Lernen Sie von den Meistern des Copywritings, wie man überzeugende Texte schreibt

Content Marketing Meisterklasse: Sechster Teil

So the content creation part of this Masterclass has made you hungry for more copywriting tips and tricks, huh? Good call – learning how to write compelling copy is one of the most powerful things you can do for your marketing and your business.

While I have certainly written my fair share of converting sales pages, email sequences and blog posts, when I’m teaching copywriting I always go back to the wisdom of the original masters of the (direct response) copywriting art.

While we do live in a different world than they did – they weren’t exactly concerned with bounce rate or SEO – they were absolute experts at influencing something that has hardly changed since the early days of advertising: the human psyche.

So come along for copywriting 101 and swipe some ideas from the folks Don Draper’s character was based on. ‘Cause there’s no school like the old school.

This post is Part Six in a brand spanking new Masterclass Series on Content Marketing. We believe it’s an incredibly important topic – and according to a little survey we did, you do too. Trouble is: there is so much content on content marketing out there (talk about meta) and a lot of the intel is conflicting.

Wir präsentieren Ihnen diese Masterclass in Zusammenarbeit mit Anouck Meier, Chief Storytelling Officer bei Ampersand. Anouck ist ein Conversion-Texter und ein Content-Marketing-Stratege, der mit zahlreichen großen und kleinen Marken zusammengearbeitet hat, um ihnen zu helfen, ihre Geschäftsziele durch strategische Inhalte zu erreichen. Lassen Sie uns in einem umfassenden Leitfaden die Geschichte der Inhalte ein für alle Mal klären. Bereit zum Eintauchen?

- Jeroen Corthout, Mitbegründer von Salesflare, einem einfach zu bedienenden Vertriebs-CRM für kleine B2B-Unternehmen

Kopie vs. Inhalt

Before we get started, I just want to touch on the difference between copy and content. This is a Content Marketing Masterclass after all – why are we bothering writing a whopping 2300+ words on copy?

  • Kopierensind traditionell die Worte, die wir verwenden, um den Verkauf abzuschließen. Verwenden John E. Kennedy’s definition, it’s salesmanship in print (or pixels, as the case may be). Its very aim is to persuade. The result of effective copywriting is your reader taking a specific action.
  • InhaltAuf der anderen Seite bedeutet es, wertvolle Inhalte zu erstellen und zu teilen, um ein Publikum anzuziehen und zu binden, um zu zeigen, dass Sie in der Lage sind, ihre Probleme zu lösen, und um die Art von Vertrauen zu schaffen, die schließlich zu einem Kauf führen könnte.

Copy gibt es schon eine ganze Weile.
Content ist das neue Kind auf dem Block.

However, if you’re a smart cookie, you know to steal an idea or two from the old techniques of direct response copywriting. Believe me, the classic elements of persuasion will make everything in your content work better.

Take a cue from the characters Mad Men was based on: the original direct response copywriters – Picture: Lionsgate and AMC

Wenn Ihr Blog wirklich gute Inhalte präsentiert, aber keine Leser hat, ist ein bisschen klassisches Copywriting vielleicht alles, was Sie brauchen.

Maybe your headlines are too cute and clever – without showing any reader benefits. Maybe you haven’t focused on those reader benefits enough throughout your content. Or could it be that your calls to action aren’t specific enough?

Work some copywriting techniques into your blog and you’ll get your audience to subscribe, opt in and share your content with their peers. That, my friend, is how you build a large, loyal audience.

Without further ado – here are 7 strategies you’ll want to swipe from the rich tradition of direct response copywriting.

1. Mit den Ohren schreiben

If you can’t turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn’t be in the ad writing business at all.
– Leo Burnett

One of the most common misconceptions about copywriting is that it’s some form of creative wordsmithing.

I cannot tell you how many emails I get from aspiring copywriters, telling me they want to make a living writing copy because they have a way with words. Because they’re creative writers and their friends love their witty wordplay and puns. Or – heaven forbid – their poetry.

It doesn’t matter how creative your 3rd grade teacher thought you were.
It doesn’t matter that you wrote a haiku a day all through college.
Even your rich vocabulary and eloquence will not do much for you as a copywriter.

Das Geheimnis großartiger Werbetexte besteht nicht darin, mit Worten clever oder sexy zu sein.

It’s good old research. 

Das Leo Burnett Zitat erinnert uns daran, dass Texte besser konvertieren, wenn Sie Ihre Kunden sprechen lassen. Wenn Sie als Werbetexter Ihren Kunden zuhören.

Es klingt so einfach, aber wie lassen Sie Ihre Kunden sprechen?

Alles läuft auf Kundenforschung hinaus (was eigentlich ein netter Ausdruck dafür ist, Ihre Leser zu belauschen). Finden Sie heraus, wie sie über ihre Probleme, ihre Hoffnungen und Träume sprechen.

Then you’re going to use those exact same words your audience would use to sell your product. It’s putting the words together on a page. Pretty different from coming up with clever lines for your latest sonnet, right?

You’ll find plenty of tips and tricks for customer research in the post about content strategy as well as the one on generating ideas for your content. Use your research to inspire your sales copy as well as your blog posts.

Great listeners make excellent copywriters – Photo by Charles 🇵🇭 on Unsplash

2. Schreiben Sie unwiderstehliche Schlagzeilen

On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.
– David Ogilvy

There is one reason and one reason only your reader will read a single word of the blog post you’ve written: your headline.

If your headline is weak or vague, your content won’t get read – even if it’s the best piece of content the world has ever seen. This is true even if you have a loyal, decent-sized audience. You need to persuade them to give you their attention, every single time you publish a piece of content.

Gute Schlagzeilen sind dabei sehr hilfreich. Es lohnt sich, einige Zeit in die Erstellung einer überzeugenden Überschrift zu investieren, denn sie kann über den Erfolg eines Artikels entscheiden.

When writing your headline, start with the 4 U’s:

  • Nützlich: answer the “what’s in it for me” immediately
  • Dringend: Sagen Sie ihnen, warum sie Ihren Beitrag jetzt lesen sollten
  • Einzigartig: make clear your article isn’t just a rework or recycle of all the other pieces on the subject
  • Ultra-spezifisch: ihnen genau sagen, was sie erwarten können

Now if your blog post sucks, your headline obviously won’t save the piece. But it will do a lot to increase engagement from quality leads. And you’ll get more shares, likes and links.

3. Stellen Sie die wichtigsten Informationen an die erste Stelle

The web is not a murder mystery. Tell them who did it in the first sentence.
– Gerry McGovern

It’s easily one of the trickiest habits I had to ditch when I said goodbye to the nice folks at Sidley Austin’s Brussels office to become a copywriter.

You see, a legal memo usually goes like this. First, explain what you’re going to discuss. Then, present a detailed overview of the case law and literature. Next, discuss and draw your conclusion. The most important point – the conclusion – always goes right at the very end.

If this structure seems familiar – and you’re not a lawyer – it’s because it’s how we’re taught to write essays as well.

Eine derartige Strukturierung Ihrer Informationen im Internet ist jedoch nicht zulässig.

Im Gegenteil, Sie müssen genau das Gegenteil tun. Journalisten bezeichnen diese Art des Schreibens als umgekehrte Pyramide.

Beim Modell der umgekehrten Pyramide stehen die wichtigsten Informationen an erster Stelle. Quelle: Wikipedia

Just open up a newspaper and you’ll recognize it straight away: the most newsworthy information comes first, details and background information come second. Even if you only read the headline and the introductory paragraph, you’ll get the main takeaways from the article.

It’s the same on your website or blog: your readers want to know the big picture first. If they’re really interested, they’ll read on to get the juicy details.

4. Scannbar machen

“What I am doing here is taking the reader by the hand and leading him exactly where I want him to go. It seems like a small point and, maybe it is, but is the little touches like this that keeps the letter flowing and the reader moving along.”
– Gary Halbert

As I’m writing this blog post, I’m already thinking about the people reading it. Will people actually read it? In this digital day and age, the reality is: only few people will.

Forschung legt nahe, dass nur 16% der Menschen lesen Webseiten Wort für Wort. Stattdessen scannen die meisten Menschen.

They glance at each new page they stumble upon. They’ll scan some of the text, and click on the first thing that catches their attention or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for.

Here’s a checklist for using copywriting techniques in your content to meet scanners’ needs:

  • Communicate in your headline what you’re going to talk about
  • Verwenden Sie Ihre Bildunterschriften zur Unterstützung Ihrer Hauptaussage
  • Setzen Sie Ihre wichtigsten Punkte in Untertitel
  • Verwenden Sie leicht zu scannende Aufzählungspunkte
  • Verwenden Sie fett, um wichtige Wörter hervorzuheben

Ihr Internetbesucher ist auf der Suche nach Informationen. Stellen Sie sicher, dass er Ihre wichtigsten Informationen schon mit einem Blick auf die Seite erfassen kann.

5. Don’t go off on any tangents

Ihre Leser sollten so sehr gezwungen sein, Ihre Texte zu lesen, dass sie nicht aufhören können, bis sie alles gelesen haben, als würden sie eine Rutschbahn hinunterrutschen.
– Joseph Sugarman

Onkel Joe sure knows what he’s talking about. Each sentence you write should make your reader want to read the next one.

Das bedeutet, dass Sie bei der Sache bleiben, sich konzentrieren und vor allem, dass Sie nicht aufgeben: Ihren Text entrümpeln. Behandeln Sie Ihren Text so, wie es Marie Kondo tun würde: Entfernen Sie überflüssigen Ballast, reduzieren Sie Rauschen und schaffen Sie Leerraum.

Dadurch wird Ihr Text nicht nur leichter lesbar, sondern erhöht auch Ihr wahrgenommenes Vertrauen. Und natürlich Freude auslösen.

Consider the visual appeal of your copy too – it impacts the readability of your text and whether or not your reader can find what he’s looking for quickly or not.

Declutter your text Marie Kondo-style and spark joy with your readers. – Picture: Seth Wenig/AP; Carlos Ciudad Photography/Getty; Yutong Yuan/Business Insider

6. Machen Sie es kristallklar

Man muss sich kurz, klar und überzeugend ausdrücken können.
-Claude Hopkins

If you can’t reduce your argument to a few crisp words and phrases, there’s something wrong with your argument.
– Maurice Saatchi

If I’m quoting not one but two godfathers of advertising, it’s because I’m really trying to make a point here.

Hopkins bezieht sich auf den Dreiklang des Copywritings: Klarheit, Prägnanz und Nützlichkeit. 

  • We’ve talked about making your content relevant and useful for your reader extensively in part 3 of this Masterclass on content ideas. If it’s not relevant for your ideal customer, don’t even bother writing it. But even if you pick a useful topic to write about, no-one will actually read it unless you can make your points clearly and succinctly.
  • Kürze bedeutet nicht unbedingt, kurze Texte zu schreiben. – it’s about trimming the fat and using as little words as possible without rendering your message ineffective. Delete the words that are just window dressing (see, this is where your experience with haiku’s may come in handy after all).
  • Clarity is about writing words your ideal reader can actually understand. Whenever I work with clients in the legal or professional services industry, they always give me this “you gotta be kidding me” look when I tell them to get rid of jargon and gobbledygook. What is hidden behind this look is the fear that they’ll share too much of their knowledge and that clients will no longer need their advice (why yes, I see right through you, guys and gals).

This is absolute nonsense, of course. I think the opposite is true. I believe it’s Einstein who said: ‘if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough’. The guy was no marketing expert by any measure, but not exactly an idiot either…

Don’t leave your reader puzzled or confused: make your point clear without overly complex explanations or jargon. – Photo by Bruce Mars on Unsplash

7. Mach es umsetzbar

Writing direct response copy always serves a specific purpose. If you’re doing it right, your content should also serve a strategic goal and stimulate a specific behavior: subscribing to your email newsletter, reading the next blogpost in a series, downloading a white paper, getting in touch,…

To get action, you’ve got to ask for it. 

(Das scheint in der Post-#metoo-Ära nur angemessen zu sein, oder?).

Oder wie der gute alte Gary Halbert sagen würde:

“Relieve (the reader) of the burden of trying to figure out what he is supposed to do when he finishes reading a particular page.”

Get rid of any friction and make the next step easy. Clicking a button. Sharing a link. Typing an email address (but not necessarily full account information—even that amount of effort can scare people away).

Je einfacher die Aktion ist, desto wahrscheinlicher ist es, dass sich Ihr Publikum motiviert genug fühlt, sie durchzuführen.

And that’s it! Seven solid copywriting strategies to inject your content with and get better ROI.

Of course, rules are meant to be broken, and I am as guilty as anyone. And putting the wisdom of these old gents (the original Mad Men) in practice can be a daunting task – but it’s worth the extra effort.

Trusty old Gary (Halbert) knew what he was saying when he said that “the written word is the strongest source of power in the entire universe.” Use it wisely.

Are you using copywriting techniques in your blog posts?  Any particular copywriting challenges you’re wrestling with? Let us know in the comments!

And don’t forget to check back next week for Part Seven of our Content Marketing Masterclass about distributing your content!

Wir hoffen, dass Ihnen dieser Beitrag gefallen hat. Wenn ja, empfehlen Sie ihn weiter!

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Anouck Meier
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