The power of pattern interrupt in copywriting 34 days ago
Don’t read this. Please.
Still looking?
That’s the power of pattern interrupt.
Break the flow
Pattern interrupt is a technique commonly used in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and other areas. It uses interruptions to break the flow of a person’s state of mind for positive effect. I like this broader perspective on it by Jonathan Fields.
Interrupt for effect
Interesting, but what does all this have to do with copywriting? Well, a great deal, actually. Pattern interrupt disrupts the anticipated or usual flow of content and is of course of a staple of advertising copywriting. Yet, pattern interrupt can create powerful results in other aspects of copywriting, too. Applying the power of pattern interrupt allows you to reboot the focus, showcase that important statement or simply narrow the space between attention and interest.
Outside-in
There is still a perception in some places that business copywriting is simply about putting nice words and phrases together. But it is of course about a great deal more. It involves balancing the flow of the content with a sudden surprise or unexpected turn of phrase in order to create a response
Pattern, interrupted
Balance is a big part of the power of the pattern interrupt in copywriting. For impact, don’t simply throw in a sudden content contrast or structure shift for its own sake. Find the balance. After all, your audience is much more likely to pay attention to your content when it unexpects the expected.
P.S. Like to talk about your own content? Just get in touch.
The copywriting typo test 40 days ago
What’s the best kind of copywriting? The kind you don’t notice. That’s because it drives you to see the message, not get bogged down in the wording.
The true value of copywriting is its impact on the reader. Therein lies the power of the typo in copywriting.
Coining it
Earlier this week, the Central Bank of Ireland became a little embarrassed by the public response to its new commemorative coin. All because of an extraneous “that”.
That “that” has done funny things to the impact of their new James Joyce-themed shrapnel. This is the truth of the typo – it makes a mockery of a good thing, whether it’s your marketing or another type of currency.
Engage or amuse?
Of course, the occasional typo is understandable. It’s human. It’s even rather entertaining, as illustrated by these amusing examples of the typo in print – or what was thought, a couple of years ago, to be the best typo ever.
What people think when they see a typo online
Whether it confuses your potential customer or inspires them to comment (as this amusing pie chart illustrates), the typo puts the focus firmly on the quality of the content, not the message.
Missing something?
In the rush to connect with your customers, don’t miss out on those vital final checks for an errant typo.
Because, in copywriting, you want your message – not your medium – to be the centre of attention.
By Camilla Zajac, Green Light Copywriting, Nottingham, April 2013
P.S. Like to talk about your own copywriting approach? Just get in touch.
Tick Tock: 5 ways to turn timing into a copywriting resource 48 days ago
Get set, go! In both copywriting and marketing, time is fast becoming an essential resource. That’s thanks to the power of targeting content to fit with seasonal events, special occasions or even changes in the weather. We’re all getting used to seeing content dedicated in this way. But, as shown by this comment about recent April Fool’s Day marketing teases, not everyone is a fan.
I think there are some clever and funny ways to do it. But the timing needs to be applied with the right marketing and copywriting strategy. So what can businesses do for more effective copywriting within this approach?
1. 0 to 60: Don’t forget who’s reading
However timely or topical your marketing content is, it still needs to be relevant to your target market. You also have to be sure your seasonal marketing message actually fits with the interests of those people you’d like to see respond.
2. Rewind: Keep you in mind
Yes, you – and your business. Coordinating your content more closely with the calendar can be powerful. But don’t just make it about a particular time of the year. Look closely into your copywriting strategy first to draw out what is relevant to your company as well as to that time of year. This could be products that are helpful for your customers over a particular public holiday, a special offer to help them out precisely when their budgets are stretched or a perfect present idea. Don’t expect your timing to do the selling for you.
3. Pause: Stay in good taste
Sadly there are occasional moments when this type of marketing gets it horribly wrong. Fall into this trap and you’ll put your prospects off or even find them naming and shaming you.
4. Count the days, not just the season
Adapting your copywriting and marketing approach to chime in with a certain event? Great, but it isn’t the whole package. Precision timing within that is still essential. Craft your copywriting and marketing strategy so it matches impeccably with the time and tone of the event. Don’t just rush it to fit in or you could undermine your message.
5. On your marks…
So your content matches with the season or the holiday. But does it fit with your overall copywriting and marketing strategy? Customers appreciate consistency. Balancing your complete marketing strategy with an active approach to seasonal content? It’ll help you count down to greater copywriting success.
By Camilla Zajac, Green Light Copywriting, Nottingham, April 2013
P.S. Like to talk about your own copywriting approach? Just get in touch.
Why drawing a blank is brilliant for copywriting 54 days ago
In copywriting, it’s great to draw a blank. Yet plenty of businesses miss out on the value of white space.
I know that it may seem surprising for me, as a copywriter, to advocate the value of the blank space. But hear me out. That white space can actually increase the impact of your copywriting approach.
Copywriting is as much about format as it is about message. The two are part of the same package – and what you’re saying needs to fit that package perfectly.
But sometimes it’s easy to forget the visual impact of copywriting and its converse, the white space. Signs of this are content-packed web pages, overloaded flyers and brochures that crowd you out instead of drawing you in.
Online
Research has proven the power of white space in online copywriting many times over. People don’t read your web content – they scan it. This is why working white space right matters just as much as your wording. Instead of trying to pack in as many messages as possible into a web page, structure your content so that it encourages your web visitor to read on. White space draws more attention to essentials like your calls to action and encourages your web visitor to stay on your site for longer.
In print
We’ve all seen them, the overloaded brochures and the flyers that try to say too much…In printed content, white space is as much part of your message as it is part of your design. Drive your readers to take in your central messages instead of overwhelming them. Use white space to highlight what’s really important. You’re looking to encourage a response – not over-inform, after all.
Drawing a blank? Not really
What starts out sounding like irony is really a simple, but important truth: by building in white space you boost both the readability and impact of your marketing content.
By Camilla Zajac, Green Light Copywriting, Nottingham, March 2013
P.S. Like to talk about your own copywriting approach? Just get in touch.
5 things apostrophe rage tells us about copywriting 61 days ago
Copywriting…what has it got to do with apostrophe outrage, grammar fury or heated debates about the rules of language? Well, rather a lot actually. I’m guessing it’s not often that Mid Devon District Council hits the news on a global scale.
But a recent decision created a response that I’m sure the councillors never anticipated.
“Confusing” is how the council described the apostrophe. It’s this view that lay behind the proposed plan to remove this seemingly extraneous grammatical feature from local street signs. Outrage is what happened next. So much so that the council are now reconsidering their decision. But what does the very public and international reaction to the news tell us about copywriting?
1. People notice
The worldwide response to the signage strategy of one local authority in rural England is an important reminder of one important fact: people notice. This in turn is a nudge about the reality that poor grammar really does add up to a dodgy first impression. In copywriting, credibility begins with following the fundamental rules before creating something new.
2. The medium matters as much as the message
How could the humble apostrophe spark such a massive backlash – and why does it matter? The answer lies in what is also an important message for copywriting: how we’re saying something matters just as much as what we’re trying to say.
3. We have an emotional attachment to language
Grammar is just a set of rules that we follow as we choose. In theory. In practice, we all have a much more emotional connection to language than we’d care to admit. OK, I’m proud to admit it, but then I’m a copywriter. This furore (that’s a word to which I’m rather emotionally attached) states again the power of language, both within and outside of copywriting.
4. Following the rules builds credibility
‘Apostrophe-gate’ also confirms just how deeply the rules matter to people. It’s not simply about things looking nice or about imparting the required information. In copywriting, breaking the rules can be used to powerful effect. But it needs to be done within a familiar structure.
5. Content is not just information
A place name. It’s just the, er, name of a place, isn’t it? If these signs are only for information, why has the world become so caught up in the council’s business? These signs are stating a fact – not telling a story or educating kids, so why the worry? Because, as copywriting tells us, all content has the potential to influence, interest and even inspire. We humans are hard-wired to respond to content in this way. Like it or not, we all look for messages within content. Why ignore the opportunity to say something that stays with people, rather than confuses or worse, as in this very public drama, enrages them?
By Camilla Zajac, Green Light Copywriting, Nottingham, March 2013
P.S. Like to talk about your own copywriting approach? Just get in touch.
