5 common mistakes new copywriters make
With love from a real, working copywriter who wants to save you time (and tears)
Becoming a copywriter is HARD.
Suddenly, we’re not allowed to write like our English teachers taught us.
Formal language is out. Concise, short sentences are in.
There are people on the internet boasting about the almost unbelievable money they’ve made writing copy from their laptops in Bali, and “here’s how you can do it, too!”
There are millions of resources flying around the internet and no way to check if the people offering them are legit.
Where do you even start?!
Save some time and sharpen your copy skills today by avoiding these problematic mistakes below.
Why trust ME? I write copy for some of the world’s biggest brands every day. I’ve worked in-house and as a freelancer. And I’ve made all these mistakes along the way and learned from them.
(Still don’t trust me? Okay, detective. If you ask nicely, I’ll send you my portfolio.)
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Let’s get into it.
1. Listing Features Instead of Stuffing with Benefits
- Mistake: Listing product features instead of highlighting the benefits the customer can enjoy
- Why It’s a Problem: Customers want to know how the product will directly improve their lives, their day, their work, their appearance, their skills, or their time! While features simply tell what the product has, benefits speak directly to their needs and deepest desires. Features convey what the product has, benefits convey how life improves with the product.
2. Using Vague or Generic (ehem… boring) Language
- Mistake: Relying on buzzwords, clichés, or vague descriptions.
- Why It’s a Problem: Vague words make copy feel boring. Buzzwords make copy appear less credible. Clichés make copy feel like you didn’t do the work. Copy becomes much more engaging, persuasive, and memorable when it’s written with specific, clear, and vivid language.
Tip: Put down the thesaurus and do some internet surfing to find out how brands in similar industries are talking about similar products. Example → a lipstick probably doesn’t “glow” but it might “shade,” “accentuate,” or “define.”
3. Ignoring the Target Audience
- Mistake: Writing copy that’s too broad, vague, or not tailored to the specific audience.
- Why It’s a Problem: Effective product copy speaks directly to the target customer’s needs, pain points, and desires. If it’s too generic, it won’t resonate with the right people and they won’t bother with your product.
Tip: To find the pain points, think about what problems the target audience is facing and how the product solves them.
4. NOT Proofreading
- Mistake: Skipping the final review or failing to proofread properly.
- Why It’s a Problem: Let me give it to you straight. Typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing makes copy look unprofessional. It might mean the difference between you being hired again or deleted from the books. If a client catches it, they’ll be less likely to trust you in the future. Check for typos, double spaces, verb agreements, punctuation, paragraphs, spelling, you name it. We’re aiming for better-than-Grammarly.
5. Following advice from get-rich-quick gurus
- Mistake: Wasting time following tips from internet gurus barking about 10K months.
- Why It’s a Problem: Instead of teaching proper methods to write effective copy, a lot of these copy ‘creators’ are spouting tips and churning out ‘courses’ with no proper portfolio in sight. I’m not telling you who to learn from…but check if they actually have any copywriting experience or if they’re simply making money from selling you stuff.
Start avoiding these mistakes today and you’ll be on your way to kickstarting your copy career.
Got a question? Ask anytime.
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