I noticed that most of the unsuccessful copywriters I know are unsuccessful not because they don’t know the strategies and tactics of copywriting, but it’s because they don’t have proper planning. Planning isn’t necessarily the obstinate thing to talk about, but it’s also one of the most important components of successful copywriting. So this post is a guide about copywriting for beginners that will let you know how to write an effective emails, compelling ads, and much more. 

So I’m going to share with you the 5 questions you ask before working on any copywriting project, whether it’s for yourself or for a client, but doing these and asking these five very specific questions will allow you to create copy that converts rather than just wasting you and your client’s time. 

1 What Problem You’re Solving? 

Okay, the first question to ask what problem are you solving? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 6000-word-long sales page or a tweet. Every single piece of copy you write is solving a problem of some sort. You might be thinking hey! I’m writing an about page for a client, how is that solving a problem?  

Well, think about who’s reading that “about” page. It’s probably someone that doesn’t know a whole lot about the business. They may not trust the business enough so the problem you’re solving is bridging that information gap so that person takes the next step, maybe it’s signing up for an email list, getting a quote, or it’s buying a product. But if that trust isn’t there, then they’re not going to do any of those things.  

So that’s the problem you have to solve as a copywriter. So often new copywriters don’t think about what the problem is, they just kind of start writing. Taking just a little bit of extra time and making it clear what problem you’re solving with every single line you write, it’s going to make it more effective and make you a better copywriter. 

2 Who Are You Writing For? 

The second question: who are you writing this for? Not who is the audience. The audience is too broad, everything you write you’re writing for a very specific person. When I think of copywriting I’m not trying to reach the masses, I’m trying to reach that one person. If you’re trying to write for everybody, it’s going to relate to nobody.  

So nobody’s going to be like oh my god like this was just written for me! Rather they’re gonna be like yeah it’s too broad! Yeah, I resonate with some of these things but it’s probably not going to get them so excited. So bought in that, they take whatever action you’re trying to get them to take but if you get very specific with the very specific person that you are writing for, the hope is that they say yes, as this person knows me. Everything they created is just for me. 

That’s what you’re trying to do with your copywriting. You want it to resonate that deeply with the people that are reading it and the best way to do that is to put some time into who are you writing for a specific person, specific age, specific location, specific needs, and specific problems. Create the avatar of that person and write for them. If you do that, you’re going to be much more successful than if you were trying to write for everybody. 

3 What Story Will Resonate?  

The third question you want to ask is what story will resonate with this person? So now that you know who you’re writing for, specifically think about a story that’s going to make them say yes, that’s you.  

So now you’ve got them hooked because you know who they are, you know what their problem is and you’ve found a story that resonates with them and so now they’re sitting there thinking like yeah that’s me okay this person knows my problem.  

Now, how do you solve it and so they’re going to be much more inclined to listen to what you have to say because you shared a compelling story that they can relate to right now. It’s kind of the in-vogue thing or the popular thing to say is storytelling is everything. 

It’s fair and true that the best copywriters are also the best storytellers. So think about that as you are looking to hone your craft. Think about how you can tell a more compelling story that’s going to relate more directly with the person you’re writing the content for. 

4 What’s The Call To Action? 

Okay, the fourth question: what’s the call to action? What are you actually trying to get somebody to do? You need to understand the end result before you start writing anything. Are you trying to give them your email address? Are you trying to get them to buy a product? Understanding what that call to action is. That’s going to allow you to craft your copy whether it’s a single tweet, whether it’s an email, or whether it’s a long-form sales page. It’s gonna allow you to craft it in a way that leads up to that goal that you are trying to get them to take that action. 

So you want to understand very specifically what action you want someone to take with the copy that you’re writing.  

5 What Additional Resources Do You Need To Make This Effective 

Finally, the last question I ask before I write any copy is one that I don’t talk about often enough but is really important and is one of the most fundamental parts of my process that is what additional resources do I need in order to make this effective.  

Let me give you a couple of quick examples of that. Let’s say I’m writing a sales page, so what are some of the additional things I need to make it more effective? It might be an email sequence, maybe I’ve got a three-email sequence that’s going to prime people and lead them up to the point.

When they come to buying, they are ready to go especially if you have a high-priced product. It can be hard to sell someone just via a single sales page but over the course of a week, you send them three emails that hit on the problem, that tell stories that resonate with them. By the time they get to that sales page, they’re so excited to buy that they’re just looking for reasons to hit the buy button.  

And then everything you write on the sales page reinforces everything that you said in the email so those are two resources that can go together that are going to make your copy more effective. 

Here’s another example let’s say you’re trying to get people from your email list to subscribe to your youtube channel now you might be thinking cool! All I got to do is write an email with the link to go to the youtube channel that’s it.  

That might work for a few people but if you’re really trying to get a lot of people to take that action then there’s probably a lot you need to do on top of just writing that email whatever link you’re sending them to whatever youtube video you’re sending them to.

You need to think about the copy in your headline. Is it compelling? Does it go along with everything you’ve been saying in that email list? What about the description? Is it describing what the video is all about? Is it making it easy for the person to describe what about the video itself? Do you need to write a script for the video that directly ties into everything that you’re saying within the email?  

Sure you can send an email with a link to the subscribe button and cool some people are going to do it but you’re going to be more effective. If you think about all of the different elements of copy on your youtube page that’s going to tie in directly to all of the things you’ve been talking about on that email list. 

Summing Up

So these are the five questions, they may seem simple but you would be amazed how many people don’t ask any questions before they start writing copy. They just start writing and in doing that they aren’t writing for a specific person. They don’t know where it’s going, they don’t necessarily know exactly what they’re trying to sell and they aren’t thinking about it in terms of the big picture.  

What are all the different resources we can create to help amplify this goal if you ask these questions ahead of time, you’re gonna be more effective and gonna make more money? You’re gonna make yourself happier, make your clients happier and essentially you’re just gonna become a more in-demand copywriter. 

And there you go my name is Ali, and I’m the founder of this thing here at blogging regime where we teach you how to make money with your words, whether you want to be a copywriter, a freelance writer, a blogger, an affiliate marketer, or whatever it is. You can subscribe to our newsletter so you’ll get all updates right into your inbox. 

You can also ask me on Quora

Cheers!