Brand Voice Archives • FocusCopy®

Why You Need To Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice To Make An Impact

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / September 15, 2023 September 15, 2023

Apple, Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, and Tik Tok.

No, we’re not simply listing large companies. Instead, we would like to ask what comes to mind when you think of these brands.

Whether you shop their products or not, it’s fairly clear that each of these companies has a very recognizable brand voice. If these brands were individuals and you heard them talking on the street, you’d probably have a good indicator of who they are and what they are about.

Even for brands that have evolved over time, their immediate recognition is why it’s so important for brands – no matter how small – to build a brand voice.

Need help refining your brand’s voice? Watch what we can brew for you!

4 Reasons Why You Need to Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice

Aside from having the potential to boost your revenue by 23%, your brand voice also builds trust between you and your audience in these 4 ways:

How recognizable you are
Your ability to build and maintain relationships
Your uniqueness in the marketplace
How authentic your audience believes you are

1. Your Recognition

What makes your brand stand out from the competition?

The content you produce can make your brand both memorable and immediately recognizable, which is essential to the customer journey. The more someone recognizes your brand, the more likely they are to convert to a buying customer. And, eventually, a loyal customer if you continue to think about the customer journey in every business aspect.

2. Your Ability To Build Relationships

The more someone recognizes and interacts with your specific brand, the more likely they are to grow attached to you over time. By keeping your content transparent and true to your purpose, you continue to relate to your customers and build a relationship based on trust, similar interests, and mutual understanding. It’s kind of like dating with fewer strings attached.

3. Your Uniqueness

Most likely, you are not the only one of you out in the world. Likewise, we are not the only copywriting firm out in the marketplace. But we are the only FocusCopy out there. So we’re going to lean on our own uniqueness. And that’s something no one can steal from us. We combine our…

Years of experience
Ability to teach others
Love of coffee

…And other special tidbits to create a brand voice that’s credible and colorful. But that’s not quite all.

4. Your Authenticity

Authenticity should always be blended into your brand voice. In a world where only about 31% of customers trust most of the brands they use, continue to be true to yourself. Lying about your company, services, or products will set you up for failure and ruin your reputation. It’s best to be honest and connect to your audience on a human-to-human level than tell them whatever they want to hear.

Ready to see more of your distinct brand in your copy? Let’s talk shop!

Breaking Down Your Brand’s Voice

Alright, from the top!

What exactly is a brand voice?

Your brand voice is broken down into 3 distinct categories: Consistency, Clarity, and Character.

Different Cup Of Copy, Similar Quality

Consistency in your brand’s voice is where strategy and uniformity meet. Whether your audience is looking at posts on your TikTok, Instagram, website, or any other platform, your brand’s voice should be consistent across every single one of them.

Apple is a fantastic example of a company that is consistent about its brand voice. They prefer short, clean copy that explains simply what their product has to offer. A few ideas from previous ads include:

Light. Years ahead. (MacBook)
Thinnovation (MacBook Air)
Privacy matters (iPhone)

Creating your own brand’s consistent voice doesn’t mean making 1 person responsible for creating all of your content forever. We do suggest hiring copywriters (like us) who can learn your voice and apply it to all future copy. Especially since it takes about 5-7 impressions before someone starts to truly recognize your brand.

Make It Simple To Understand

Clarity is just as it sounds in that any copy you create should be concise, direct, and easy to understand. Being too verbose or detailed can actually turn your audience off. Give them the big picture in a summary and tack on highlights to answer their frequently asked questions. An easy way to structure your content is by ensuring you answer the who, what, when, where, and why for whatever it is that you’re writing about.

An example of this can be found in Fitbit’s ads that use phrases like…

Know Your Heart Rate
Track Activity
Your best wellness tracker yet.

Their copy is straightforward and lets you know right away what you can expect from their products.

Add Shots Of Flavor

Character is the pop of personality you decide to add to your brand’s voice. It’s that something extra that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd. You may decide to adopt a certain persona to fit what your audience likes. Or you may start using certain words or phrases to fit a theme you’d like to align your brand with.

A large-scale example of a brand’s character is seen in the Houston Astros content. Their copy is, of course, aligned with baseball but also uses space themes and references to its hometown NASA roots. Another example is Chick-fil-A – known for its misspelled ads and a touch of Southern charm.

Create A Consistent Brand Voice With One Copywriting Firm

We write content for a variety of industries like bookkeeping, aviation, construction, and even chocolate (so much fun). And we like to partially attribute our portfolio to the process we’ve worked so hard to develop and define over time.

If you’re done sitting on copy that never seems to get published, we’re the copy baristas you need to bring your brand to life. Reach out today to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

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Is Copywriting Dead In A World Full Of AI Writing?

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / June 21, 2023 June 21, 2023

The big question…Is copywriting dead?

AI, while it’s been around since the 1950s, has recently taken the world by storm. It’s become more widely spread – not just among businesses but general consumers as well. And that’s resulted in consumers believing that AI is the next get-rich-quick scheme.

It isn’t that we don’t love innovative tech (we do!). But for those looking at it as a way to skip out on spending on quality marketing, we’re here to break some bad news.

After sitting on numerous panels over the last 6 months to discuss this very topic, the same conclusion is met every single time.

AI is a tool and will never replace humans in their entirety. It will only make humans more efficient (if they actually know how to optimize AI). The reasoning behind this? Well, as you’ll see, there are layers to this conclusion.

Using AI but still need quality copywriting for your business? Schedule a discovery call!

The Impact Of AI Writing Tools On Businesses

So, what is the true impact of AI writing tools on a business?

First, it starts with the intent.

Then, it goes into how you implement AI writing into your business.

Simply put, AI writing isn’t going to do the same job as a full or even part-time copywriter. But it can offer ways for your business to market more efficiently than without it.

Answering Your Top AI Copywriting Questions

The following are some of the most pressing questions we’ve been hearing from business owners like yourself…

Is Copywriting Dead?

No, copywriting is not dead. In fact, it’s even more prevalent today with the presence of AI. That’s because humans are becoming savvier at detecting inauthentic and robotic writing. They have more of a desire to connect with other humans than ever before. We believe that the pandemic only exacerbated this need.

Furthermore, while AI writing might be able to produce some content for you, it may not have the positive effect on your SEO that you might think. But we’ll talk about that a little later.

What Can You Use AI Writing Tools For?

Don’t get us wrong! AI writing tools can be useful when it comes to other aspects of writing for your business.

Brainstorming

Fresh out of ideas or tired of looking at a blank page?

You can prompt AI writing tools like ChatGPT to help you elaborate on a topic you have in mind. For example, say you want to write a nutrition blog featuring 10 healthy fats but you can only think of a few. You can use AI software to help you brainstorm and come up with ideas to fill out your blog.

Keyword Research

Anyone in marketing knows that SEO and keyword research are tricky tasks. This is because the algorithm changes constantly, keeping up with…

What people are searching for
Separating those searches by area
Narrowing down the keywords by region, etc.

But there are AI keyword research tools like Keyword Sheeter that can offer basic search terms and popular keywords depending on what you’re interested in. Keep in mind that most SEO tools are paid; however, free SEO AI tools can provide enough general keyword research to get you going.

Topic Research

Many people think that creating blog outlines is easily the most simple part of writing a blog. But coming up with a comprehensive outline isn’t always part of a quick process. AI tools like copy.ai allow you to type in a prompt of your choosing. Then, it spits out a general outline that you can follow to finish filling in your blog with original content that speaks to your business and brand.

Headline Ideation

Running out of ways to say something that will leave a big impact? More often than not, most online users read or skim over headlines without looking too much at the content (until they need to). So if your headlines aren’t punchy, your audience is more likely to forget your messaging completely. Using tools like Wordtune can give you multiple options for what you’re trying to say and encourage your brain to read it from a different angle, helping you create headlines that pack more of a punch for your audience.

Are AI Writing Tools Enough For Copywriting & Content Writing?

At its core, it’s a tool. But it’s not a replacement for copywriting and content writing – especially if you care about providing real value and making honest human connections with your target audience.

Looking for a custom copywriting experience? Schedule a discovery call with us today!

What Are The Limitations Of AI Writing Tools?

Yes, there are plenty of ways AI writing tools can help. There are also a few things to keep in mind as you use them.

Detached Voice Quality

AI writing can only do so much to make your copy sound and come across as authentic, personable, and vibrant as you are. So don’t be surprised if you end up reading copy that sounds dry, overly fluffy, or…monotonous. A robot cannot quote the look on someone’s face, but a copywriter will always be able to accurately describe it.

Privacy Check

You might want to check with your legal team about using AI writing for business-related purposes – especially if you’re using a company device to do so. Because AI writing itself is fairly new, many attorneys are not certain about how it protects data privacy for its users. Even big tech companies like Apple are restricting the use of popular AI platforms.

Confirm Citations

Writing online gives us access to so much information we didn’t have access to before. However, there is one major problem that comes with the use of consuming online information. The same goes for AI writing, especially if you’re an expert sharing advice for others to use. When using AI-written information, ask yourself:

Where is the source of the information coming from?
Is the source or are the sources reputable?
Is it easy to refer back to the source and find the same information?
Is it logical advice that makes sense to share?

If you can answer all of these questions and feel good about each source and its roots, it should be okay to publish. Don’t forget to cross reference or link the information you’re sharing with the right citation.

Intellectual Property Policies

This one is more important than you might think. Are you copying and pasting sensitive company information? Are you using information that contains original ideas or innovations you don’t own the rights to? Read the terms and conditions of every AI tool you’re using (or pass it on to your business attorney).

Oftentimes, when you’re working with free AI tools, you become the product. And so they own “your” writing, which might welcome some unwanted confusion about intellectual property and who owns what.

Seriously! Don’t ignore this point if your life’s work or someone else’s invention is on the line.

Will AI Replace Human Writers?

No, but it will make human writers more efficient. Whether you’re a professional copywriter or small business owner slash marketing director and everything in between, using AI can help streamline basic writing tasks – leaving more opportunities to be creative.

Infuse AI & Professional Copywriting Into Your Marketing Plans

AI tools that support our writing are great! Some days, we feel as though it would be hard to live without them. But we also remember that our ability to connect human to human is unmatched. When it comes to our clients, we work with AI tools to create unique, original content for your business. Ready to stop stalling and start publishing? Simply schedule a discovery call with our team to get started!

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The Key To Consistency In Your Copywriting

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / January 7, 2022 July 22, 2022

The key to good copywriting is consistency. But how do you guarantee consistency in your copywriting when multiple people write for a business?

All copy should follow your brand’s messaging, keep a strong brand voice, and speak to your target audience.

How To Write Consistent Copy That Converts

Many CEOs and founders of small businesses start off writing their company’s branding material. However, as your business grows, new responsibilities might pull you in all sorts of directions. As more tasks are added to your already busy schedule, writing tends to be the first thing to go out the window. But without writing copy, you’re doing your business and all the hard work you’ve put into it a disservice. Bottom line? Most businesses cannot rely on one writer for all their needs. And that is especially true for growing businesses who can’t afford to lose momentum.

You’re left with two options:

Continue writing all of your business’s copy. Feel overwhelmed, behind, and frustrated with the quality of work produced under pressure.
Hire someone else to take on your writing responsibilities. Feel relieved, ahead of the game, and excited to do the work that matters most to you.

We get it – letting someone else speak on behalf of your company is stressful. But, you can ensure your copy stays consistent by providing your team with the following tools and strategies. After all, how do you think we write copy for several different businesses across various industries daily?

Create Your Brand Messaging

Your brand messaging is the underlying message your company is always sending to your audience. It’s the obvious (or not so obvious) reasons your product or service will improve your customers’ lives.

In your brand messaging, you want to communicate:

Why your business is different
What your business does
What sets your business apart from the competition
How you will improve your customers’ lives
What the customer will accomplish because of this product or service

Your Core Message

At FocusCopy, we use our brand messaging to keep a consistent voice in all our writing. Our brand messaging can be broken down into one core message:

Whether you don’t have time to write or hate writing, FocusCopy records your brand voice and creates copy that speaks to your target audience’s needs with your voice.

If you’re hiring copywriters to take over your company’s copywriting, work together to create consistent brand messaging. Your writers can use this brand messaging throughout your business copy. Get as specific as you can! Having a core message statement they can reference will help your copywriters “stay in character” when they’re writing for your brand. You can even develop a longer brand messaging guide that explores your brand messaging in detail.

Ready to make a move towards consistent content? Schedule a meeting with FocusCopy today.

Define Your Brand Voice

Your brand voice is the personality that shines through your business’s copy. Maybe your brand voice is synonymous with your voice. You, after all, know your business better than anyone. Maybe you’re a very casual writer, and you appeal to your target audience through humor. Or, maybe a serious tone is more appropriate for your industry.

Regardless, you don’t want your copy to jump from humorous to sardonic to serious to irreverent. You want your audience to recognize your tone as a part of your brand.

Think about Coca-Cola. While they’ve developed their brand, their voice has largely stayed positive, friendly, and down-to-earth. This consistency in your copywriting creates a familiarity with the brand, and customers know what to expect from Coca-Cola and their products.

Think about the adjectives you want people to use when they describe your business. Trustworthy? Compassionate? Cutting edge? What do you want your customers to feel when they interact with you and your business?

When working with copywriters, it’s important to communicate the voice you want to convey. Maybe there are some statements you love (or hate) to use in your copy – let your team know! Start brainstorming, and think of strategies. These strategies will help you effectively communicate the voice you are looking to capture.

Identify Your Target Audience

While appealing to an audience of all ages and backgrounds sounds profitable, a broad audience will only make your business copy sound more generic and bland.

Ultimately, trying to engage everyone means your business will engage no one. Narrowing your target audience allows your business to focus on the people that would be best served by your products or services. Your business will also have the opportunity to show some of your values and personality.

It’s vital that your copywriting team understands the customer base you want to reach. Knowing a brand’s target audience affects how a copywriter structures an entire blog, website, or newsletter. Communicate with your copywriters and discuss your ideal target audience.

Are you having trouble finding the time to write copy? We understand, and we’re ready to help. Contact FocusCopy today to start producing high-converting copy.

Customer Profiles

One way you can identify your target audience is by creating customer profiles. These profiles will help you and your copywriting team. You’ll understand who those target customers are, their motivations, and how to position an offer to them.

Customer profiles can get incredibly specific and might include a variety of characteristics. This can include age, gender, marital status, location, stage of life, occupation, job title, income, and personality. You might also brainstorm your customers’ goals and values or what objections they might have to making a purchase.

One customer profile might symbolize your most common type of customer. But, you don’t have to feel limited by your current customer base. Are you interested in working with a particular type of customer? What does your dream client look like? Creating customer profiles is an opportunity to reevaluate your marketing and branding strategies. These profiles will allow you to brainstorm methods for reaching your ideal customers.

Create Your Full Package With FocusCopy

At FocusCopy, we understand that your business is your pride and joy. Through consistent and customer-converting copy, we want to help you reach your target audience.

No matter your time or budget, we have “Done With You”, “Done For You”, and “Do It Yourself” plans that will revamp your business and copy. With professional, consistent copywriters, you can be sure your business copy will still sound like you. Pass on your business writing responsibilities, refocus, and get back to running your business. Schedule a call to discuss your copywriting needs and goals over a cozy cup of coffee. We can’t wait to meet you!

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These Power Words Will Evoke Emotion And Make Sales

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / November 5, 2021 January 28, 2022

Copywriting is so much more than typing out a string of words. It influences the human mind and evokes emotion that encourages readers to take action.

Whether that action be to subscribe to an email newsletter, follow a brand’s social media accounts, or ultimately make a purchase – aiming readers in the right direction takes finesse.

All this to say, words are important. Incorporating the right words into your copy can lead to success. Whereas using the wrong words may dissuade a reader from taking action and never convert them into a paying customer.

At FocusCopy, part of our process is to use power words that sell. Because our success lies in our clients’ success.

Understand The Psychology Behind Power Words

Words are powerful and can strongly influence a person’s life. Moreover, a single word can have a drastic impact on an entire conversation.

So how do you know which words to use in your copy to reach your goals?

It takes practice, empathy, and a human outlook. At the end of the day, your goal is to invoke emotions that will persuade your audience to take action.

Use These Words To Keep Your Readers At The Forefront

Vague statements directed to every soul on earth don’t invoke much emotion. Use these words to address your specific audience and really bring your reader to the center of your communications.

Are you wondering when you’ll find the time to write copy, much less – include the power words you need to sell your service or product? Contact FocusCopy to find out how we can write copy in your voice to reach your target audience.

You.

Yes, using the word “you” lets your reader know you are talking to them directly. As a business owner, making the copy about the reader’s wants and needs is critical to building rapport. And using “you” in your copy will bring your reader to the center of your story.

Reader’s Name.

Dear Lauren,

I’m happy to have you here to learn how xyz can not only help you reach your target audience but also help convert them into clients…

OK, I’m interested! First of all, I assume right off the bat that I gave them my information. Once I confirm that this writer didn’t just buy my info from the dark webs, I continue to read their message. Overall, I feel seen as a customer.

We.

When used correctly, the word “we” can portray a partnership. For instance, “Together, we will get to the root cause of your chronic symptoms to find long-lasting results that work for you.”

Tips.

Everyone wants access to insider tips from the experts in their field. If you’re in the business of IT Security, consider blog titles such as “5 Tips To Improve IT Risk Management” or “10 Tips To Prevent A Data Breach”. Not only are these topics that non-IT experts search for on Google, but they are sure to get clicks because people want to protect their businesses and personal data.

Proven.

Before making an investment, don’t you want to know your money is being spent wisely? We can boast about the incredible benefits of every product and service known to man. However, proven results are the clincher your readers want.

Success.

Everyone is looking for successful outcomes in their endeavors. Do you have a service that could help clients’ businesses reach their goals more effectively? If so, then you are in the business of helping other people find success.

Amazing.

Good, great, wonderful! All these words convey positivity. However, don’t be afraid to boast that your product or service can yield results that will leave the reader feeling amazing.

Save.

While there are people in this world who care much more about ease than cost, there are far more who care a whole lot about saving money. If your business provides cost-efficient tools for your readers, let them know they can get great results while saving money. I know I’d be interested!

Free.

To piggyback off of savings, many, many people will opt to try anything free. Why not? No harm, no foul on the consumer if they’re not reaching into their wallet, right? Plus, as long as what you’re offering for free has value, it may just convert some samplers into longtime paying customers.

Simple.

What are we as humans if not constantly striving for simplicity? Fashion choices aside, when it comes to improving our lives, no one wants complicated or complex products or services.

Long-Lasting Results.

Results are one thing, but long-lasting results are an entirely different animal. While a myriad of industries can use this, it’s especially true for anyone in the health and wellness world. There are a million and one diet fads out there, but we all know the results only last as long as the diet. It’s those real lifestyle changes that are simple to incorporate and promise long-lasting results that keep people’s interest.

Emphasize Pain Points With These Words

Understanding the pain points of your target audience is key to reaching them on a human-to-human level.

Do you have a clear understanding of your ideal customers’ pain points? If not, then reach out to FocusCopy so we can write copy that will truly show how your product or service can alleviate your audience’s struggles.

Failure.

While this word is a little harsh on its own, if used correctly, failure can invoke vulnerability from both the writer and reader. Statements such as, “I was running myself ragged to be everything to everyone, yet at the end of the day, nothing was working, and I felt like a total failure.” Ouch! Right? But, we’ve all been there. Whether it be that voice in our head or those of critics – as humans, we have a fear of failure that can either hold us back or propel us forward.

Vulnerable.

Brene Brown has made a substantial impact in this world by removing the stigma of vulnerability. She defines vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. It’s a powerful word that reminds us that to be successful, we must put our vulnerable selves out there, risking failure yet hoping for the best.

Devastating.

Evoking emotion tied to your audience’s pain points means you must empathize with their struggles. If someone has been through anything devastating – loss of data due to a breach, a difficult family situation, or even the death of a loved one – these can all be considered devastating.

Stress.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from – we all feel stress in our lives. Whether you’re coming from a wellness point of view or discussing the stress of living through a tragic event, it’s something we can all relate to.

Induce FOMO With Words That Highlight Urgency

The fear of missing out is something we can all understand. Even if we’re not the ones to jump on the bandwagon, we still want to stay privy to what’s going on around us.

Limited.

Do you have an offer that’s limited by time or quantity? If so, then be sure to tell your audience! There’s nothing like the risk of having something slip through our fingers to make a choice to move forward.

Deadline.

An early-bird deadline to sign up for exclusive offers or savings will for sure get your most interested audience members to take action.

Last Chance.

If anyone in your audience has the slightest interest in what you are offering, then it’s only fair to give them that one last chance.

Expires.

Ewww expiration – that can be a scary word if you’re thinking about the food in your fridge. But it can also invoke emotion to take action before it’s too late and your audience misses out on the fun.

New.

We all have that friend who always has the latest model or edition of everything, and it’s normal to feel a little jealous. So imagine if you are offered the newest edition of something you want. Wouldn’t you be intrigued to give it a try?

Let FocusCopy Take The Task Off Your Plate

Running a business is no small feat – it takes time, money, and energy. If you’re too busy focusing on the inner workings of your business, let FocusCopy take over your task of writing copy.

Websites, blogs, newsletters, social media, and so on are all crucial to the success of your business. However, they each need to contain content that is effective in converting readers to paying customers. At FocusCopy, we hone in on your brand voice to create content that your audience will recognize but will also grow your business. Ready to get started? Reach out to FocusCopy today!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

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5 Key Questions To Learn How To Discover Your Brand Voice

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / September 8, 2021 August 31, 2021

Learning how to discover your brand voice sounds complex and tedious. But once you start answering the questions you need to ask yourself, it becomes quite a bit easier.

Now, you may think: Is it really a big deal if I don’t have a brand voice?

Do I need one?

Yes! And not because we’re telling you to do so, but because companies with a brand voice sell better and make more money. It’s the one thing that gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling when they hear it. A well-developed brand voice is both familiar and trustworthy.

Everyone knows about the big brands like Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola. But even today’s large companies started small not too long ago and increased their revenue by creating a brand voice that’s all their own. These companies include ones like:

Billie: Billie launched in 2017, raising $6 million at its initial stages. By 2019, the razor company dedicated to women raised $25 million, led by Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing Group.
Poo-Pourri: Saw an 80% increase of $15 million to $27 million in sales after a digital campaign went viral.
Casper: The mattress company earned $100 million in less than two years.

On top of each of these being great ideas, what do they all have in common? Their branding is recognizable and pushed them to the next level, seeing a huge return on their investment.

We’ll walk you through the 5 questions you should be asking to learn how to discover your brand voice.

Struggling to find your brand voice or unsure of where to begin? We’ve got you covered. Get started with us, and we’ll write it for you!

What To Ask To Discover Your Brand Voice

Did you know it takes about 5 to 7 impressions for customers to start recognizing a brand?

Finding your brand voice can be overwhelming to think about. But it doesn’t mean you can’t do it. In fact, if you have about 20 minutes, we’re sure you can answer these questions yourself and get started.

Grab a pen and a clean sheet of paper or notebook. Don’t worry about being too detailed. Even if you scribble your answers quickly, you’ll have an outline to go off of when you’re ready to think about it more deeply.

Reading along for a quick skim? That’s okay, too. These questions aren’t tricky and shouldn’t leave you confused.

1. Who Is Your Audience?

Let’s start with something you may already be familiar with.

In other words, this question is asking, “Who the heck are you talking to?”

If your audience is primarily middle-aged men who are married and lean on the conservative side, write it down! If you cater more to a younger audience that’s diverse and single with no children, write that down. Or maybe you aim for high net worth individuals who consider themselves workaholics. Whatever the case may be, jot it down and have it on paper.

Pinpointing who you’re talking to will eliminate a ton of other brand voices that currently exist. Doing this can also help you get a more narrow idea of how you’re already talking to your audience during the following steps:

Initial conversation or consultation
Following up on the exchange if necessary
Sale
Thanking them for their business
Responding to positive and negative feedback
Reaching out to get them to return, sign up for something, or any other call-to-action (CTA)
Talking to returning customers

Running through your business model or sales process gives you a better idea of your tone, wording, and other aspects of your brand voice.

Need some extra help? We have a special process to help businesses establish their own brand voice with a handy guide.

2. How Are You Different From Your Competitors?

You’ve likely heard this time and time again. But it’s because it’s important to decipher what makes your business unique and different from your competitors. This answer could include things like longevity, special certifications or licenses, quality of staff, and so on.

Then, you need to ask why your audience would care about what makes you different. You can then place your focus on turning those unique features into benefits for your customers.

3. Who Do You Want To Sound Like?

Whether you’re hoping to mimic your own voice or that of someone else, it’s important to decipher what you plan on sounding like. One way to get this down in your notes is to list a bunch of adjectives that describe your brand.

Some examples include:

Witty
Friendly
Relaxed
Casual
Professional
Educated
Authoritative
Inspiring

You don’t have to use these exact adjectives but think of some on your own. They could even come from client testimonials you’ve read or heard in the past.

This step leads us right into the next one…

4. What Do You Want To Avoid?

This part isn’t as fun but is oh-so-necessary. Consider what you’d like to avoid when moving forward with your branding. Write down a bunch of adjectives that you want to refrain from or avoid altogether.

Another way to do this step is by writing down negative adjectives you’ve heard about your business to help you decide how to steer away from sounding that way.

For example, perhaps you’ve read the reviews, and people tend to say your business is inconsistent and sloppy. It’s harsh and may not even be true. However, it’s essential to listen to feedback and turn it into a positive opportunity by seeing what you can do with it. First of all, consistency is key. Then, sounding too informal may not be the best decision depending on the market you’re in. If people expect you to sound professional, you can still do so while showing your human side.

5. What Do You Want People To Feel About Your Brand?

Finally, go back to who your target audience is. Then ask yourself what you’d like your clients to take away from interacting with your brand. Envision their absolute best “buying” experience and explore those feelings and emotions. Whether you sell a product or offer a specific service, it’s critical that you walk through their process, focus on their pain points, and understand how your business helps. Find some descriptors or even personal stories that accurately encompass your brand.

Don’t Lose Out On More Money And Get Help Finding Your Brand Voice

86% of customers say authenticity is important to them when deciding which brands to support. This is why it’s even more important than ever to make sure your business has a brand voice to showcase. This doesn’t mean you need to make the next viral TikTok. It just means people value businesses and business owners being themselves.

What do you say? Are you feeling inspired to get going on your brand voice?

If you don’t want to go it alone, reach out to us for help on learning how to discover your brand voice!

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What You Need In Your Copy Toolkit To Write Effective Copy

Processes & Procedures / By Lauren Jefferson / June 7, 2021 June 9, 2021

If there is a process, an automation, or an easier way of doing something, then people will do it. Why? Because people naturally do not want to do more work than is required.

Makes sense.

Copywriting isn’t an easy task – even for us professionals.

It requires creativity, effort, strategy, and time.

That’s why many companies either hire a copywriting team like FocusCopy or avoid writing any copy at all. If it’s the latter, then they are usually so consumed in their business because they need to speak every word of copy. That also usually indicates that they are not able to grow their business beyond a certain point.

Thankfully, there are a couple of tools that speed up the process (even by a couple of minutes). Before we get into the copywriting tools we use, what’s the copywriting process without any aids?

What The Copywriting Process Is Like Without Tools

Without copywriting aids, this is what a general copywriting process looks like:

At least 1-2 hours of meetings per deliverable to capture knowledge and brand voice
High potential for writer’s block because staring at a blank page is the worst thing you can do for copywriting
At least 30 minutes of research for copy deliverable
Multiple rounds of revisions from the approver (whether that’s you or someone else)

Depending on what you’re writing and how quick you are at reviewing, the review alone can take 1-2 hours (if you stay focused).

However, once you implement a process that works and use the tools that you know can help, you’re on the right path to great copy.

It may sound more complicated than it really is.

And you may be asking, “where do I even find those tools?”

The good news is that we’ve (pretty much) tried them all over the years, and we have our favorites right here.

Tools You Need In Your Copy Toolkit To Write Effective Copy

As professional copywriters, we want to share what we have in our copy toolkit to write effective copy.

Hemingway App

This is not your basic Microsoft Word spell check. The Hemingway App does so much more and makes it easy for you to follow along while writing and editing your work.

If you’ve ever struggled to read through and fix items in your own writing, know that you aren’t alone. In fact, we have our own internal process to ensure we’re viewing each piece with fresh eyes before hitting “Send.”

The Hemingway App helps by going through your writing and highlighting issues such as:

Grammar
Spelling
Punctuation
Complex sentence structure
Passive voice and more

You can get the Hemingway Online Editor for free OR buy the Hemingway App for a one-time purchase of $19.99.

Yoast SEO

Writing tools are great. But there’s more to creating good content than spell check apps. Yoast SEO is a search engine optimization plugin that works with WordPress. With an estimated 64 million websites using WordPress, chances are Yoast SEO could benefit you, too.

Using Yoast SEO helps your website show up to the audience base you really want. And it can get more viewers from Bing and Google than you would have otherwise. Also, it can help increase engagement with your audience and get more visitors from social media platforms.

There are a ton of free courses available for you to learn SEO and so much more. Yoast SEO offers a free and paid version of its services for businesses and websites of all sizes.

WordHippo

Have you ever had a hard time coming up with a word or phrase for something you know is at the tip of your tongue? Maybe you didn’t have your morning cup of joe like you usually do. You might have even skipped out on your routine yoga session and now your whole day is thrown off.

These scenarios make WordHippo the perfect pal to have when your brain is feeling a little on the foggy side. The best part about it? You can work off fragments of a thought, plug it in, and see what comes up. Usually, it knows where your thought process is heading and can fill in the gaps when you’re not so sure.

WordHippo is one of the best online applications to help you find the right word or phrase you’re searching for. But it’s also good for creative writing and has other useful tools, including:

A thesaurus
Translations
Rhymes
Definitions
Antonyms
Synonyms
And more!

Discover more and greater words here.

Google Docs

A tried and true classic, Google Docs comes with its own toolkit for spelling and grammar checks. It highlights and catches basic mistakes you might make as you write. This can help you clean up your writing, make it more clear, and easier to follow.

In addition, gone are the days of emailing warped or incorrect docs back and forth. You can also bid adieu to crashed servers and lost files. Google docs is a fantastic way to draft and share your docs as needed without all of the confusion. And since it lives in the cloud, it auto saves your work as you go. Features like link sharing, viewing edit history, and comments ensure your team is working in sync every step of the way.

Brand Voice Guide

When you know you need to get going on your website copy but don’t know where to start, we have just the thing.

Consider creating a Brand Voice Guide that defines the exact voice, tone, and messaging your business needs. Here’s the truth… If you have no idea how your business should sound or who it needs to speak to, you’ll never have quality copy that gets customers to your front door.

A Brand Voice Guide (which you can create yourself) is the key to producing future copy that gets others excited about what you do and why you do it.

And hey! If you don’t have the time or don’t feel comfortable writing your own Brand Voice Guide, we get it! As a business owner or manager, you have a million other things going on and you simply don’t have anything else to give to your company’s writing. Call in the experts with the creative know-how, and we’ll get one started for you.

Other Tools

We know we didn’t list all of the tools out there to help sharpen up your copywriting skills. These are the ones we find most helpful, but we’re aware that everyone has their own style and flair for writing. Feel free to comment below ones that we should consider or others who are writing should consider.

Have a writing to-do list you need taken care of? Contact us for more information about writing for your business.

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How to Focus Your Marketing Message For Meaningful Client Partnerships

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / April 5, 2021 June 1, 2021

As experts in the marketing industry, we’re reflecting on a few older marketing messages and sales techniques that have faded away over the years.

For instance, cold-calling and door-knocking are not only used less today, but they are known for being a little too… in your face.

Sales styles aren’t the only thing that has seen a transformation.

After years of pitching to potential clients in a way that can be pushy and overbearing, businesses everywhere have stopped to think, “is this what my clients want?”

Spoiler alert: No!

Our point here? Stop focusing on your offer. Aim more toward the transformation clients see when using your product or service. Whether you use in-person sales tactics or conduct your business online, the way you speak should have notes of empathy and understanding.

Are you still stuck in your old sales ways, but looking for ways to shake it up?

Read on and find out why you should focus your marketing message for meaningful client partnerships using what is commonly called the “before and after grid” effect.

Build A Relationship Based On Trust

Now, let’s make something crystal clear. Forcing a client to buy something by making them feel uncomfortable or pressured rarely works out long-term. And while you may have made the sale, it probably didn’t leave any positive lasting impression on your client or convince them that their friends need to use you.

The key to creating lasting client relationships involves trust – cue the salesmen jokes about being dishonest. But seriously, it doesn’t have to be this way if you start your interactions with just a pinch of understanding.

Here are a couple of tips to start building a relationship based on trust:

Keep the focus on the client and ask about their life
Show your authentic self and don’t be afraid to show off your quirks
Give value without expectation of anything in return

The Problem With The Old-School Approach

We’ll go ahead and set the scene with a made-up scenario. Keep in mind: this hypothetical situation can apply to in-person and online interactions.

Say someone is looking for a blender because they’d like to start living a healthier lifestyle and make more smoothies. They’re looking for something simple, easy to clean, and light enough to move from counter to cabinet.

You may begin your marketing message pitch with the highest-quality (and most expensive) blender you have in stock. But it’s probably best that you don’t immediately get into its milkshake and ice cream blending features. Why? Because that’s not what the customer is looking for.

It also won’t help to describe the thirteen mix settings if your potential customer is genuinely only interested in one or two. Instead of purchasing the expensive blender, they might be put off by your marketing message because they don’t feel like they’re being heard or understood.

After feeling the heat to make a purchase, they are likely to book it and buy their blender somewhere else.

How to Focus Your Marketing Message For Meaningful Client Partnerships

Let’s imagine we’re facing the same scenario. However, we’ll approach our potential client with a fresh perspective and new marketing message this time.

Now, you take the time to ask them what they are looking for and why they need it. While your prospective customer speaks (or fills out an online form), you’ll use those amazing active listening skills of yours to come up with a solution that meets their needs and isn’t misleading.

While you’re selling your blender, use this opportunity to repeat their problem back to them in a few ways.

Then, you can simultaneously contrast with resulting solutions when they buy your blender. Give them a few options and communicate that they are the ones in control.

Not only will your customer feel heard, but they’ll also feel they can trust you without the sense of being pushed to make a decision right away.

Engage Your Potential Customer

Aside from your sales copy and the way you speak, you want to do as much as you can to engage your customers. A few other ways you can connect with your client base includes:

Offer Honest And Excellent Customer Service

Clients remember an exceptional experience as much as they can recall a bad one. And with 9 out of every 10 shoppers referring to online customer reviews before they buy, that’s a huge deal! Don’t hold back and go the extra mile for your clients.

That’s exactly why we post reviews on our website here.

Absorb And Value Feedback

Your public relations and marketing team can define your brand and get your messaging right where you need it to be. In some cases, they may even be able to monitor your reviews. But clients will only see your business differently if you consider their feedback (especially if it’s negative) and recognize areas where you can improve.

Be Human

Finally, connect with your customers on a human level. Remember our blog covering H2H marketing? It’s right here if you need a refresher. Clients who you’ve made a real connection with are more likely to remember you later on and recommend you to others.

Each of these sales tactics will keep your customer base close enough to reel them in, make a purchase, and turn to you for their future needs.

Create A Unique Selling Proposition To Refine Your Marketing Message

On top of the different ways you can engage with your clients, you should also figure out how to get your unique selling proposition across. This is also known as a USP.

If you aren’t familiar with this term, there’s no need to worry. A USP represents what makes your business special. You know what sets you apart from the rest and why your product or service is unmatched. But you need to be able to use that information!

There are several ways you can refine what your USP should be. For example, you can target:

How your product is made
Special certifications or accolades you have in your industry
Whether your product is biodegradable, environmentally friendly, organic, or natural

Using any one of these differentiators should point out a stark difference between you and your competitors.

A few examples of USP copy are:

30 Days With Better Sleep Or Your Money Back
Keeps Water Ice Cold For 48 Hours
Softer Sheets With Every Single Wash
The Only FDA-Approved Artificial Sweetener Out There

The goal of the final round-up of ideas is to create copy that solves the problem quickly, point out why you’re different, and make it snappy.

Have A Winning Brand Voice Guide

There’s a lot that goes behind your messaging in hopes of establishing meaningful relationships with prospects.

But you can come out on top when you have the tools you need to remain consistent and strong in your messaging.

We use our time to create Brand Voice Guides that lays out your client’s problems and how you can solve them. By doing this before we start on any major projects, we understand exactly who you are and what you offer.

Each one comes with a before and after grid. Here, we meticulously define what your customers go through before, during, and after they’ve gone through the purchasing process. It shows us the issue they have and how your business can solve it.Interested in your own Brand Voice Guide but don’t have the time to write one yourself? Contact us today so we can get started on building your brand the best way we know how.

Ready To Start Focusing Your Marketing Message For Meaningful Client Partnerships?

If you want to say good-bye to outdated sales tactics and focus on high-converting copy, let’s have a conversation.

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5 Benefits for Writing Business Blog Posts (And How To Start Publishing)

Content Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / January 18, 2021 June 1, 2021

Blogging is certainly not dead – especially when it comes to B2B blogging. Some 700 million blog posts are published each month on WordPress alone.

Today’s web users can hop online and find a blog on pretty much any topic you can imagine.

Searching for a step-by-step guide on how to perform an oil change? There’s a blog for that.

What about finding the perfect chocolate cake recipe? Yep, there’s a blog for that, too.

More often than not, the blogs with sufficient information may eventually lead you to an expert within the field of what you’re searching for.

This is excellent news for businesses – boasting numerous benefits for writing business blog posts.

5 Benefits for Writing Business Blog Posts

We could go on for hours listing the benefits for writing business blog posts, but we picked these 5 benefits because they directly impact your bottom line. At FocusCopy, we would never recommend anything that doesn’t produce sales or makes your company more efficient (and thereby more profitable).

1. Blog Posts Provide Social Media and Email Content

You want to keep your audience engaged, right? If you’re like us, you’ve been subject to opening a marketing email only to hit close as soon as you scan it (even if you get that far). One way to positively use the blogs you’ve written is to include them in your marketing emails paired with a catchy headline or phrase to draw your audience in. By doing so, you keep readers engaged with relevant content to your business, boost your click rate, and improve website traffic…. Ultimately generating more qualified leads for your business (paired with a few other things).

Plus, with so many tools available like MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, and so on, you can use these platforms to help monitor your email marketing performance, making it easy to see which emails featuring your blogs tend to outshine one another. You can then plan and strategize additional content to work better for you and your business in the future.

In line with sharing blogs to your email efforts, you can pad your social media calendar with shareable posts featuring your blog. All it takes is a simple graphic, engaging copy, and a link to your blog to quickly get better engagement on your social media platforms. With almost half of the world’s population using social media, you really can’t go wrong by creating some buzz around your blog posts using Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social-sharing software.

2. Blog Posts Boost Search Engine Optimization

According to OptinMonster, “Companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites.” That statistic alone should be convincing enough to start blogging.

The bottom line is that more traffic to your website means more potential sales. Writing a blog and sharing its content any way you can help build the number of visitors who end up on your site. As you consistently continue producing relevant content written with SEO in mind, you’ll see your SEO performance build and improve over time.

Chances are, someone who conducts a search on Google looking for a how-to on best business practices during COVID will likely run into a few high-ranking blogs covering this topic. As a result, the business blogs that appear on the first or second page are likely to see improved engagement and viewers on their website.

As long as you have an individual or team member regularly creating, publishing content, and monitoring your results, there is no reason your SEO and, in turn, your business shouldn’t see some improved engagement.

Case Study: Publish Consistently Now

As a new business, we consistently published weekly blogs from August 2019 to April 2020. This was a critical step to start building the SEO snowball.

Then between April 2020 and September 2020, our blogging became a little more inconsistent because… Well, we were too busy writing for our clients. Yet, our traffic was still growing.

In October 2020, our blogging became non-existent through the remainder of 2020. We were simply too busy to even schedule posts on social media! All our focus was on our client’s copy and their marketing.

Yet, our traffic grew and grew. This is the power of publishing business blog posts. This is what we refer to as the SEO snowball effect.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Chinese Proverb

3. Blog Posts Educate Your Target Audience

There is a ton of information out there online. But you’re the one who knows your business best, so who better to talk about it than yourself? People want to know accurate and readable information that will help them. Don’t be afraid to give your blogs everything you’ve got and go into as much detail as you can in an organized format that flows with ease.

A simple benefit you can add to your blogs includes graphics, videos, and photography to help users visualize the discussion topic. It’s not entirely necessary, but for businesses who offer intricate services or products, these elements can break down some more technical content in a digestible way.

(P.S. We’re experts in capturing your brand voice, learning your story, and communicating it with SEO and your target audience in mind. Want to learn how we make your blog production easier? Schedule a call with co-founder Lauren Jefferson today.)

4. Blogs Posts Position You As a Brand Authority

As the expert, you want to let others know that they can turn to you for the information they need now or might need in the future. With each blog post, you build brand authority for yourself and become a reliable resource for your audience to turn to.

One way of serving as a brand authority lies in sharing information backed by reliable resources, data, or reports. You can also rely on the professionals around you to get the latest industry updates and material to improve your content. Finally, you can answer some FAQs in depth through blogs that are both requested and informative. Each of these factors sets the tone for your blog and provides a safe space for others to turn to when they need trustworthy information.

5. Blog Posts Create More Opportunities to Sell

If you have your sales process down, blog writing may be the solution you need to pour more leads into your funnel. You see, the more content you produce backed by appropriate facts and figures, the more people will be geared towards your website and brand. As users get to know your brand better and become more familiar with who you are, the more likely they are to use your product or service.

According to Hubspot, “Marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that did not in 2019.” Hubspot’s findings make blogging one of the most useful marketing tools out there on top of creating other inviting digital content.

How to Start Writing Blog Posts for Business

If you’re tired of being left behind in a digital world, get started today on setting up a blog for your business with just a few quick steps.

Figure Out What You’re Going To Write About

Where do you start? Understandably, you may have a lot to say but don’t know where to begin. Whether you use your smartphone, laptop, or pen and paper, you should kick off your blogging venture by jotting down your best blog ideas. Some components to think about include:

Timeliness. Is what you want to write about pertinent to right now?
Substance. Is there enough to talk about when discussing a specific topic?
Benefits. Will your blog be able to highlight something that your business has to offer to help its readers?
Content. Is the content being discussed relevant to your business?

If you’ve answered “No,” to any of these questions, it may be time to discuss more openly with your team about what would work when it comes to blogging for your business.

(Need help thinking of potential topics? FocusCopy is here to help! Contact us today to learn how we make this process easier for you.)

Decide How Frequently You’re Going to Write Blog Posts

Some websites will tell you you should blog twice a week, once a week, or once a month. Depending on your business, you may want to post more or less. If you don’t have the bandwidth to start posting numerous times a day, work on getting your posts written and provide yourself with a bank of blogs you can rely on when you’re ready to start publishing.

“Blogging frequency has a direct and significant impact on lead generation.”
SEO.co

We take a little different approach when it comes to choosing frequency. At FocusCopy, we want to see consistency in your marketing. If that’s every week, go for it! But if you can only manage one blog a month, that’s great. Start building that rhythm so you can produce more content down the line.

Determine Who Is Writing Your Blog Posts

I you are considering starting a blog, think no more. Get your blog up and running with a content writer who knows the ins and outs of blogging, wordplay, and adapting to your company’s work model, style, voice, tone, and attitude.

We get it! You may not have the time for blogging. Lucky for you, we’re the experts you need in that department. FocusCopy offers content writing for your business – bringing your brand to center stage for the audience you crave.

How to Make a BIG Impact on Your Conversion Rates By Including These 4 Requirements for Above the Fold Website Copy

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / August 24, 2020 June 1, 2021

Is your website leaving the right first impression with your audience?

First impressions are the key to sparking interest in your brand. When potential customers stumble upon your webpage, their decision to stay or leave will happen in seconds… And it all relies on your above the fold website copy.

In this blog, I’ll go over what needs to be above the fold on your site to grab your audience’s attention, make a great first impression, and increase your engagement and conversion rates.

Above the Fold vs Below the Fold

The concept of above the fold website copy stems from the pre-digital era of communication – back in the days when everyone bought newspapers. Since newspapers were folded in half and put out for sale, passerbys would only see whatever was above the fold. The content above the fold had to entice people to buy the paper, without even picking it up. It had to convince people to buy with just a quick glance.

Above the Fold Definition

So what is considered “above the fold” when it comes to your web content? Above the fold website copy is any content that appears on the top half of your website when someone first arrives at the URL, without any scrolling or clicking.

Here is an example of what our website looks like above the fold:

As you might imagine, what content falls above the fold depends on screen size. Not everyone has the same sized computer monitors. Plus, people are accessing the Web through tablets and smartphones now too.

Here is what website visitors see above the fold when they are viewing on mobile:

So how can you figure out what falls above the fold on your website?

You can get a good estimate by using your website’s analytics program to find out what the most common screen dimensions are for your visitors. Then, you can use the average screen height as a guide for where the website “fold” is.

Below the Fold Definition

The majority of your website is below the fold. This is anything that is not initially visible when someone first arrives at your site. Visitors will only get to see it once they start to scroll down the webpage.

For instance, everything that is below the red line here wouldn’t be seen unless the visitor was curious enough to keep exploring the webpage.

Since a majority of your content may be below the fold, you want to lead your customers there! Let’s talk about how you can take full advantage of your above the fold website copy to do just that.

4 Requirements for Above the Fold Website Copy

To capture your audience’s attention, the above the fold copy on your website needs to:

Target the customer
Identify the problem
Introduce the major benefit
Call to action

1. Target the Customer

When it comes to making a powerful first impression in the real world, eye contact and addressing the person by name play a huge role. To achieve the same effect virtually on your webpage, make sure your above the fold copy targets the customer.

So what does copywriting that targets the customer actually look like?

Call them out. The most straightforward way to target the customer is to acknowledge them by name in your copy. For example, Scalable opens with “Attention all Founders & CEOs”.

Speak their language. Use words and phrases that your target audience is familiar with. Don’t be afraid to use jargon or slang if your target customer knows the terms. It shows that you’re speaking directly to them in their own language. For example, Wilson Murphy Law’s about page perfectly addresses what her audience knows – that they don’t want copycats or poachers. This isn’t language that you would see leaving an attorney’s mouth. And that’s okay. Speak your audience’s language.

Focus on them. Make sure your above the fold website copy is focused on the customer rather than your business. To check how well your copy does this, see if you use “You” about twice as often as you use “We”. Notice how Elementor doesn’t talk about themselves – they talk about “you”.

2. Identify the Problem

Targeting the customer will grab their attention. After that, you’ll only have a few seconds to engage their curiosity by identifying a problem they are experiencing.

Sometimes, your customer won’t even realize they are experiencing a problem until you bring it to their attention. Once the customer realizes the problem (and if the problem is important enough to them), they’ll continue to scroll down your website to find your solution.

What kinds of problems is your target customer experiencing?

According to Harvard Business Review, customers have 4 main kinds of problems they need solutions for. Let’s talk about the two major problems most businesses should address in their above the fold website copy: functional and emotional problems.

Functional Problems

Functional problems are the most common type of challenge your customers will experience. These are problems that have an impact on their practical day-to-day functioning.

This can include things like:

Not having enough time to accomplish a certain task
Not making enough money
Something is too complicated or unorganized
A product or service they currently use lacks quality or variety

Emotional Problems

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that your customer is human! It may seem obvious, but so many businesses overlook this crucial fact. Because you’re writing for humans, you can also address emotional problems that they might be experiencing, like:

Experiencing heightened anxiety
Missing the past or feeling nostalgic
Feeling exhausted or burnt out

Now, your above the fold copy doesn’t have to include every problem that your target customer is facing. In fact, it shouldn’t! You only have a limited amount of space and a short amount of time when it comes to above the fold content. Instead, your above the fold website copy should highlight the main problem that is most disruptive for your target customer. Then discuss the solution your company offers.

3. Introduce the Major Benefit

Once you’ve targeted the customer and identified their problem, you can’t stop there! The next piece you have to include is an introduction to the major benefit your company offers to solve the customer’s problem.

Here are some strategic ways to introduce the major benefit to your customer:

Stand out among competition. Introduce a benefit that is unique to your company by creating a unique selling proposition. What does your company offer that others don’t?
Use your brand voice. When you’re introducing customers to the major benefit, you’re also introducing them to your brand. Make sure your above the fold copy reflects your brand’s personality by creating a brand voice.
Show the stats. Quantify just how much time and money they’ll save, or how much variety/quality they will gain. Try using infographics that are eye-catching and easy to read at a glance.
Tap into emotions. Think about how you want your customer to feel after they have access to your product and reflect that in your writing.

4. Call to Action

Finally, your above the fold website copy won’t be complete without a call to action.

If you’ve structured your above the fold content with everything we’ve discussed so far, your target customer will be ready to (at the very least) learn more about your products and services.

Make it as easy as possible to do that – without any scrolling or navigating by adding a call to action button above the fold.

Here are some call to action ideas to include above the fold:

Free offer. Offer free content, sample products, free trials, or consultations in exchange for an email sign-up.
Learn more. Link to a page where customers can learn more about your products or see a demo of your services.
Get started. Lead your customers directly to your product/service description page where they can sign-up, enroll, or make a purchase.
Let’s talk. Take your customers to your contact page or a place where they can schedule an appointment with someone from your team.

Feel free to get creative with the words you use in your buttons/links/call to actions.

When choosing a call to action, keep your website visitors’ familiarity with your brand in mind. If you’re a new company and visitors might not be familiar with your brand, opt for a free offer or a link to learn more.

On the other hand, your call to action should look different if you’re a well-established company and a majority of your website visitors are already familiar with your brand. In this case, you’ll do better to have a call to action that gets customers started or puts them in touch with your team.

Start Writing Your Above The Fold Copy

With all of these guidelines in mind, remember that the space above the fold on your website is limited. Many companies struggle to fit in all of the key elements without overcrowding the space. If you want help writing clean and effective above the fold website copy that reflects your brand, FocusCopy can help with that! We help businesses increase their conversion rates just by adjusting their copy. For more copywriting tips, subscribe to our Insider’s List here.

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Updating Your Website Copy to Increase Conversion & Engagement (Even When Your Business Has Been Put on Hold) in 7 Simple Steps

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / April 15, 2020 June 1, 2021

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has impacted businesses all over the world. I talk to at least 5 business owners a day that have either had to put their business on hold, are overwhelmed with growth, or are somewhere in between. If you’re one of the companies in limbo, this blog is for YOU. Downtime can be discouraging. But, it’s so important to stay positive and keep the ball rolling! One way to do just that is by investing in your marketing. That’s why we put together this guide on updating your website copy to increase conversion and engagement (even when your business has been put on hold).

What’s Website Copy?

So, what’s website copy? Website copy is all the words on your site. But more than that, it’s what communicates to your audience what their need or problem is (if they didn’t know already), your solution, and why you’re the right decision for them. What does your customer need to hear to make a buying decision?

Now more than ever, a majority of the interactions clients have with your business will be through your website. Well-written website copy ensures your site is helpful for existing clients and makes a great first impression with new ones.

Why Update Your Website Copy?

A website should be 100% organic – that means it should change, evolve, and be updated as time goes on. A hard-coded website or one that is difficult to change in a moment’s notice is going to lock you into something that’s not working for you.

So why update your website copy?

We see lots of companies who put up a website home page and then never invest in their marketing again. After 10 years, it’s still the same home page. Their business has changed over that decade, but their website copy doesn’t reflect the changes.

It’s stagnant.

Keeping your website organic will encourage your clients to engage with your business more, and help convert those engagements into successful transactions.

How Website Copy Impacts Engagement & Conversion

How can updating your website copy impact engagement and conversion? Here are a couple of examples…

It Conveys Reliability

Suppose you used to offer a service that you no longer do. You’ll want to reflect those changes on your website. If clients who visit your site discover the information isn’t up-to-date, they’ll get the impression that your company is unreliable and engage with it less in the future. To encourage engagement, offer updated website copy.

It Makes It Easy For Clients To Find What The Need

Has your business started to offer new products or services since your last website update? As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind”. Your clients can’t buy your new services or products if they don’t know you’re offering them! Conversion rates will grow if you make it as easy as possible for your audience to find what they’re looking for and convince them your solution is the best.

If your business has had to slow down in the past month, take advantage of the downtime to rebuild engagement and increase conversion by updating your website copy.

Determine If You’re Doing Minor Changes or A Massive Overhaul

Updating your website copy doesn’t have to be an intimidating process. You can make minor changes or get creative with a massive overhaul.

Minor Changes

Even minor changes to your website copy can go a long way!

Refine Your Headline Keywords

Are the keywords on your website specific enough to help your clients find what they need? Something as simple as re-phrasing your headlines to target your audience can help increase traffic – and eventually engagement and conversion rates.

Make Small, Regular Updates

Are you keeping your clients in the loop about how current events impact their access to your business (especially in the midst of COVID-19)? Adding regular updates to your site will keep clients informed about how to continue to use your services or buy your products – in times of a pandemic or otherwise!

Massive Overhaul

When business is busy, marketing often slips by the wayside. If you haven’t had the chance to update your website copy, it’s not too late to get started on a massive overhaul!

Does your website reflect your company’s values and brand? Does the copy highlight your current products and services? Can clients request them online? Is your website optimized for mobile viewing with easy-to-use navigation?

These are all places to look for opportunities to improve engagement and conversion.

Updating Your Website Copy to Increase Conversion & Engagement in 6 Simple Steps

Whether you’re gearing up for major or minor updates to your website copy, it’s important to keep in mind both what to improve and how to improve it. Here are 6 simples steps to start updating your website copy to increase conversion and engagement.

1. Build a Brand Voice Guide

Updating your website copy doesn’t have to be time-consuming and you don’t have to be a gifted writer either! When you build a Brand Voice Guide, you’ll be able to let someone else do the heavy lifting for you. In your Brand Voice Guide, you’ll outline which emotions and tones writers should use to update and edit your website copy. That way, you can rest assured that everything on your website is aligned with your company’s brand.

Creating a Brand Voice Guide streamlines the copywriting process and fosters familiarity with your brand to improve conversion and engagement. You’ll get more growth with less effort. Check out our blog for more on why having a brand voice is critical to business growth.

2. Record Your Baseline Metrics

After building a brand voice guide to expedite the copywriting process, where do you start making improvements to your existing copy? You can evaluate where changes should be made by taking down your metrics.

Are You Reaching Your Audience?

Your engagement metrics tell you how good your website is at reaching your audience. This includes how many visitors your website typically gets per month, how many of these are new visitors, and how long each visitor spends on each page.

Do you have many visitors to your homepage but not nearly as many for your services page? This doesn’t necessarily mean that visitors don’t want to engage with your services – they might just have a hard time finding them!

Take note of which pages of your website have low engagement metrics so you can create a strategy to improve them.

How Often Are People Taking Action (Buying, Subscribing, or Enrolling)?

Your conversion metrics tell you how often a client takes an action that you recommend to them. How often are clients buying your products or services, scheduling a consultation, or signing up for your newsletter? You’ll know that your copy needs improvement if your website has a lot of visitors, but few are following through with these actions.

Don’t worry – low conversion metrics don’t necessarily mean clients aren’t interested in what you’re offering. A lot of the time, it simply means you need to update your copy to better communicate to clients how they’ll benefit from your offers.

3. Save Existing Copy Into A Blank Document

Storage is cheap, but your time isn’t! Before you dive into making any changes to your website, be sure to save the existing copy into a blank document. While some of your content might be new, a lot of it can be updated from what was already there before. It’ll also show you where you’ve been and where you don’t want to go again.

4. Write Emotionally With Benefits Taking The Lead

Your company offers valuable services and goods. But how can you express this value to your clients? Keep your audience at the forefront by writing emotionally with benefits to your client taking the lead.

If you ask Harvard Business Review, people find the most value in products and services that serve their functional and emotional needs. Companies that address these in their writing have greater customer loyalty and growth.

What does your client need practically and emotionally when they seek out your business? Address these needs, and offer a solution in your copy.

5. Review It Thoroughly

Next, you need to review the copy thoroughly for grammar, syntax, flow, and clarity. At FocusCopy, we always have at least 2 sets of eyes on each piece of copy we send out. Usually, we have 3 sets of eyes – 2 sets that haven’t worked on the development side.

Check out our proofreading tips that we use to review every single piece of copy.

6. Update the Live Page

Before you update the live page with your newly written and thoroughly reviewed copy, take a before photo. You can add extensions to your browser that take a full screen capture – taking a photo of the entire page without you having to merge multiple screenshots of it.

Once you have the before photo, reveal your fresh look to the world. If your remodeling included major changes, send out an email to existing customers to highlight what your exciting new site features make easier for them!

7. Test & Continue to Refine Copy

Remember, great website copy is truly organic. Continue to take down your metrics, compare them with old metrics, and refine your copy accordingly. You can also take advantage of split testing of headlines or landing pages to see which keywords and images resonate the most with your audience.

Your company may be experiencing downtime, but there’s always a place to move forward and grow with your online marketing.

Looking for some help getting started? We write copy that communicates how you (the company) transforms your customer’s lives. When a customer feels heard, they are much more likely to engage with your brand and ultimately convert. Learn more about FocusCopy’s copywriting services here.