"Are you speaking your audience's language, or just hoping they'll understand yours?"
There are over 1 billion websites.
If you want to cut through the noise, having a clear and effective copy strategy is not just beneficial – it’s essential.
It’s not just about choosing the right words; it’s about understanding the underlying needs and desires of your audience and how they navigate online.
A copy strategy stops you from wasting your time or waffling on about something no one cares about.
It turns potential misunderstandings into engaging conversations and missed opportunities into conversions.
Ahead, the step-by-step of developing a copy strategy that resonates with your users and helps you smash your business goals.
1. What’s the business goal?
When crafting your copy strategy, your north star is the business goal of your copy.
This isn’t just about sprinkling attractive words across your webpage. Think of your copy as a dedicated employee of your company, one whose primary task is to accomplish a clear and measurable goal.
In most cases, the job you’re outsourcing to your copy is to sell a product or service or to attract leads.
This directive should be guiding all your copywriting efforts.
When your copy is aligned with your business objectives, every word works towards converting visitors into customers or leads.
The more focused your copy’s job, the better it will perform.
Remember, copy overloaded with multiple tasks often ends up accomplishing none. By having a clear understanding of what you want your copy to achieve, you can tailor it to be compelling, convincing, and ultimately, profitable.
2. Figure out the user goals
After aligning your copy with your business objectives, the next crucial step in your copy strategy is to understand your audience – the users.
Recognising and empathising with user goals isn’t a pleasantry; it’s a selfish act that attracts more sales.
Frankly, I don’t know why so many people seem keen to skip this step.
At the bare minimum, your copy needs to speak directly to the desires and pain points of your audience. This understanding shapes not just what you say but how you say it – the tone, the language, and the direction of your copy.
To gain this invaluable insight, use a combination of these 3 methods:
Interviews: Engaging in one-on-one conversations with your current or potential customers provides deep insights. It allows you to hear their internal dialogue firsthand.
Surveys: Distributing surveys to a broader audience can help gather further data and help you understand what’s a trend and what’s one person’s opinion.
Voice of Customer Data: Analysing reviews and feedback on your own and competitor products gives you an authentic glimpse into how people talk about themselves and your solution.
Understanding your audience’s language and goals allows your copy to resonate profoundly with them. It’s about creating that “OMG are you in my head?” moment.
When your copy mirrors the language and thought patterns of your readers, you instantly build that know-like-trust factor.
Your copy not only captures attention but sustains it, guiding readers closer to working with or buying from you.
3. Plot the user journey
There’s not 1, but 2 journeys you need to work on next.
It’s not just about guiding users through your site; it’s about transitioning them from being unaware to fully aware of your offers. This journey impacts how you structure your website or funnel and craft your copy.
From Unaware to Aware: How much they already know about their problem or your solution will impact where you start the conversation and how you scaffold and support their discovery.
Navigating Through Your Site: It’s also about the physical journey through your site. The goal is to gather necessary information from the user without overwhelming them.
Each page should serve a clear purpose, gently nudging them towards the next step.
By mastering these two journeys, your copy can effectively lead users from initial curiosity to confident action, making each interaction on your site meaningful and directed.
3. Set the website structure (Information Architecture)
Understanding the structure of your website, or its information architecture, is a critical component of your copy strategy.
Information architecture refers to the way information is organised and presented on your website, and it plays a vital role in ensuring that your site is user-friendly and coherent.
A well-thought-out information architecture makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for, even if they deviate from the typical user journey.
It’s about creating a logical flow that guides visitors through your site, with each page and section intuitively connected to the next.
Not every visitor will follow the expected path. Some might land on a page through a search engine, social media link, or a referral.
A robust information architecture ensures that no matter where users enter your site, they can easily navigate and find the information they need without feeling lost or overwhelmed.
Your site’s structure should be intuitive, allowing users to effortlessly move through content, whether they are browsing casually or seeking specific information. This involves:
- Clear categorisation
- Logical page hierarchy
- Easy-to-follow navigation
4. Determine a logical flow for each page
Creating a logical flow in your copy is essential for engaging and retaining the reader’s attention.
Each page should present a coherent argument that aligns with the user’s journey and intent.
Here are some tips and strategies to ensure your pages have a compelling and coherent flow:
1. Consider where users are coming from – a search engine, a social media post, or another page on your site. This context influences their expectations and your page’s content.
2. What’s their level of awareness about your product or service? Tailor your message to fit their understanding.
3. Define the purpose of each page. What’s the final call to action? This clarity guides the structure and messaging.
4. Each page should clearly articulate what sets your offer apart. Your Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) should address the user’s pain points and desired outcomes.
5. Leverage testimonials, case studies, or data to build credibility and trust. Proof elements should support the page’s argument and encourage the user to take the next step.
6. Use messaging that resonates with your audience. It should reflect your brand’s voice but align with the user’s needs and goals.
By considering these aspects, you can ensure each page of copy captures and maintains interest, guiding them smoothly towards the desired action.
5. Connect pages with compelling microcopy
In any successful copy strategy, microcopy plays a subtle yet powerful role in enhancing user experience.
Microcopy refers to the small bits of text that guide users through their journey on a website. These are not the headline grabbers but the small signposts that make a user’s journey intuitive and engaging.
Good microcopy can significantly improve user experience and conversions.
It helps clarify instructions, reduces user frustration, and can even add a touch of personality to your site. This is particularly important in places like form fields, error messages, and call-to-action (CTA) buttons, where clarity and encouragement are key.
Discover how you can turbocharge your microcopy skills with the free and fast Microcopy Micro Course.
6. Continually collect feedback and iterate
The final, yet ongoing, phase of your copy strategy is to continually collect feedback and iterate.
In the ever-evolving digital marketing world, your copy strategy should not remain static. Regular feedback is key to understanding how well your copy resonates with your audience and meets your business goals.
Continuous feedback allows you to refine and adjust your copy, ensuring it stays relevant, effective, and aligned with user needs and preferences.
Done correctly, this process all but guarantees your long-term success.
Ideas for collecting feedback:
Surveys: Regularly ask your audience for feedback. Try a poll on social or simply send a Google form to your customers.
Data Analytics: How are people behaving? It sounds “fancier” than it is. You simply want to be keeping track of your conversions, sign-ups, or any other desired actions.
Interviews: Conduct interviews with users to gain deeper qualitative insights. These can reveal nuances language and messaging that quantitative data will miss.
A/B Testing (for High Volume Sites): If your website has significant traffic, A/B testing different versions of your copy can be extremely effective. This method allows you to directly compare different copy approaches to see which performs better in real-time.
Collecting feedback is half the battle.
The crucial part is effectively implementing this feedback into your copy strategy. This means being willing to make changes, test new approaches, and constantly seek ways to enhance the user experience through your copy.
Regular feedback and iteration ensure your copy remains a dynamic, evolving tool, finely tuned to engage and convert your audience effectively.
Now, it’s your turn to apply these steps in your own copy strategy.
Before you click away, make sure to grab a copy of “The Ultimate Guide to UX Web Copy” – a comprehensive step-by-step resource to guide your understanding and application of these principles.