Copywriting is an essential element of successful online marketing. The art of copywriting involves strategic writing that promotes a person, product, business, idea or opinion with the prime goal of having the reader take some form of action.
Whether you are looking to sell a product or service or to build traffic by getting other websites to link to yours, you need to use compelling words to grab and connect to your target audience.
In his book, The Copy Workshop Workbook, Bruce Bendinger eloquently writes, “Copywriting is a job. A skilled craft. Verbal carpentry. Words on paper. Scripts to time. And one more thing. Salesmanship.” This is an exquisite way to define the art of shaping words.
The term salesmanship does not always refer to the sale of a product when it comes to copywriting. The end goal is that you want the reader to take a specific action and the action may be clicking on a link, subscribing to your newsletter, sharing your page to Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter or other social media. Any of those actions results in achieving your goals.
Successful copywriting follows a time-proven formula,
AIDA. This is an acronym that means Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Direct mail copywriters have been following this formula for years, however, the copy writer must still have a creative flare that draws on the power of persuasion.
Attention: grab the reader’s attention through words and graphics – create emotion.
Interest: Obviously the reader is at your website for a reason – there is some interest in your product or service – secure that interest.
Desire: Carefully crafted words will increase the reader’s desire to stay on your website. Transforming facts into enticing words into an exciting language that heightens the reader’s interest is important.
Action: The reader needs enough motivational cause to take the desired action. At this stage of copywriting, the reader has all the information needed and the interest has peaked - this is the “bringing it home” moment.
Your website is your avenue to financial success and professionally-crafted “AIDA” copywriting is essential in “bringing it home.” Remember, copywriting is an essential element of successful online marketing and without it, you may be just another website.