Are You A Boss, A Wannabee, A Family Type Or Nerd?

Alchemweb first asks you for the profiles of your customers, and can assist you in drawing up those profiles. Customers are commonly divided into four types - those who are success-driven and power-orientated, those who are sociable, impulsive and want to belong, those who value family and tradition, and those who value order, neatness and facts. Individuals with different personalities need to be communicated with in different ways.

Each of us is a mixture of these traits, and though these change over time and in different contexts each of us has predominant characteristics.

The DISC profiling system classifies these four types of personality trait as Dominant, Influential, Steady and Compliant, but an easier way of thinking of them are as Boss, Wannabee, Family Type and Nerd.

Understanding A Company's Aims

A copywriter also needs to understand the company and its products. What are the company's aims, how does each product fit in with every other product, and how will each page of the website fit in with every other page?

A copywriter has to communicate a message that the customer trusts which means that the copywriter has to know the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

If a company has a great after-sales service then this should be emphasised. On the othe hand if a company has a poor after-sales service it is pointless (and morally wrong) to write about how good the after-sales service is

Feedback is Gold!

A copywriter values customer feedback as this provides direct insight into customer concerns, values and ways of looking at the world. Such feedback can come from email correspondence, forums or live-help areas.

In a successful company copywriters will constantly test and analyse the copy . What words, font-size and positioning are effective, and at what times of day or year does the copy work best?  

Talk to the Dog!

There are many basics in copywriting.

Talk to individuals about what matters to them using concepts that they can relate to.

'Talk to the dog in the language of the dog about what matters to the heart of the dog.'

The Benefit Of Benefits!

Give benefits, not features. You'll sell more. The emotional benefits to your customers are more meaningful than the features of your product.

'You'll look good driving our car' has infinitely more impact than 'Our car has chrome bumpers!'

Do It Now Or The Cat Gets It!

Your Calls to Action should be frequent and combined with reasons and incentives to buy.

'Learn more' could be improved to read, 'Learn more and change your life - £10 off if you order before next December!'

Keep Your Text Simple

Text should appear 'digestible' - that is, text should have plenty of white space around it so that it's not intimidating.

Once Upon A Time ...

Sometimes headlines or bolded words can tell a story in their own right.

'Buy our product',   'It's the best quality around',   'Shipped immediately!' 'Only £10' ,   'Buy now!'  are headlines that can be perceived as one sentence by a customer skimming the page, with the bolded words creating an even shorter sentence.

Walk This Way!

There's a buying path that your customers go through.

Customers first recognise a need, go out and find information related to that need, then evaluate all available options before finally making a purchase decision. Post-purchase, they're either satisfied or dissatisfied ('buyer's remorse') with that decision.

Your copy should take your customers along this path and provide them with options at cricital points.

Unsung Heroes!

Copywriters create e-mails, newsletters, e-commerce catalogues, straplines and even the 'thankyou' slip in the box that's delivered to your customer (when you remind them of your guarantee and tell them who to contact in case of problems).

As long as the internet has a text-driven component copywriting will be extremely important to the success of a website. A company will get out of the copywriting process only what it puts in. Since copywriting takes a lot of time and therefore costs money, many small businesses may find it beneficial to learn the basics of copywriting themselves.

Alchemweb can assist you with this - learn more about entry-level copywriting tuition and save yourself money! Or read Copyblogger for fascinating tips.