Want to write attractive copy? You have to overcome 4 big pits first!

Information is expanding, and all kinds of advertisements are bombarding us:

Just browse the news list for one minute and you will see dozens of information flow ads flashing in the interface;

On Double 11, the number of advertising messages received on mobile phones is more than during the Chinese New Year.

Outdoor advertisements and flyers keep people busy even when they are away from their mobile phones.

Attention has become a valuable resource. Of the thousands of advertisements viewed in various scenarios every day, 98% will be automatically blocked by the subconscious mind. Naturally, no one will be interested in copywriting that you don’t understand what it is talking about at first glance. It has now become a consensus that copywriting must be simplified in order to win users. However:

• Why do others still think your simplified copy is too complicated?
• Why can’t others find what they want in your simplified copy?
• Why do people still not understand what you want to express after you have simplified the copy?
• Why are others too lazy to read your simplified copy?

Here are 4 pitfalls in simplifying copywriting, and how to solve them one by one:

• [Readability] Simple but not concise: Is this a poem you wrote?
• 【Organization】Simple but not simple enough: Do you write clearly?
• 【Importance】Simple but not concise: Is what you wrote important?
• [Provocative] Simple but not simple enough: Do you write well enough?

1. [Readability] Simple but not concise enough: Is what you write a poem?

Chinese poetry is profound and extensive, and every copywriter has moments to express poetic sentiment to a greater or lesser extent. Although we are not discussing poetry today, when it comes to simplification, poetry can indeed compress the amount of words to an incredible level. Each poem requires more than five times the amount of words to explain its meaning. But simplifying copy is not as simple as reducing the number of words. While reducing the number of words, more attention should be paid to the intuitiveness of the text's meaning.

As shown in the copy in the picture, the use of words is quite clever. As a variation of the idiom, "If the cleaning effect cannot be achieved, a refund will be given" is compressed into four words. However, its promotion effect is not satisfactory. When people see this advertisement, they inevitably do not understand what it is saying and cannot accurately receive the information it conveys in the first time. Today, with web browsing speeds reaching super-high speeds and all kinds of information expanding infinitely, the subconscious mind of the brain has become accustomed to quickly and easily omitting a large amount of useless information, and this advertisement will be easily skipped.

The copy should be simple and concise. Every word, phrase and sentence should have a clear meaning. At the same time, we should try to shorten the time it takes for users to understand the text and write text that is easy to understand at a glance.

(1) Avoid special sentence structures

Whether in Chinese or English, special sentence patterns are indispensable, and sentence patterns such as postposition of attributive, subject-predicate inversion, and elliptical sentences are used in an endless stream. Although using some special sentence patterns can make sentences simpler, it also has two flaws. First, it is easy to cause ambiguity, and second, it will prolong the time it takes people to understand the text. In Guangzhou, people say "I'll go first" as "I go first". If used in different regions, this inverted usage will take more time to understand than the ordinary saying.

(2) Avoid using uncommon words

The total number of Chinese characters exceeds 80,000, but people only commonly use about 3,500 of them. Open the dictionary and look up what words a certain character can be used to form. You will easily find dozens of phrases that you have never seen before. If we write literary works, perhaps we can bring out our literary background and show how to use rare characters and words. But for commercial copywriting, these uncommon characters and words will seriously affect the spread of our text.

I once led a new young copywriter who looked very bookish and it was obvious at first glance how long he had been immersed in "Li Sao". When writing the copy related to sunscreen products, just writing "无害夏晖" will instantly make people want to throw a 5-pound dictionary at him. Is it so complicated to write about sunshine? Who do you think your copy is intended for? Female customers who are sensitive to sunlight, or literary youths who stay at home? Of course, there are still a few people like him who act recklessly. However , some words that may be very common to writers may not be very easy to understand for some customers. For example, the word "Posha" originally means to describe the appearance of dancing, and it is a very appropriate term to describe a dance performance at an event. However, many people see this word and understand it to mean "the posture of an elderly person." If the reader understands this meaning, then the copywriting is undoubtedly a failure.

Pay special attention to professional vocabulary. Never assume that consumers understand your product as well as you do and use professional vocabulary from industry insiders. For consumers, industry-specific terms are undoubtedly highly uncommon words . Although they are highly relevant to the products, they can be confusing.

(3) Avoid unconventional imagery

It is a common usage to express emotions through scenery and to use objects to express feelings. With the Chinese people's accumulation of language art over the years, many things and emotions have established corresponding usages : using fallen leaves to express sadness, using plum blossoms to show strength, using wild grass to reveal rise and fall, and using flowing water to lament the passage of time. If these images are used properly, they can have a good expressive effect. If they are used improperly or if more obscure images are used, it will only make it difficult for people to understand .

Shown in the picture is an avocado advertisement, in which he describes avocado as an image of happiness. For many Westerners, avocado can be said to be a flavor that has accompanied them growing up. The taste of the avocado slices in the breakfast sandwiches every day is so familiar and warm to them. But for most Chinese people, this is undoubtedly a niche image. Avocado is not a common dish on the Chinese table, so trying to attach happiness to it will naturally not have the desired effect.

2. [Organization] Simple but not simple enough: Do you write clearly?

There are many copywritings that, although describing very simple things, seem to be a mess and dizzying at first glance. If you type out a bunch of text without effectively organizing and dividing it, the final presentation will naturally be unbearable to look at. Consumers who are dazzled by the promotional advertisements of various businesses will naturally not take the time to figure out what you are trying to say, and the result is that they will say goodbye to your advertisements.

Just open Taobao and click on the details page, and you will definitely see long paragraphs of text like this. It contains a large number of information points, but it has not been sorted out and is simply piled up. Such text content will undoubtedly waste a lot of time in understanding. It is actually quite easy to make this text clear:

(1) Pre-writing analysis and organization

Before writing, ask yourself: "Do you know what you are going to write?" If you can't answer this question quickly, then I suggest you strengthen your understanding of the product or event before you start writing. As a communicator of information, no matter how strong a writer's writing skills are or how high his ability to convey information is, when readers read what you write, they can only receive less information than you do.

There are many ways to collect and organize information, but everyone's thinking process works differently. There is no need to deliberately learn other people's way of understanding problems. From a psychological point of view, this will only slow down your analysis and organization. For example, suppose your thinking analysis method has an information conversion rate of 85%, and other people's thinking analysis method has a conversion rate of 90%. When you apply other people's analysis patterns, you also understand them based on your own thinking analysis method. In other words, the information you finally get is 85%*90%=76.5%, and you understand even less information. As for how to strengthen your information processing ability, this involves the field of cognitive psychology, which I will explain in detail in another article.

(2) Write time and point description

The best way to handle large amounts of information is to describe them simply in points, which is actually equivalent to the role of a book catalog.

If you are given a book without a table of contents and asked to find what you need, you may waste a lot of time flipping through it. With a catalog, you only need to open the catalog page, find the section with the information you need, and read it. At the same time, a qualified table of contents will quickly let you understand what the entire book is trying to express. For a book without a table of contents, you sometimes need to read the entire book before you may know what the book is trying to say.

To make the copy as clear and concise as the table of contents of a book, what you need to do is to refine it point by point. Using tools such as XMind mind mapping is also a good choice. You can organize long paragraphs of text into short and clearly structured points for easy reading and understanding . For example, if we divide the information into points and then organize and merge similar content, the description of kiwi fruit will become clear and intuitive:

XXX Health Benefits of Kiwi Fruit

Weight loss and beauty : rich in vitamins and dietary fiber;

Improve immunity : rich in antioxidants;

Protect eyesight : rich in lutein;

Healthy body and safe pregnancy : rich in folic acid.

Through such point-by-point descriptions, confusing information can quickly become clear and intuitive, making it easy to read. Of course, simply having clear points in the copy is not good enough. We will discuss below how to further optimize based on the existing foundation.

(3) Share and read after writing

Business copywriting is not used to convince yourself, but to convince others. The ultimate measure of whether a copy is easy to read is not the person who wrote the copy, but the target audience .

When it comes to ease of reading, we have to mention some things about Tang Dynasty poets. Li Bai's poems are gorgeous and elegant, and Du Fu's poems are melancholy and tortuous, both of which have left glorious traces in history. However, the poet with the greatest influence among the people at that time was Bai Juyi. Bai Juyi's poems are easy to understand. It's not that he can't write profound and beautiful words, but he is more keen on making everyone understand his poems. He would take out the poems he had just written and read them to the old ladies in the countryside. If they could understand them, then they would meet the standards of Bai Juyi's poems.

In fact, the standards for commercial copywriting are similar. Although our audience has been positioned and has a basic range, there are still many differences within this group. The logical method and range of words used in the text need to be consistent with the acceptance level of the majority of the target groups. Copywriting is not sophistry. Our own logic may not be the logic recognized by most people. Therefore, if we want to make our text more organized and clear, we should also share it with potential customers and make appropriate adjustments based on their reading reactions.

3. [Importance] Simple but not concise: Is what you wrote important?

The problem of large paragraphs of text has been solved, making the text clearer, but on the road to simplicity, there is still a difficult threshold to cross. Let’s first look at the publicity made by a certain company:

What is your first reaction when you see it: copywriting is not easy, but they just try to come up with eight advantages. And then? Nothing happened. The most outstanding advantage of the product has long been buried among the miscellaneous items that were pieced together . Although it is listed point by point, there is no hierarchy and no focus, so how can it leave a deep impression on people?

(1) A core direction

I understand why copywriters and managers try their best to write about every advantage of the product and place them in an important position. My products are like my own children, and I want to show them off from head to toe to everyone who sees them. However, the result of all the focus is that there is no focus. For example, in every science and technology museum, there is a magical thing called a bed of nails.

If you sit on a nail, you will most likely bleed and get hurt. Yet when you lay on the entire bed of nails, nothing happened. The same goes for copywriting. When we regard all content as the focus, we lose the focus and the needle that can most impress consumers.

BMW once conducted a social experiment. When writing promotional copy for the same product, one listed 10 advantages, one listed only 1 advantage, and some listed 2, 3, 5, and other advantages. They mixed these promotional copies into magazines, newspapers and other media, allowing people to read the publications at will. In their original conception, they thought the more advantages the better, but it turned out that the advertisements with only one advantage impressed more people, while the advertisements that listed more advantages impressed fewer people.

Whether it is advertising copy or product copy, when facing the same customer group, you only need one core advantage and value as the main promotion point . Other advantages can be used as auxiliary, but they must be prioritized so that people can clearly link the product with its specific advantages or the specific problems it can solve, rather than being confused by a large number of advantages of the same level.

(2) Two key locations

The entire copy needs to be written around a core selling point, but it is impossible to cover the entire page with just one selling point. Too many repetitions will cause aesthetic fatigue. The core selling point should naturally appear in the most important position.

What is the most important position? If you are writing an essay, the important positions are the beginning and the end. The general-specific-general paragraphing pattern that your teacher told you is the easiest structure for readers to understand: briefly write the main idea of ​​your article in the first paragraph, and then through a series of subsequent introductions, examples, and arguments, finally state your core point. The entire article is connected together with your core point as the clue.

For commercial copywriting, there are also two key positions. One is like the first paragraph of an essay, which is placed in the position that is easiest to display, including but not limited to banners, home pages, top of flyers, etc. Use the most powerful language in the most influential position in your promotional channels . The second position is where you express your final purpose. Yes, your final purpose is to close the deal. After consumers browse your copy, use your core selling points in your transaction promotion tips. This will allow consumers to quickly connect all previous content with their own feelings, thereby facilitating the completion of transactions.

(3) Three reasons to support

The core idea needs to be supported. Many cautious consumers will naturally not spend money just because of your slogan. You still need to introduce and prove in detail why your product can solve the problems encountered by customers. A more practical argument structure is the three-point argument, which has a relatively stable structure and does not appear lengthy. Because the maximum amount of information that a person can process at the same time is about 7 pieces of information, and it usually does not operate at full capacity, under normal circumstances, processing 3 pieces of information at the same time is a more appropriate brain operating state . Even under reasonable circumstances, there should be no more than 4 support points.

IV. [Incitement] Simple but not elegant enough: Is your writing good enough?

If you do the above three points, the text will be simple and easy to understand. The next step is to add a little more incitement to your text. What I mean by incitement is certainly not the "Only 998, call now" in TV commercials, but by establishing connections with people's lives, emotions, and things that people care about, your copy can bind consumers and make them accept your product or constantly awaken their impression of your product.

(1) Associative power of scenes

Combining promotional copy with specific life scenes and constantly reproducing them will eventually bind the product to a specific scene in the consumer's mind. As long as these scenes appear in life, the product will automatically appear in the minds of consumers, and will naturally trigger purchasing behavior. I have to mention those ads that I don’t want to watch again: drink Wanglaoji if you are afraid of getting angry, accept Melatonin as a gift, drink Red Bull when you are tired, chew Yida after eating and drinking, and return to Pulse when you are not in good shape...

This pattern is quite similar to Pavlov's classical conditioning in psychology. Pavlov's psychology experiment goes like this: normally when dogs are shown food, they will salivate. If you ring a bell while showing the dog food, over time the dog will also salivate when the bell is rung without showing the food. Use the presentation of food as an intermediary to link the stimulation of the bell with the salivation behavior. Situational advertising also applies this principle, using advertising as an intermediary link to connect a certain scene in life with a product, so that when consumers encounter or think of the scene in life, they will think of the product reflexively.

(2) Logical creativity

There is an obvious misunderstanding. Some people think that the creativity of copywriting lies in gorgeous words and shocking sentences, so there are writers who will not stop until their words are shocking. In fact, the creativity of copywriting does not necessarily require the use of complex words and sentences. What can make people feel fresh is not the unfamiliar words, but the logical creativity. Just like O. Henry's novels, although there are no particularly gorgeous words and the choice of words and sentences is not perfect, his novels have extraordinary appeal and make people want to continue reading. Unexpected and reasonable is the perfect logical application of his creativity.

Creativity cannot be learned from others, but you can activate your creative thinking through practice. Edward de Bono invented a tool called the Brainball, which stores thousands of different words. When you encounter a problem, you can use the Think Tank Ball to randomly display three words. You can use your thinking to find the connection between the problem you are solving and these three words, so as to discover new ideas. In normal times, through more practice and accumulation, creativity can be more active and thinking can run more smoothly, which is of great help to the creation of copywriting.

(3) Capability to capture trends

New and popular things have a strong appeal to people. Evolutionary psychology believes that this is deeply buried in people's ancient logic. In ancient times, the application of every new tool, the discovery of every new crop, and the appearance of every new wild animal had a great potential to change people's lives. Therefore, curiosity about new things is the instinct of human beings for self-protection, survival and reproduction. The news that people pay attention to and the new topics they discuss every day also clearly prove people’s enthusiasm for trends.

Creating a trend is a difficult thing, but catching a trend is a relatively easy thing to do. In copywriting, by capturing trends, consumers can always see their products in the hot trends they are paying attention to. Over time, the amount of attention brought by trends cannot be underestimated. Deliberately training your ability to collect, analyze, and predict online information in an online environment can effectively cultivate your online sense, allowing you to better capture trends and create more appropriate copywriting content. I would like to add one more thing, which I have mentioned in other articles. Because following the trend will strengthen the power of the trend setter, you should never follow the trends of your competitors.

In the process of simplifying text, there are many aspects and misunderstandings that need to be paid attention to. Simple words do not come easily. Just like the Tang Dynasty poet Jia Dao, who pondered over the two words "push" and "knock" in order to write a poem that combines a harmonious scene with a vivid image. The same goes for copywriters, who keep the complexity to themselves and present simplicity to users.