Copy is not writing

Copywriting is not creative writing with a product attached. It is a sales conversation, written down, with one job: getting a specific person to take a specific action.

That changes the standard. Good copy is not the copy you enjoyed writing. It is the copy that produced more orders, and you find that out by measuring rather than by admiring.

Know who you are writing to, specifically. Not "our customers" but one person: a shop owner in Faisalabad who is tired of reconciling accounts by hand, or a mother buying a school bag who cares about the strap breaking. Write to that one person and everybody like them recognises themselves. Write to everybody and nobody does.

Write about them, not about you. Count the occurrences of "we" and "our" against "you" and "your". Most business copy is about the company, and the reader is not interested in your journey, your passion or your commitment to excellence.

Features describe the product. Benefits describe the reader's life. "10,000 mAh battery" is a feature. "Charges your phone three times, so a day of load shedding does not leave you disconnected" is a benefit. Say both, benefit first.

Be specific. "High quality" means nothing because every competitor also says it. "Stitched twice at every seam, so the strap does not tear" means something.

Say it plainly. Clever wordplay that needs a second read has already lost.