Copywriting methodology: 1 theme, 3 routines, 5 types and 4 psychological cognitions

Sometimes I wonder what the essence of copywriting is. Is it exaggeration or simple description? It seems neither. For example, when we say that a man has well-developed pectoral muscles, we can exaggerate as "this is a D Cup man" or describe it as "his pectoral muscles are very big", but a more vivid and concrete expression might be: "18 men have already bent their chests in front of his chest."

The result-oriented business world needs copywriting because it is used to achieve a certain purpose. All the vivid and concrete content, as well as content that touches people's hearts, serves this purpose. However, most copywriters have no idea what the results will be and how to achieve them, and they don’t think about it. Naturally, the copywriting is only in form but not in spirit, and it is not an exaggeration to call it just words. The boss said, "The new product is about to be launched, you write the copy", "This event needs some promotional posters, you write the copy" and then... after a lot of twists and turns, I wrote copy like "New function is grandly launched", "New product is low-key and luxurious", "New event offers great gifts", and the boss was so angry that he couldn't swallow it. I don’t know who I’m writing to, what I’m saying, or what purpose I’m writing to achieve. This is called self-satisfaction. Li Jiaoshou calls it X-type copywriting.

The premise of commercial copywriting is to clarify and refine the target groups, channels and selling points.

Products have an audience, and copywriting has a target group. They are all selling insurance, "Liu Yan said that women should protect themselves in this way", "Insurance and Ponzi scheme, Li Xiao's economic life theory", "It must be warm and safe, it must have lofty aspirations and be strong over the long term". Theoretically, the target groups corresponding to these three types of copywriting are completely different, right?

To give another example, when talking about the visual design of a mobile phone, the phrases "a sharp and unique product in an era of smoothness", "attracts fiery attention and can withstand the test of water", and "a dream work that results from seven years of craftsmanship exploration" respectively emphasize: I am different from others, I can make others more envious, and my craftsmanship is better than others. The reason for such expressions is that Hammer users emphasize a sense of identity more, Apple users emphasize subjective experience more, and Xiaomi users are willing to pay for "black technology". Therefore, define the target audience first and then decide on the copy presentation.

Of course, the above premise is that you have clearly identified the type and proportion of the product audience, and know which type of service the copy you are about to output is for, otherwise it will be very embarrassing...

The difference in display channels limits the purpose of copywriting to a certain extent. The average effective reading time for users on subway station track ads is 2-3 minutes. Should the copy be made more playful and interesting? Is there a possibility of interaction with users?

Baidu SEM ads display a maximum of 15 words, leaving users with an effective reading time of 1-3 seconds. If you cannot quickly tell users: "I am related to the question you raised", it is basically the same as not having any advertising.

The life span of an A4 flyer on the street depends only on the first 0-10 seconds that people read it. If it cannot make users feel that "this product may be needed", it is equivalent to garbage.

Advertising magazines on airplanes or high-speed trains can unscrupulously delve into every detail of an Amway product in a relatively silent environment.

So in principle, the channel determines the effective time that readers come into contact with the copy and the effective number of words in the copy. The longer the effective time and the more effective words, the more it can influence users or form interactions . According to marketing purpose and influence degree, it can be divided into: brand exposure, exposure plus single selling point description, exposure and action guide, detailed description, the most detailed description interaction, etc.

So, do you know what the effective word count is for a WeChat subscription account title?

Assume that the effective display word count of the subscription account list on an Apple phone is 21 words as shown in the figure, and the effective display word count on an Android phone is 15 words. An average person can read 5 words per second, and the average browsing time for one of the subscription account feed streams is 0-3 seconds, which translates to a maximum of 15 words that can be read. This means that WeChat subscription account operators must use at least 15 words to attract users’ attention and generate their desire to click.

Product selling points can be divided into primary selling points and secondary selling points . The role of the primary selling point is to convey "under the same circumstances, what you need is me, not others." As for why you and not others, it is as diverse as the reasons why men like women. It may be because she is profound, thoughtful, smart, cute, gentle and kind, or she may be beautiful, have long legs and big breasts. The role of secondary selling points is to convey "besides the main selling points, what else can I do/what can I do", for example, this girl is not only thoughtful but also has long legs, not only smart but also kind... Another example: Xiaomi 6 not only has a zoom dual camera to take more beautiful photos, but also has a 6G memory Snapdragon 835 processor, a 5.15" eye protection screen, four-curved ceramic glass, etc...

In terms of structure, selling points can be divided into a one-sentence summary and a supplementary description . As the name suggests, the former is often used to sublimate, summarize, and lead, while the latter requires reasonable and well-founded explanations of the former.

For example: Xiao Xia is very kind. She goes to the park to feed wild cats every day. Xiaoqiu has very long legs. She is 1.6 meters tall and her legs are 1.58 meters long.

For example: Smartisan Pro has surprising heat control. It uses a low-power, high-performance processor, a more advanced heat dissipation structure, and more complete software optimization, and it is already at the leading level in the industry.

Therefore, when you need to write a copy, please first think about who the target audience of your copy is, whether the channels for delivering the copy and the expected results are consistent, and what kind of selling points will be clearer and more convincing. Thinking through these three questions before typing is a sign of being responsible for the results. Emphasis: There are two ideal prerequisites to ensure advertising effectiveness. The first is to be able to select delivery channels based on advertising purposes, and the second is to be able to customize advertisements for established channels.

3 routines to make copywriting go from having nothing to say to being able to speak fluently

Knowing the premise for producing a commercial copy and following it means that the copywriter will not make directional errors. Learning the following three routines means that you have completed the transition from "I don't know how to say it" and "I don't know what to say" to "I still have a lot to say" and "I haven't said it well enough."

Start with the product specifications:

For example:

Smartisan Pro camera takes beautiful night scenes

It uses a 16-megapixel front camera, a 13-megapixel rear dual camera, 0.1s ultra-fast focus technology, and a 2.0 large aperture to present more detailed night scenes and more refined beauty.

iPhone 7 chip is fast enough

The A10 Fusion chip uses a new architecture that lets you do things up to twice as fast as iPhone 6 while still enjoying longer battery life on a single charge.

The writing routine starting with product specifications is: what are the advantages of all the configuration data of this product (size, weight, volume, area, color, quantity, brand, etc.) compared with which other or similar/previous generation products .

Starting from the production process:

For example:

FlowerPlus Flowers Cheap

Delivered directly from Yunnan and other flower origins, there are no middlemen and only more transparent prices.

Flowers are fresh and fresh

The flowers are picked by farmers in the early morning, shipped by air within 3 hours, undergo 15 fresh-keeping packaging processes, and are shipped by SF Express within 21 hours. You can even see dewdrops rolling when you open the package.

The writing routine starting from the production process is: find the production process that can reflect the selling point, and then describe it in detail.

Start with the usage scenario:

For example:

Dayu Insurance claims are convenient

The documents required for claims are handled by dedicated personnel, so you shouldn’t have to worry about accidents.

Quick fish insurance claims

The agent compensation service, with cash arriving in 2 hours, is your strong support at the first time.

The writing routine starting from the usage scenario is: talk about the scenarios of using the selling point and the advantages during use together.

The above three routines can be used in various arrangements and combinations for better results.

Learn these 5 tips to upgrade simple descriptions into vivid expressions

During the years when I was "poisoned" by Master Jin, I had a vague impression of the division of swordsmanship levels, which was probably: from the Chicken-Killing Sword Technique to the Dugu Nine Swords and then to the mysterious "no move is better than a move". It was very metaphysical and very masterly. I think the same goes for copywriting. The simplest way to express it is the chicken-killing sword technique, and the most vivid and concrete way to describe it is the Dugu Nine Swords.

Step 1: Digital copywriting

When key countable nouns appear in the copy, add data. For example, my legs are very long, I am 188cm tall and my legs are 185cm long; for example, you have followed the public account "Serious Nonsense" for 3 months and your monthly salary has doubled, are you awesome? Of course not, I’m just better. . .

The essence of data-based copywriting is to add a stimulating data endorsement to the key countable nouns related to the selling point, such as "Shock! The secret of Durex gaining 80 million fans is this", instead of "Shock! Durex can gain fans because of these 80 million secrets".

The second trick: symbolic copywriting

The essence of symbolic copywriting is the extended application of the "metonymy" technique, which has the same meaning as Edison's light bulb and Newton's apple. For example: "Wang Sicong's oral account: My view on choosing a spouse", "Tencent's internal letter was exposed, Zhang Xiaolong bluntly stated that he is not optimistic about mini programs ."

The essence of symbolic copywriting lies in substitution, using a well-known noun to replace another ordinary noun, such as using "Gao Yuanyuan" instead of "beauty", " Alibaba " instead of "operation", and "Wang Sicong" instead of "rich second generation". The advantage of doing this is that it makes the expression more concrete and intuitive.

Tip 3: Question-based copywriting

The benefit of question sentences is that they can easily arouse the curiosity of readers, such as " Ji Shisan : What did I do in the 30 days from the launch of Fenda to the 100 million financing ?", "I spent 3,000 and earned 30,000. What did I do in the three months of entrepreneurship ?", "How to achieve financial freedom through ICO?"

The classic combination of interrogative sentences is: "question" + "benefits" or "benefits" + "question". The former is more suitable for telling a story, while the latter is more suitable for explaining a certain logic.

Tip 4: Controversial copywriting

Controversial copywriting usually directly throws out a negative or controversial point to attract the reader's attention. For example, " Douban 's closure and 'awakening' represent Abei's despair and compromise, do you agree?", "That shameless person lives a very cool life", "A top student from Peking University joined Huawei and wrote a ten-thousand-word letter, and was criticized by Ren Zhengfei as a psychopath."

Controversial copywriting is often used to express a certain point of view, but for those who have not established a complete cognitive system or whose cognitive system is imperfect, it is quite difficult to distinguish between the two, and even worse, they will have to pay the IQ tax. But it is also common in 10W+…

Fifth trick: rough copywriting

As the name suggests, rough copywriting is simple and rough enough, and the core logic is "this thing is useful to you." For example, "Follow us and get a red envelope, first come first served", "Kumamon is coming to Beijing, forward this article to your circle of friends to get one", etc.

Rough copywriting usually states the benefits and requires users to take action. It usually has a stronger commercial connotation and requires higher "benefits". There are also other things like free gas cards, coupons, etc. I won’t list them all here.

Good copywriting requires some understanding of psychology

Theoretically speaking, now you already know how to write a copy with the right direction and how to upgrade a simple description into a vivid and concrete expression. You are about to enter the hall of senior copywriting, which often requires not sticking to routines but going straight to the heart of the matter, so it is time to understand some psychology.

The more the number, the more correct it is.

People prefer to believe that if many people are doing something, they will suffer a loss if they don't do it, or at least think that this thing is a good thing. Similarly, if many people buy this product, it is good, or at least not bad. This is also the logical basis for Taobao sellers to frantically increase orders and intervene in operations to increase the number of app downloads.

Examples of similar copywriting include "An answer that was liked by 800,000 people on Zhihu", "Taobao's top 10 sales this week are all here", "WeChat's 100,000+ this week, they are all watching these", and " Movies with a Douban score of 8.8 or above are all here".

It is also common to appreciate the simple addition of numbers and use imagination to confirm the product value brought by irrelevant numbers. We often fall into false logic such as "this school is so big, the teaching quality must be very good", "this book is so thick, the explanations must be very detailed", "this cup is more expensive, so it must be of better quality".

Copywriting with a similar feeling includes "The school covers an area of ​​4 million square meters and has a strong faculty", "The company has 18 full-time editors and a good atmosphere for content production", and "The platform has 800 big Vs , which is enough to undertake the responsibility of knowledge dissemination."

I am different, I pay for the same

Seeking difference means pursuing originality and being different. If most people are like this, then I am not like this. Often the form is more important than the content, which is a bit like Ye Gong's love of dragons. It is common in discussions like "Douban, Zhihu, and NetEase Cloud are no longer what they used to be", or in the phenomenon of hoping that Ma Youye, Zhang Weiwei, Chen Hongyu, etc. will never become popular.

Copywriting with a similar feeling includes "a sharp outlier in an era of smoothness, a slender figure in an era of sensuality", "at the age of 23, I am a firm practitioner of non-marriage, what about you?", "Aquarius is the smartest, most beautiful, and has a very healthy body."

It is also common to recognize a person or state that is similar to oneself, the same as oneself, or one that one wants to become, and is often filled with a certain stubborn persistence and arrogant prejudice or caught up in idealistic feelings and self-admiration.

Some copywriting with a similar feeling include "Sorry, I only need 1% of my life" and "Lao Luo describes his craftsman spirit: do one thing at a time."

If he can do it, so can I. If he is good, so can I.

It may be survivor bias or simple cognitive incompleteness, which is often seen in remarks such as "Han Han didn't even finish high school, but he is still a director", "Tu Buhua didn't even go to college, but she is still very outstanding", and the same is true for the inference that "Although I graduated from a junior college and don't like studying, my abilities are much better than those of 985 universities".

Examples of copywriting with a similar feel include: " The knowledge-based paid product that even Jack Ma is studying", "He graduated from high school, started a business with no background, and bought a villa in Beijing after 3 years", and "The hydrating magic tool that Fan Bingbing uses to rejuvenate her skin".

Seven Deadly Sins

Taking advantage of human temptations is the most commonly used copywriting method, and it is also common among various scammers. " Adidas , 50% off today, limited time sale", "The probability of women aged 28-40 suffering from certain diseases increases year by year, you need a major disease insurance", "You have been selected as a lucky audience of this column, the prize is an iPhone 7 Plus", "Hong Kong tycoon, paying a large sum of money to have a child", etc.

Use the power of copywriting appropriately

This is probably all I know and follow about copywriting. May we all be able to write freely, expressing what we like subjectively and objectively.