3: Finding your voice

Now you know who you’re targeting, all you have to do is talk to them! (Not sure who you’re targeting? Go back and read Part 2: Target audience)

You can set the register – informally known as ‘tone of voice’ – by imagining the conversation in your head. If you’re aiming your copy at people of retirement age, no matter how forward thinking they are, you’re unlikely to start your letter with, “Yo! Wassup?!” It’s all a question of appropriacy.

If you’re aiming for a warm, chatty feel, then use warm, chatty language! Don’t feel that because you’re writing, rather than speaking, that you have to become all pompous and formal.

Exercise
Yes, really. It’ll only take 2 minutes. Get your pen out or fire up a new Word document and try this: imagine that you’re speaking to your audience face to face and you want to tell them all about a brand new type of banana that helps you lose weight as you eat.

Imagine the conversation you’d have with them then write it down, exactly as it comes out of your mouth. Be really enthusiastic! This is your product, and it’s going to take the world by storm!

Done that? OK, now look at the language you’ve used. Did you use simple, informal words and natural rhythms? I’ll bet you used contractions, and said things like, “can’t” instead of, “cannot”, right?

The most effective copywriting speaks directly to people, and makes them feel that they’re being addressed individually – that you’re speaking to them and them alone. No matter what you’re writing about, it’s hard to do that if you pepper your prose with unnaturally posh words and a stiff, formal tone.

Don’t forget that you can have conversations at different levels – after all, you’d be more formal talking to your bank manager than to your grandma, wouldn’t you? – but that doesn’t mean you have to sound stilted. And if you can get that natural warmth into your copy, you’re onto a winner…

Read Part 4:Typical mistakes