Copywriting Isn’t School Writing. But They Are More Alike Than You Think.

One of the fabulous – and frustrating – things about life is that there is always something more to learn, to practice, to get good at. Because almost everything changes, what doesn’t change is the need to learn something new.

We learn better and faster when we can connect something new to something we already know. 

I saw many shifts in my 20 years as a high school English teacher. One that stood out to me at the time, and still does now, is the shift in emphasis from persuasive writing to argument writing. I often added “academic” before argument to help my students distinguish what we were reading and writing in class from the popular notion of yelling and (possibly) fisticuffs.

I won’t go into details of what distinguishes argument from persuasive writing here. The short version is that persuasion relies more on emotion and a one-sided onslaught. On the other hand, argument writing requires more supporting explanations and some acknowledgment of the opposition’s view.

When I left the classroom and started studying copywriting, I was pleased to discover much of what know about writing still applies. The fundamentals of good writing haven’t changed, but the application and approach to these are certainly different.

Most people would say that copywriting has more in common with persuasive writing. And they might be right. But having studied both, I say that argument writing and copywriting have some important similarities. (And if any of my former students who worked on argument writing in class with me notice what I did there, let me know! You get extra credit.)

Here are some of the key similarities between copywriting and academic argument writing.

Listen Before Joining the Conversation

When I taught argument writing to my seniors, They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein became indispensable. (And a lot of what I’m drawing from here comes from this book.) Their introduction likens a piece of written argument to a conversation. You can’t just walk up to a group of people and start talking at them. You need to listen to figure out the topic, the feelings, and what has been said.

For my students, that meant research before writing to build background knowledge. What had other people said and written that they can draw information from and quote for more authority? What are the key viewpoints and supporting reasons? Students had to figure out where in the conversation their own thoughts and beliefs fit. 

As a copywriter, I also have to do research. This starts by talking to my clients. What are their overall goals? What do they want to accomplish with copywriting? Who is their ideal audience? It also involves researching the audience. What are their wants & needs? What are their pain points? 

This research strengthens copy by focusing on a purpose for the writing, helping to address objections, and highlighting benefits. It can also be used directly in the form of testimonials or case studies.

Know Your Audience

This is true for almost all types of writing. But it carries some extra weight in copywriting and argument. As I used to tell my students, you’ll want to use different pieces of information, tap into different emotions, and quote different authorities depending on your audience. Different groups of people will have different pain points, different desires, and different needs that should be addressed.

Students writing an argument about euthanasia found their approaches very different when their audience was lawmakers from when their audience was family members of the terminally ill.

And so with copywriting. Selling supplements to young, professional bodybuilders is quite different from selling them to active people in their 60s. Likewise, the approach to selling business coaching services to CEOs would be different than selling healthy living coaching to those with chronic pain.

State Why It Matters

So what? Who cares? You as the writer might know, but that doesn’t mean your audience does. 

Student writers often felt a connection to the topic they were writing about. They knew why it mattered to them. We had to work on getting them to explain who else their topic might matter to and why. A lot of that was connecting the dots, showing the similarities across experiences, and tapping into human nature. Knowing the audience mattered here too. Different people feel differently and care in different degrees about any one thing. Some audiences need more to show them why something does indeed affect them and they should care.

As a business or service provider, you know intimately the good things you have and their likely results. These are not always obvious to your potential clients. Often, your copy needs to tell people directly how they will benefit from your product or service and why it would be good for them, personally. Why should they care? They might be too busy to have really thought about it. Copy points it out to them and primes them with some reasons to care.

The Power of Quotations

The words of others carry influence and authority. You’ve heard of the power of word-of-mouth. For much of academic writing, that means citing sources when using the words of others. The exact mechanics of how these citations are done are carried out differently across disciplines. Quotations in student writing typically come from

• Experts on the topic

• People with direct experience

• Other researchers or writers

In copywriting, quotations are also powerful. This is the idea of word-of-mouth advertising taken to another degree. Testimonials are incredibly powerful in advertising and copy. Why? Social proof. While the reader might not actually know the person the quote is coming from, it seems more believable. “This is great! It helped me!” seems so much more personal with a name and picture attached to it than a statement from the brand saying “This is great! It will help you!”

Address the Skeptics and Naysayers

One of the key elements that distinguishes argument from persuasion is the necessity to address the opposition. In writing for class, students had to include at least some opposing viewpoints and reasons. Then they had to go on to address these, either by refuting them or making concessions. In other words, they had to explain why the other viewpoint was wrong, partly wrong, or right but overlooking more important ideas. This strengthened their own position by showing that they have considered the ideas of others.

This is known as objection busting in copywriting. It helps to think up all the possible reasons a potential customer might have to not buy. The most common objections are related to

• Time

• Money

• Ability

• Results  

Then address as many of those objections as possible in the copy. This might be done directly, “You might think you are too busy to do X, but our program is set up so that you only need 15 minutes three times a week.” Or it might be done indirectly through testimonials showing that people like you have the ability to do X. 

Copywriting Isn’t Like the Writing You Did in School. Or is it?

Most copywriters would agree with this statement. And for the most part, I would too. I would, however, say that many of the basic moves and structures you used for academic argument are incredibly useful in copywriting. These five things that I taught to my high school English students are also things that give vibrance and effectiveness to my copywriting.

• Listen before joining the conversation = research

• Know your audience

• Tell why it matters and who should care

• Quotations are powerful

• Address the skeptics