Six Ways Your Creativity Can Turbocharge Your Copywriting

By Michele Pariza Wacek

1. A different voice will set you apart. In a cyber-world filled with more than 16 million Web sites, one of the most effective ways to make yourself stand out is through words. If you have a different or unique way of stringing words together, you WILL stand out from the crowd. And isn't that what you're trying to do?
   
   There's a lot of talk about "voice" in writing circles. It's one of those things that's easy to recognize and tough to teach. However, I CAN tell you that the more in touch you are with your creativity, the easier it will be to develop a unique voice.
   
   
2. Putting your personality in your writing is worth its weight in gold. Even more than a different voice, work on allowing your personality to shine through your writing. If people like your writing style or voice, chances are, they'll like you. And if they like you, they'll probably become your customers (or they may tell other people about you, and those people may become your customers). Again, your creativity is your best friend here. Let it help you.
   
   
3. A picture is worth a thousand words (even if you use words to paint the picture). If you can describe your products or services in such a way that it forms images in your customers' heads, well, then you've just created something that will last long after the marketing is over.
   
   Words are powerful. Why else do novels stay with us for so long? Those "pictures" we see draw us into the world of the novel, and those pictures stay with us long after we've closed the book. If you can create that kind of staying power with your marketing materials, think about how much ahead of your competition you'll be.
   
   Painting pictures requires more than just creativity. But it's a good start. Try thinking about different ways you can describe your products and services so they're more likely to stay with your customers.
   
   
4. Create an experience your customers won't forget. Like painting pictures, you can also create an entire experience using words. Again, the more "real" your marketing materials are to your target market, the more your business will stay with your customers.
   
   A big push with branding has been creating an experience. Starbucks has done it. So has Nike. Both of them have created their "brand experience" using more than words, but words are certainly one of the cheapest ways you can do it. Think of using your senses when you do this — how does your product smell? Taste? Feel? (Creativity definitely helps here.) What will your customers experience when they use your products or services? What experience do you want them to have? How can you extend that experience to your marketing materials so they get a "taste" of what your products or services will give them?
   
   
5. Approach your marketing materials from a different angle. One of the reasons creative people are creative is they're able to look at ideas differently from other people. And, the last thing you want is your marketing materials to sound like everyone else's. Let your creativity help you create a new, fresh angle for your marketing materials.
   
   
6. Connect with your target market. How do you make a sale? You connect emotionally with your target market. How do you do that? By putting yourself in their shoes. You show them how your products or services are something they need and want. And they feel like you understand them. Again, your creativity can help you here. It can help you envision your target market while you write to them, choosing the words and phrases that will speak directly to them, and helping you empathize with them.

The bottom line? No matter where you are on the creativity scale, your attempts at creativity won't hurt your copywriting (no matter how "bad" you think you are). But if you don't at least try to be creative, you're definitely never going to stand out from the crowd. And, chances are, being creative will only enhance your copywriting — probably in new and unexpected ways.

That's the beauty of creativity — you never know when or how it will step through the door, bringing with it the all the energy and excitement of new adventures. •

Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek.

About the Author | More by Michele Pariza Wacek
Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at www.writingusa.com.

07/10/05