4 Ways Copy Enhances your Digital Presence
“Actions speak louder than words” is an adage as old as time. But copywriters from all walks of life are bound to disagree with that observation! Copy is used to convey meaning, as this sentence is conveying the meaning of words!
Tongue twisters aside, copywriting serves a fundamental purpose on your business’s website. Copywriting weaves an intricate tapestry that is your brand, posing a narrative that conveys your brand’s character, where the whole is greater than the sum of each finite thread.
The correct assembly of words paints an undistorted picture. In contrast, a mish-mash of conflicting sentences and jargon muddles what you’re trying to say. A brand that’s lost in translation is a message falling on deaf ears.
This is especially disastrous if yours is a young brand in its infancy, where positive consumer sentiment is extra valuable. We want enterprises like yours to be bold and unafraid in how they present their brand identities— their values, philosophies and what they have to offer. To do so, your copy has to resonate with your audience, hook, line and sinker!
But to start, we must first convince you of the value that witty wordplay has in converting curious onlookers into ardent fans. Here are 4 ways in which copywriting help to enhance your brand’s digital reputation.
Benefit 1: Find Your Voice
First and foremost, a brand’s voice is not the same as your brand’s tone. People see organisations as individuals instead of collectives comprising a workforce of independent thinkers. As brilliantly illustrated by this Forbes article, brand voice reflects your brand’s singular personality, and character. A company without a distinct identity is bound to be crowded out by a tsunami of competitors.
Here’s a little experiment that you can conduct in your free time: Take a cursory look at the websites of established brands or corporations. You’ll soon find separate “about us” pages spelling out each company’s core values, character and underlying convictions. Some brands might even have a sub-page for each value, spruiking its importance (sustainability etc.).
Thus, every brand is a cluster of internal perspectives, views and objectives unique to itself. At Vesanique, we call this the “secret sauce”. Profits notwithstanding, what is the primary reason that you started this business? Why should your customers pour their scarce time and money into your brand?
Thus, each brand should be held together by an authentic and consistent identity, not a fragmented one with contradictory values. A brand with an unobstructed voice is a thriving one that tears through the fluff, connecting to your target audience on a tacit level.
Suggestion: Think First, Speak Later.
Conducting an internal workshop amongst your brand’s founders or employees is an effective way to aggregate their disparate views, perspectives, ideas and beliefs, condensing them into one functioning voice. Remember: every answer will be the structural foundation influencing all subsequent communications. Be as comprehensive as possible in this section.
Benefit 2: Watch your Tone
Naturally, your brand’s tone is influenced by its voice. What is being said should be consistent in its presentation throughout all branding collateral.
Every consumer has different tastes and preferences, as do different industries. Eloquence, verbosity and articulate language are to be expected in the luxury hospitality space. Conversely, relaxed, idyllic and easy-going are the adjectives you’d use to describe the tone adopted by a beachwear brand.
However, these descriptions aren’t spelled out verbatim. Instead, it’s inferred. Tone describes the non-verbal aspects of verbal storytelling. Mood and atmosphere are two values underscored by tone. It’s the brand attitude that creative agencies help you harness to propel your voice to the masses.
Going back to the examples above, a luxury hospitality space is synonymous with a formal cadence, free from the use of colloquialisms. In stark contrast, the beachwear brand example requires a style of writing that mimics a casual conversation.
Switch them around, and either combination would be a recipe for disaster! A luxury hospitality space with a quirky and aloof tone would leave poor tastes in your guests’ mouths, each expecting to be greeted by formal greetings and salutations. A beachwear brand with a prissy tone would leave its surfing audience dazed and confused.
Suggestion: Find the Words to Speak It.
When greeted with uncertainty, study what your direct competitors are doing and saying. What are their respective tones? An intra-competitor analysis yields rewarding insights into what you should be saying to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd or conform to it. Alternatively, going straight to the horse’s mouth and asking your potential customers may yield more useful answers.
Once you’ve conducted a preliminary investigation, assemble a table of targeted descriptors that best captures the tone that you’ve settled. These words will form the basis of your company’s style guide. Your style guide defines how all branding collateral and communications should be composed.
Benefit 3: Qualify your Product/Service
Generally, the best way to understand the touted benefits of a product/service is to experience it. Unfortunately, products don’t come for free! Customers fully assume the risk of a faulty or low-quality product/service after paying for them. Accordingly, customers are risk-averse and wary of sub-par goods and services floating in the marketplace.
Marketing is, therefore, a brand’s attempt to sway its customers’ opinions. Copy conveys the tangible and intangible qualities of a product/service. While it is by no means a flawless translation of the “experience”, it is an effective way to contextualise it in your customers’ minds.
Instead of leaving it to their imaginations, excellent copy tells them what to anticipate. Hence, copywriting is a valuable tool to qualify a prospective sale into a satisfied customer.
Solution: Spell It All Out
Set the scene for success by stepping into the shoes of your target customers. Identify and list the persistent worries and challenges that afflict them. Fundamentally, your copy should acknowledge and answer your customers’ pressing thoughts through descriptive but succinct copy.
However, you don’t want to overwhelm your target customers with an onslaught of unending words. Concurrently, you don’t want to minimise the benefits of your product/service through limited copy. Striking that delicate balance requires ample practice and patience.
As a healthy rule of thumb, your product/service copy should answer the following in a modest number of words:
- What does your product/service do?
- What problem does your product/service solve?
- How much does it cost?
- How do I acquire it?
- How long should I wait to receive it?
- What after-sales support should I expect?
- Are there any case studies or real-use applications for the product/service?
While the list above is non-exhaustive, it provides a generic blueprint that addresses common consumer pain points. Nevertheless, it is crucial that you carefully analyse other novel pain points exclusive to your sector.
Benefit 4: Directly Speaking to Your Audience
Brands with a large digital footprint each have one trait in common: a sizeable and effective social media presence. Wendy’s notoriously witty social media presence is one such salient example.
Everything that we’ve explored culminates in how you speak to your target audience on social media. Generally, two forms of written communication exist on all social media platforms.
Firstly, a static post is an unchanging collection of words, pictures or both. Generally, static posts are used to provide timely updates, reinforce one’s brand, educate digital audiences and cross-promote goods/services.
Secondly, a responsive post is a verbal one constructed in response to an online customer’s private or public query or complaint. How your public response is perceived by digital audiences is contingent on how you have framed it.
Regardless, there is nowhere to hide in the digital arena that is the internet. All social media communications should be thoughtfully and meticulously crafted, with every post or response cautiously considered.
We don’t want to directly offend your loyal fanbase and besmirch your brand’s good name in the process. Instead, we want your brand to flourish in the digital domain, with all social media communications painting a consistently positive picture of your brand.
Suggestion: Use all Your Skills To Your Advantage.
Your brand voice and tone are the lifeblood of all social media communications. Synthesise the fruits of your efforts in Steps 1 and 2, and ensure that it stays the course. Always vet pending social media posts or responses to ensure a consistent depiction of your brand across all possible avenues,
Any deviations would damage how your overarching brand identity is seen by curious online onlookers.
Theory Is One Thing, Practicing It Is Another
Copywriting demands your utmost attention, where neglected details can result in destructive repercussions. In the long term, missteps leave an indelible breadcrumb trail of mistakes that taints how digital visitors perceive your brand for decades.
In the grand scheme of things, every line of copy counts. That’s why we’d like you to entrust that enormous task to us.
Vesanique’s 10 years of industry experience allow us to precisely condense your brand’s voice and tone into a unified digital marketing strategy. More importantly, our seasoned copywriter is a veteran wordsmith who can translate even the most difficult of brand tones and voices into compelling copy that fascinates as much as it enlightens.
But we’re not a one-trick pony. Vesanique is a high-quality Brisbane web design agency that offers a holistic suite of branding solutions and services. From website design mistakes to graphic design challenges, there is nothing that Vesanique’s broad range of marketing solutions does not solve.
What separates us from the status quo is our company’s mantra: we only offer exclusively-tailored solutions. Hand to heart, we truly believe that all one-size-fits-all, off-the-shelf solutions do not adequately meet the distinct needs of every client. Instead, we listen, adjust and prescribe. Have your say, and we’ll pave the way.
But talk is cheap. We’re eager to learn about you and your brand. Besides, how else are we going to find your brand voice and tone? Send us a message, and we’ll be ready to heed the call to arms over a pastry or two.
Let’s talk, don’t be a stranger.