Copywriting – It is more than just words put together. It is “The art of persuading readers to take some type of sales-related action.”. It acts as a CTA, somewhat. It value-adds a Brand, product, and maybe even objectives of an idea or a project. Copywriting – the icing to the cake. Most importantly, the very initial stage of the consumer’s journey; the Awareness Stage. This is the very stage that copywriting captures and engages your consumers.

Purpose

“There is a great difference between the almost right word and the right word.”. The right word helps translate the purpose into a content that readers are able to identify with or relate to. Case in point – Think Texas Chicken Ad for a Chinese New Year Campaign. The creative use of a punny name to introduce a new product launched on the menu, ties in with the Brand’s humorous image. With a purpose in helping consumers relate ‘luck’ to the new flavour – Ma La or Ma ‘Luck’, the use of the punny name translated the purpose into content that captures consumers’ awareness and engagement.

Length

Keep it short and sweet. K.I.S.S. Just imagine reading a paragraph-long headline. Copywriting is best kept short and sweet. Whether it is the headlines, taglines, etc. Use figurative language such as puns (like Ma ‘Luck’!), personifications, metaphors, etc. to invite interest of your consumers.

Avoid long haul flights, fly your consumers straight to where your Brand is with short hauls – little to no stopovers. Yes, that whole sentence you just read is an attempt to use figurative language to convey “engage your consumers quickly”. Figurative language has the power of strengthening the readers’ mental envisioning without lengthy texts and overly descriptive words – it helps to K.I.S.S (not literally though!) for your consumers.

With a game of word tease, “Pick your Peak” – A campaign for STREPSILS made use of homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings). This captures the consumers’ attention and provides an “easy remembrance” of the campaign idea. Catchy or what?

Emotional Engagement

Now, what can go wrong with the tugging of emotional strings in the hearts of your consumers? According to a research by Harvard University Professor Gerald Zaltman, over 9 in 10 consumers’ purchases are driven by emotions.

The Universal Basic Human Needs are aspects to think about how we can leverage on consumers’ emotions to create a CTA using copywriting. Ocean Health – New Product Launch tapped on the “Power” aspect of consumers’ basic needs, specifically, to empower consumers and let them have a sense of control in their lives – in this case, ensuring quality iron intake. This brought about success in communicating the campaign message.

Copywriting – Not just words, but a language behind successful marketing.