16 Copywriting Tips for Writing Copy That Converts

Writing good copy is hard. Writing clever and engaging copy is even harder. Wouldn’t it be great if you could ask the best copywriters around how they're able to write copy that converts?

Oh look, we have.

1. Collect weird facts

“Human beings collect weird sh*t,” says award-winning adman Steve Henry –creator of the ‘You’ve been Tango’d’ ads among others. “We’re fascinated by weird stuff and bored by plonky logic. If I tell you that you can buy an app that wakes you up with the smell of bacon, I may have your attention for a while. Great copywriters collect weird facts.”

2. Don’t save the best till last

“People are bombarded with words everyday,” says Joe Weir of Joseph Bloggs ltd. “You’ve got to grab them in the first five seconds. Pick the most important point, the thing that they absolutely must know, and make sure it’s right up top.”

3. Keep it short

Jonathan Higgins writes multi-million-pound bids for giants like Serco and MTR. “As a rule of thumb, a sentence can never be short enough. Almost. At your peril, should you venture past two lines… and lose the ellipses.”

4. Ditch the jargon

“Make sure your sentences are something your mum could understand,” says Pete Brown, award-winning beer blogger, novelist and former advertising planner. “I once told some friends that my favourite beer depended on the ‘usage occasion’. I’ve never lived it down.”

5. Share your knowledge

“Be an intellectual democrat and share your knowledge,” says Stuart Forbes – who works with global brands like Adidas, GlaxoSmithKline and Tetra Pak. “Posting links to interesting articles and websites is one of the quickest ways to establish a rapport with your reader.”

6. Write like you speak

Advertising copywriter, Christopher Keatinge, picked up the prestigious Cannes Lion award for his Thomson Ogre ad this year. What’s his secret? “Write like you’re talking. I always think that helps me find my style and tone of voice.”

7. Use emotion, not logic

When it comes to advertising, “logic is less important than emotion,” says Steve. “It’s important not to be a product bore. If you tell me that your toothpaste works twice as well as the one I’m currently using, and you go into a lot of technical jargon, I probably think you’re a smarmy arrogant tw*t. I jump to the conclusion that you’re lying and I want to punch you in the face. Imagine you’re talking to a friend. Most clients think people are hugely interested in the product. They’re not.”

8. Spellcheck

“Sort ya motherflippin’ spelling and grammar out,” says BMB copywriter, Tom Sillars. “A baldly spalled websight is the equivalent of a musty smelling used car salesman firing flecks of spittle over you while he tries to flog you something.”

9. Inform, or DJ

“Be informative,” says Stuart. “If you can’t be informative, be interesting. If you can’t be interesting, be entertaining. If you can’t be any of these things, be a breakfast radio DJ.”

10. Break the rules

“It’s okay to start sentences with ‘and’, end them with prepositions and use split infinitives,” says Jonathan.

11. Picture your reader

“Treat your reader with respect – get a picture in your head of someone you like and respect,” says Steve. “Imagine communicating with someone you don’t respect, what’s that going to look like?”

12. Give it time

According to Jonathan, time heals all wounds – especially literary and linguistic ones. “Come back to your draft a day later, he says. “You’ll be surprised at how terrible a writer you really are!”

13. Banish the semi-colon

Know when your grammar checker tells you to use a semi-colon? “Don’t do it,” says Jonathan. “Use semi-colons sparingly, and never when a grammar checker tells you. In fact, never use them at all; they’re sh*t.”

14. Stick to what you know

“White papers are not valuable in and of themselves,” says Stuart. “Only write what you really know – there’s nothing worse than empty, patronising, generic-wisdom b*llocks written by ill-informed charlatans who think that the act of saying something is the same as having something to say.”

15. Read it backwards

Joe proofreads backwards. Why? “It’s much easier to spot typos that way.”

16. Swap things for actions

According to Joe, when we write, we have a habit of turning actions into things – or verbs into nouns. “Putting the customer in the middle’ becomes ‘customer centrification’,” says Joe. “And ‘finding answers faster’ becomes ‘an accelerated solutions process’.” Don’t do it.

If you want to talk in more detail with copywriting experts, Nutcracker is here to help. Call us on 020 3941 0305 or get in touch at hello@nutcrackeragency.com