The Brief Encounter - Should a Copywriter Appeal to the Taste of the Client or Their Customer"s?
Interpreting the client brief is a vital stage in the copywriting process.
Whilst some clients are quite happy to sit back and let the copywriter take care of their digital content, others are quite specific about what they want which can sometimes prove problematic as their taste can differ greatly to that of their target audience.
When a client states that they want their content to be formal, friendly or punchy, the copywriter needs to make sure that theirinterpretation of these terms matches that of the client.
In order to understand just what they mean when they say 'friendly'we can start off by asking them to show us some examples of web copy that they think best fits this description.
To make sure we are on the same wave length, we can look closely at their choice of words when they are discussing the project.
According to NLP (neurological programming) every person has a primary system of representation and is usually one fromthese four categories: visual, auditive, kinesthetic and neutral.
Analyzing my own written and verbal communication, my primary representational system is closest to the Neutral one.
Working on a project early on in my copywriting career, I came to realize how important it is to be attentive to the client's representational system and their stylistic preferences.
I was asked to write a short artist's bio and a description of one of the paintings which would appear on a gallery website.
As any keen copywriter, I set about the task by carefully reading the brief and any additional info about the artist and his work, that I could find.
When the client got back to me with the feedback for the first draft, she picked out some words that she wanted changed, and one of the phrases that did not appeal to her was 'the artist produced a number of paintings...
' The word 'produced', according to the client, sounded too mechanical and should be replaced with 'created'.
I noticed that the existing copy on the website included some quite flowery phrases which was obviously in line with the site owner's personal taste but was also meant to appeal to the site's target audience, amateur art collectors.
In this instance, the best thing was to go with the client's preferences as they knew what would work with their customers.
However, in some cases, the client's taste could be completely different to that of their customers.
The question then is, should thecopywriter concentrate on the target audience who will be reading the content, or the style of the client? I would personally argue that the copywriter should always try and focus on the readers, their interests and reading habits.
If a company doesn't have a style guide, the copywriter can offer advice to the client when it comes to tone of voice and style of writing.
Copywriting is inherently tied in with marketing, as the job of the copywriter is to promote and market the client's products andservices.
Sometimes the client is too engrossed in their business and may not be thinking about their target group so the copywriter needs to put on their marketing hat and offer relevant tips and advice that would be of benefit to their client.
Whilst some clients are quite happy to sit back and let the copywriter take care of their digital content, others are quite specific about what they want which can sometimes prove problematic as their taste can differ greatly to that of their target audience.
When a client states that they want their content to be formal, friendly or punchy, the copywriter needs to make sure that theirinterpretation of these terms matches that of the client.
In order to understand just what they mean when they say 'friendly'we can start off by asking them to show us some examples of web copy that they think best fits this description.
To make sure we are on the same wave length, we can look closely at their choice of words when they are discussing the project.
According to NLP (neurological programming) every person has a primary system of representation and is usually one fromthese four categories: visual, auditive, kinesthetic and neutral.
Analyzing my own written and verbal communication, my primary representational system is closest to the Neutral one.
Working on a project early on in my copywriting career, I came to realize how important it is to be attentive to the client's representational system and their stylistic preferences.
I was asked to write a short artist's bio and a description of one of the paintings which would appear on a gallery website.
As any keen copywriter, I set about the task by carefully reading the brief and any additional info about the artist and his work, that I could find.
When the client got back to me with the feedback for the first draft, she picked out some words that she wanted changed, and one of the phrases that did not appeal to her was 'the artist produced a number of paintings...
' The word 'produced', according to the client, sounded too mechanical and should be replaced with 'created'.
I noticed that the existing copy on the website included some quite flowery phrases which was obviously in line with the site owner's personal taste but was also meant to appeal to the site's target audience, amateur art collectors.
In this instance, the best thing was to go with the client's preferences as they knew what would work with their customers.
However, in some cases, the client's taste could be completely different to that of their customers.
The question then is, should thecopywriter concentrate on the target audience who will be reading the content, or the style of the client? I would personally argue that the copywriter should always try and focus on the readers, their interests and reading habits.
If a company doesn't have a style guide, the copywriter can offer advice to the client when it comes to tone of voice and style of writing.
Copywriting is inherently tied in with marketing, as the job of the copywriter is to promote and market the client's products andservices.
Sometimes the client is too engrossed in their business and may not be thinking about their target group so the copywriter needs to put on their marketing hat and offer relevant tips and advice that would be of benefit to their client.
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