Today we’re talking about copywriting, but not just any ole copy — copy that is personality-packed, entertaining, and ultimately makes the sale. I’m chatting with my friend and copywriting expert, Brittany McBean about 8 specific tactics you can use to improve your copywriting. These tips apply to your whole website, your sales pages, and even your email marketing. You guys know I LOVE copywriting, I love helping you create more sales through your words, your designs, and everything in between, and this episode has so many tactical ways to do EXACTLY THAT.
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In this episode, Brittany starts us off by giving us a great distinction between content and copy. She says that content is the KIND of material that you give out for free that entertains, educates, and engages with the goal of creating know, like, and trust. The copy is always to get someone to say yes! Asking the reader to take a specific action.
Tips To Improve Your Copywriting
This is a preview with 4 of the tips. Make sure you tune in to the full episode to hear ALL 8 tips Brittany shares with us in this episode!
1. Be specific with tactile, sensory details.
People don’t buy vague solutions to vague problems. Brittany tells us that it is really important to be specific with your words by plugging in actual details that relate to your target audience. When you paint a detailed picture, you help the reader and potential buyer put themselves INTO your story. This communicates to your reader that you KNOW them and you get them and they are safe with you.
She says to ask yourself if you have created a story that is so specific that an actor could act it out. That’s how you know you have all of the details laid out.
Here is a great example that Brittany shared:
Instead of saying “This proven system could lead to the life of your dreams…”
Try saying “Because this proven system could be THE thing that gives you the time to spend this summer lounging in the hammock watching your kids run through the sprinkler knowing you're paying off your debt and becoming the niche authority you already know you are because just by opening up that MacBook Pro, you can see that your funnel is constantly filling up with your dreamboat audience at the top and converting them to dreamboat buyers at the bottom.”
This is a major way to improve your copywriting because words like: stuck, stressed, overwhelmed, satisfied, freedom are vague and don’t inspire people to action. People don’t throw down big money to feel “satisfied.”
2. Use your ideal audience’s words, not yours.
Brittany says that you should ask your ideal audience the questions you need to paint the picture of their slice of life moments so you can plug those into your copy. Ask them “What they call it?” (whatever it is you do). This doesn’t mean you are losing your words or your message! It helps them understand what you are talking about.
Remember that your industry jargon doesn’t make you sound smarter, it will only confuse your audience if they don’t use the same language as you. You need to figure out what the message is that you are communicating and then USE THEIR WORDS to talk about it. Brittany says to be listening to the way that people describe the problem that you solve.
Listen to the full episode to hear us talk through some great examples of where you can be looking for this language from your ideal audience.
3. Only talk about yourself if it’s really about them.
In the story you are telling, you are the guide NOT the hero. The reader is the hero. Donald Miller's book Building a StoryBrand talks about this concept and it is a fantastic read. Brittany tells us to include things in your copy that show your personality but that matters to your reader. We want these details to keep pointing to you as the guide or point to you as someone who went through the hero journey that can now take the reader through it. She reminds us to communicate a message through connection.
Ask yourself if what you are writing expresses empathy or authority. Your reader should either feel like you empathize with them or that you have some authority with their problem. This is another great Donald Miller principal.
4. Tell stories to evoke emotion and create deep connections
Brittany tells us that to improve your copywriting you can literally use story in EVERY piece of that you write and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with what you are talking about.
Any time you can tell a story, you are able to communicate a complex idea in a way that is so much more impactful.
Think about the five emotions: joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust. Pay attention to them in your everyday life. If something terrifies you to your core or makes you laugh so hard you pee your pants, take note of those things! Bookmark them in your brain so you can use them in your writing later on. The five emotions are joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust.
It doesn’t have to be a monumental experience. It’s more relatable for your reader to drop them into a story about an everyday experience. Hear Brittany talk through a great example of this in the full episode.
Brittany gave us SO MANY great tips in this episode to help improve your copywriting while using personality, entertaining and ultimately selling. Listen to the full episode to hear the rest of her tips and her awesome examples. If you love this episode, send us an email at hello@elizabethmccravy.com or DM me on Instagram and let me know what tip was your favorite and what is your favorite new line of copy you have written with these tips!
Meet Brittany
Brittany McBean is a conversion copywriter and marketing strategist who helps online educators and creatives stand out with crystal clear messaging and a laser-focused strategy—writing the words that get you seen by the right people so you can make a maximum impact and income. Her fingers have typed over 2 million selling words for her client's websites, sales pages, launches, and emails. When she's not dreaming up funnel strategies, she can be found chasing her wild toddler around the house screaming, "Stop eating that!" After said child's bedtime, she's usually parked on her couch next to her husband rearranging Trello boards and binging Season 2 of The Office for the 147th time. Her love language is pizza, sarcasm, and naps and her favorite things to talk about are persuasion psychology, sales copy, her journey with infertility and mental health, and the beauty of open adoption. She believes in the Oxford comma and will fight you on it.
