Copywriting for Beginners: 5 Key Steps to Copywriting

When I was interviewing senior operations candidates, I would often use a little trick:

First, talk to the candidate about life and ideals to make him feel extremely relaxed and treat me as a brother. When he thinks the offer is a sure thing, I casually throw out a brain-burning open-ended question, such as:

“If you are running a shared umbrella app and want to place an ad in the subway, how would you write the copy ?”

Most people would talk about creativity directly, some would analyze product features, and a small number would talk about user psychological motivations. However, the candidates who I gave the highest evaluation did not give a direct "answer" but asked me:

"I want to confirm first, what is the purpose of writing this copy?"

Yes, this is the answer I expected.

The first step in writing copy is not user demands, product features, or how to attract attention or awaken emotions, but to clarify the purpose of the copy .

This is also the criterion for identifying whether a professional is mature: always have a clear purpose when doing anything.

Of course, you may ask, what is the purpose of copywriting?

Isn’t it just the product (commodity) conversion rate ?

No, there are many purposes for copywriting, such as brand exposure, new product promotion , market capture for mature products, event promotion...

But in the final analysis, the ultimate goals of copywriting are two :

• Change user attitude (from not knowing the product to knowing it, from not having a favorable impression of it)
• Encourage users to take action (i.e. generate conversion rate, users download or purchase products after reading the copy)

However, the first step in writing copy - determining the purpose of the copy - is precisely the fatal step that most copywriters ignore.

Why do I say so? Can't these two goals be achieved at the same time?

That’s right, not only can these two goals not be achieved at the same time, but their inherent nature is mutually exclusive and conflicting.

Because the core of what makes users have a positive attitude (towards a product) is "trust", and the core of what motivates users to take immediate action is "interest".

The former belongs to "social relationship norms" and the latter belongs to "market relationship norms". You cannot have your cake and eat it too (derived from cognitive dissonance theory).

It's like you cook a meal for your friend yourself, and then you make a list of the ingredients and labor and put it in front of him: My cooking skills are not worse than those of the chefs outside, come on, pay first.

You also expect this dinner to strengthen the bilateral friendship, is it possible?

Therefore, the first step to elegantly step out of copywriting should be:

The first step in copywriting: determine the purpose, whether to influence user attitudes or prompt user actions

Without considering the strategic background, products and commodities related to payment (except brand advertising) or high-frequency free products tend to pursue "conversion rate" copywriting.

In other situations, copywriting that “influences user attitudes” is more suitable.

It is important to note that “influencing user attitudes” does not mean that the copywriting cannot generate “conversion rate”, but it means that the conversion rate it brings is very “natural” and incidental, rather than deliberately arousing user action, as shown in the following figure:

On the other hand, copywriting that focuses on conversion rate can usually bring direct benefits in the short term, but (when users first come into contact with the copywriting) it is at the expense of "user attitude" .

This is why the word “discount” has never appeared in the dictionary of top luxury brands such as Hermès, Rolex, and Glashütte.

On the other hand, for example, during JD.com’s 618 promotion, a certain product was 50% off across the board…how could it be possible that users would not doubt the actual value of this product?

The impact of conversion rate copywriting on users is shown in the following figure:

So, is sacrificing user attitude necessarily a bad thing?

This depends on the company's strategic situation.

For example, when you need to cover the market quickly, or urgently need to clear inventory to speed up capital turnover, or need to boost internal morale and defeat external competitors, etc....it is necessary to use copywriting that "prompts users to take action", even if it costs the user's attitude points to be deducted.

Therefore, the first step in copywriting should be to confirm whether to focus on influencing user attitudes or on conversion rates .

Only after the "goal" is set can we roll up our sleeves and get to work. Otherwise, you never know what will happen...

The following will focus on how to scientifically write copy that "influences user attitudes."

As for the "prompting users to take action" type of copywriting, its usage rate is relatively low and there is less room for development, so it will not be discussed in detail in this article.

The second step in copywriting: determine the goal. What are the criteria for good copywriting?

After determining the purpose of the copywriting (to establish a positive attitude in the minds of users), those with strong execution ability (the body acts before the brain) will directly rush into the "writing stage" of the copywriting: refining product highlights, thinking about creativity, writing...

However, just as doing things must have a purpose, after determining the purpose, we must also understand the "goal" of doing things , that is, the standard of good and bad. Without standards, what we write is nothing more than self-entertainment and self-deception. As for the final result of the copywriting, it all depends on whether we can get lucky. This won’t work.

So, what is the core standard for copywriting that “changes user attitudes”?

Judging by today’s mainstream ideology of “foolishness and fun to death”, people generally believe that good copywriting is what “can attract attention, cause widespread dissemination, and spark heated discussion”.

But have we all forgotten an ancient truth? Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels far and wide.

Note that we must always stick to the purpose of copywriting: to influence user attitudes.

In other words, it means making users have a good impression of the product ( special advantages ) firmly imprinted in their minds. Once they have the motivation to buy, there is a high probability that our product will be included in the user's candidate decision list ( of course, it would be best if it could be the only decision-making object ) .

PS. Copywriting that aims to influence user attitudes cannot manipulate user purchasing motivations. The essence behind copywriting that aims at conversion rates is usually to manipulate user motivations with "benefits."

It is extremely important to think this through clearly, as it gives us the criterion for judging whether a copy is successful or not: whether it can make users firmly " remember " the " good impression " in their minds.

However, the general tendency of copywriting in the industry is to "attract attention and spread widely", which is completely putting the cart before the horse if we are not careful.

For example, a copy of a certain brand of chili pepper I read a few years ago:

"The male one is still the best for hot sauce."

This one is indeed eye-catching and leaves an impression in my mind, but it is a copy that I extremely dislike. As a result, I will deliberately avoid choosing it when shopping in the supermarket.

If this kind of copy happened in the United States, it would most likely trigger a feminist boycott.

At this point, we can further define writing a good copy as:

Make the " unique competitive advantage " of the product you want to convey into a memory perfume so that even passers-by can have it firmly imprinted in their minds .

Well, usually a product (commodity) has more than one highlight, or even many. When writing the copy, how many advantages should be highlighted?

Step 3 of copywriting: Identify the unique highlight you want to convey. Just one, no more.

Give you a firm look: one.

Yes, it’s not Zhang Yimou’s “Not One Less”, but “Not One More”.

If your boss, product manager, or technical colleague has some incredible features that they really want to highlight, and begs you to add one more highlight, then please stick to your principle: still one.

And if they put a knife to your neck...

Well, stand up straight and be brave: grit your teeth and give in.

However, be sure to weaken the other auxiliary highlights in the layout, so that the only highlight in the end is, again, one .

You asked me why I was so obsessed with embodying "one" core highlight. The reason is simple:

Both my personal experience and a large number of experiments in cognitive psychology have confirmed that the brain is only good at remembering one proposition.

If you don’t believe it, think about it. Is there any product that we are familiar with that can embody more than two core highlights at the same time?

• “Drink Red Bull when you are tired or sleepy”
• "If you are afraid of getting angry, drink Wanglaoji "
• “Nongfu Spring is a little sweet”

So, when actually writing the copy, how do you select the core competitive advantages of a product?

If your product highlights and positioning have always been clear, or your boss (or Party A) has requested specific highlights to be communicated, you can skip this step directly.

But if your product has multiple highlight features, or has just developed (researched and developed) a brand new highlight, how should you choose when writing the specific copy?

Select the points that " mainstream users " care about most.

For example, the mainstream users of Patek Philippe watches are middle-aged high-income people who are elegant and traditional and value family.

The mainstream users of Rolex watches are successful young and middle-aged entrepreneurs who are ambitious and aggressive.

For different mainstream users, we need to focus the copywriting creativity on things that the corresponding users care about.

No one can please everyone. Once a product (commodity) tries to please everyone, it becomes nothing.

Once we have identified the mainstream users and determined the only unique competitive advantage (copywriting appeal), the next thing we should consider is how to "carve" the copywriting to make it unforgettable.

So, how to write it?

Step 4 of copywriting: Write your unique competitive advantage into the user’s memory

How to make users unforgettable?

The most brain-saving way is to simply repeat. Taking Zhihu as an example, we can imitate "If you are afraid of getting angry, drink Wanglaoji" and write the copy as: "If you have any questions, go to Zhihu."

Is this effective? For potential users who have never used Zhihu, it is useless to read it once. Watched it twice, still no use.

How many times do I need to watch it for it to take effect?

Basically, a stronger "permanent memory" can only be generated if the same user is exposed to the copy at least once on the first day, second day, seventh day, one month, and one year after being exposed to the copy.

Obviously, not many businesses can support such a high advertising budget.

Because of this, we can only try to establish long-term memory from the "copy content" itself, and this is when the level of the copywriter is reflected .

Is it possible to help users build strong memories with just a few sentences? Can.

Inspired by the classic "Processing Level Theory" of cognitive psychology, this article introduces three copywriting methods that are likely to produce "long-term memory":

• Cognitive elaboration : deep processing of meaning and related concepts
• The Self-reference Effect : Relating Information to Yourself
• Cognitive Distinctive Processing : Finding What’s Different

Applying “cognitive elaboration” to writing copy

The process of our understanding of a new thing is actually to build new neural connections in the brain. At this time, if we can deeply imagine (associate) the meaning and related concepts of the new thing, we can usually remember it longer.

For example, you can imagine the concept of "cognitive elaboration" as a spider web, and the new concept is like a bug that breaks into the spider web. If you want to tie it up as tightly as possible, you need more silk threads to wrap around it, and the other ends of these silk threads must also wrap around other stress points (associated objects) such as tree trunks.

So what teachers often said in elementary school was: Don’t memorize by rote (repeated memory, an inefficient memory strategy) but understand its meaning (elaborative processing).

So, the question is, how can we "force" users to perform "cognitive elaboration" in just a few words? It's quite difficult.

But it's not impossible.

There is something that children throughout history, both in China and abroad, love, which gives us inspiration: storytelling.

Yes, stories are a primitive way to “force” the brain to perform deep and elaborate processing:

Stories can spontaneously generate extremely rich senses of immersion (association) in our brains . This is why the oldest knowledge and wisdom are always hidden in stories. Perhaps it is because stories are an efficient way of memorizing .

So how do we tell a good story in a simple copy?

It's very simple, we just need to follow the classic "story framework":

Background - Conflict - Turning Point - (Epiphany)

Or even simpler:

Background and Conflict - Turning Point - (Epiphany)

in:

• "Background" refers to the events leading up to the product's unique advantages;
• "Conflict" refers to personnel conflicts that arise before the product is launched;
• The turning point is when the product (unique advantage) emerges and the hero saves the day;
• "Enlightenment" is the final result we want, which means letting users figure it out on their own (this process will involve the refinement of memory) and it usually does not need to be reflected.

for example:

The car broke down, the tow truck came, but there was no rope! Ah, take off your pants and use them as a rope tow truck (Levi's jeans)

Another example is the following public service advertisement:

He has been doing 100 push-ups every day for 10 years... His right foot and left hand are both prosthetic limbs.

The core of constructing story-telling copy is: unexpected, yet reasonable .

Story thinking is not just about attracting attention and exaggerating. As shown in the above copy, the story itself is very real . Purely exaggerated copywriting is not only of little help in "creating lasting memories" , but it can also have a negative impact on "changing user attitudes" (making users feel that the product brand is flashy and unrealistic).

Below, we will use the thought process of copywriting as an example to show how to write story-telling copy.

Target product: a certain brand of water cup, let’s say it’s called S cup. Product features: strong

So, how can we conceive the copywriting of this product?

1. Think from a "common sense" perspective : the product is of good quality and durable and resistant to falling. Especially suitable for people who often break cups.
2. Create an "unnatural " scenario: People who are prone to breaking cups should not use S cups
3. Give unexpected reasons and incorporate emotional factors (such as love, family, and friendship)

According to the above ideas, we can initially conceive a small story that is unexpected but reasonable, and incorporate the elements of love. The rough version of the copywriting example is as follows:

Husband: "Change your S cup."

Wife: "You know I like to throw things when I'm angry."

Husband: "That's why I want to change it. How can I vent my anger if it doesn't break?"

Although the advantages of story-based copywriting are obvious, such as being shocking and unforgettable, its disadvantages are equally obvious. It requires extremely high standards from the person writing the copy (powerful imagination, rich life experience, and spring-like thinking tension), and it is also time-consuming and risky.

So, if you need to write copy quickly that’s also memorable, what other strategies are there?

Apply the “self-reference effect” to writing copy

People can always remember people and events related to certain characteristics of themselves for a long time .

For example, elementary school classmates who had the same birthday as you, playmates who were given the same nickname as you, or even classmates who wore the same clothes as you when you were young, even if you are not very familiar with them, you will still be able to remember them many years later.

So, how can we harness the “self-reference effect” to help users build long-lasting memories of copy?

The simplest way is to ask the user directly . At the same time, associate the question with the most famous similar brands to highlight the competitive advantages of your own products.

"Questions" can awaken our "self-referential" memories of a certain category , and famous brands are usually heard of by most people, which invisibly and secretly "associates" our product cognition with famous brands.

For example, if we want to write a copy for a carbonated beverage brand (let’s say the brand is called Coca-Cola), a rough version of the copy might look like this:

Have you ever tried Coca-Cola? Coke that won’t make you fat even if you drink too much.

The strategy of the “self-reference effect” is particularly applicable to “emerging” products or brands .

For example, if a product specifically targeting "women's issues" is launched (if the product is called Rose), it can also be written like this (copywriting example):

Have you asked questions on Rose? Women’s issues understand you better than Zhihu.

Many bosses find it difficult to get rid of their narrow sense of competition. They feel that if they spend money on advertising and mention other manufacturers' brands, it is like advertising for them for free. This idea is actually not without pedantry.

Think about it from another perspective. Big brands have spent tens of billions of yuan and worked diligently for more than ten years to build up the perception in the minds of the general public, while you have "borrowed" it with only a small investment. Who is taking advantage of whom?

Other typical practices of applying the "self-reference effect" include:

Awaken the user's desire through the user's "yearning state"; awaken the user's avoidance through the user's "disgusted object"; or awaken the user's corresponding reference model through the 7 secondary personalities... These have been reflected in the historical articles of "Work Less Overtime", so this article will not go into details.

In addition to story-telling copywriting and self-referential copywriting, we can also use "cognitive differentiation" copywriting to build "photographic memory".

Applying “cognitive differential processing” to writing copy

In the previous article: "Understand 4 cognitive preferences to make tired users understand your copy at a glance", the idea of ​​"classification" was discussed: for a certain thing in a certain category, the greater the difference between it and the typical characteristics, the deeper our memory tends to be.

For example, when it comes to birds, there are thousands of species of flying birds in the world, but we can only remember the names of a few of them. However, we are particularly impressed by flightless birds, such as ostriches and penguins.

In a similar way, the copywriting of the chili sauce mentioned above:

The hot sauce is still the best.

(The picture shows a young girl with a funny beard)

I saw this copy a few years ago, and I still remember it after reading it only once. The reason is that this copy not only targets the well-known brand "Laoganma", but also makes people unforgettable with the "girl with a funny beard" (which is in stark contrast to the characteristics of human women).

A similar reasoning can be seen in Durex ’s classic shoe cover copy:

It rained heavily in Beijing today. Fortunately, I still had two Durex packs in my bag.

Why almost everyone can remember it? On the one hand, it is because Durex itself is a hot topic product, but there is a deeper reason: who would have thought that family planning products could be used as shoe covers temporarily? (It also implies that the product is tough and not easy to break)

It can be seen that it applies both the strategies of "cognitive elaboration" and "cognitive distinctive processing" at the same time, so it is no wonder that people have been talking about it for years.

Similarly, we can also write “cognitive differential processing” copywriting by thinking about two steps:

1. Identify the unique advantages of your product
2. Think about unique advantages . In addition to conventional usage , whether there are any "special" and surprising uses.

For example, the unique competitive advantage of a business computer bag is “sturdiness”. Then you can think about what other special uses it has besides protecting the computer? Can be used as a small stool anytime and anywhere. So the inspiration came:

“Let your full and tired body rest anytime and anywhere.”

The background can be a picture of a businessman sitting on a computer bag and talking on the phone with a smile

The cognitive difference of this case is that there has never been a computer bag used as a small stool before. While attracting the user's curiosity (enhancing memory), it also allows the user to realize the unique advantage of the computer bag being particularly sturdy.

Alternatively, you can use reverse thinking to highlight the unique advantages of your product.

For example, the competitive advantage of a certain brand of sports shoes is elasticity. Then we can think about:

In what situations is exceptional flexibility most advantageous? During sports competitions.

Then, thinking in reverse, how can we highlight the elasticity of the shoe from the opposite side?

Prohibited use.

Therefore, our copywriting can be roughly conceived as follows:

"To the 100m hurdlers: I have just made a difficult decision to ban the wearing of S running shoes from today onwards. This is unfair to other runners."

There has never been a case where a certain ordinary running shoe is banned in a sports competition (cognitive difference). The entire copy does not mention the word "elasticity" at all, but leaves it to the user to experience it for themselves, while also incorporating the advantages of story-telling copy.

The fifth step of copywriting: visual and voice-based polishing

As for the details of the copy and the considerations for wording, Li Shaojia has already given a full account in the previous tweet about the discussion of "cognitive fluency". Interested friends can check it out in the extended reading.

Summarize

I have a strong interest in creativity and design-related things. Over the years, I have seen countless creative ideas. However, the most intriguing thing is that there are almost no ideas that I can remember . Although I can't say I'm in my prime, I don't think I'm suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

So this gives us a big exclamation point for copywriting:

“Creativity without a purpose is like a passerby wearing strange clothes. At best, it is just a topic of conversation for people who pass by.”

This is a big taboo in copywriting.

Copywriting should always revolve around " changing user attitudes ", that is, letting users' "unique and good impression" of the product be firmly compressed into their "mental memory" , so that when users have needs, they can include the product in the candidate list or even the only candidate .

Therefore, when we think about copywriting, we are thinking about how to build a lasting memory for the product in the minds of users . There are three scientific cognitive memory strategies to achieve this:

• Cognitive elaboration : Write a "surprising but reasonable" story for the product, allowing users to deeply process the product's unique advantages

For example, when a trailer arrives and there is no rope, use jeans as a rope (emphasizing toughness)

• Self-reference effect : Ask users questions to associate their product with the most well-known similar brand

For example, drinking cola that does not make you fat is associated with Coca-Cola

• Cognitive Differentiation Processing : Find the difference between products and build scenarios

For example, a computer bag that can be used as a stool, and sports shoes that were banned because they were too elastic.

When a layman looks at copywriting, he sees the art of words, but when an expert looks at copywriting, he sees the art of strategy.

Copywriting is ultimately the terminal artistic display of product (brand) strategy. Excellent copywriting is inseparable from a thorough understanding of strategic thinking, attentive experience of the product, and empathy with the users.

Only in this way can the copywriter achieve his goal of "where there is sincerity, there is success".

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

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