecting Your Marketing Copy: Common Mistakes Writers Make
Marketing writing isn’t the same as other types of writing – it must be simple but informative, compelling but clear, and niche but not too alienating. It should captivate your audience, but not overwhelm them with details, giving them just enough of a hook to take the next step in the consumer journey without putting them off.
Marketing writing has no one-size-fits-all formula for success because each brand is different, with its own identity, audience, goals, and tone. There are, however, common mistakes writers make that can impact the quality, style, and results of their work. Here, we’ll go over how to avoid common marketing writing pitfalls and still create clear, engaging copy for your audience, even on days when you’re experiencing writer’s block. Let’s dive in.
Mistake 1: Complex Writing
The quickest way to lose your audience is to make them work to understand what you’re saying. Marketing writing can be tricky because you need to educate your consumers on a problem you’re trying to solve while still keeping the information digestible, simple, and concise. While keeping your writing free of grammatical errors certainly helps accomplish this, it’s more about how you say it rather than what you say.
The first step in making your writing clearer is to cut down on any unnecessary fluff. Challenge yourself to trim out any content you don’t need to keep it as simple and short as you can make it – you’d be surprised at just how much of your writing you can eliminate without losing much of the core messaging. Start small, sentence by sentence, and ask yourself, “Do I really need this word or phrase to move my message forward?”
Another way to simplify your writing is to be extremely specific. Don’t assume your audience has any background on what you’re writing about. Keeping the content specific and direct, while also cutting out anything irrelevant, will help you make your point and sway users to take the next step in the consumer journey. It can help build confidence in your audience and convince them that your brand is the best option to solve their problem.
Mistake 2: No Storytelling
Marketing writing isn’t just about selling a product or service – it’s about telling a story. Much of marketing copy gets lost in the goal of selling without realizing that a compelling narrative is needed to tap into feeling and reach the emotional part of your audience. Like any good piece of writing, your marketing copy, no matter how short or long, should take the reader on a journey and detail the problem, how you solve it, and why they need to see it for themselves. Show them how their lives will improve by crafting a story around your brand and making them a key part of that narrative. They say the best writing shows and doesn’t just tell – this applies here.
Next time you start writing a piece of marketing copy, list out a mini-plot for your campaign. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve? How does your brand do it better than everyone else? Why does your audience need it? How will it improve their lives? Crafting characters and a narrative will help you bring your message to life and give it a human feel that will help your content stand out in the long run.
Mistake 3: No Editing
Marketing writing isn’t just something you finish and publish. More so than other types of writing, marketing copy should be reviewed for inconsistencies, grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, and any plot holes that make your readers lose faith in your knowledge and expertise. When creating a campaign with marketing copy, build enough time into your schedule for a first, second, and third draft. Something that initially sounds perfect might need revisions when you read it the next day, and it’s always better to give yourself the gift of more time rather than rushing through work to meet a deadline.
Looking at your own work with fresh eyes will help you simplify the writing, hone in on details where necessary, and make sure the narrative is easy to understand, compelling, and makes a strong case for your product or service. If you work on a team, consider introducing a peer review system for edits and collaboration to produce even stronger work product.
Conclusion
Marketing writing is an art in itself. You need to find the perfect balance between detail and simplicity, storytelling and action, and interest and information. While there is no one-size-fits-all standard for marketing copy, there are some common mistakes that marketing writers make in their messaging. Before you ship your next piece of writing, make sure it’s simple, concise, tells a story, and has been edited for grammar, inconsistencies, and clunky phrasing.
One of the best ways to build confidence in your audience is to show confidence in your writing – a strong tone and solid copy imply competence, character, and depth. Add it to your marketing toolbox and use it to your advantage.
