SEO Copywriting

We’ve all been challenged to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. We hear it but do we have any idea what it means? Empathy is a hard one for us to wrap our minds around. It is a skill that can and should be learned by every copywriter. But how does one learn empathy?

Em-pa-thy
-noun
1.the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2.the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself: By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self.

Companies need to have empathy for their customers. “People want nothing but mirrors around them. To reflect them while they’re reflecting too.” This quote is from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and perfectly sums up what people desire when they are interacting with companies, products and/or services. As a company, you have the opportunity to show empathy to your target market through your website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [Your website even works holidays!]

The copy on your website is a conversation with your customers. If you use your website as a platform for authentic communication, you will build a loyal following. Statistics show that a majority of people scan website pages because we are all too busy. I am too busy to read copy that doesn’t relate to me but I find the time to read every word of a web page I feel is directly speaking to me. So how do you have empathy in your writing?

1. Recognize your consumer’s problems, needs and desires
2. Legitimize their problems, needs and desires
3. Offer support & partnership – Position your product/service to address their problems, needs and desires

To recognize your consumer’s problems, needs and desires, you need to do your research. Assumptions about your consumers usually end up being completely off-base. Through research, you will be able to understand your target market.

With research based information in hand, you will be able to legitimize your consumer’s problems, needs and desires much easier. If you can’t personally relate, then you will have to try to imagine what it would be like to be your consumers. Many times, you won’t have the same experiences but similar ones to call on. This is “vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.” Not an easy concept obviously but one worth trying to comprehend.

When you are able to write with empathy, your website becomes the perfect tool of partnership and support to your customers. When you have empathy for your customers, you will be able to address their problems, needs and desires with compelling information, blog articles, videos, etc. There are many ways to support your community and they will vary based on the information you glean from your research.

Empathy will open up the communication lines between you and your target market. By utilizing empathy, you will be able to authentically build relationships with your customers that will last a lifetime.

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Readers like clever copy but marketers can go too far. Cleverness can easily be read as unclear or offensive if you miss the mark. Your target market doesn’t get the benefit of knowing your intentions, they only see your actions. An excellent example is the recently aired  Motrin online video about Moms who wear their babies. The ad was targeting the increasing population of Mom blogggers, unfortunately the video suggested babywearing is a fashion, evoking outrage from the Moms the ad was trying to sell to. This begs the question, if cleverness doesn’t translate into a sell, was it ever clever?

David Ogilvy said, “If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative.”

Commonly referred to as the “Father of Advertising”, David knows a thing or two about selling. Ogilvy focused on results for his clients and so must you. As you begin to do research and write, you must think creatively and strategically.

Do Research
Ogilvy, focused on research. He knew that you must clearly understand your target market’s problems, needs and desires to be able to sell to them. Your copy needs to position the product or service to address your market’s issues. Additional research would have led Motrin to realize that many women choose to wear their babies because they believe in the health benefits not because of fashion.

Write Motivational Content
Research will help you understand what motivates your target market. Your copy has to motivate your target market to action. If it doesn’t trigger the right response it doesn’t matter how exciting it is.

Write Authentically
Research will help you understand you target market. Your readers need to feel like you care, that you understand them in ways that no one else does. Empathy for your target market will build a relationship

Test It
Once the copy is ready, have people review it. If you can, it is best to have a sample of your target market review it. If your company is not able to have focus group type editing, have your co-workers, peers or even your spouse read it before it goes live. A second or third pair of eyes can make all the difference.

Clever copy is extremely powerful; you just have to make sure your market thinks it is as clever as you do.

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Just in time for Halloween! Creeper words are words that naturally come up in writing about a topic but are conflicting with the keyword phrase that you are optimizing for. I have a classic example. I had a client who I wrote content for regarding their office locations. We were optimizing for what the business did and the geographic location of the branch. I sent the copy over to them for editing and approval. When the copy returned, I noticed multiple additions of the word team. I checked out the density, not surprisingly team was 6%. To a search engine, the page was about ‘team’, not the originally chosen keyword phrase.

So I went back to my client and explained the situation. They of course wanted to used the term because they run their business as a team and felt that it was a selling point to potential clients. Once they understood the SEO implications, they agreed to remove the additional uses. We removed most of the occurrences but maintained language that still got the team point across.

You have to be just as careful about the words you choose to write about as the words you use without thinking. Every topic has creeper words and you will discover them as soon as you start writing if you pay attention. Remaining with the example, if the client is insistent about the theme of team, it is important to convey the feeling of the word, without actually using it. Using phrases, like “we work together” and “when our expertise combines you get unbeatable services” gets the message across without spelling it out. This will appease the client and maintain your search engine optimized copy.

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Commercial writers are well aware most projects are not interesting. You might have to write about a mop or some other object equally boring to you. I have my ways of dealing with this. I learn to love the mop. I am not kidding. There is something to love about everything. You have to love the mop if you are going to convincingly write about it. If you can achieve this, as a writer, you will have a significant leg up on people working at the mop business. “Why?” you ask, because you will love the mop as a consumer not as someone who has poured their soul into it. There is a significant difference. Consumers relate to consumers.

So how do you love the mop?

Be positive
I have a dog named Honey. She doesn’t know if we are going to the dog park or the kennel but she acts as if we go to the dog park every time we leave the house. If you approach your subjects like Honey, things will go so much better. Dragging your feet will lead to weak or over-the-top copy. Either one will not entice potential customers.

Spend time with it
Some projects allow you to hold and feel the item you are writing about. Other writing projects do not lend themselves to such closeness. Either way, your job is to find out as much as you can. Read reviews, use the product, research how consumers feel about items similar, etc. Do what you can to find the essence of the product or service. Why is it in existence? Armed with this information, you will be able to see the benefits and feel them yourself.

Listen to music that fits
I know this one sounds a little weird. It has always worked marvelously for me. Listen to music that you think the target audience would like or music that seems to fit the product. This always helps me get in the writing mood.

Imagine the target customer
Create a character in your mind with the information that you have been given. Usually the company you are working for will provide demographic information. With this information, begin to imagine a person that would truly love the product. Don’t just think about the obvious things. Think about their fears and aspirations. Getting this close helps you to identify with and better understand who you are talking to through your copy.

If all else fails – Walk away from the computer
Some of my best ideas come to me when I first wake up or when I am in the shower. There is something about letting the subconscious do its thing. If the conscious continues to beat it down, you’ll never hear what the subconscious is up to. I once heard an obscure trick for writers block that prescribed sitting in a chair with a spoon in hand. The hand with the spoon needs to hang over hard flooring. Let yourself drift to sleep. At the moment of relaxation you will drop the spoon on the floor and wake up. Alarmingly awoken, you are suppose to be hit with the answer. [I'd love to hear stories if you have used this trick.] The exercise is performed to unlock the subconscious. However you do it, do it – it works!

The above tricks are the perfect charm for most writing projects you are having trouble finding loving feelings for. If you are having a hard time, don’t panic. Many times a deadline is the perfect remedy.

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