How can you write copy that speaks to any audience?

Regardless of our individual backgrounds, we all share certain emotions and experiences - joy, sadness, aspiration, fear, love, and so forth. Capitalize on these shared human experiences to connect with your audience on a deeper, emotional level. Tell stories that reflect these feelings and narratives.

As content creators, execution is easy, but it's not worth it if you've not laid down your purpose. For instance, some copywriters clearly build out a concept note before any campaign. This concept note a framework based on a key insight. Based on this, they finally craft their content Without a well-thought out concept note, your copy ends up wandering about, utterly lost and adds little to no value.

Almost everything comes down to selling more products or services. You might cloak that intention by saying that you want to inform, educate, inspire, transform, etc. But in the end, the purpose is to sell. If it’s not increasing your sales, then why bother? Be honest about your intent. You’ll have more success at achieving your true goal of increasing sales.

This sounds so basic, but don't skip it! Too many folks skip this step and wonder why their content isn't performing the way they expect. You should know: - which stage of the buyers journey you are targeting - which persona you are targeting - what actions you want someone to take after reading (aka what is your CTA?) Having a goal doesn't mean you need to set something arbitrary like "X social shares" or "X product purchases." Getting your opinion and POV out into the market counts. Sharing a behind-the-scenes process that your audience loves to nerd out on counts. (See the next step, which is knowing your audience.)

To write copy that resonates with any audience, I focus on universal human emotions and experiences. I aim to understand my audience's needs and desires. Using simple, clear language helps ensure my message is accessible. Lastly, I use stories and analogies to create relatable content that strikes a chord with readers.

I write copy that speaks to any audience by first understanding their needs, values, pain points, and interests. Whether it's a technical, casual, or specialized audience, I adapt my tone, language, and content structure accordingly. I focus on what connects us as humans - emotions, problems, and desires - and craft messages that resonate on a universal level. By being empathetic and flexible in my approach, I ensure that my copy is not just informative but also engaging and relatable, regardless of the audience's background or expertise. This adaptable approach allows me to communicate effectively with a wide range of readers, creating a connection that transcends superficial differences.

Any time I take on any SEO Copywriting project, I always start with the end-goal. It's kind of like marking out a map—I have to know what I am guiding the audience toward before I can build the path over. Imagine looking at a map where someone has marked every single road they found interesting with the same highlighter, you'd have a hard time following it to a single destination. This can be hard to do because we always want to share everything, but it really helps to narrow things down to just sharing what they need to make the next step. You can always share other things later, just get them over that bridge.

When you create your brand's persona, determining your audience is a key step. HubSpot has an excellent tool to help you create brand personas. With the insights from your analytics, you can really pinpoint not just who your audience is and what they want but where you need to reach them and with what medium.

To help evaluate your audience, ask: - What does the audience know about the topic? - What is the audience’s attitude toward the topic? - Does the audience have interest in the topic? Why or why not? - Why is the audience reading about this topic? - What level of supporting information does the audience need to accept your position on the topic?

It's not enough to just know your audience, you have to get inside their head. You have to know what they need, and you have to know what they think they need (because they might not be the same). More than anything, you have to know what they want, because what they want is not always what they need, especially depending on their level of awareness (which you also have to know). You have to be so deep inside your audience's head that you could speak for them. This isn't something that you're going to figure out and then that's it; your understanding of your audience is going to evolve and grow over time as they interact with your content and your brand. So keep revisiting your avatar and updating it regularly.

You can write copy for any audience, but you cannot write copy for every audience. To write the best copy, you must know who you're writing for. If you try to create a general piece that appeals to everyone, it will appeal to no one. Clients often have a good idea of who their target audience is based on sales and market research. Writers can also do their own research using SEO tools, social media, or other platforms like HubSpot.

Plain language has gained a lot of traction in recent years. From healthcare to finance and tech, using plain language so information is accessible to a broader audience has become widely practiced. A great place to start is plainlanguage.gov to learn plain language best practices. Some technical terms are fine to use if your audience is familiar with them. Like with all quality content creation, you have to know your audience first.

As Don Draper always said, "Make it simple, but significant." This applies very strongly for copywriting. No matter what you write, don't bombard your audience with jargon. Write as if you're talking to someone, not as if you're conducting a business presentation.

People sometimes say that no one reads anymore, but I think people just read online differently. They skim more than anything, wait for something to catch their eye, and then pause to read more. So when you're doing SEO Copywriting, you're really writing for speed-readers and skimmers, which means using words that are fast and easy to read. Using too much jargon that people aren't searching for or familiar with will just make your content hard to find for most people and too hard to skim for those who do find it. One trick is to read your writing out loud and see how fast you can get through it. If any word forces you to pause or stumble, see if there's a better word you can use in its place.

People don't buy your products or services because of logic. They may convince themselves of that later, but they're driven by pure emotion at decision-making time. Marketing studies have proven this time and again, which is why you need to use language with emotional marketing value (EMV). How did you make them feel with your copy? Could they immediately envision themselves enjoying your product or service? Or did you throw a bunch of technical jargon at them that was factual but did little to appeal to their emotions?

Consider the following four emotional triggers: - Gain: State what the reader will gain from following through on the call to action. - Logic: Give a practical reason, backed by emotional reasons, for following through on the call to action. - Fear: Offer peace of mind that you can protect the reader against the occurrence of some type of event. - Scarcity: Tell the reader that the offer is for a limited time, or until the product is no longer available due to limited quantities.

A relevant stat can be a great story opener. For news stories I've written, I have used stats to introduce the topic I am reporting on. Then, I dig into the content of the interview and the insight I've gathered. These ingredients all come together to tell a complete story. However, this isn't always the best approach. You have to make a genuine connection with your audience first before you can sell your product or service. If you are telling your brand's story and trying to connect with your audience, start with your "Why" and the emotional context that comes with why you are doing what you doing. Then, gradually start getting into the "How" and "What" and have factual information to back these elements up.

Keep the copy audience-centric, meaning focus on the benefits your audience gets from your product. Once they know what they get, they are more likely to read on and find out what your product features are. Example- ✔️Hire contractors worldwide hassle-free ❎️We help you hire contractors seamlessly ✔️Reduce your lead response time with xyz ❎️Xyz offers automated response feature for faster responses

Don't focus on writing for search engines. When you do that, your copy becomes formulaic and boring. Write for people first and search engines second. Yes, you need to use SEO keywords, but use them in a natural way. Ditch the SEO tools like Yoast that focus too heavily on keyword saturation while ignoring overall quality. Also, stop filling alt-text descriptions with SEO keywords that do little to explain what is happening in the visual. Alt-text tags help visually-impaired readers using assistive devices understand what's on the page. If you can work in an SEO keyword naturally in a way that accurately describes the graphic, then do so. Otherwise, use the alt-text feature for what it's intended to improve the user experience.

Google doesn't need more content, it has plenty of content. What Google needs is to know when to serve which piece of content to its audience, and that means that we as writers need to understand what the audience is after when we're writing. It's always best to write for your readers first, serve their intention, and guide them to the next step. Once that's in place, then worry about optimizing it. There's a reason it's "search engine OPTIMIZATION" and not "search engine WRITING." Write for your audience, optimize for the search engines so they know it's there.

To write copy that connects with any audience, you should do your homework. Take the time to understand who you're talking to, their interests, and needs and focus on providing solution to their challenges or talking about things that they care about. Share real-life stories or examples that they can relate with. The language can be colloquial and chatty, like talking to a friend. And, always be open to feedback and keep fine-tuning your writing to continue improving.

Good SEO Copywriting starts before you even start writing a single word: it starts with your site. If no one can access your site (search engine or human) then your content will remain unnoticed. Make sure you use a good platform with a clean build, no random lines of code getting in the way, good navigation so your audience can find everything they're after easily, and a good layout so they can see the path you've laid out for them.