The most important part of any copywriting project is the briefing.
This will show your writer what you’re looking for, the goals you want to achieve, and the way you want to portray your company.
Because of its importance, it’s vital you think carefully.
Tone is everything
Other than details of your customers, their needs, and what you do, your brief will also tell your copywriter what kind of tone you want.
During a recent project, the brief I received the following request about tone:
“[We] aim to be a successful, social marketplace and therefore, the tone of voice should be fun, informal, relatable and light-hearted.”
After extensive research into their market sector and the language it uses, I came up with an initial draft that used many of its terms in a light-hearted way. A few puns created the fun element, and natural language satisfied the informal part of the brief.
To my dismay, the feedback stated:
“The copy is too gimmicky and not professional enough. We want to establish a more professional tone of voice.”
So in other words, forget the fun, informal and light-hearted bit. Now they’ve seen that translated into copy, they’ve got cold feet and decided to opt for a more run of the mill style.
The moral of this short post is to think carefully about what it is you want.
If you want to stand out and present a different, fun persona that goes against the norm in your industry, be brave and stick to that decision.
Yes, your copy will be unlike anything else in your industry – but that’s the whole point.
Your copywriting will be able to write in any style you want, so trust their instincts when it comes to translating your ideas into copy.
If you chicken out, you’ll morph into the monotonous drone and have little chance of standing out.
But if you’re brave enough to be seen as different, you’re going to get noticed.
It’s good to be the odd one out
When people are looking for your services or products, they’re going to do their research.
They will do extensive Google searches to gather a short list of possibilities.
If you are just like every other company, there’ll be nothing to make you stand out. But if you’re individual and break the mould, it will set you apart.
Sally Ormond helps her clients break the boundaries of their industries. Refusing to be shackled by perceived norms, through her guidance her clients enjoy greater market visibility. Call her on +44(0)1449 779605 if you are one of the brave ones.