What are the steps to ensure your copy is ready for publishing?

If the project timeline allows, I like to “sleep on it.” This might mean stepping away from the piece for a few hours or even overnight to ensure that I’m rereading it with fresh eyes. It’s amazing what you’ll catch when you haven’t looked at the piece very recently.

Reading aloud can also help you improve your voice and tone. Voice is the personality of your copy, and tone is the mood or emotion it expresses. You want your voice and tone to match your brand identity and your audience’s expectations. For example, if you’re writing for a professional audience, you might want to use a formal voice and tone. If you’re writing for a casual audience, you might want to use a conversational voice and tone. Reading aloud can help you hear if your voice and tone are consistent and appropriate throughout your copy.

Writers are told: “Kill your darlings.” We’ve all spotted these: The sentence that’s so perfect it detracts from the overall message. The sentence you love but on second (or third) thought unveils a possible meaning that could confuse your audience. It’s not easy to spot land mines when you’ve worked so hard. Letting your copy simmer a bit so it’s less familiar can give you the objectivity to think: If it wasn’t my work, would I change anything? If you don’t have the time to spare, it can help just to tell yourself “somebody else wrote this” to get the mental distance to assess your own work.

A second opinion, especially from the target audience, can further make the copy suit the audience niche. Apart from that, feedback can also help you refine your value proposition and call to action. A value proposition is the benefit or outcome that your copy promises to deliver to your audience. Call to action is the action that you want your audience to take after reading your copy. Your value proposition and call to action must be clear, compelling, and relevant. Getting feedback can help you see if your value proposition and call to action are aligned with your audience’s needs, wants, and motivations.

Testing your copy can also help you improve your headline and introduction. The headline and introduction are the first elements that your audience sees when they encounter your copy. This demands the headline and introduction to be catchy, concise, and clear. They should capture your audience’s attention, interest, and curiosity. They should also summarize your main point and value proposition. Testing your copy can help you see if your headline and introduction are effective in attracting and engaging your audience.

Proofreading your copy can also help you enhance your word choice and sentence structure. Word choice is the selection of words that you use in your copy. Sentence structure is the arrangement of words in sentences. Your word choice and sentence structure must be simple, precise, and powerful. They should convey your message clearly and convincingly. They should also create a rhythm and flow in your copy that makes it easy and enjoyable to read. Proofreading your copy can help you see if you can replace any vague, weak, or redundant words with more specific, strong, or unique ones. It can also help you see if you can vary the length and type of sentences in your copy to avoid monotony and confusion.

No copy must be published without formatting it to suit the platform. Formatting can also help you improve your layout and design. Layout and design are the visual aspects of your copy that affect how your audience perceives and interacts with it. Your layout and design must be appealing, consistent, and functional. They should complement your content and enhance your message. They should also make your copy easy to go through and understand. Formatting your copy can help you see if you can use elements like headings, subheadings, bullet points, numbers, quotes, or icons to organize and highlight your copy. It can also help you see if you can use elements like images, videos, charts, or infographics to illustrate and support your copy.

Reviewing your copy is crucial. It can also help you check your tone and emotion. Tone and emotion are the feelings and attitudes that your copy evokes in your audience. The tone and emotion in your copy must be appropriate, consistent, and authentic. They should match your brand personality and your audience’s preferences. They should also influence your audience’s behavior and decisions. Reviewing your copy can help you see if you can use elements like words, punctuation, or emojis to express and convey your tone and emotion. It can also help you see if you can use elements like stories, testimonials, or statistics to elicit and appeal to your audience’s emotions.

Go back to the beginning and review the goals of the project. Does the copy check all the boxes? Are any choices you made during the writing process feeling questionable or lackluster? This is what I call the gut check. I unsell myself on my copy, take an objective approach to proofreading, and poke any holes I can before revising and/or shipping it.

An insight that can help you improve your copywriting skills is the concept of “show, don’t tell”. This means that instead of telling your audience what you want them to know, feel, or do, you show them through examples, stories, or images. Showing is more powerful than telling because it engages your audience’s senses, emotions, and imagination. It also makes your copy more credible, memorable, and persuasive. For example, instead of telling your audience that your product is fast, you can show them how fast it is by using a comparison, a testimonial, or a video. Showing can help you turn your copy from boring to captivating.