A Good Story Will Last Forever

Copy is an essential part of any blog post. It's what draws readers in and keeps them interested. But writing good copy can be challenging. This post will share tips to help you write compelling copy for your blog posts. 

First, that title is blasphemous because you can never have too much cheesecake. At least, that’s what I thought back in college. Let me take you back to the 2000s when I was just getting into my English major and taking writing classes. This is where I learned the sad truth: there is such a thing as too much cheesecake. 

At least in a writing sense. I had a professor who explained that “cheesecake” was a decadent way of saying “too many details.” While telling a good story is important, you don’t want to overload it with too many details. Any unique content writing service will tell you that too.

It was a hard truth to swallow, but it’s a truth that can be applied to content writing today.

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the art and science of persuasion. It's the process of crafting effective messages to influence people to take action. Whether you're selling a product or simply trying to get someone to read your blog, good copywriting can make all the difference.

Copywriting is more than just words on a page, however. It's also about understanding your audience and what will resonate with them. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to copywriting – the best copy will be tailored to its intended audience.

4 Quick Tips on How to Become a Better Copywriter

Copywriting is an essential skill for any business. Whether you're selling a product or simply trying to get someone to read your blog, good copywriting can make all the difference. If you're looking to improve your copywriting skills, here are three quick tips that can help.

1. Tell Your Story

One of the key things talked about when it comes to content writing is telling a good story. Helen Nesterenko of Writtent points out that your favorite things, 

“use the art of storytelling to bypass your logical mind and put their message straight in your heart. Whether you laughed, cried, hated the product or rushed out to buy it, the stories stuck in your mind and kept you coming back for more.” 

Let’s look at that in terms of Final Fantasy, which started with a great story. Back in the 80s, the game’s creator, Hironubu Sakaguchi, thought that the game would be his last. He decided to make it an epic fantasy and go out with a bang. While the first game, according to IGN, wasn’t enough to build the Final Fantasy empire, it was enough to pull Square – the game’s company – out of its financial crisis. It would take three more years for it to come to the U.S., but when it did, it was a remarkable success. This created a loyal fanbase that is still going strong.

As I go deeper and deeper into my work for a unique content writing service, I’m learning that a big lesson seems to be this: tell a story. It’s interesting because with words like “content marketing,” 

I always envisioned men and women in stuffy suits and crisp ties as they looked at charts and graphs and numbers (disclaimer: no offense to people in suits; suits are sharp and look awesome in pinstripes). 

But, as Jeff Bullas demonstrates in his “10 Commandments of Content,” the truth is that audiences now don’t want boring, dull language. 

“Corporate speak was invented by copy writers but a while back people started switching off. Being ‘Authentic’ is the new black and being real is the ‘new marketing’ that is a message that cuts through.” 

To my English major surprise and delight, the general consensus is to “talk like a human,” as Bullas puts it, and to remember to have fun. 

“The original ten commandments didn’t mention having fun, but it helps enormously to present you and your company as having a sense of humour. This doesn’t mean making every piece of content a comedy act but lighten up and show your other side.”

2. Find Connection

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while." - Steve Jobs

One of the most important things to remember when writing copy is to find a connection with your audience. You must understand what your audience wants and needs and what will resonate with them. The best way to do this is by doing some research – you can survey your audience, read their comments and feedback, or even do some online research.

Once you have a good understanding of your audience, you can start tailoring your copy to appeal to them. Be sure to use language that they will understand and focus on the benefits that your product or service can provide. If you can connect with your audience, they will be more likely to take action.

3. Get to the Point

There is, however, a trick to storytelling. There is such a thing as “too much cheesecake.” For example, in my clever story about college and cheesecake, I could’ve gone on and on about content that would, in the end, overload the story with unnecessary add-ons.

I could’ve gone into catching the bus to class, stopping at the vending machine for a Snickers, holding my paper nervously in my hand as my professor walked over to look at it — too much, right? Yeah, my college professor thought so, too.

The website ProseWorks goes into 10 useful tips on writing great blogs, but in the case of this particular post, their fourth tip is vital: get to the point. While your audience does appreciate you being more human, they don’t want to be drenched in it. 

“The blogosphere is full of rambling scribes who take ages to spit out what they are trying to say. Always think about that mouse next to readers’ screens. Don’t give them the chance to click away before you’ve got your point over.” 

If you spend too much time on the “once upon a time” of your tale, your audience will walk away without getting to the “happily ever after.” This type of knowledge that a unique content-writing service puts into practice daily.

4. No Content Writing Without Social Media

Ellen DeGeneres ordered everyone pizza at the Oscars. Was it an odd choice to feed a bunch of well-dressed celebrities greasy pizza? Maybe. Was it ingenious social media bait? Most certainly. I’m not sure how the Oscars worked back in 1929, but now it’s absolutely vital that the audience is entertained. 

This isn’t just the audience at the show, nor is it just the audience watching at home, but it’s also the audience on social media. Any marketing content writer will tell you that.

There’s no spelling “content writing” without “social media.” Amanda Clark of Business 2 Community explains it best in her article about the Four Pillars of Content Marketing. 

“Social media, in a content marketing sense, is when a business builds up a presence on platforms and uses them to engage with mob audiences, share content and promote themselves. The trick is to practice two-way communication – a ludicrous, impossible task with billboards.” 

As far as the Oscars goes, the audience doesn’t just watch the show, they tweet about it, post about it on Facebook, share pictures and gifs on Tumblr, an entire dialogue is created online before the show even ends.

This is where Ellen shined. Mixed performance reviews or not all of Sunday night was filled with pictures of celebrities eating pizza and a certain A-list selfie that broke the world record of the most retweeted picture. If that doesn’t showcase the importance of social media, I’m not sure what does. Paskin says it best in her article in regard to the mixed reviews Ellen received. 

“By the time the show rolls around again, the montages, the terrible patter, and the sheer length have faded from our memories, and we are just left with the memorable moments.” 

What is it that we take from the Oscars? Those moments that stand out for years to come. MacFarlane’s performance is remembered as being and, to some, an unnecessarily offensive disaster. 

How will Ellen’s be remembered? That one time she ordered pizza and tweeted the most retweeted picture in history. After all these years, the photo remains the fourth most-retweeted tweet of all time, with 2.9 million retweets.

Ellen’s performance is exactly the impression you want from your content writing. While someone may not remember your entire piece, you want them remember something important, something positive. Frankly, you want them to remember the pizza and the selfies.

In Farnworth’s article, there is a section that explains what Ellen did during the show: the Conversational Copy. 

“You write as if there is a conversation between two people: the copywriter and the prospect.” 

In the case of the Oscars, we had the marketing content writer (Ellen) and the prospect (the audience at the show, the viewers at home, and those taking to social media). Willa Paskin of Slate.com wrote, 

“She started slowly – opening with literally a joke about the weather – and then, from a certain perspective, proceeded to affably spend the night changing costumes and ordering famous people – who are just like us! – pizza, while never taking a clear shot at anyone other than Liza Minnelli.” 

However, Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter had a different opinion. 

“Who would have predicted that it would have been so boring, so long, so self-involved and driven sideways into a ditch by, of all people, the beloved Ellen DeGeneres as host?”

This brings me back to Farmworth’s article and his thoughts on creativity and science – particularly the science side. It’s a constant experiment to see who the Oscar crowd will enjoy. The results, every year, vary, but even with Ellen’s negative reviews, there seems to be an overall consensus about it: the Academy was playing it safe because of last year’s show. 

“Perhaps Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron felt they were playing it safe after the controversy their 2013 host Seth MacFarlane generated,” said Goodman. 

Lisa De Moraes of Deadline agreed with the safe choice. “She hosted the first Academy Awards since MacFarlane opened the Oscars with ‘We Saw Your Boobs’ and followed it up with a crack about John Wilkes Booth (rather than nominee Daniel Day-Lewis) being the actor who best got into President Lincoln’s head.” Ouch.

But is this really a victory if only half the votes are positive?

If you listen to what social media has to say, the answer is a resounding yes.

Wrap-up: Unique Content Writing Service

So how does all of this work out? I find it best to start out with a story that can make my audience feel like they’re right at home. It’s good to try and tell a story they can relate to, or at least a story that can make them smile and relax before I go into the “marketing” of “content marketing.” 

Ask a good content marketing agency to help you write great content. You can focus on other aspects of your business by outsourcing your writing to a content marketing agency. In contrast, the agency takes care of writing high-quality, engaging content that will help you attract more customers and grow your business.

This is, indeed, the perfect recipe. There aren’t too many details, and, more importantly, the details we get are incorporated into the main focus of the blog post: writing. 

A unique content writing service may be ideal if you're struggling here. So, in this case, it’s not too much cheesecake. It’s just the right amount. If you’ll excuse me, writing this has made me crave cheesecake.