Copywriting: 6 Facts Every Financial Services Marketer Must Know

Are You Looking to Learn About Copywriting? Here Are 6 Knowledge Bits That Will Get You Started

As a financial services marketer, I’m sure you have heard about copywriting before. And, unless you are doing all your marketing by yourself, you must have hired a copywriter to work on a marketing campaign at some point.

But… do you have a full understanding of what copywriting entails? Unless you have a marketing and advertising background, chances are you don’t.

That’s it’s OK – that’s why we are here. I want to share with you some knowledge bits that will give you a better understanding of what goes behind writing sales and marketing copy.

I do this so you can understand how great copywriting can help elevate your marketing campaigns to achieve the sales goals you have set for your business.

My name is Juan Israel Ortiz, and if you’re new to my website, welcome. Please subscribe to my blog to get my latest on marketing, advertising, and copywriting. And follow me on Twitter to get a full feed of what happens around my social network.

And with introductions out of the way, here are six facts every financial services marketer must know about copywriting:

#1: Copywriting Has Nothing to Do with Copyrights

More times than not, when I tell acquaintances that I offer copywriting services, they quickly assume that I’m all day sitting in an office of the US Patent and Trademark Department. And I can’t blame them.

Most people are more familiar with the word “copyright” than “Copywrite.” But the concept of copywriting has nothing to do with your company’s legal department. At least not directly.

Instead, copywriting has more to do with salesmanship because copywriting is any writing that you present offering a product or service for sale.

Let me take back what I said about laypeople not being familiar with copywriting. Because they see it in every junk mail package, ad on their Google search, and TV or radio commercial they’ve ever heard.

Any piece of communication that presents you with a product or service is an example of copywriting.

Of course, there’s good and bad copywriting – but we will discuss that in a little bit. For now, just know that when someone tells you that they are a copywriter, it means writing sales materials and not working on trademarks and patents.

#2: What Can Copywriting Do for You?

The only goal of copywriting is to drive profitability.

As a marketer, you must keep that in mind because you will meet many copywriters (in title) that will try to convince you that they can do something else aside from selling your offers. And most of those “copywriters” will do nothing for your sales.

You will have copywriters tell you about how they can create entertaining commercials that people will like. They will talk about giving your brand a “cool edge” with “award-winning” advertising. But most of those copywriters aren’t even copywriters – they are scriptwriters looking to build portfolios (at your expense) to win awards they can show in Hollywood.

These wannabe-copywriters don’t care whether your business sells plenty or goes under. All they want is to further their careers. And your money should not be funding someone’s future job without getting something in return.

Marketing and advertising are a means to an end. And that end is to increase sales – and profits – for your business.

#3: Copywriting at Its Best

You’re probably wondering at this point, “what separates the good copy from the bad copy?” And your answer lies in the purpose behind the copy.

You can spot bad copywriting when you realize that a sales and marketing piece is more entertaining than anything else. The bad copywriters fill their marketing and advertising materials with short and witty one-liners that focus more on a funny character than the solutions your product or services have to offer.

Good-to-great copywriting, on the other hand, focuses on inspiring and informing the market on why they should consider buying a product or hiring a service. Copywriters that know what they’re doing will present an empathetic character as a hero, telling the story of a situation they solved using what their client has to offer, with a specific call-to-action that will entice your audience into buying as soon as possible.

Copywriting, at its best, presents your products and services as practical solutions for your market. At its worst, your copywriting turns your offer into the vehicle to deliver a clever punchline.

#4: The Four Elements of Copywriting

To present compelling sales and marketing copy, you must structure it correctly, make it easy to scan, be empathetic, and use the right tone of voice.

Proper Copy Structure

To structure your copy correctly simply means that your text is not all over the place.

Instead, you are taking your audience through an emotional rollercoaster, working around your core emotions to develop a sense of excitement or dependency towards your offer. And at the right time, you hit them with your proposal.

Many copywriting formulas will help you structure your text. Four of the most common are:

AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action),
the 4 Ps (Promise, Picture, Proof, Push), and
the Storytelling Technique (Shine, Heat, Comeback, Finish).

Well-structured copywriting will keep your audience hooked and increase your chances at a sale.

Easy-to-Scan Copy

You wouldn’t try to eat an entire T-bone steak in one bite. And you wouldn’t read a marketing message presented as one, enormous paragraph.

Just like people enjoy their food bite-by-bite, readers enjoy reading their text paragraph by paragraph. Therefore, every marketing text message should be easy to digest – scannable, and easy on the eyes.

The best way to make your copy easy-to-scan is to make proper use of subheads, numerations, and bullet points…

use your subheads to separate subtopics,
let the reader know exactly where’s the information they want, and
use numbers and bullet points to present a list of details or resources better.

When you make your copy more comfortable to read, you (again) increase your chances at the reader not tossing your advertising aside. And by “aside” – I mean the trash bin.

Empathetic Copy

To create new customers, you must show your audience that you empathize with their problems as deeply as humanly possible.

When you show empathy, you let the audience know that you’re one of them. And as such, you have taken time to produce a solution that will make your prospects’ daily lives better.

But how do you show empathy to the audience? Simple – you go deep on the details.

Let the reader know that you understand their pain by going exactly through every emotion you went through before you produced your offer. That’d let the audience know that a) you have gone precisely through what they’re experiencing, and b) your offer works.

Empathy is the most crucial copywriting element. Because without it, you come off like a sleazy salesperson looking for a quick buck.

The Right Tone of Voice

Just like in conversations, using the right words and symbols can make your marketing texts very appealing to the reader. And the wrong words and symbols will turn your message into something they would want to avoid altogether.

The tone of your writing can go anywhere from joyful and optimistic to selfish and angry. Therefore, you must know which tone you need to take on your marketing messages.

For direct marketers, the tone you want to take is:

Conversational but not too casual – you need to show professionalism while being friendly
Persuasive but not overly excited or sales-y – no one likes to be sold
Informative – show that you come from the place of knowledge
Candid – tell it like it is

In business, as well as in life, trust is what makes good things happen. By using the right tone in your messages, you can start building trust with your audience and produce new sales.

#5: What Your Copy Can Promote

Here are the four main things you can promote with your copy:

Your Products – you can sell any offering through advertising, digital marketing, and social media campaigns.

Your Services – service firms and freelancers can use direct mail, content marketing, and SEO to get their names and firms known to would-be clients.

A Charitable Cause – fundraising letters and websites can help you reach out to donors and collect money for those in need.

Your Company – send out public relations and corporate communications materials to let your community know what your business has been up to.

And what every one of those examples has in common is the need for copywriting for the promotion. Because a logo and some design put together won’t get the job done on their own.

#6: Where Can You Place Your Copy?

You need a copywriter for any persuasive business text you produce.

Your advertising campaigns need copy for print ads, TV and radio commercials, advertorials, and brochures.

Whether you use them for lead generation or sales orders, your direct mail packages need a copy of your sales letter. And copy for any self-mailers, reply-to cards, and postcards you might want to send.

If you’re marketing online, you will need copy for search ads, social media, emails, and podcast commercials.

Your website will also need copy for its homepage, product pages, FAQ pages, and other content.

And for those looking to run a content marketing campaign, some copywriters specialize in press releases, online videos, white papers, and online seminars.

If you need sales text done, you will need to hire the services of a copywriter or become one yourself.

BONUS: The World’s First Full-Time Copywriter

Now, for sticking with me this long, you get a bonus fact.

John Emory Power became the very first recognized full-time copywriter in May of 1880.

According to Wikipedia, Powers began writing ads for Lord & Taylor as a part-time job in the 1870s. Then he moved to Philadelphia for his first full-time role as a copywriter for John Wanamaker’s Grand Depot. But due to his personality, Powers was not able to keep his job for long and became a freelancer in 1886.

While working for Wanamaker, Powers wrote six ads a week for about nine months. From there, he settled on a style that featured colloquial English, short sentences, and basic Roman type without italics instead of hyperbolic display styles.

During Powers’ tenure at Grand Depot, the Wanamaker’s revenues doubled from 4 million to 8 million dollars.

If you think someone will find this article helpful or entertaining, feel free to share it out. And if you wish to learn more about copywriting and marketing, then subscribe to this website to get notifications of added content as soon as they come out.

Thank You for Your Time

If you need help producing copy for upcoming marketing and advertising campaigns, click the button below and fill out my copywriting order form. I’ll then contact you and produce your copy as soon as possible.

Until we meet again,

Juan Israel Ortiz
Financial Services Copywriter

PS. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and share other copywriting facts you know that should’ve made this list.