5 Copywriting Exercises That Make You a Marketing Ninja

Copywriting exercises do more than make your brain synapses fire with good, creative ideas—they make the whole marketing process easier and more effective.

That’s why we’ve developed 5 copywriting exercises that help you get the most response and create the highest conversions on sales letters, web pages, and marketing emails. Think of it as a litmus test to measure the power of your marketing copy.

To tap in to your prospects’ big needs, print out these 5 exercises, and use them as a checklist for your next copywriting project. When you do, you’ll become an automatic marketing ninja.

Show prospects your moves with these 5 copywriting exercises.

1. Take the No-Nonsense Approach with Headlines

Even though you offer a valuable service or product that’s worth learning about in-depth, your marketing must still move quickly. That means, you’ve got to get to the point fast, or you risk losing your prospect.

Respect your prospects’ time, and get to the heart of the message early. There’s no better place than the introductory headline to lay your offer out on the table.

Let’s pretend you work as a love and relationships coach. You specialize in helping men understand their wives on a deeper emotional level.

You’ve got serious experience under your belt, so you’ve pinpointed your target market’s biggest pain point: they don’t understand their partner’s emotions.

For your first copywriting exercise, make certain that the headline speaks to your market’s biggest desire. A solid, desire-centric headline might look something like this:

Discover How You Have the Power to Give Her the Emotional Connection She Craves…without Being a Mind Reader.

With a headline that mixes desire, curiosity, and hope, you’ve got a magnificent recipe for headlines that don’t waste time.

2. Got Your Audience’s Attention? Show them the Problem.

Your headline gets them to read the first sentence of your copy. You’ve got them, now you need to keep them. Think of this in terms of a mix tape you’d give a friend. The opening song delivers the wow factor, but the second track keeps them tapping their foot.

Now that you’ve got the desire-centric headline nailed, illuminate the pain factors that stop your prospects from achieving their goals. Try something like this:

You promised yourself you’d never fall in that relationship rut you’ve seen happen to other couples. You two would never become them. It doesn’t matter how the emotions, passion, and communication got cut off…what matters is how you’ll reignite the flame.

But you don’t know how. Not yet.

This shows the reader that you understand what’s happening. The real pain is that they have a desire that they don’t know how to fulfill.

3. Put Your Solution in Action

Once you get to this point, you’ve already identified the what. Now’s the time to reveal the how (but don’t spill all the beans just yet).

Why can’t you explain everything? Because without curiosity to drive your prospects forward, they may not make it to the buy button.

Try sentences that add new pieces to the puzzle, but don’t overdo it. Your solution in action should look something like this:

No expensive couples therapy. No repetitive “get to know you” talk you went through when you first dated. It only takes 30 minutes to see exactly what your partner needs from you, so that you can harness the deep emotional connection she wants, but you can’t find.

This sample copy reveals information about the service, but it doesn’t remove value by showing the reader everything.

4. Project the Results

To put it simply, write about their dreams in a realistic scenario. When you project the results, readers will visualize themselves basking in the glory.

We suggest a little second-person storytelling to do the trick. Something such as this will really pull the audience in to your message:

Imagine no more pesky arguments. Imagine that the two of you come home at 5:00 o’clock, and she collapses in to your arms. She’s thought of you all day. She couldn’t wait to see you.

Imagine that you’ll never be that boring married couple. She’ll ask you to take her on new adventures. She’ll ask you what you want, you’ll tell her, and she’ll give it to you.

Next thing you know, the two of you are planning European vacations; you’re going boating on the weekends; you’re talking about things other than work and the kids.

If you think this “perfect relationship” is far-fetched, you’re only a few clicks away from creating the romantic life you want.

5. There’s a Dark Side. Be Honest About It.

Our copywriting team never advocates selling through fear. To use the most professional language possible, playing on fear is simply an icky practice.

On the other hand, it is highly important that you present yourself in an authentic, honest way.

In other words, it’s paramount that you show prospects what your products and services save them from. Divorce? Therapy bills? Alimony payments? A broken heart?

It doesn’t matter what the risks are, it’s crucial to be up front with people. Show them what you prevent with copy such as this:

Imagine if you just accept the situation as it is now.

Your marriage continues to sour. The fun you used to have together becomes a memory. But you don’t have to give up.

Take action now to avoid the life you don’t want. Take action now to create the life you’ve always dreamed about.

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