“This has troubled me long enough until today.”
Indeed, business copywriting is all about solving the business problem, not just traffic or conversions.
Many copywriters have a hard time creating compelling, high-quality copy that will help them build a strong reputation and solve important business problems for their clients.
This is because they have to do everything on their own. They have to develop the ideas, write the content, and then send it out to their list of subscribers. This is why many copywriters fail in making money online from their websites.
In this article, I will be sharing the Top 10 Copywriting Mistakes – That You Can Avoid From Today!
Are you struggling to understand the business problems?
The copywriter must have access to the information about the customer and be able to speak directly with the buyer’s decision-makers, personas, user stories, etc. Buyers will always say, ‘I don’t know when it comes time to talk about what they are trying to solve. Copywriter needs a clear communication channel that allows them to see into an organization to understand how their work impacts business problems, not just traffic or conversions.
The team that owns content marketing often does not have a direct relationship with customers – even if you deliver solutions for your dentist client, you probably won’t talk directly with patients who need dental services.
Let me admit it.
‘I can’t do it anymore in this way.”
Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to write this quite carefully without offending anyone. But now, I am at a point where I need to be frank. Copywriters are infamous for creating objections in potential customers’ minds instead of solving business problems, even though copywriting is all about solving business problems.
“This has troubled me long enough until today when Peep Laja—founder of CXL’s article ‘Lies your copywriter tells you inspired me to speak up. (To Be Continued)”
How is copywriting about solving business problems and not just traffic or conversions?
The key to uncovering a company’s business problem is asking the right questions. Sometimes those questions mean diving deep into their content, and other times it means having an honest conversation, either one can be uncomfortable, but both are necessary.
What is critical to writing a copy that evokes a response?
There are three main ingredients to writing a copy that evokes a response:
- The copywriter’s understanding of the market, audience, and brand;
- Their creativity in coming up with solutions to business problems;
- Their knowledge of how people react to messages.
What Is Copywriting, Really?
Copywriting is all about solving your client’s problem and is not limited to traffic or conversions.
The decision-making process takes place in the minds of your potential customers, and optimizing this process should be your primary focus. Essentially, the most effective way of optimizing this process is to answer the question, ‘What’s in it for me?
How would you answer if your boss asks you what the product is all about? You can say ‘It’s a new version of XYZ with a better interface,” but that won’t cut it.
I want to know why customers should buy my product instead of competitors!
That’s where Copywriters come in handy. They are trained to sell products by writing compelling content. Unlike traditional salespeople who use pushy tactics like discounts, freebies, etc., Copywriters make customers fall in love with their copy first before asking for the order.
Why is it essential to use a direct conversation with the consumer?
Direct conversation is about having a personal, face-to-face discussion with the consumer. Natural conversations are always preferable to indirect or cold talks because of their inherent immediacy and spontaneity. For example, there is no need for probing questions or uncomfortable moments when trying to discover what someone really wants; all you have to do is ask them.
What are the most common pitfalls while writing a copy
- Copywriters often try to solve the wrong problem.
- They are not aware of their company’s unique needs and offer generic advice.
- They don’t know how to use acronyms or technical terms, which is a big faux pas in this industry.
- They rely on cold outreach when building relationships by talking to clients over the phone or via video calls instead.
- Poor execution on social media strategy
“While copywriting may seem simple, it’s truly an in-depth process. Whether you’re investing in yourself and taking the time to master the science behind it or looking to hire someone to do it for you, it’s not an inexpensive process”.
Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is. The most costly copywriting mistake is not understanding the customer’s need and focusing on solving the problem instead of just focusing on traffic or conversions”.
Top 10 Copywriting Mistakes – That You Can Avoid From Today
Mistake #1: Do Not Get Hired at a Low Price Point
If you get your services at low prices, you do not have economic incentives to go deeper into your customer’s problems. You must need to invest in understanding their business. The copywriter fails to understand the business problem of his prospect.
Mistake #2: Only Thinking About the Web traffic and clicks
This is a biggie. What many people do is go ahead and create content. They focus solely on the web itself because that’s where they earn their bread and butter… ‘How can I get more traffic?’
This mistake results in horrible work, too! Here are the common problems you’ll see with this approach:
- The content follows an outdated voice tone or style. There’s little to no value in the copy. The tone sounds spammy;
- It uses tricks to get clicks instead of genuinely helping people. Content is not engaging;
- it reads like a textbook (boring)
If you’re one of these writers creating only for the web, your writing probably has these three things wrong.
Mistake #3: Not Following a Research Process
We’ve all seen it. A copywriter or marketing executive follows an old strategy and does not get desired results.
How do you explain this?
The answer is simple: the old strategy doesn’t work anymore! And this happens because no one bothered to follow a research process when developing creative campaigns for existing creative assets (e.g., landing pages, sales letters, etc.).
Here’s what usually happens…
Agency develops new landing pages based on ‘old’ optimization testing data that show higher conversion rates at 20% less traffic than the previous campaigns. The creative team submits their creative assets without following any specific methodology of continuous improvement in mind. Results are poor, with a similar response rate as before but with three times more traffic.
What is the research and discovery phase of conversion copywriting?The research and discovery phase of conversion copywriting is the essential part because you are the problem solver. The more information you gather, you can craft the better solution. If your service is for B2B purposes, I advise looking at sales funnel stage by stage or process by process. You should find out what businesses are looking for during that particular stage or process. What type of pain points do they have? How do they overcome their challenges? Which benefits are driving them towards purchasing decisions? Who are the people behind these buying decisions? What is their background story? How much time does it take before a final purchase decision is made? |
Mistake #4: Talking About Product Features Instead of Problem-Solution
Talking about Product Features alone won’t help convince buyers to buy. Craft your message by taking them on a journey and highlighting the benefits along the way so that they connect with you and convert you into customers.
Talking about features, ‘If we talk about features only, it might be interesting, but followers will lose interest after one minute and move on to other messages.’
Illustrate the functional aspects of how it works but do not rattle out its specifications or feature set without explaining why it matters for clients or what value they could get from such technology. This is often an overlooked mistake among copywriters who repeat product specs as part of their content, and don’t remain in the crowd.
Mistake #5: Not Having a Clearly Defined And Agreed Goal
The best way to define the goal is to think from your customer’s perspective. The plan must tie it in with their problem and what they seek. What action do they want you to take? In this case, your job is to give them exactly that! The problem is solved when the reader has done something after reading your ad or copy. Here are some tips on how to write a clear call-to-action: – State the benefits clearly – Address their specific needs without being too generic – Use numbers whenever possible (e.g., 15% off, 10 Ways To [blank]), ’cause it’s more credible than just saying ‘many’ or ‘a lot.”
Keep your goal clear and laser-focused. The more clearly defined your destination, the easier it is for you to measure success from failure, and make decisions quickly and correctly.
In this case, I could not win a 10x or 100x Return on Investment (ROI) because my client did not know what ROI he wanted in the first place! This is a mistake that many businesses make when they hire Copywriters. They say, ‘ get me good leads’ or ‘give me better conversions.” The problem with this approach is that infinite possibilities will give you positive results. Still, it doesn’t mean that these changes will increase their sales significantly, thus bringing them closer to achieving their ultimate business goals.
“If you want results, you need to identify your target audience and make sure that the copywriting is based on a structured process, follow up with clients to understand their problem-solution space, and agree with them upfront on the specific goals and KPIs.”
Mistake #6: Letting Page Design Lead Copy
Copywriters are the ones who have to create a message that will have a lasting impact on your consumers, so they need to be able to craft it with precision. It’s not as easy as just throwing copy contents together and expecting them to work wonders. Many planning goes into their campaign before anything is published, let alone sent out for review or sponsored ads.
You’ll never have a successful conversion rate or traffic if you only focus on design and not factoring in what your customer wants. Generations X, Y, and Z all want different things when it comes down to their marketing needs, but one thing remains constant:
THEY WANT HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT THAT WILL MAKE YOU THEIR BRAND OF CHOICE!
Mistake #7: Appealing Exclusively to Results or Desires only
This point is about forgetting to take into account what your customers want. It can be easy to focus on the performance of a campaign, but this will lead to more conflict with clients if you are not also considering their needs for success.
Mistake #8: Not Backing Up Your Statements with Research
The importance of research has been discussed in the previous mistake. Why should anyone trust it if you do not perform due diligence for your argument? There is no point in writing something if you can’t prove it with numbers or case studies.
During my next posts, I plan to discuss ‘Mistake #8: Not Backing Up Your Statements with Research’, so stay tuned!
Mistake #9: Believing Copywriting Formulas Blindly
Copywriting formulas are just a set of guidelines to follow when creating a copy. They are not the end-all-be-all that will make you successful by themselves. Copywriting formulas can help you get started, but they should never become your bible because if they do, you will get distracted from the main customer problem you are trying to solve.
Mistake #10: Not Optimizing for Scanability and Legibility
When creating a new copy, I optimize it for its substance and quality and ensure it’s legible, scannable, and visually appealing. This is the reason why most of my high-performing headlines follow this format:
I don’t particularly appreciate making it look like an article or a sales page (long paragraphs with no line breaks). It makes people nervous and creates resistance when reading it.
Top 10 copywriting pain points
1. Not having enough time to do everything they need to do
This can be a huge roadblock for business professionals who want to excel at their craft but struggle with the day-to-day demands of being a top-notch coach, teacher, or professional B2B copywriter.
2. Having to spend a lot of time on research
Copywriting professionals excel at their craft but struggle with the operational aspect of performing their roles due to huge commitment, research time, and high demand.
3. Having to deal with high demand
Copywriters often have to deal with high demand for their services, leading to research time and commitment being put on the back burner. This can be frustrating for professionals who excel at their craft but struggle with the operational aspect of performing their roles.
4. Dealing with demanding clients
Copywriters can struggle with demanding clients can be challenging to work with, but there are ways to manage them effectively. Understanding the client’s goals and motivations is key, as is communicating clearly and setting boundaries.
5. Struggling with operational aspects of their role
Copywriting professionals often struggle with the operational aspects of their role, such as managing deadlines and conducting research.
6. Not being able to find good copywriting resources
Copywriters often have a difficult time finding good resources for copywriting.
7. Not being able to get good feedback on their work
Copywriting professionals often struggle to get good feedback on their work. This is due to the high demand for their services and the commitment needed to do quality research.
8. Having trouble staying motivated
Copywriting professionals excel at their craft but struggle with the operational aspect of performing their roles due to huge commitment, research time, and high demand.
9. Feeling overwhelmed by the industry as a whole
Copywriters are overwhelmed by the industry due to the high demand for their services and the lack of a scalable system that allows them to deliver their services to more prospects.
10. Feeling underpaid and unappreciated
Copywriting professionals excel at their craft but struggle with the operational aspect of performing their roles due to huge commitment, research time, and high demand.
Join the conversation. Add your comment
There is a tendency in Copywriting professionals to avoid outreach and other marketing tasks. This may be for multiple reasons such as lack of skills or time, or because they think these tasks are not the ‘core’ part of Copywriting.
If you want your copywriter to excel at their craft, they should also excel at operational aspects like executing campaigns and running ads. I do not mean that one has to be an expert at all things digital. Still, suppose they understand how it works and leverage market research and AI Content Automation Software. In that case, there will be less chance for human error—leading to better solutions to your client’s problems!
“Being a copywriter is more than just writing. It’s about understanding the client’s business problems and how you can help them with your skills to reach their goals”.
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