You’ve heard it before and you will most definitely hear it again: our attention spans are dying, quickly. Most people (especially Gen Z) have trouble sitting through a 3-minute TikTok video unless there’s a Subway Surfers run playing on half of the screen. We’re simply used to our brains being stimulated constantly.
The average human attention span is around 8.25 seconds; for us copywriters who love to craft long-form content, engagement is scarcer than ever. Our work has to demand attention, or risk getting lost in the ether.
Whether it be a website landing page, an email, a push notification, or a social caption, every marketing initiative includes some sort of copy, making copywriting the most crucial skill for a marketer to have. To get your reader to act, you need to grab their attention, hold it, and guide them to the intended action.
Even in the era of AI copy generation tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Gemini, the human touch makes the difference between content that gets lost in the shuffle and content that speaks to its reader.
What Is the Role of a Copywriter in Marketing?
Marketing copywriters act as the voice and the storyteller of a certain brand, product, or service. They mold and control their target audiences’ perceptions, using words to achieve established marketing objectives, such as increasing awareness, driving conversions, or fostering loyalty. Copywriters usually work closely with creative departments to present a holistic brand story through a cohesive, strategic combination of words and visual elements.
Marketing copywriting is a highly interdisciplinary space; we come from a variety of different backgrounds, straddling the midpoint between creative writing, marketing strategy, consumer psychology, and communication sciences. There are three important skill sets a marketing copywriter must have:
- A strong background in writing and can confidently manipulate words to achieve different tones of voice, writing styles, and sentence structures.
- Experience in marketing strategy, understanding the importance of customizing copy to different target audiences, funnel stages, and platforms.
- This one is highly personal opinion, but in my years as a copywriter, I have concluded that being a well-rounded person with experiences and contexts to pull from is a critical factor that can turn a good copywriter into a great one. We spend our days reading and writing, but all of that is for naught if we aren’t also learning.
Either way, if you’re looking to become a marketing copywriter or if you’re a copywriter looking to further improve your skills, you’ve come to the right place.
Why Is Copywriting Important?
The easiest way to envision the importance of copywriting is to see it as the intersection of growth, creativity, and community:
- Growth: Efficiently driving users through the conversion funnel, thus increasing revenue, ROI and profits.
- Creativity: Supplementing brand visuals or approaching a subject in a new or nuanced way in order to tell a holistic story, solidifying brand awareness and recall.
- Community: Resonating with target audiences and building long-term customer relationships that stimulate growth loops, decrease CAC, and increase customer LTV.
Regardless of the campaign’s goal, strong marketing copywriting reverse-engineers the messaging from broader initiatives to elicit an emotional response from the reader and build a lasting brand-consumer relationship.
What Is the Difference Between Copywriting & Storytelling?
Storytelling and copywriting have a very close relationship in the marketing world.
- Storytelling is crafting a compelling narrative that engages your audience or clarifies a point with an example or anecdote. The goal of storytelling is to paint the picture, set the scene, and take the reader on a journey.
- Copywriting is the execution of marketing objectives (including those based around storytelling) in the form of written word.
Without good storytelling, copywriting falls short in terms of interest and engagement. Without good copywriting, stories don’t make an impact.
As technology becomes further and further integrated into our daily lives, we get closer and closer to a state of being surrounded by content 24/7. Everyone has something to talk about: a new trend to hop onto, an announcement to make, a review to highlight. It’s easy for things to get lost in the noise, especially if storytelling wasn’t part of the creation process.
How to Connect Story to Content
For brands, the most common marketing tactic is making the customer feel as if they are the hero of the story. For this reason, the story you’re trying to tell must align with your customer’s own experience. This means:
- Understanding your customer on a personal level. You can’t get to know each and every single member of your target audience, but you can create customer personas to help you step into their shoes and figure out what story to tell.
- Putting your customer’s needs first. Think about the “what’s in it for me” aspect of the consumer perspective. Consumers want to interact with brands that share their values and principles, and it’s the brand’s job to make that alignment clear to them.
- Telling stories to them, but speaking like them. You can have your narrative figured out, but if you communicate it wrong, it’ll fall on deaf ears. This is where copywriting comes into play. What words do they use? How do they talk about their problems? Do they respond well to humor, or are they expecting professional communication?
There are several official frameworks for marketing copywriting that can help guide you on your journey to becoming a master copywriter. Let’s go over a few of them!
The 4 Best Marketing Copywriting Frameworks
We try to turn marketing into a science (and it mostly is, don’t get me wrong). However, the way that people connect with other people is fluid; therefore, copywriting must remain so, too.
All that is to say, these frameworks aren’t meant to put your creativity or your humanity into a box (and I disagree wholeheartedly with anyone who says you should); they simply serve as guidelines for how to continue putting the customer at the forefront when you write.
There are also dozens of frameworks out there; in this article, we’ll cover the three that I’ve used the most in my copywriting career.
1. The AIDA Framework
The AIDA framework stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. The steps to executing this framework are as follows:
- Attention: Get your reader’s attention with something catchy and relevant (question, statement, urgency, etc.). This is your opportunity to hook them with your story.
- Interest: Things like facts, social proof, and numbers. Anything numerical or with a definitive descriptor attached (“best”, “never”, or “always”) are more likely to pique interest.
- Desire: Make the reader want to test, buy, or learn more about your product or service.
- Action: Add an enticing or clever call to action that tells the reader what to do next.
For example, the Apple uses the AIDA framework on its homepage to convert initial attention to action:
- Attention: “WATCH ULTRA 3” along with the well-known Apple logo, engages audiences that are looking for an Apple product or following for updates.
- Interest: “Personal beast.” turns attention into interest (and potentially even elicits an emotional response), making the user want to click one of the buttons below to find out more.
- Desire: “Available starting 9.19” creates demand by setting a “drop” timeline for a new product.
- Action: Two buttons give clear next steps; if the user wants to find out more, they can. If they want to skip the fluff and pre-order, they can.
Taking this back to the principle of storytelling through copywriting, the AIDA framework takes the consumer through a journey from start to finish, using each new step to build on previously established attention or trust.
2. The PAS Framework
The PAS copywriting framework stands for Problem, Agitate, Solution. It works as such:
- Problem: Capitalizing on reader pain points and showing understanding of them.
- Agitate: Illustrating the negative outcomes that could come from said paint points.
- Solution: Providing a solution in the form of an offering.
3. The BAB (Before-After-Bridge) Framework
The Before-After-Bridge framework positions your brand’s product or service as the missing piece to bring you from problem to solution. Here’s how it works:
- Before: Describe the current or past situation; this could be the reader’s personal feelings, a state of an industry or the world, or a reference to “the way things used to be”.
- After: Present an improved “new” state of being, focusing on the fulfillment of a goal or a more positive feeling.
- Bridge: Build a connection between the Before and After state, explaining how the offering can get the reader from Point A to Point B.
For example, task management tool ClickUp sets it up like this:
- Before: ClickUp states it simply: task management is broken.
- After: ClickUp then takes responsibility for being the harbinger of change.
- Bridge: The brand uses a visual bridge to communicate how they’ve fixed task management, showcasing the old way and the ClickUp way as opposites.
4. The Problem-Solution Framework
This is the simplest framework; it’s the bare minimum for quality marketing copywriting:
- Problem: Determine the pain points that your audience experiences.
- Solution: Provide them with the solution for their needs.
Pro Tip: A useful exercise to write better copy is to list out 5-10 problems your target market deals with, the effects of these problems, and then how your product or service solves them (sounding like the PAS framework a little bit, eh?).
How to Write Copy for Each Marketing Funnel Stage
In addition to knowing your target audience (pain points, demographics, and where to meet them), you should also adjust your marketing copywriting according to the stage of the marketing funnel the user is in.
Think of it like this: the audience that sees your copy will have a different level of familiarity with your brand, so it’s important to meet them where they are, with the right answers they need. Let’s get into some examples.
Top-of-Funnel Copywriting
At the top of the funnel, you want to focus on brand awareness and give the viewer as much valuable information about your brand as possible:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Why do you do it?
- Why should the reader care?
Content that answers these questions will get the quality recall you need lower down the funnel.
For example, this ad for Liquid Death, a canned water company, demonstrates what the product is and sets the tone for their brand voice. The copy is plain and simple: “it’s just water”. Viewers of this ad who may not be aware of Liquid Death are more likely to remember this ad due to the humorous touch, which can pique reader interest.
Middle-of-Funnel Copywriting
At the middle of the funnel, you’re dealing with readers who already have a rough recall of your brand. You want to get more specific here:
- What are the exact products or services that you offer?
- What is the unique value proposition of each?
- What are some statistics or testimonials you can use to drive conversions?
Be as specific as possible to build on the recall and drive their decision.
Continuing with the Liquid Death example, the copywriting style on their website continues to use the same humorous language from the initial ad, but this time drills down into their other offerings; Liquid Death is more than a water company.
This copy showcases their “not soda” line of beverages, and adds factual statements to their bold claim that the consumer won’t believe it’s not soda with caloric and sugar content, as well as a callout to the absence of artificial sweeteners.
This section of their website then concludes with a short, clear CTA that takes the reader to the shop page.
Bottom-of-Funnel Copywriting
At the bottom of the funnel, you have users who already know your brand and your offerings; all they need is an extra push to finally convert. At this stage, you can be very straightforward with a harder sell (that still falls within your brand voice and remains consistent with your overall messaging, of course).
Tell the user what specific actions they should take in order to find the value they are looking for. Introducing extra urgency, discounts, limited-time offers, and perks at this stage can help seal the deal.
Liquid Death does this flawlessly with their ever-so-humorous abandoned cart emails. They continue with the theme of death (duh), with the added prod of, “Hey, you didn’t finish checking out, but you definitely should.”
Liquid Death is a masterclass in leveraging a humorous, at times crude, but not hurtful or mean tone in marketing to create a standout personality those brand voice is easy to recognize no matter the marketing medium or funnel stage.
How to Write Marketing Copy for Different Platforms
Different channels are designed to reach different audiences, at different times, and within different character limits. Every channel is built for a specific audience, hence the need for there to be a different style of writing for each.
After all, your visual assets vary by channel; why wouldn’t your copywriting do the same? The key to channel-specific copywriting is to understand the intent of the user where you are meeting them. Let’s review a few common marketing channels where copy is key.
Landing Page Copy
The key to writing good landing page copy is to capture the user’s attention immediately and guide them through the brand story as they (ideally) scroll through the page. For mobile devices (which make up over 64% of internet usage), it’s been found that users spend 68% of their time on the top half of the page. This makes your hook and lead-in super important.
Within the hero section and consistently throughout the entire landing page, there should be clear CTA buttons that ask users to take action. Common examples of these landing page CTAs can include “Shop Now”, “Learn More”, or “Get Started”.
For example, this is the first section on Graza’s (an olive oil company) homepage:
In addition to garnering user interest by including motion in the hero (top) section of the homepage, they leave room for the video to draw the user in and pair it with a clever headline, as well as a clear CTA.
Another important copy element to include on the landing page is social proof. Use numbers or customer testimonials to build trust (after you’ve fully explained what the product or service is and what value you can provide, of course).
Graza features social proof in the form of ✨aesthetic ✨ images of people cooking using their product in a scrolling carousel at the bottom of their homepage. And would you look at that: another clear CTA prompting the reader to follow their Instagram page.
Ultimately, landing pages should follow a linear information hierarchy, with the main value at the top, followed by supporting benefits and information as the user scrolls.
Social Media Copy
When writing copy for social media, it’s crucial to artfully combine both text and visuals to allow the two elements to support one another. Social copy should also balance emotional and rational appeal prior to outlining a clear call to action.
Unlike landing page copy, however, social media copy tends to be much shorter, meaning that your point must be concise (all while demonstrating a clear understanding of the problem and how the brand solves it). Understanding your customers’ pain points is the first step to convincing your customers that your brand can help solve their problems.
ClickUp, for example, combines bold claims like “a new era of productivity” with a clever title like “The Everything App”. The ad immediately communicates how ClickUp continues to update their offering with new ways to solve consumer problems. They seek to end inefficiency and promote productivity by providing a dynamic task management tool.
The remainder of the post drills down into the specific features that are being added to the platform, but the main message of the ad is clear from the first slide and gives the user the opportunity to learn more.
Search Ad Copy
Writing copy for paid search advertising requires an ability to speak to the user’s search intent (which should be aligned with the campaign goal), while also communicating key value propositions within limited character counts.
Google Search Ads allow headlines of up to 30 characters and descriptions of up to 90 characters. Due to this limited real estate, copywriting for search engine advertising should be straightforward, concise, and clearly communicate the value of the product or service.
Figma’s search ad copy responds to the search intent of finding the “best graphic design tool” by emphasizing speed and low barrier to entry. In one short headline, Figma’s search ad is able to communicate its promise to the user to “design and build faster” and help them “get started for free”.
The key to maximizing the effectiveness of search ad copy is variation. Especially for new brands (or those investing in search ads for the first time), it’s important to note that SEM is often used to test various value propositions in order to better understand which key features users are most interested in.
For testing purposes, copywriters should aim to create different headline and description variations that each clearly highlight a different value proposition, so as to facilitate better experimentation and data-backed insights.
Email Copy
Email copy falls somewhere between search ad and landing page copy in terms of real estate. Like the landing page, the key message and CTA needs to be above the fold to immediately capture the user’s attention. Like ads, the subject line and preview text need to be short, clear, and demonstrate what the email is about (and prompt readers to open it instead of archiving).
Although the relatively longer length of an email offers more room to get creative, it doesn’t mean that you should write a lengthy and monotonous piece; it should still be clear, concise, and get straight to the point.
Mental health and wellness company Headspace taps into its value proposition right from the start, promising health and happiness for the cost of “one fancy latte”. Then, the email follows with a clear CTA. Again, I’m a big advocate for the fact that a touch of humor can go a long way (especially if your reader is familiar and the industry allows for it).
SMS & Push Notification Copy
When compared to other mediums, copywriting for SMS and push notifications has extremely limited real estate that needs to be optimized for maximum impact. This differs from paid search advertising because SMS and push notifications imply that the reader is already familiar with your brand; there’s no need to push high-level value props as you would with SEM copy.
That being said, headlines still need to be catchy, messaging needs to be (extremely) concise, and benefits need to be immediately obvious. A common way to increase engagement in shorter copy formats like SMS and push is to use emojis to supplement your headlines (note that emojis count as double the characters).
Another thing to keep in mind is that SMS and push notifications don’t include a CTA button like landing pages, ads, and emails do; the CTA should be integrated into the message itself.
For example, content platform Invisibly encourages the user to perform three actions: “take surveys, earn points, and access your favorite subscribers”, and demonstrates the value of doing so “without the subscriptions and ads”.
Knowing Your Brand Voice
Your brand voice is one of the most important pieces of marketing copywriting because it should be ever-present. It’s the distinct personality that makes your brand feel like a familiar face. This voice should manifest across a brand’s website, social media posts, blog posts, ads, emails, etc.
How to Establish a Brand Voice
An easy way to envision this would be to imagine your brand as a person.
- Are they playful and humorous or serious and knowledgeable?
- Are they your close friend, an expert mentor, or a helpful colleague?
- What phrases, vocabulary, and stylistic choices do they routinely use when talking to you?
If the way a person talks is part of their personality, the way a brand communicates is a part of their identity, positioning, and overall distinctiveness.
How to Create Brand Voice Guidelines
Brand voice guidelines are often put into one cohesive document (in the form of a PDF, slideshow, or text document). These guidelines should specify the ins and outs of your brand voice:
- The core aspects of your brand’s personality (often expressed as archetypes).
- Your company’s mission and vision statement.
- The do’s and don’t’s to copywriting (including things like emoji usage).
- Word choice guidelines (i.e. specific phrasing or verbs that you use to describe your offering within the brand voice).
- Examples of brand voice execution in marketing materials.
- Punctuation, sentence structure, and grammar guidelines.
- Sometimes, font and text size specifications by platform are also included in brand voice guidelines.
- Rationale behind why you chose things and how they tie back to your brand identity.
This makes it easier to stick close to your established brand voice and maintain consistency across channels. Don’t forget, though, there will still be micro-tailoring to specific audiences and platforms in your messaging.
Will AI Replace Copywriters?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last several years, you’re probably familiar with leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in copywriting and content marketing. AI copywriting tools and generative AI chatbots have taken over the copywriting space in a way that drastically changes the nature of any marketing copywriting role.
A lot of copywriters are worried about the impact that AI will have on their jobs. Take it from me: AI isn’t taking your job, but you do need to adapt to the new state of the space. Leveraging AI to your advantage is now required, which necessitates a certain level of adaptability and quick learning on your part.
The best copywriters know how to work with AI tools, not against them. Copywriters need to:
- Seamlessly integrate AI tools into their writing workflows
- Learn ChatGPT prompts for marketing
- Understand the concept of AI prompt engineering
Still, we must continue to hone in on the skills that AI inherently lacks: the “human touch”. It’s more important than ever.
In an age where AI tools are able to take care of the writing and creation portion of the job, human copywriters need to expand their skill set from churning out content to leveraging their humanity in order to emotionally resonate with their target audience; something that machines can’t do.
Copy That Moves People
At its core, marketing copywriting isn’t just clever headlines or catchy taglines; it’s about forging real connections in a noisy, fast-moving digital world. With the help of frameworks, brand voice guidelines, and even AI tools, we can continue to sharpen our craft.
The true differentiator, however, will always be the human ability to empathize, storytell, and inspire action. Whether you’re writing a landing page, a push notification, or crafting a full-scale marketing campaign, remember that every word carries the potential to build trust, spark curiosity, and drive growth.
The best copywriters aren’t just writing copy; they’re shaping conversations that turn audiences into communities and brands into movements.
