Are you meaning well but accidentally scaring your customers away with your copywriting by using negative language?
‘No hidden fees!’
‘No spam ever!’
‘Avoid large fines’
Phrases that are meant to help you stand out in a positive way from the competition can actually serve to put your customers in a negative mindset. And since you’re the company that put them in that state, you can subconsciously become judged in the same vein as the very competitors you’re trying to differentiate from.
If you say spam, the customer is now thinking about being spammed and is less likely to give you their email address, despite the fact you’re saying you’re not like that!
Copywriting and humans
The human mind works in weird ways. Your copywriting needs to reflect this on a deep level.
Obviously, it’s important to stand out from the competition but throwing mud will get you dirty too. Instead, try and stand above them and focus on your solution, not just the problem you’re solving.
‘The price you see is what you pay’
‘We will never share your data with anyone’
‘Get peace of mind knowing that we will take care of compliance for you’
These examples shift the mindset from the first 3, helping keep the customers guard down whilst building trust.
The difference between average copywriting and effective copywriting lies in the ability to write in a way that creates the correct emotional reaction. It aligns you with your customer, not just by saying what you think they want to hear, but by making them feel like they need to feel in order to take action. Whether that is to buy there and then, sign up to your email list, share your article, vote for you, or something else.
Does this rule always apply?
In some areas of your content marketing strategy you can deviate from these rules a bit. Social media captions or blog titles for example can use negative language to effectively garner interest…
I once wrote an article called ‘How to Take Advantage of Stupid People.’ There was also ‘How to be Less Angry’ and ‘How to Become an Expert at Self-Sabotage.’ I enjoy using titles that seem counter-intuitive in a tongue-in-cheek way to increase curiosity and therefore clicks. Of course, when you do this you need great content underneath that adds real value in a positive way.
Your blog/content is your space to get creative whilst your copywriting needs to be crafted far more scientifically, almost surgically.
Some clients ask why copywriting is more expensive than content creation, and that’s the reason why. Producing 50 words of strong copy can take far longer to write with more research and planning than an 800-word blog post. It also takes more skill and in the creative space it’s important to pay the right people for their expertise, not just their output, to get the results that you want.
Have a look at our Copywriting Blueprint to see the process that we go through!
And as always, if you want to discuss this in more detail, feel free to email me directly – matthew.brown@pearson-brown.co.uk
-Matthew Brown, director
