Persuasive Copywriting by Maslen, Andy -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables Interview with Steve Harrison Preface Acknowledgements How to use this book Introduction: How to write like an angel and sell like a demon Part One Copywriting in a 21st-century context: What now, where next?

01 Creativity: All shall win prizes or a genuinely marketable skill?

What is creativity? Preparation When should we apply creativity? Is creative copywriting a red herring? You’re a writer, so write! How to escape rigid thinking and be more creative (or not) 11 prejudices of copywriters The merits of rigidity Time to let go?

02 The right and the wrong way to judge copy

It all starts with the brief What to do when you have no brief/a bad brief How to respond to a brief How to ‘sell’ your ideas The curse of subjectivity

03 The impact of new channels: From mobile to social

What digital hasn’t changed … and what it has How copywriting for digital affects the humble paragraph What we write when we write social Five thoughts on what to look for when writing for new media channels Notes

04 Blood brothers or ugly sisters: How do copy and content fit together?

Who stole my cheese? Don’t tell physicists that gravity pulls things downwards Show me the money Measuring the value of content The emperor’s new clothes How to write compelling content How to get your content read SEO or no?

Part TWO Motivation versus reason: Tapping into your customer’s deepest drives

Introduction How to communicate your emotions What to do about ‘boring’ subjects Introducing the steady-state and target emotions Nineteen emotions and 100 words/phrases that trigger them The one emotion that rules them all Mapping the range of emotions How to communicate using emotional language From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

06 Three big ideas you should use for copy before highlighting the ‘benefits’

Introduction Using promises to engage the emotions The secret codeword that unlocks your reader’s emotions Why stories work – and how to tell them From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

07 A powerful process for developing customer empathy through copy

Introducing the five Ps of effective copywriting Building a customer persona Replicating the feel of a one-to-one conversation Forget copywriting and try healing instead The keyboard-free method of writing great copy From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

08 Copywriting hacks: Flattery will get you everywhere

Introduction Nobody falls for flattery… or do they? From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

09 The Ancient Greek secret of emotionally engaging copy

Introduction Three approaches, using ethos, pathos and logos From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

10 Copywriting and connecting on social media

Introduction Eight aspects of social media Ten rules for social media Where social media and content marketing meet Writing for mobile and social: The art of UBC From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

11 Creating calls to action: Top Tips to bring home the bacon

Introduction Twenty-six calls to action From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

Part THREE The pleasure principle: Making your writing more enjoyable and compelling

Introduction How to make your copy pleasurable to read Repetition reinforces your point Seven copywriting traps and how to avoid them From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

13 How to engage your imagination and free your creativity

Introduction First question: how do the ideas get ‘in there’ in the first place? Second question: how do we get the ideas ‘out of there’? A practical tool for generating ideas Another technique – word games And another – resonance One more – linguistic precision From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

14 Tone and technique in copy: Finding your voice (and that of others)

Introduction How to modify your tone of voice Five simple tools for getting tone of voice pitch-perfect From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

15 The definitive guide to when grammar matters in copywriting

Introduction Two views on the importance of grammar Are you a poet or a killer? From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

16 Injecting life into your sales pitch: An age-old method

Introduction Six places where drama works in copywriting How to do it in three easy steps When to use pictures instead of words Seven places where pictures add value to copy Three questions to ask yourself about images From theory to profit Workshop Putting it into action

Afterword: The XYZ of copywriting Glossary Further reading Workshop A note on the type Index Backcover