Welcome toCopywriting
Alan Barker
http://bit.ly/16sGqnJ
Google: “Alan Barker publications”
My objectivesHow to:
Types of copy:Please list
Writing in three stages
Planning
Drafting
Editing
Planning your time
1___________________________________________________________________________100
Planning Drafting Editing
The three key planning questions
Who is my reader?What do I want my reader to do?
What do I want to say?
…and the other three
How much space do I have?How do I want to come across?
How long have I got?
I want my reader to:Buy somethingDonate moneyTrial a product
Opt in to an email listOpen an account with us
Transfer to a different payment procedureRenew a contractGive us a contractVisit our premises
Questions about our readersWhat’s their gender?
How old are they?What do they want more of (and less of)?Where would they rather be right now?
What do they want most of all?What are their values?
How do others see them?Head or heart?
Promise of wealth or removal of fear?
My typical reader is so they want and they’re to avoid looking for
overworked a to-do list rest
vulnerable exposure reassurance
status-conscious being upstaged prestige
Writing copy #1: instant copywriting
Writing: what works
Good writing: what works
• Establishing rapport • Staying focused on the reader, not the information• Brevity• Telling stories• Asking questions
Good writing: what doesn’t work
• Showy writing• Jargon• Long-windedness• Talking about yourself• Using boilerplate (cut-and-paste)• Over-excitement• Humour
Four ways to make your copy zing
• Use power words• Use personal words• Use verbs• Be positive
Four ways to make your copy zing
Use power words Use personal words Use verbs Be positive
Single-syllable words
Human words
Action words
Feeling words
Concrete words
Words that stimulate the senses
The water Kassa drinks could kill him, but he has no choice.
You may have seen Kassa in our recent TV appeal. Your donation will mean so much to a child like him.
No more drinking filthy river water, teeming with parasites, bacteria and animal waste.
An end to the worry of diarrhoeal diseases, which kill 900 children every day.
A pump or tap in the heart of the community, rather than a daily trek to the river with a heavy jerry can.
Please, choose to bring clean, safe water to families today. Your kindness will be felt for generations to come.
Four ways to make your copy zing
Use power words Use personal words Use verbs Be positive
Names
People
Characters in a story
When Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1970, the amount of debris, litter and waste that he saw worried him so much that he submitted a report to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Since that conference, held in Stockholm in 1972, a huge swell of research studies has shown that the marine environment is accumulating an increasing volume of human-originated debris.
Four ways to make your copy zing
Use power words Use personal words Use verbs Be positive
Aim for a ratio of 3:1:
three times as many instances of ‘you’ as of ‘I’ or ‘we’.
Four ways to make your copy zing
Use power words Use personal words Use verbs Be positive
Avoid abstract nouns, especially long ones!
Termination Announcement AuthorityProduction Management OperabilityDecision Arrangement ProbabilityReplication Development Sustainability
The sophistication of our advocacy strategies has experienced considerable improvement the last year since the adoption of a unified international advocacy strategy, increased fundraising capacity, and stronger planning and monitoring and evaluation for our advocacy work in priority countries.
The sophistication of our advocacy strategies has experienced considerable improvement the last year since the adoption of a unified international advocacy strategy, increased fundraising capacity, and stronger planning and monitoring and evaluation for our advocacy work in priority countries.
In the last year, our advocacy strategies have become more sophisticated. We have adopted a unified international strategy for advocacy and increased our ability to raise funds. We also now plan, monitor and evaluate our work more effectively in the countries where we operate.
Four ways to make your copy zing
Use power words Use personal words Use verbs Be positive
Always express an idea as a positive, not as a negative.
Except when passengers have failed to check in without complete documentation, boarding will not be denied.
We will allow all passengers with complete documentation to board.
Informative pyramid
Message
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
AIDCA
Finding your voice
Culture
ConversationCommunity
Culture: what do you stand for?
Tone of voice
Adapts to the reader’s situation and feelingsEnacts a brand valueEngages the reader
Stimulates positive feeling
HotelCarRestaurantShoeFashion houseHandbagWatchBank
Department storeBreakfast foodCredit cardAlcoholic drinkFragranceCameraToyHoliday destination
If my brand were a…
List of oppositions
Voice and tone guides
http://bit.ly/1KMmc72
voiceandtone.com
http://bit.ly/1AerIhs
How people read
The reader contract
uncommittedcommitted
structureinformative performative
attitude
formal/written informal/spokenstyle
Informative pyramid
Message
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
AIDCA
Telling a story
Telling a story
Situation
Problem
Question
Response
Situation
Problem
Question
Response
Sample introduction 1: feature article
Croydon is known for many things, but spiritual enlightenment is not one of them. With its concrete 60s shopping centre and high-tech office blocks, this satellite town is a fast becoming as hectic as central London. For many people who live and work here, the closest they’ll get to meditation is drinking a Sea Breeze at the local lounge bar. But that’s precisely why the Croydon Buddhist Centre plays such a vital role in the community.
Sample introduction 2: handbookHealthcare staff are often highly motivated – but highly pressured. The demands of the work itself leave staff little time to consider the impact of their work, or to acknowledge the day-to-day achievement of providing compassionate care.
Schwartz Center Rounds® are meetings that enable healthcare professionals to share their experience of caring for patients, to acknowledge and explore the pressures they face, and to help them carry out their role more effectively.
This handbook explains how to set up Schwartz Rounds within your organisation and how to manage the process from start to finish.
Inverted pyramid
Informative pyramid
Message
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point Sub-Point
Key Point
Sub-Point
Minor Point
Minor Point
Sub-Point
Pyramid structure
The style spectrum
uncommittedcommitted
structureinformative performative
attitude
formal/written informal/spokenstyle
formal
informal
Complex sentences
Additive sentencesSimple sentences
Words in full
Contractions
Passive verbs
Active verbs
Abstract nounsVerbs, adjectives
Long words
Short words
The formality spectrum
People
Ideas, concepts
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• Proverbs• R• A• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• Proverbs Good causes deserve good copy
• R• A• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• Proverbs• Resonators• A• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• Proverbs• Resonators images, metaphors,
analogies,• A human action, concrete
examples• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• Attractors• I• S• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• Attractors figures of speech,
gestures,
• I suspense, surprise
• S• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• Influencers• S• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• Influencers testimony, testimonials
• S statistics: influential sources
• E appealing to shared assumptions
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• I• Stories• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• I• Stories background, context, case
studies
• E
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• I• S• Emotions
Developing your voice
• P• R• A• I• S• Emotions identification
evoked, not expressed
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