5 ways to create copy when you have no inspiration

Being a copywriter is like being a baker in a cake shop. We cannot close the shop and refuse customers just because we have no inspiration today.

Don’t be afraid if you don’t have any inspiration and can’t write copy. Just believe this: anything that has existed for a long time has its own internal logic and rules. Then follow the author and think carefully about the following 5 methods. They will surely make your copywriting as smooth as silk even if you don’t have any inspiration. I wish you all the best!

Step 1: Return to products and services

It is impossible to write good copy without being familiar with your products and services, as well as your competitors’ products and services. What really impresses people about products and services is often their differentiated features and the benefits they bring to the target audience.

Therefore, when exploring the essence of competitive advantages that can bring benefits to the target audience, you need to find the weaknesses in your competitor's greatest advantages. Only after comprehensive analysis can you truly find the most competitive differentiation.

1. How to do it?

We can refer to the FAB rule for analysis.

2. Add a dose of medicine

Based on the nature of your products and services, find the biggest advantage that distinguishes you from your competitors. You are only 1% away from completing the first step. Sometimes you need to play with some imaginary things. After prescribing the medicine, you need to add the following two medicine guides:

“Concepts come before technology, and cognition comes before facts”

Step 2: Align with corporate strategy and product and communication strategies

The company itself has strategic demands as well as phased strategic demands.

Sometimes the appeal of a product is not to explain how good it is, but to sell a lifestyle, a labeled emotional expression, for example: DW is actually of very poor quality. If consumers delve deeper into the product, they will start to think rationally and make configuration comparisons, and the product's weaknesses will be exposed.

Sometimes you may find that the copywriting that is particularly touching has no actual effect. The biggest reason is that it is off topic. For example, Shenzhou’s publicity strategy has changed from private cars to safety. If it continues to focus on private cars, people will naturally go to Didi .

The development and strategy of new products are also different, including brand new products, imitation products, improved and upgraded products, etc. Some new products are developed to break through market pressure and occupy new markets. This type of development generally adopts the mentality of "if you don't succeed, you will die." Some do so to maintain their status and make strategic defenses to maintain their market share; some do so to compete with competitors, or even to divide up the market and fill market gaps. For example, after successfully launching OPPO and vivo , BBK Electronics launched the OnePlus phone.

Of course, there are also some that are to cover up certain emotional resistance and the stereotypes left by the brand in the minds of the public, such as: Why did Toyota's Lexus have a European name?

As you know, many countries are actually very averse to Japanese cars. In addition, in the minds of people in many wealthy Western countries, Toyota is a symbol of cheap and fuel-efficient cars.

Therefore, depending on the strategy and development strategy of the new product, the corresponding copywriting appeal will also be different.

The product itself also has a life cycle. At each stage of introduction, growth, maturity and decline, the product strategy needs to be adjusted according to different market conditions. The product has entered a period of rapid development, and if the copywriting remains at the level of letting others know, it will not meet the current market requirements.

1. How to do it?

Dig deep into the essence of products and services, find competitive interest points, clarify brand positioning, establish a distinct brand personality, and accurately identify target groups.

Then think about the copywriting strategy:

2. Supplement

Some gatherings are not necessarily channels , but a form of group identity.

Step 3: Think from the user’s perspective, not your own

1. Think about possible connections

Fully consider all aspects that may connect with consumers and affect purchases, including consumer psychology, consumer environment, purchase scenarios, usage scenarios, etc. Then ask yourself a few questions:

Why do users buy our products, what benefits and conveniences can our products bring to them, and what needs of users do they meet (showing off is also a need, and being good at showing off is called a "big deal")?
Under what circumstances will consumers purchase our products and services, where will they purchase them, what is the consumption environment like, what will they think about when purchasing, and what kind of interference will they encounter during the purchasing process? (P.S.: Where your products are placed on the shelf, what products are on the shelf aisles, the distance between your products and the products that are most likely to generate relevant consumption, and even who may be shopping with your target group will affect the final consumption behavior.)
How do users use our products after purchasing them? What are the usage scenarios? What situations will they encounter? What potential concerns will they have? What are the fatal factors for not buying our products?

2. Establish connections

Establish a connection, that is, connect what the customer already knows and understands with what you are going to sell, making the new product easier to understand and accept. (We often talk about something that others don’t know. To make it easier for others to understand, we always like to use simple analogies, such as a running broom. The same principle applies.)

Step 4: Visualize the concept

1. Feature concept extraction

2. Simplify concept cognition

Simplify concepts into easily understandable cognitions, thereby reducing the cognitive load on decision makers.

The cognitive load theory holds that the size of the load depends on the amount of information being processed simultaneously in working memory and the connection with existing schemas. In other words, the less information a person processes in the cognitive process, and the closer or more connected it is to existing knowledge and experience, the easier it is to understand and remember.

3. Jane establishes connections with known objects

As the basic unit of cognitive storage, schema and its own characteristics determine that it has an important influence on cognition, which is specifically manifested as follows:

Information related to the schema is at the center of attention;
More likely to remember things that are meaningful to him or that he knew before;
Individuals will process new information based on existing information;
Individuals tend to see what they want to see.

Therefore, when a person discovers a problem, he always wants to find an answer to explain it. In the process of looking for the answer, he tends to find what he wants to find. At the same time, he particularly likes to explain it based on his own experience. The closer it is to his own experience, the safer he feels and the easier it is to accept.

Therefore, when explaining concepts, it is necessary to build connections with the cognition that consumers are already familiar with, so as to explain new things and make it easier for users to accept and remember.

4. Multi-sensory mobilization

Research on cross-sensory cognition shows that when a person's sensory organs pay attention to the same thing at the same time, the brain's response will be strengthened, and if the information comes from the same spatial location, the efficiency will be higher.

5. Create a scene

When we participate in learning, situational teaching often makes it easier for us to understand and master new knowledge. Therefore, looking back at the scenario-based learning theory, if the copywriting presents the functions and benefits of the product in a scenario-based manner, it can hit the mark and bring consumers into the consumption scenario, making it easier for them to make a purchase.

6. Text Visual Processing

(1) Use specific, unambiguous, easy-to-understand and familiar nouns to refer to things.

Smoke detector = nose in the ceiling

(2) Use concrete nouns more often

Display of objects, outlining the painting scene
"The smoke rises straight up in the desert, the sun sets over the long river"
"The bright moon shines among the pines, and the clear spring flows over the rocks"
Withered vines, old trees, and crows, a small bridge, flowing water, and a house, an ancient road, a west wind, and a skinny horse. The sun sets, and the heartbroken man is far away

(3) Multiple-use verbs

According to the principle of visual information processing, dynamic things are more likely to attract attention, so using verbs is the process of transforming static things into dynamic things.

(4) Use sensory vocabulary

(5) Use more specific numbers, metaphors that evoke associations, and synaesthesia

(6) Abstract and vague expressions are prohibited

Ps: A company with well-known products and strong brand awareness sometimes uses abstract expressions to create a high-end feeling for users.