Can copywriting save the turkey?
In a word, no.
Back at the start of December Bob Bly asked whether copywriting is slowly dying. If it is, I’d suggest it’s because arriviste hucksters, hacks, incompetents, snake oil merchants and downright fraudsters are eroding trust in the profession. You know who I mean: the guys with ‘million-dollar techniques’ for writing ‘killer copy’ that can sell anything to anyone.
Well-written copy is an essential tool. If you are selling a product, you need good copy. But the best copy in the world isn’t much use if your product is no good. You can use sales copy written on granite slabs that have been carried by Moses down the side of Mount Sinai, but if nobody wants your gizmo or widget, nobody’s going to buy it.
Occasionally I get calls from prospective clients who are really struggling to make their business work, and are convinced that some ‘killer’ copy will turn things around. It can be hard talking to these guys: I want to help - and sometimes I can - but if their product or service is clearly no good I try to be honest and tell them so. Copywriting is not a magic bullet. It can’t save a turkey.
So what can copywriting do? When it’s done well, it will maximise the sales of a good product and improve the chances of an average one. It will clarify complex benefits and offer an an edge in a competitive marketplace. Done badly, on the other hand, it can scupper all but the most brilliant offering.
In so many ways, copywriting is about honesty. It’s never easy, but it’s least difficult when you’re writing about a product you really believe in. The trick is to write clear, compelling copy that lets the product’s benefits speak for themselves. Tell it like is, as clearly as you can. Copywriting is not an end in itself - it’s a means for communicating what’s great about a particular product.
Copywriting gets really, really hard when you’re writing about a product that you know, or suspect, is a turkey. Why? Because it’s tough to fake honesty and enthusiasm.
This isn’t a particularly deep or profound business. But this train of thought brings us the closest we’ll ever get to a Zen-like insight in the world of copywriting: before you can sell a product to other people you must sell it to yourself.
Comment by Dan H — January 15, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
Nice post Bill.
How do you deal with folk that think a few floral words and a bit of self-indulgent horn blowing will do the trick? I’m just starting out in copywriting, working in-house at a UK university, and I’ve recently been giving the treatment to some fundraising materials. The raw stuff I’ve been given stinks worse than last Xmas’s turkey leftovers, but yet I’m the only one who seems to think so.
My copy portfolio is going to lose out if I don’t really take the stuff back to the bone though, and turn it into something decent.
Anyway, excuse the rant. The question is this: How do you deal with people who have no idea about what makes good copy? How do you get them on board, and not insult them by telling them their writing is god-awful?
Cheers Bill
Comment by admin — January 16, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
It can be difficult whem you’re starting out, to be honest. Once you’ve got a bit of a profile it’s relatively straightforward: if I think a client wants to go in completely the wrong direction with some copy, I just say so. It’s a case of saying, respectfully,look - you hired me as an expert, you should rely on my expert judgement. You don’t *have* to take my word for it, but I’ve got a track record of being right about these things, and if I were you I’d do it such-and-such a way.
Most clients will, at that point, at least pause for thought.
One thing you do need to bear in mind is that although sometimes clients have little idea about copywriting, they *do* know their products, and (unless they’re brand new in business) they also know their customers. If an established client wants to do something a particular way you should dig around for the reasons why. There might be something important that you’ve missed.
If you’re new - or, as in your case, working in an organisation - I still think you need to do something similar. If you show that you’re committed to the job (i.e., not just making trouble for the fun of it) and explain why you think copy should be written differently, then you should be listened to.
If you aren’t listened to, you perhaps need to start thinking of changing job.
BTW - and I’m aware this is turning into a rant - copywriting for any large organisation can be a nightmare. Why? Stuff gets passed round committees. Everyone wants to have their say and justify their salary. AND everyone thinks copywriting is easy.
It’s less bad in the private sector, where fudging and delays result in lost profit, but public-sector and quasi-public-sector institutions (e.g., universities) can be awful to write for.
The worst thing you need to watch out for is if some no-nothing tinkers with your copy and you don’t spot it. If said no-nothing introduces spelling mistakes, poor punctuation, bad grammar and other solecisms YOU will get in all sorts of trouble as a result - because as far as everyone else is concerned IT’S STILL YOUR WORK.
(’Oooh, look at that Bill Hilton - when he wrote the splash page for the English Department he spelled Jane Austen “J-A-Y-N-E A-U-S-T-I-N” and called George Eliot “he”…and he calls himself a copywriter!’)
This, as you can probably tell, is a topic I can get quite wound up about.
Comment by Dan H — January 16, 2008 @ 9:36 pm
Hear hear to that! I’ve been stung by the odd no-nothing in the past, so I’ve learned my lesson there. Plus I’m one of those self-indulgent obsessives who likes to go back and read their own stuff (even blog comments – how sad is that?).
Thanks for the tips Bill. Time for me to exercise a bit more assertion, and also empathy with the infidels!
Comment by Justin Kistner — March 21, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
Don’t worry, copywriting won’t go away. Designers went through a similar process because of Photoshop. Now anyone with a desktop computer was a designer. Quality designers, like quality writers, still surface to the top and have strong futures. You may lose business from the tire-kicking pain-in-the-ass clients, but “real” businesses that measure and track results know they need talented writers.
Comment by admin — March 21, 2008 @ 5:23 pm
Damn right, Justin. I first wrote this when I’d had a difficult week with a succession of clients who wanted me to write copy for them. I didn’t think their businesses were viable, but they were persistent.
Thanks for your comment - nice blog, by the way!