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      • What Alternative
    • 10 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Why Tone Can Make or Break Your Copy
    • How to Use Statistics, Facts and Quotes to Craft Compelling Copy
    • Great Copywriters Use Verbal Imagery to Tell a Story
    • Master the Art of Headline Writing!
    • Here’s How to Get Portfolio-Building Copywriting Gigs
    • What Volkswagen’s ’Think Small’ Teaches Copywriters
    • 5 Brands with Amazing Copywriting Teams
    • Master Hard and Soft CTAs for Superior Sales Writing
    • The Ultimate Checklist for Blog Copywriters
    • 10 Mistakes Even Experienced Copywriters Make
    • Read These 4 Books to Become a Better Copywriter
    • Sales Writing: How to Create Attention Grabbing Headlines
    • How to Create Persuasive Sales Copy
    • Proven Copywriting Methods Emotional Advertising
    • How to Write Good Copy : Preparation Techniques
    • Copywriting Secrets: 8 Powerful Ways to Add Proof and Credibility
    • Copywriting Cheat Sheet: Write Powerful Copy Quickly and Easily
    • Copywriting Insights: How to Test Ad Copy for Best Results
    • Write Effective Ad Copy: No Fail Secrets and Tips
    • What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales
    • How to Write Copy That Sells – Use Benefits
    • 7 Ways to Improve Your Copy Immediately
    • A Day in the Life of a Copywriter
    • Coffee, Copywriting, and Freedom
    • Copy is Everywhere
    • Direct Response Copy Sells
    • The Pros and Cons of Copywriting Part–Time
    • Three Tips to Write Copy that Converts
    • Two of the Biggest Mistakes Beginning Copywriters Make
    • Why Copywriting Makes a Great Second Career
    • Why I Love Being a Copywriter
    • Landing Pages that Work - Copy that Converts
    • The Next Big Idea: Creative Advertising Ideation
    • Copywriting Certificates: Online Copywriting Classes
    • The Advertising Museum Tokyo: Copywriting Fun
    • How to Tell a Great Brand Story
    • 20 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Top London Ad Agencies
    • The Top 10 Best Copywriting Books
    • Copywriting Courses & Resources
    • Copywriting Formulas to Write Faster: AIDA, Problem Solution and More
    • Sales Letters: Broken Down by Parts
    • Copywriting Research Tips, Tricks and Secrets
    • How to Grow Your Email List
    • What is Creative Advertising
    • Ideation and How to Find the Next Big Idea
    • Creative Advertising Methods and Madness
    • Paths to Becoming a Copywriter
    • Great Print Ads - Creative Advertising That Rocks
    • Great Outdoor Ads - Creative Advertising That Works
    • Underground Ads - Creative Advertising in England
    • 10 Great Email Subject Lines
    • Email Marketing Types: Long, Short, Creative and More
    • Email Copywriting Tactics
    • How to Grow Your Email List
    • Autoresponder Copywriting: How to Do It Write
    • Copywriting Examples: Social Media
    • 6 Free Copywriting Courses
    • Where You Can Get a Copywriting Certificate Online: Copywriting Training
    • Top American Ad Schools
    • 10 Ad Schools for College Graduates
    • These Direct Response Letters And Campaigns Delivered Great Results - Yours Can Too
    • How To Break Into Advertising
    • The Creative Advertising Bible: The Value Of Great Guerrilla Ad Campaigns (With Examples)
    • Content Writing Vs. Copywriting: What's the Difference?
    • SEO Copywriting: How Does Search Engine Optimization Factor Into Copywriting?
    • Show and Tell: 7 Ways to Write Strong Video Copy
    • Short, Sweet, and It Sells: How to Trim the Fat From Your Sales Copy
    • Digital VS Print Ad Copy: How to Write the Difference
    • How to Craft the Ultimate Product Description
    • B2B VS B2C Sales Copy: 6 Crucial Differences You Should Know About
    • The Next Big Idea: Creative Advertising Ideation
    • Email Marketing: 12 Tips for Getting It Right
    • Landing Pages and Lead Magnets: Everything You Need to Know
    • How to Do Better Creative Advertising: Why and How It Works
    • Where to Take Copywriting Classes in the San Francisco Bay Area
    • Why San Francisco Business Owners Need to Know Copywriting
    • How to Break Into the Copywriting Industry
    • What Everybody Should Know About Online Advertising Portfolio
    • Copywriting for Beginners: 10 Quick Tips
    • Don’t Let Imposter Syndrome Keep You from Writing Great Copy
    • How to Design Great Digital Ads
    • Ad Campaigns: Nike Just Do It
    • Copywriting Examples: Google Ads
    • Best Copywriting Resources: Magazines, Organizations and More
    • How to Practice Copywriting
    • How to Build a Brand With Copywriting
    • Copywriting Grammar Review: 10 Common Grammar Mistakes
    • Copywriting Grammar Review: When to Use Commas
    • Our Top 10 Conversion Rate Optimization Copywriting Tips
    • Urgent, Useful, Unique, Ultra-Specific: How to Boost Your Copywriting with the Four U’s
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Apple 1984
    • Great Ad Campaigns: “Mikey Likes It”
    • Great Ad Campaigns: "When EF Hutton Talks"
    • Great Ad Campaigns: "We Make Money the Old Fashioned Way"
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Daisy
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Absolut Vodka
    • Top San Francisco Ad Agencies
    • Top 6 1960s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 10 1970s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 7 1980s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 10 1990s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Why Does Creative Advertising Matter?
    • How Can AI Copywriting Tools Make Me a Better Copywriter?
    • Why Should You Enter Advertising Contests as a Copywriter?
    • 10 Tips for Writing Captivating Social Media Copy
    • Tips for Improved Direct Response Copywriting
    • Copywriting Pro-Tip: Highlighting Benefits Over Feature
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What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales

Powerful and compelling copy makes money, and that’s why it’s essential to promote your business with the right choice of words. But it’s not just the words that have to be right, it’s also the level of content, passion, spelling, grammar and timing.

In this article we’re going to look at the most common mistakes that business owners and writers make when they’re looking to deliver a professional marketing message.

Once you’ve read this you’ll know the pitfalls to avoid and what it takes to craft copy that leads to sales.


Here is what to avoid when you want to promote your product:

The offer is simply not relevant to the reader
This usually comes about from not investing enough time and effort into researching your market. It could also result from not being thoughtful enough about who is going to receive your communication – sometimes it’s both of these.

It’s essential to get clear about who you want to market to and where you can find them. You need to match the wants and needs of your target market with your offer wisely and give them the right words, and you also need to ensure that your copy is being exposed to the people that you wrote it for.


There is not a clear message
Readers can become confused by copy that contains too many messages. Remember that most people are going to be new to your business and/or what you are promoting.

You need to make it easy for them to understand what it is that you are offering. You need to deliver only one marketing message in each piece, so that it’s clear to them what you want to tell them, and what you want them to do.

The copy has been rushed
This often happens when business owners suddenly feel panicked that their monthly income has gone down. They scrabble to claw back some customers so that they can get the revenue turning over.

The problem is, is that thought needs go into writing compelling copy. It’s not about sending out a newsletter or a sales letter so that marketing activity has been ‘achieved’, it’s about thinking carefully about the target market and writing so that the readers are gaining value. 

They are only concerned about ‘what’s in it for me’ and once you understand that, your material will be something that generates leads and sales.


There’s not been any market research performed
This might take the form of looking at what your competition is doing, viewing publications that your target market are reading and understanding more about the demographics involved.

Thorough market research needs to be undertaken before you start writing so that you mentally visualize who it is you are writing to.

Whatever you write, write it in a one-to-one fashion. You should also consider what your readers are being exposed to that can influence their buying decisions.


The communication is not at the right level
Either it is wrong because it’s been written with the assumption that the reader already knows about the business, or it’s been written at too simple a level for those who know more than nothing.

Quite often it will be written as a celebration of how great the business is by the business owner. This isn’t going to appeal to the reader.

Again, it needs to be written by somebody who has taken the effort to stand in the shoes of the target market to consider their perspective and needs.


It’s not looking professional enough
Home created flyers, newsletters and websites are usually of poor quality. Consumers aren’t impressed by the home-created style and will often move onto another company to provide them with what they want. 

Any material that is produced needs to have a good design, be well written and if printed, then it should be on quality paper. Marketing material speaks volumes about the company and conveys information about the brand. It needs to appeal.

It’s not passionate enough
‘About Us’ web pages that are dull and boring, don’t deliver the contagious enthusiasm and passion that make people want to buy.

It can be challenging to convey the same passion that gets communicated in person, on a page. Time, effort, skill and enthusiasm has to be put into copy for it to stir up excitement and interest in the reader.

It’s written for the business
Copy that doesn’t use an abundance of ‘you’, ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ but has a high number of ‘we’, ‘I’ and ‘us’ is not written from the perspective of the customer.

Boasting about a business might feel good for the ego, but it won’t result in sales. Compelling copy is bursting with benefits that tie into the emotional and practical wants and needs of the reader.


It’s got spelling and grammar mistakes
There’s no easier way to distract the reader from the message of your communication than by presenting a series of spelling and grammar mistakes.

All of their focus will go onto which words have been wrongly spelled, how the grammar could have been used and your marketing message won’t even get a look in!

The personal preferences of the business are used
Cartoon characters, swear words and slang can all be fun at the right time, but not are not appropriate in business. Ensure that all copy is written in the right language, using appropriate themes and that it educates readers as to why they need to solve their problem with your product.


The timing of the marketing message is not correct
Sending out flyers for Halloween Specials in July is going to be a mismatch for the market. If the flyers are sent out early to middle October, they’ll have much more of a positive impact and will be more likely to tie in with the needs and wants of the market.

Going on and on
Some sales writers craft several pages for their sales message, but it’s not always a wise idea. The best approach is to write copy that contains the message that you want to deliver and includes a clear and concise call to action.

Boring readers will only lose them and they’ll be off to do, read or buy something  somewhere else.

The material is not suitable for the stage of the buying process
In the buying process there are several stages. In particular in the business to business area, most buyers need to be drip fed information about you and what you offer over a period of time before they will feel comfortable enough to make a major purchase.

It’s important to build a relationship with buyers and to provide them with several encounters with your business and it’s products, even if this is through ads or the written form. 

The continuum of buying process includes these stages:
  • Unaware
  • Aware
  • Considering
  • Desire
  • Action
  • Repeat purchase
  • Recommendation

There could be a fairly long time for the stages of aware and action - a matter of months. The right stage of information needs to be delivered at the right time.

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing compelling copy, but now that you know what to avoid it will be easier to create something that’s right.

Takeaway Steps on What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales
Compelling copy needs to be written in the right way for it to be successful, ask yourself these questions about it before using it:
The offer is simply not relevant to the reader
  1. Is there one clear marketing message for the readers?

  2. Have you taken a look at the market to see what it is that appeals to your market, how the competition are advertising and what influencers buying decisions?

  3. Has time been taken to understand the market and what they are looking for?

  4. Is the copy written at the right level for the buyers involved?

  5. Check whether the right image is being portrayed and appropriate language is used.

  6. Passion and enthusiasm needs to shine through, check that it’s got that.

  7. Check that It’s been written for the market, and not as a pat on the back for the business.

  8. Proofread the copy, and proofread it again.

  9. Editorial calendars can avoid timing issues. Plan in advance so that you can take the best opportunities.
    ​

  10. Is the copy suitable for the stage of buying that the reader is in and is it the right length for them? Avoid boring them or you’ll lose them altogether.
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  • Home
  • Courses
    • Copywriting 101
    • How to Create an Advertising Portfolio From Scratch
    • Direct Response Copywriting
    • 360 Copywriting Online
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Copywriting Lessons from David Ogilvy
    • 9 Copywriting Lessons from Robert Collier
    • 9 Copywriting Lessons From John Caples
    • 8 Copywriting Lessons from John Powers
    • Scientific Advertising: 10 Copywriting Lessons from Claude Hopkins
    • A Review of Current AI Copywriting Tools
    • Top San Francisco Ad Agencies
    • Learn How To Write Conversationally To Engage Your Audience
    • Top Skills for a Copywriter
    • Launch A Career In Advertising With These Top Portfolio Schools
    • UX Copywriting and Short Copy ​
    • Discover How To Write Killer Copy That Converts
    • What is Copywriting? >
      • What Alternative
    • 10 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Why Tone Can Make or Break Your Copy
    • How to Use Statistics, Facts and Quotes to Craft Compelling Copy
    • Great Copywriters Use Verbal Imagery to Tell a Story
    • Master the Art of Headline Writing!
    • Here’s How to Get Portfolio-Building Copywriting Gigs
    • What Volkswagen’s ’Think Small’ Teaches Copywriters
    • 5 Brands with Amazing Copywriting Teams
    • Master Hard and Soft CTAs for Superior Sales Writing
    • The Ultimate Checklist for Blog Copywriters
    • 10 Mistakes Even Experienced Copywriters Make
    • Read These 4 Books to Become a Better Copywriter
    • Sales Writing: How to Create Attention Grabbing Headlines
    • How to Create Persuasive Sales Copy
    • Proven Copywriting Methods Emotional Advertising
    • How to Write Good Copy : Preparation Techniques
    • Copywriting Secrets: 8 Powerful Ways to Add Proof and Credibility
    • Copywriting Cheat Sheet: Write Powerful Copy Quickly and Easily
    • Copywriting Insights: How to Test Ad Copy for Best Results
    • Write Effective Ad Copy: No Fail Secrets and Tips
    • What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales
    • How to Write Copy That Sells – Use Benefits
    • 7 Ways to Improve Your Copy Immediately
    • A Day in the Life of a Copywriter
    • Coffee, Copywriting, and Freedom
    • Copy is Everywhere
    • Direct Response Copy Sells
    • The Pros and Cons of Copywriting Part–Time
    • Three Tips to Write Copy that Converts
    • Two of the Biggest Mistakes Beginning Copywriters Make
    • Why Copywriting Makes a Great Second Career
    • Why I Love Being a Copywriter
    • Landing Pages that Work - Copy that Converts
    • The Next Big Idea: Creative Advertising Ideation
    • Copywriting Certificates: Online Copywriting Classes
    • The Advertising Museum Tokyo: Copywriting Fun
    • How to Tell a Great Brand Story
    • 20 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Top London Ad Agencies
    • The Top 10 Best Copywriting Books
    • Copywriting Courses & Resources
    • Copywriting Formulas to Write Faster: AIDA, Problem Solution and More
    • Sales Letters: Broken Down by Parts
    • Copywriting Research Tips, Tricks and Secrets
    • How to Grow Your Email List
    • What is Creative Advertising
    • Ideation and How to Find the Next Big Idea
    • Creative Advertising Methods and Madness
    • Paths to Becoming a Copywriter
    • Great Print Ads - Creative Advertising That Rocks
    • Great Outdoor Ads - Creative Advertising That Works
    • Underground Ads - Creative Advertising in England
    • 10 Great Email Subject Lines
    • Email Marketing Types: Long, Short, Creative and More
    • Email Copywriting Tactics
    • How to Grow Your Email List
    • Autoresponder Copywriting: How to Do It Write
    • Copywriting Examples: Social Media
    • 6 Free Copywriting Courses
    • Where You Can Get a Copywriting Certificate Online: Copywriting Training
    • Top American Ad Schools
    • 10 Ad Schools for College Graduates
    • These Direct Response Letters And Campaigns Delivered Great Results - Yours Can Too
    • How To Break Into Advertising
    • The Creative Advertising Bible: The Value Of Great Guerrilla Ad Campaigns (With Examples)
    • Content Writing Vs. Copywriting: What's the Difference?
    • SEO Copywriting: How Does Search Engine Optimization Factor Into Copywriting?
    • Show and Tell: 7 Ways to Write Strong Video Copy
    • Short, Sweet, and It Sells: How to Trim the Fat From Your Sales Copy
    • Digital VS Print Ad Copy: How to Write the Difference
    • How to Craft the Ultimate Product Description
    • B2B VS B2C Sales Copy: 6 Crucial Differences You Should Know About
    • The Next Big Idea: Creative Advertising Ideation
    • Email Marketing: 12 Tips for Getting It Right
    • Landing Pages and Lead Magnets: Everything You Need to Know
    • How to Do Better Creative Advertising: Why and How It Works
    • Where to Take Copywriting Classes in the San Francisco Bay Area
    • Why San Francisco Business Owners Need to Know Copywriting
    • How to Break Into the Copywriting Industry
    • What Everybody Should Know About Online Advertising Portfolio
    • Copywriting for Beginners: 10 Quick Tips
    • Don’t Let Imposter Syndrome Keep You from Writing Great Copy
    • How to Design Great Digital Ads
    • Ad Campaigns: Nike Just Do It
    • Copywriting Examples: Google Ads
    • Best Copywriting Resources: Magazines, Organizations and More
    • How to Practice Copywriting
    • How to Build a Brand With Copywriting
    • Copywriting Grammar Review: 10 Common Grammar Mistakes
    • Copywriting Grammar Review: When to Use Commas
    • Our Top 10 Conversion Rate Optimization Copywriting Tips
    • Urgent, Useful, Unique, Ultra-Specific: How to Boost Your Copywriting with the Four U’s
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Apple 1984
    • Great Ad Campaigns: “Mikey Likes It”
    • Great Ad Campaigns: "When EF Hutton Talks"
    • Great Ad Campaigns: "We Make Money the Old Fashioned Way"
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Daisy
    • Great Ad Campaigns: Absolut Vodka
    • Top San Francisco Ad Agencies
    • Top 6 1960s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 10 1970s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 7 1980s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Top 10 1990s Ad Campaigns and What You Can Learn From Them
    • Why Does Creative Advertising Matter?
    • How Can AI Copywriting Tools Make Me a Better Copywriter?
    • Why Should You Enter Advertising Contests as a Copywriter?
    • 10 Tips for Writing Captivating Social Media Copy
    • Tips for Improved Direct Response Copywriting
    • Copywriting Pro-Tip: Highlighting Benefits Over Feature