3 big ideas from CopyCon to make your copywriting better
With 16 speakers sharing their wisdom across 13 hours, it’s fair to say that CopyCon21 was a meal, not a snack.
In case you missed it, I’ve whittled down some of that expertise into three key themes you can use to make your writing and your business better.
1. Start and end with your customer
One of the fundamentals of copywriting is making it all about the customer. But the day’s speakers took that relationship way beyond words. The customer should form the backbone of every stage in the copywriting process, before we even put pen to paper.
Emily Ames shared that every good tone of voice project starts with wrapping your head around your customer psychographic: their cares, problems and lifestyle choices. Meanwhile, in her newsletter masterclass, Ann Handley led with the idea of ‘pathological empathy’ to deliver what your reader wants. I’ll be changing my job title to pathological empath before the week is out.
We hear the term ‘brand storytelling’ thrown around a lot. But Al Robertson reminded us that when telling a brand’s story, the customer is the hero, not the brand.
Maureen Blandford summed it up perfectly when she said it’s about making people feel like you get them.
2. Take thoughtful risks
Mary Ergul said: “Brands do not need to be different, they just need to be thought of”. It’s a principle we can apply in many areas of our writing, none more so than tone of voice. As Emily put it, we must think beyond the ubiquitous ‘friendly and authentic’ to decide on who that brand really is.
Ann agreed. She advised choosing a ‘non-neutral’ voice for your newsletter. Your goal? To make sure that even with the header removed, your reader would know it was you.
Lianna Patch’s tone of voice is famously ‘non-neutral’. She led a session on using humour in your copy to get your customers in the mood to buy, or at the very least remember, your brand. Risky? Maybe. Worth it? Definitely.
For those nervous of risk, Ross Simmonds promised that success lies in experimenting. And if you’re not failing at least sometimes, you’re playing it too safe.
3. Maximise output
Nadya Khoja told us our experience as writers should be measured by output, not years in the job. A truth which made Tyler Koenig’s tips for working faster extremely timely. And with all that top-quality output, it’s time to start charging your worth (and then some) according to Bizzy Coy.
That’s a wrap for another year. Thank you to all the speakers and David for what must be the longest MCing gig in the world.
Check out my writeup of last year’s Copywriting Conference.