99% of the copywriting that chases hot topics is wrong. Look at this picture to see the core code of new media copywriting!

I don’t know when the mobile phone industry started a “pixel war”:

vivo : 16-megapixel soft light selfie, illuminating your beauty.

Oppo : 20 million pixels on the front and back, clearer photos.

Xiaomi: Dual-camera zoom for more beautiful photos of people.

Huawei: Second-generation Leica dual lens, 2x dual-camera zoom.

······

Finally, Candy Phone couldn't stand it anymore and launched the following amazing copywriting that instantly killed everyone:

This brilliant copy immediately follows the program’s title sponsor OPPO’s advertisement “20 million front and back pixels, clearer photos”, creating a surprising turn of events.

Crowds of onlookers expressed their admiration by flooding the screen with comments. In just a few hours, the number of comments about the unsponsored advertisement for Candy Phone exceeded 20,000.

This is a victory for Candy Phone, and even more so a victory for new media copywriting. Facts have proved that compared with traditional copywriting, new media copywriting has the magical power to achieve great results with little effort .

Another company that is also well versed in new media copywriting is Durex . This "old driver" who became famous by "riding on the hot spots" has successfully ranked No. 1 on the list of the most worthy to imitate list in the copywriting industry with countless screen-sweeping copywriting.

Unfortunately, most brands do not understand the essence of new media copywriting, and naively think that new media copywriting is just a way to attract attention:

Hot copywriting during the college entrance examination (what does it have to do with the product?)

Or, it's just an experienced driver:

Old driver driving copywriting (from left to right: real estate, diamond, coconut milk ads. Besides vulgarity, what else is there?)

The result is obvious: most brands fail. So , how should new media copy be written?

From " channel is king" to "content is king"

Before discussing how to write new media copy, we must first be clear about how the way of communication has changed from the traditional media era to the new media era, and what essential impact do these changes have on new media marketing ?

In fact, early Durex, like most traditional brands, simply and crudely sold its products on new media platforms:

Durex's early Weibo content

This type of hawking marketing was very popular in the era of traditional media, an era when "channels were king". Information was transmitted in one direction, consumers could only passively receive information, and the contact time between brands and consumers was very limited. The goal of copywriting was to leave the deepest impression on consumers about the product/brand in the shortest time.

Marketing model in the era of "channel is king"

Ideally, the copy should extract the core value of the brand , which can be product attributes, usage scenarios, brand image, etc. In short, it is the most memorable part between you and your competitors .

Moreover, in order to implant the brand into the minds of users in a short period of time, the brand name usually appears directly in the copy, achieving a brainwashing-like effect. For example, most of the following classic copywritings meet these characteristics:

I won’t accept any gifts this year, the only gift I’ll accept is Melatonin . (Usage scenario, Melatonin)

I feel a little hungry and sleepy, so I drink some Xiangpiaopiao . (Usage scenario: Xiangpiaopiao)

If you are afraid of getting angry, drink Wanglaoji . (Product efficacy, Wanglaoji)

5 minutes of charging, 2 hours of talk time. (Product attributes, OPPO)

You are beautiful. (Product efficacy, Chando)

Huiren Shenbao , if he is well, I will be well too. (Product efficacy, Huiren Shenbao)

Women need to be calm during menopause. (Product efficacy, Jingxin oral liquid)

In the new media era, the way information is disseminated has become network-based interactive dissemination. Consumers are no longer passive recipients of brand information, but can freely participate in information dissemination. At this time, whether the content has the power to spread has become a key factor in how much exposure the copy gets. "Channel is king" has become "content is king."

Therefore, in order to achieve better content dissemination effects, brands can no longer simply and crudely sell products, but need to put on an attractive coat (that is, package the brand with content that has dissemination value ) and hide themselves appropriately:

Marketing model in the era of "content is king"

Find the overlap between brand value and communication value

Seeing this, you may say, I understand all this, my copy has both communication value and brand connotation, so why did it still fail?

That’s because you overlooked a very important point when writing new media copy:

In order to avoid confusion, users' minds will actively block some information. If the communication value and brand value cannot be effectively integrated, users will only receive the part of the content that has communication value and ignore brand-related content.

It's like you wrap a layer of gummy candy around the medicine in order to coax a child into taking it, but the child peels off the gummy candy and eats it, and throws the medicine aside.

Therefore, a better way is to mix the medicine and sugar together to form a candy containing the medicine ingredient, and let the child simply eat it as a candy.

This is the core code of new media copywriting, which can be expressed in a picture as follows:

New Media Copywriting Code

On the left is content that contains brand value , and on the right is content that has communication power .

If the copy only falls into the left circle, it must be very boring (this is the case with most traditional copywriting). If it only falls into the right circle, it is very stupid (this is why many new media copywriting looks very stupid).

Successful new media copywriting is born in the overlapping area of ​​brand value and communication value .

With the help of this picture, we can clearly see the difference between new media copywriting and traditional copywriting . Let’s take a look at Candy Phone:

There are two main points of information directly expressed by this copy:

1. This is an unprecedented "non-titled advertisement". Out of curiosity, the audience will spread it spontaneously. At the same time, the audience will have an "interesting" impression of the "candy" brand;

2. The core value of the Candy phone is "clearer than 'clearer'" (taking very clear photos), and at the same time it is tied to its competitor "OPPO", creating the topic of "'Candy' tears 'OPPO' apart", which has certain communication value. At the same time, due to its unique broadcast time, it is highly topical and further enhances the overall communication value of the copy.

In comparison, OPPO's copy seems boring.

The key information "20 million yuan for front and back, clearer photos" and "OPPO is the title sponsor of "The Voice of China"" only show the brand value. The former explains the core function of the product (clear photos), and the latter shows that the brand is rich.

Therefore, the only way to increase exposure of this traditional copywriting that has no communication value is to increase the distribution channels as much as possible .

Let’s compare the copywriting of Durex and its failed imitators, and you will understand the difference between successful and failed new media copywriting .

So far, Durex has developed a series of classic copywriting . The reason why it became a series is that the copywriting is all based on the image of an "old driver", which is also the key to the success of Durex's new media marketing - accurate brand image positioning and persistent execution.

The image of "old driver" not only has communication value, but also conforms to Durex's product characteristics. Many brands do not understand this point and blindly imitate the image of "old driver" regardless of their own product characteristics, resulting in a joke (such as the real estate, diamond and coconut milk advertisements at the beginning of the article).

Durex's "extraordinary use" of copywriting to take advantage of the "College Entrance Examination" hot topic

We can see that most of Durex’s copywriting is recreated in combination with the product image. For example, in this college entrance examination copy, the picture uses an extra-long version of Durex condoms, which not only fits the theme of "extra-long performance" but also promotes the product. At the same time, its homonym "extraordinary performance" has obvious sexual connotations, which fits the image of an experienced driver.

Haier's "Pass every exam" copywriting to take advantage of the "College Entrance Examination" hot topic

In comparison, Haier's college entrance examination copywriting seems much inferior. The key information "618 Ideal Life Carnival" and the " Tmall " brand image are both hard advertisements, and the audience will not actively spread them. The hot-button "Pass every exam" is also uncreative and has little communication value.

Therefore, if none of the key information in the copy falls into the overlapping area, it would be considered a failed new media copy .

Writing new media copywriting from scratch

Knowing how to distinguish between traditional copywriting and new media copywriting, and how to judge the success and failure of new media copywriting is far from enough. Our core goal is to learn how to write new media copywriting from scratch.

1. Extract the core value of the brand and write it in the circle on the left

Product attributes include functional attributes and hedonic attributes, both of which can serve as the core value of a brand and are mainly determined by brand positioning.

Generally speaking, functional products will choose to focus on their functional attributes. For example, OPPO phones and Candy phones both focus on the "clear photo taking" function.

However, with the impact of consumption upgrading and in order to break out from a large number of homogeneous products, functional products will also choose to focus on hedonic attributes, such as Jiang Xiaobai , which focuses on "youthful nostalgia", and the Hammer Nut phone, which focuses on "high appearance".

For products with unclear functional differentiation (or products with low consumer involvement), focusing on brand image is a good choice.

For example, the "old driver" brand image created by Durex and the "funny and naughty post-90s" image created by Xiao Ming are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In order to better consolidate the position of the brand image in the minds of consumers, it is recommended that before creating copy each time, you should mark the brand image in the circle on the left to remind yourself to create copy that is in line with the brand image.

2. Follow the six principles of active communication

Professor Jonah Berger of the Wharton School of Business proposed six principles of mass proactive communication in his book "Contagious". We write them in the circle on the right and choose the appropriate communication method based on the brand core value extracted in the previous step.

1) Include social currency

Sharing is a social behavior that runs through people’s daily lives. People naturally have a need to share, which is also the fundamental reason why social media is so popular around the world. If the shared content can make people look better, smarter, and more popular, then this content will become social currency and will be actively shared, forwarded, and discussed in large quantities.

Therefore, as a business, if you want users to actively share and discuss your products or copywriting, you need to provide users with content that contains social currency .

For example, sharing Durex's "old driver" copy can make users look smarter (while sharing "old driver" copy created by unrelated brands will make users look more vulgar); sharing Apple's latest products can make users look more fashionable; sharing hot content can make users look well-informed and concerned about current affairs.

2) Easy to activate

Binding copywriting to something that appears more frequently than brand products is a very good way to increase the communication value of a product. Therefore, when you start writing the copy, you must consciously lay the groundwork for incentives.

Can be tied to a specific brand image . For example, Durex has been using the image of an "old driver" to take advantage of hot topics for many years, which has effectively linked "Durex", "old driver" and "hot topics". So now whenever a hot topic occurs, people's first reaction is, what will Durex, the "old driver", do next?

Can bind competitors . The "non-titled advertising" of the Candy Phone also cleverly tied to OPPO, the big player in the mobile phone industry. At least for a period of time, many people would involuntarily think of the Candy Phone when they saw OPPO's advertisements.

In short, you must bind to an object that appears more frequently than you in the lives of your target users , so that you can achieve the goal of increasing the communication value of your product.

3) Able to stimulate emotions

Sharing emotions can help people maintain and strengthen their social relationships. Whether it is sharing joy or anger, it can effectively help people establish emotional connections.

Studies have shown that high-arousal emotions can more effectively stimulate sharing behavior than low-arousal emotions . High-arousal emotions include positivity, awe, excitement, humor, anger, etc., while low-arousal emotions include satisfaction, sadness, worry, etc.

It is like our sharing behavior has a switch. Only when the emotional fluctuation (whether positive or negative) reaches a certain threshold, the sharing switch will be turned on. This is why many big Vs of public accounts emphasize the need to stimulate readers' emotions.

For example, the copy of keep, "It's not something that is born this way, it's just that we persist every day," expresses a positive and admirable spirit, which has triggered a large number of users (especially old users) to share it.

After losing the lawsuit against Wanglaoji, Jiaduobao selected four crying babies and added a one-sentence copy to describe its own weakness. It looked tragic on the surface, but in fact it was like a sharp sword, piercing the pain point of its competitors, arousing the sympathy and anger of the public, and thus being effectively spread.

4) Publicity

To put it simply, it is the "herd effect". The more people use your product, the better they will think your product is. The more people spread your copy, the more people will participate in the dissemination.

For example, when you use Hammer Note to send a message to a friend, "Sent by Hammer Note" will be automatically added at the bottom. This is to expand brand exposure and then use the "herd effect" to attract more users.

At the same time, if the product itself is of high quality, this way of identifying the brand name will also promote user dissemination out of a desire to show off.

5) Practical value

Sharing useful information can help others and enhance connections. At the same time, in the process of helping others, we ourselves can also feel our own value.

Therefore, we often see practical articles such as "XX ways to manage emotions" and "Improve XX skills in X days" in our circle of friends . Even Durex, a veteran brand, occasionally publishes some practical popular science articles while taking advantage of the hot topics.

6) Story

Compared with advertisements, people prefer stories. Stories are vivid and figurative, and can easily arouse people's favor and resonance. Therefore, more and more brands are writing copy in the form of stories.

For example, the subway advertisement copy of DingTalk that has been all over the screen recently tells the inner stories of entrepreneurs , which has aroused strong resonance among the majority of entrepreneurs .

The once popular NetEase Cloud Music subway copywriting also successfully triggered public resonance and sharing by carefully selecting small stories and experiences about life, love, etc. from user comments.

3. Integrate brand value into communication value

The last step, and the most critical one, is to firmly bind the brand value and communication value together, otherwise, it will end up being a waste of time. The binding method can be achieved by incorporating product image, brand/product name, founder, brand spirit, etc. into the copy.

1) Integrate into product image

Integrating into the product image is not as simple as implanting an image. The previous article has compared the performance of Durex and Haier in integrating into the product image. Simple implantation will only give people the feeling of "this is a hard advertisement" and cause disgust. So, let’s learn how Durex incorporates its product image into its copywriting:

2) Incorporate brand/product name

Integrating a brand name may seem simple, but it is actually very difficult to do it beautifully and without leaving any trace. Forcing a brand name into the mix will make people wonder, “What the hell?” For example, the Coolpad phone copy at the beginning of the article reads, “Ten years of hard study, ‘finger’ blooms for this moment” (Coolpad was focusing on fingerprint phones at the time, so “finger” was used instead of “only”), which makes people feel confused.

The classic copywriting of Vancl was done very well. First, they selected the word "Vancl" from the brand name, which represents both the brand spirit and the brand name. On this basis, they created a series of thoughtful copywriting, making the word "Vancl" deeply rooted in people's hearts.

3) Integrate into product functions

It is very difficult to write copy that is both powerful and can incorporate product functions, because once product functions appear in the copy, people will sensitively realize that "this is an advertisement."

The "non-sponsored" advertisement of Candy mobile phone avoided this embarrassment very well, because in this copy, Candy did not directly say "We have 65 million pixels and can be magnified 22 times", but humorously demonstrated the product's "clear photo taking" function by saying "clearer than 'clearer'". At the same time, combined with the "non-sponsored" advertising attribute and the unique broadcast time point, it created a dramatic effect.

4) Integrate into the founder’s image

The image of the founder and the brand image are inseparable. In recent years, more and more Chinese entrepreneurs have stepped out from behind the scenes and used their influence to endorse brands, such as Jack Ma , Liu Qiangdong (who even brought his wife along), Dong Mingzhu , and so on.

However, when it comes to founder endorsements, the pioneer in China should be Chen Ou of Jumei.com. At that time, Jumei Youpin had a heart-stirring struggle story of the post-80s generation, and its boss Chen Ou shouted out the proud words "I am Chen Ou, I represent myself", which made the public quickly get to know Chen Ou, and then get to know Jumei Youpin.

5) Integrate brand spirit

Keep's series of copywritings have well interpreted the brand spirit of persistence and self-discipline advocated by Keep. While having great communication value, they also convey the brand spirit.

summary

Before writing new media copy, you must first understand the shift in communication methods from "channel is king" to "content is king", and then understand the core of new media copywriting, that is, " finding the overlap between brand value and communication value ". When you officially start writing, use the following model and follow 3 steps:

1. Extract the core value of the brand and write it in the circle on the left

2. Follow the six principles of active communication and choose the most suitable means of communication

3. Remember to integrate brand value into communication value