Postcard Campaign Elements: Grab Attention and Convert with Persuasive Copy
Copy is the art of sales through language that gets attention, engages, and persuades your audience.
Copywriting is Selling
Artful language can be beautiful and appreciated, but if it doesn't move a target audience to action, it is poor copy.
Copy is written communication meant to prioritize, shape, present, and — namely — sell.
And it performs its role across two objectives, to connect to and resonate with the target audience, and to serve the ultimate aim of the business it represents.
Branding and Brand Identity
One often overlooked aspect of writing copy is that it acts as a representative of the brand. The term Brand Voice is used to describe the personality and tone that should come across consistently in all messaging.
All About the Audience
Successful copy will target a specific audience, whether overtly or invisibly, by addressing their internal struggles, interests, desires, and fears.
Developing an understanding of this audience gives insight into the style of language, problems, solutions, and benefits that would resonate.
Writing for an Objective
The copy in your campaign should have a core message. Grab and keep the attention of your audience in order to guide them toward this single, compelling take-away. And use supporting evidence to drive it home.
The Secret to Persuasive Copy
In copywriting, compelling readers to action (sales) is more important than creativity, originality, or even grammar.
In direct mail in particular, one key to keeping the audience engaged long enough to receive the message is to make the copy skimmable:
- simple words
- short sentences
- sections with subheadings to break up text
Persuasive copy never forgets it is speaking to a person. As such, it can reach them across intellectual, emotional, and personal frames. Get them to feel good about taking action to address their personal circumstances with logical reasons to back up their decision.
There are no shortcuts to arrive at copy that sells, you have to put in the work of audience profiling, editing, and testing.