The Fintech Copywriting Playbook
This post will share a few simple tips for creating engaging and effective copy.
This isn’t a detailed guide and doesn’t include all the ins and outs of copywriting. It’s more of a playbook you can quickly reference when constructing your copy for landing pages, sales pages, emails, and more!
Of course, I’m always here to help. Just get in touch here.
It all begins with research
Copywriting begins well before you ever write your first word.
Knowing your audience is critical.
The more time you invest in research, the easier it will be to create the right copy that achieves your desired outcomes.
Your research should focus on gaining an intimate understanding of your customer’s pain points, fears, challenges, goals, wants, behaviours, etc.
Once you’ve completed your research, you’ll need to compile all the data you’ve collected and build a buyer persona that represents your ideal customer.
While you’ll want to make your persona as detailed as possible, this persona generating tool from Hubspot is a great place to start.
Remember to focus on ONE persona
Now that you’ve got your persona/s sorted, it’s time to start writing. You may feel the urge to write copy for multiple personas or everyone.
Don’t make this mistake.
Stay focused on one particular persona and develop copy that speaks directly to them. If you start getting all fancy and trying to write for everyone, you’ll end up appealing to no one.
The headline
Writing a great headline is extremely important. Most marketers spend far too little time on them.
If your headline is bad, your audience won’t continue reading, which means the rest of your copy won’t get read, and you’ll have NO chance of making a sale.
Don’t be fooled by the fact headlines are just a few words long. Headlines take time and often require a massive effort. You’ll need to develop several variations and improve with each iteration because nobody comes up with a great headline on their first try - no matter how experienced they are.
Your headline has just one goal; to convince your audience to continue reading. That’s it.
It does not sell your product or service.
Your headline will need to be specific, intriguing, and make a compelling proposition to achieve this goal.
Body text
The body text you create depends on your research. This is where you'll put your intimate understanding of your customer's pain points, fears, challenges, goals, wants, and needs to work.
If you did your persona research thoroughly, you should have a clear picture of how your product or service addresses your customers' most pressing challenges, pain points, etc.
Forget about features.
Your audience wants to know about the benefits!! What can you do for them? How are you making their life easier?
In general, your copy should be:
Conversational
Use simple language
Avoid passive voice
Be readable/scannable (nicely spaced)
Talk about benefits, not features
Avoid excessive use of adverbs, adjectives.
The structure of this section will vary but should generally look something like this or some variation.
Headline
Describe problem
Present your service as solution
Present benefits
Call to action
Testimonials
Call to action
The call-to-action (CTA)
The CTA is an essential part of your copy. It can be the difference between losing a potential customer and making a sale.
With the right call to action, you can get customers to take a specific action, such as sign up for a free trial, subscribe to a newsletter, or buy a service.
When creating the copy for your CTA, you should stay true to your brand voice, be specific, and clearly communicate the benefits. You should also use:
Urgency (e.g., time limit)
Strong action words
Clear/simple language