088 Three Ways Writers Must Adjust in a World Dominated by Social Media

Demian Farnworth on August 11, 2015

So the job of the online copywriter is to attract attention, stoke interest, create desire, and incite action. AIDA.

Attracting attention used to be mainly concerned with stopping the reader dead in his tracks. A good headline will do that.

Before the web — in the world of print — advertisers bought space in magazines and newspapers. Naturally, promoting an ad in spaces with high volumes of traffic would increase the number of times eyeballs saw the ad.

This meant the front page, back page, inside front and so on.

In the early days of the web, the sales letter was static. It sat on a page off of your website. You drove people to it by banner ads and email. It was all about pulling people to your message.

Then along came social media and the meme. You don’t have to pull people to your idea any longer — if it is good, people will spread it for you.

And in this wake, the online copywriter must adjust.

In this 8-minute episode I discuss:

  • The oldest copywriting formula in the world
  • How the Subservient Chicken became an internet sensation
  • Whether social media ideas actually lead to sales
  • Why the 4 Us headline formula is not enough anymore
  • What you need to remember about testing

The Show Notes

3 Ways Writers Must Adjust in a World Dominated by Social Media

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Demian Farnworth: Howdy, and you are listening to Rough Draft, your daily dose of essential web writing advice. I am Demian Farnworth, the Chief Content Writer for Copyblogger Media. I also happen to be the host of this show.

Thank you for listening.

So let’s review where we are right now. Yesterday we looked at how social media has changed online content. Notably how we write headlines.

And I’ve addressed this in another episode, but it’s important to point out that you can’t just write a humdinger of a headline … you actually have to deliver. You actually have to create compelling content.

That’s where copywriting comes in.

The Oldest Copywriting Formula in the World

So the job of the online copywriter is to attract attention, stoke interest, create desire, and incite action.

AIDA.

Attracting attention used to be concerned with stopping the reader dead in his tracks. A good headline will do that.

Before the web — in the world of print — advertisers bought space in magazines and newspapers. Naturally, promoting an ad in spaces with high volumes of traffic would increase the number of times eyeballs saw the ad.

This meant the front page, back page, inside front and so on.

In the early days of the web the sales letter was static. It sat on a page off of your website. You drove people to it by banner ads and email. It was all about pulling people to your message.

Then along came social media and the meme. You don’t have to pull people to your idea any longer — if it is good, people will spread it for you.

Examples of Successful Viral Marketing Driven by Social Media

Eventually companies began to adopt the meme approach to promotion. Everyone remembers the Cadbury Gorilla, right? Gorilla rocks out to Phil Collins “In the air tonight” …

What about Burger King’s Subservient Chicken? Did some squats. Lift your legs. Grab your groin. He did what millions of people told him to do. Became an internet sensation.

Both examples of successful viral marketing — driven by social media.

More than likely you saw both of those promotions because you saw it in your Twitter or Facebook stream. Or someone emailed it to you. Or maybe you heard about them at the water cooler and then jumped on YouTube when you got back to your desk.

Whether Social Media Ideas Actually Lead to Sales

But are those promotions good closers? Did they results in more sales? Did they take that attention and turn gawkers into clients? This is where the online copywriter comes in.

Granted, very few ideas are going to turn people into customers on the first try. The complexity and price point of your product will determine the length of the sales cycle. Simple and inexpensive products will have short sales cycles. Complex and expensive products, much longer.

But a great web copywriter will know not only how to make ideas attractive — but how to make them shareable. Clear, concise, and compelling is not enough. Copy must now be meme worthy.

Skills That Copywriters Must Adopt

Let me close by sharing with you some skills that copywriters must adopt or modify if they want to compete in an online world dominated by social media.

Here are three:

  • Writing Social Media Ripe Headlines – Using the 4 Us is not enough. You need bizarre. Strange. Gawker and Buzzfeed style headlines. Business Insider and Atlantic Monthly. All online publishers who craft irresistible headlines. And of course Copyblogger.
  • Navigating All Social Media Platforms – Like you needed something else on your plate, but make yourself comfortable on platforms like StumbleUpon, Reddit, Pinterest — even if you are not a target user. Is your audience?
  • Testing Ideas Endlessly – Reddit is a great place to share content and test headlines in the process. Toy with different ways of sharing a headline on Twitter to see which wording gets the most click-throughs and shares.

Now it’s your turn: Can you think of any other relevant skills web writers need to adopt in this new world social media order? And where is my argument off? Am I making needless distinctions?

Let me know on Twitter or in the comments on the blog. And until next time, take care.