The #1 marketing skill all accountants should learn (tips & resources included)
Marketing is such a broad subject area.
An average day could consist of writing blog content, SEO research, researching target markets, building out ad campaigns, and posting selfies on Linkedin.
For the most part, I don’t think accountants should be doing any of this (but that’s a separate newsletter).
But if there’s one marketing skill where I think you should spend time sharpening your sword, it’s this…
Copywriting.
Think about it for a second…
Copywriting touches pretty much every aspect of marketing:
Website → Copywriting
Value propositions → Copywriting
Blogs → Copywriting
Linkedin → Copywriting
Ads → Copywriting
Emails → Copywriting
Xero marketplace listing → Copywriting
It also touches non-marketing activities (more on this shortly):
Emailing clients → Copywriting
Messaging your team → Copywriting
Writing proposals → Copywriting
Anything that involves writing, copywriting can help.
So this week, I’m going to share 4 quick & simple copywriting tips (PLUS 5 of my favourite copywriting resources) to help you get started.
But first, let’s get on the same page…
What is copywriting?
There are a thousand ways you can try to define copywriting. Here’s how I describe it:
“Copywriting is the process of using words to persuade the reader to take a specific action or feel a certain emotion”
Copywriting isn’t like regular writing they teach you in school or at university.
It’s a different style of writing entirely.
It’s stories, hooks, and headlines designed to get you to start reading and keep reading.
Don’t mistake this for clickbait or manipulation. That’s not what copywriting is (although plenty of people will use it for those reasons).
Copywriting is using words to persuade and influence.
But getting started isn’t all that straightforward…
When I first started copywriting 11 years ago I was awful.
I’d just graduated university where I’d spent 3 years writing essays, long exam answers, and absorbing textbooks with large chunks of text.
Guess how my writing looked?
Like a piece of academic literature.
Long, boring, and lacking any kind of creativity, flair, and emotion.
What did that mean?
Blogs didn’t get read, emails got ignored, sales never happened.
It took a while to break that cycle, and some of the resources I’ve linked below will help you to do that as well.
But before we get there, let’s look closer at the real-world applications of this skill…
Why is copywriting so important?
I said earlier that copywriting touches everything.
Here are some real-world marketing and non-marketing examples…
Marketing
You’ve just started writing content for Linkedin.
The majority of people that will see your posts are complete strangers.
How do you get them to know, like, and trust you?
Copywriting.
Which post are you more likely to engage with?
The post that has been written very formally using flowery and academic language with extremely long sentences that barely let you come up for air. On top of that, it has not broken the sentences into nice, easy to digest paragraphs, and has a distinct robotic tone of chat-GPT running through it.
Or…
The post that grabs you by the collar and says HEY!
I wrote this for you…
Yeah, you!
You’re not gonna want to miss this…
This is an extreme example, and I’m not suggesting everything that you write is like that, but it demonstrates the point.
Non-marketing
Copywriting has helped me in many non-marketing situations.
Getting team members to buy into ideas and concepts. Sending emails to solicitors that actually get a response. Convincing my wife that we should have Indian > Chinese for dinner tonight.
Here’s an example…
Pretend you want to tell your team that you’re going to be using a shiny new app. Everybody is working remotely so you opt to send an email or group Slack message.
Hi everybody, starting from Monday we’re going to be using PracticePro for our practice management system. It’s going to help us to automate a lot of the document chasing and track deadlines in one place. Please can you set up an account using the link in your inbox and join the training on Monday at 12pm . Thanks.
There’s nothing wrong with that message.
It clearly and succinctly explains what’s going to happen. But think back to the definition of copywriting I shared earlier…
“…to take a specific action or feel a certain emotion”
Is this likely to inspire your team about the change? Does it motivate them to join the call?
Perhaps not.
Here’s an alternative example…
Hey everybody,
I know that some of you have been struggling recently with getting information from clients and keeping track of what’s due. It’s a real pain, I know!
That’s why starting Monday, we’re making a small change…
I’ve found a new app called PracticePro which I think is going to make a huge difference for us all.
It automates all of the document chasing (no more sending the same email 100 times!) and helps us to track all of our deadlines in one place.
I’m really excited by it and I think you will be too.
To help kick things off, I’ve organised a training on Monday at 12pm. I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions and this is an opportunity for you to get answers.
If you can also use the link in your inbox to create an account in the meantime, that’d be great.
Look forward to getting this working with you all.
Thanks
Another extreme example - but notice the difference?
How does the 2nd make you feel compared to the 1st?
This is the power of copywriting in action.
So how can you do this?
How can you improve your copywriting skills to persuade your readers to take action?
4 copywriting tips you can start using today
1. Write like you talk
If there’s one tip you take away today, let it be this…
Write like you talk.
I don’t believe that you need to “find your voice”. You already have a voice. Your voice is what you use to talk to friends, family, clients, and team members every single day.
So the first step in writing better copy, is to write like you talk.
How do you do this?
An easy first step is to use conjunctions. Conjunctions are words that link other words together.
You are → You’re
We are → We’re
They are → They’re
You probably haven’t noticed, but you use conjunctions a lot when speaking. Bringing them into your copy is an easy way to make it sound more human.
A couple of other things that really helped me over the years with this are:
When you’ve finished writing something, read it out loud. Read it like you’re having a conversation with a friend in a bar. You’ll be surprised how many bits you pick up on that don’t sound natural
Instead of starting by writing, start by talking. I always find if I’m stuck with what to write, then saying something out loud and capturing that really helps.
2. Use short, choppy copy
You’ve probably noticed the different sentence structures in this newsletter.
Some of them are short.
They give you a chance to read and digest.
Others are much longer. They allow me to expand on points without overwhelming you with text.
I know, this breaks most grammatical rules you were taught in school. But we’re not in school anymore.
If you want your words to be read, and digested, shorter is better.
Which feeds nicely into the next point…
3. Create a slippery slide with your copy
You want your readers to read all of your content, right?
To do that, you need to create a slide.
Starting at the top, you want your readers’ eyes to gradually slide down the page, working their way towards the bottom.
The words you use are the lubricant that makes them slide faster.
The easier it is to read, the faster they slide.
The harder it is to read, the higher chance they’ll get stuck and leave.
Something that really helped me to put this into practice is to think like this…
The goal of the first sentence is to get people to read the 2nd sentence.
The goal of the 2nd sentence is the get people the read the 3rd.
And so on.
Review everything you write with that in mind.
4. Write for the 6th grade
I’m asking this question roughly 2-3x per week…
“Are the writers in your team accountants? Do they understand accounting?”
My response…
Your clients are business owners, no accountants. They don’t speak accounting-ese, and they don’t understand technical jargon.
So why write that way?
You need to make it as easy as possible for people to understand and digest your writing.
So write for the 6th grade.
Remove any flowery language and simplify words where possible:
utilise → use
accompany → go with
a number of → some
assist → help
You get my point. There’s a full list you can refer to here.
My go-to-app for helping with this is Hemingway. It highlights text that can be simplified and tells you what grade it’s pitched at.
5 copywriting resources to help you improve
1. The Copywriter’s Handbook
I love the simplicity of this book.
It breaks down copywriting into simple concepts and works through a variety of examples and projects.
Other good books include:
May I have your attention, please? (beginner)
Ogilvy on advertising (intermediate)
The Adweek copywriting handbook (intermediate)
The Boron Letters (advanced)
Breakthrough advertising (advanced)
2. Very Good Copy
This newsletter and resources are some of the best online.
Eddie breaks down copywriting concepts into bite-size, digestible lessons that you can use right away.
3. Marketing Examples
Harry Dry’s ‘Marketing Examples’ newsletter is one of the few I read every week.
His site contains hundreds of marketing examples, including a section dedicated to copywriting. This is a great resource for inspiration if you’re feeling stuck.
4. Copyhackers
A great online resource with a mixture of free & paid content. I’ve never done any of their training but the reviews speak for themselves.
5. Social media
Spending time-consuming other people’s content is another great way to improve.
Notice how other people write their posts…
What style do they use? How do they format it?
It helps to keep a swipe file of posts you like. You can do this by adding screenshots to a folder or using an app like Swipewell.
Hope this helps,
Until next week.
- Jordan
P.S. Do you want to be able to put some of these tips & tactics into action?
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