Strategic copywriting is the art and practice of helping you better position your expertise and clearly explain what you do, so you can stand out in your space and win the work you want.
An expert in this field will ensure your positioning and messaging is memorable, meaningful and fully aligned, in a way that works for you, your business and your ideal clients too.
But what does a strategic copywriter actually do? How do you know when you need a helping hand? What’s the value of strategic copywriting and what does working with a specialist bring to your business?
Let’s take a closer look…
Making your words work harder
First things first, strategic copywriting is about so much more than just the words.
Rooted in outcomes rather than outputs, it’s actually more about thinking than writing. Although the two are naturally inextricably linked.
As the name implies, strategic copywriting is based on an in-depth understanding and compounding implementation of your broader business strategy. It’s deliberately thoughtful, intentionally structured.
A strategic copywriter has the ability to make your words work harder for you, on multiple levels.
The simple premise is that every piece of writing should be doing a job to help move your business forward in some way. So it goes beyond what you want to simply say in any individual piece of copy.
A strategic copywriter will also consider why you’re writing it in the first place, exactly who you’re speaking to and how you’re speaking to them. They’ll be determining how to use your positioning to differentiate your business within the competitive landscape and why conveying your key messages in one way is more compelling than another for this piece of writing.
At the same time, they’ll also be thinking about where in the customer journey your reader is, when they might be consuming your copy, what their likely mindset is, what you want them to remember from this particular interaction and what the clear next step is that you’d like to invite them to take. Not forgetting how that all comes together to help you move closer towards achieving your business objectives.
It’s a lot. And it’s all interlinked.
Sometimes, you’ll be part of that upfront thinking, consideration, evaluation and appraisal process, and be able to see the cogs whirring well before anyone reaches for the keyboard.
At other times, it’s an innate approach that happens almost on autopilot as the strategic copywriter’s sponge-like brain constantly loops around, sifting through the multiple layers and different dimensions of information it’s been exposed to (both over time and within your active brief) to determine the right solution and right angle for the job at hand. Often all while you think they’re ‘just writing’.
But that’s the thing: they’re never ‘just writing’. Because that’s almost the public-facing byproduct.
Deep thinking and meaningful messaging
For a strategic copywriter, the words that appear on a screen or page are the final part of the process.
The words that you and others see are simply the tip of the iceberg. It’s the deep thinking, evaluation of different options and intentional messaging alignment that sits behind that – the bulk of the iceberg – that makes the biggest difference to how you and your business sound and feel to your ideal clients.
That transformation comes through a carefully calibrated and always-evolving combination of your positioning, your messaging, your confidence in writing with personality and impact, and your ability to present engaging information and relevant offers in a consistently purposeful way.
Spending some time pondering the true value of what you do is a great starting point.
Underneath all the thinking, interpreting, exploring and re-imagining that goes into helping a founder, consultant or other bold business owner better position their expertise, and create stronger messaging that connects and attracts their ideal clients, I’m always considering one key question: What is it that ultimately delivers the biggest difference for them?
It’s subjective, of course, depending on their specific situation and challenge. But there’s usually a common (albeit frequently deep underlying) thread.
Joining these dots in a memorable and meaningful way is the ultimate value of strategic copywriting.
Why does strategic copywriting and messaging matter?
It’s important to make the time and effort to get under the skin of your own business (although it’s notoriously difficult to do on your own). Because that gives you strong foundations for future success.
If you skip the investment in thinking about how you’re using your words and language, exploring different options and determining the right approach for the direction you actually want to take your business in, you’ll find yourself at an immediate disadvantage. And that’s typically when everything starts to feel a bit woolly and underwhelming when you try to explain who you help and what you do.
Without the in-depth insights and emotional connections that strategic copywriting brings to your business, your writing risks becoming skimmable, surface-level content. Seemingly randomly generated pieces of copy, without a clear, continuous and compelling thread. The sort of copy that looks okay at first glance, but actually lacks the substance and consistency of messaging to reallyresonate with readers and move them to reach out to you.
That impact and consistency in your messaging is a key component of strategic copywriting. Both in terms of what you say (or write) and what your audience hears (and remembers).
Carefully crafted, your cornerstone messages will neatly and succinctly capture your ideal client’s attention while also subtly positioning your expertise in their mind. At the same time as conveying the most important aspects of what you do and what you want to become known for.
Your messaging is central to your business success. It can make or break you. So investing in some level of specialist support is a smart decision that’s likely to pay for itself time and time again.
How does this all work in practice?
Here’s a scenario I come across all the time in the business and networking circles of founders, consultants and other bold business owners I find myself in.
You’re brilliant at what you do. And you know that. Your clients tell you all the time.
But you clam up / flail around / sound excruciatingly vague every time someone asks what you do. [delete as appropriate]
Why can’t you neatly explain your expertise, and easily express the value you deliver to others?
You’re a smart human being. Shouldn’t you be able to simply work this stuff out and crack on?!
Hmmn, it’s not actually that easy… Especially when you’re trying to do it for your own business.
>> Maybe you’ve felt your cheeks flush as you falter and fluff up your networking introduction?
>> Perhaps you’re well aware your LinkedIn profile doesn’t sounds as impressive as it could?
>> How many times have you tried to tweak your website copy to create the impact you crave?
If any (or all!) of those thoughts and self-doubts sound familiar, you’re certainly not alone.
Frustrating, isn’t it? (I know. I’ve been there too.)
Rest assured, however, that while it might be putting you in a weaker position for the time being, it’s not a reflection on the potential of your business (or your proficiency as a business owner).
It’s a positioning and messaging problem. And it’s exactly what strategic copywriting will help to solve.
Take a moment to imagine how things could look and feel…
>> What difference would it make if you could easily explain the value you offer through your work?
>> How much easier would your writing feel if it perfectly reflected both your own personality and the potential results you know can deliver for your clients?
>> What impact would consistent expressions of interest and smoother sales have on your income?
>> Wouldn’t it be good to finally feel confident in what you’re telling the world? So you can simply focus on being brilliant – and stop faffing around with your marketing messages month after month?
What can a strategic copywriter help with?
Reaching out to request even an initial level of support is likely to make a substantial difference to the way you feel about your business (and probably about yourself too).
Not to mention the people who matter most to you. Think of all those ideal clients and perfect referral partners out there, potentially simply all waiting for the clarity and confidence to reach out…
A strategic copywriter can help you blend aspects of your own personality with your unique approach to what you do to create stronger messaging that makes you fall in love with your business all over again. And all in a way that positions you as the obvious choice in the heads and hearts of others.
Sometimes, it’s small things that make a massive difference to the way your business comes across. At other times, it takes shape in the form of a more significant, maybe even dramatically different positioning (and then the aligned messaging that flows from that).
However it comes together, and however long it takes to come together – sometimes an hour or so, sometimes several days – the important thing is that it will feel right. For you, for your business and for your ideal clients too.
Think back to a recent networking or industry event you attended. Chances are that you came across someone who introduced themselves in a way that was deeply unhelpful to both of you…
Let’s recreate this scenario and call this perfectly lovely, yet equally baffling, business owner Sarah.
Ask Sarah what she does, and she’ll tell you: “I’m a workflow and operational development specialist.”
Er… okay.
Perhaps it sounds impressive. Perhaps it simply leaves you perplexed. (And blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear the fuzz.)
Either way, it she’d have said something more along the lines of “I help founders stop being the bottleneck in their business, trust other team members and finally take a holiday without everything falling apart”, it would feel far more meaningful, wouldn’t it?
Same woman. Same expertise. But one approach gets a polite nod, while the other creates instant impact and prompts an exclamation of: “That’s exactly what I want!”
Here are three other simple examples taken from real-life positioning and brand messaging strategy (and subsequent website copy) projects I helped clients with:
Before: Dyslexia expert working with children and their parents since 2009
After: Making “magic” happen for dyslexic readers and spellers
(Case study here)
Before: Welcome to an award-winning interior design studio
After: Discover a distinctly different approach to interior design
(Case study here)
Before: Legal training and compliance support for firms and busy conveyancers
After: The practical expertise and insight you need to succeed in conveyancing and property law
Which version of the way each business presents itself would you be inspired to engage with? Which are you more likely to remember, or perhaps to refer?
The difference between what you know or do and what your ideal clients need to hear is everything.
Standard copywriting vs strategic copywriting: what’s the difference?
So, what’s the fundamental difference between regular copywriting and strategic copywriting?
Let’s cover off this common query while we’re here.
Any good copywriter can react to a brief to help you create content that makes you sound impressive. They’ll write words for everything from your website and sales pages to social posts and video scripts. Their words will be engaging, easy to read and persuasive. But it’s a ‘tip of the iceberg’ creative task.
A properly integrated strategic and creative process starts way upstream…
Working with a strategic copywriter ensures you’re investing in intentionally thoughtful, broader business positioning and aligned content creation. Strategic copywriting results in the consistently strong messaging that’s underpinning everything, and that’s going to connect with and attract your ideal clients on all levels. To tangibly help move your business forward.
As I stated right at the top of this article, it’s less about the writing and more about the thinking. (And then some writing.)
Consider it this way: Regular copywriting is typically a tactical, executional activity. In contrast, and by its very nature, strategic copywriting takes a bigger-picture approach to integrate purpose-driven messaging and positioning within any writing, while also helping to shape the overall direction of the business itself.
This positioning and messaging piece is what really fires me up.
Multiple cogs start whirring in my brain within minutes of starting to speak to a business owner. Whatever their challenge or field of expertise, I’ll be trying out different positioning lines and tones of voice in my head, as we speak – perhaps even on an initial discovery call.
As a brand positioning and messaging strategist, I help you and your business stand for (and become known for) something distinct. And then convey that core idea in a consistent way across every piece of writing – from your positioning to your LinkedIn profile, your website, blog articles, sales pages, social posts, your networking introductions, webinars, workshops, talks and podcast guest appearances.
Of course, the words I write are good (and good for your business) too. But it’s the deeper thinking and the joining of dots that you yourself may not even be able to see that makes the biggest difference to the way you talk about your business – and, importantly, to the way others perceive it.
Ideas, insights, inspiration – and rich experience
Strategic copywriting is a specialist discipline spanning many different skills, usually honed through years of experience. For me, though, it’s ultimately all about helping you find your voice, create stronger messaging and stand out in your space – so you can win more of the work you love to do.
Underpinning that is my ability to explore and identify opportunities to use words, language and elements of your own personality to help you connect with and attract the right people for you, in a way that’s also going to help you achieve your business ambitions. Whether you’re looking for help to hit short-term goals or to build longer term momentum.
With a 23-year track record in strategic copywriting, this is something that’s always come naturally to me. It’s a discipline that blends parts of my business degree with psychology, my inherent curiosity and creativity, and the commercial acumen that comes from forging an entire career in copywriting and being a business owner myself – all in a way that perfectly suits my particular brand of brain.
Here’s how leadership coach Debs summed up the experience of working with me:
“The work we did together was always about so much more than simply the words. The sessions with you were so rich, and I got so much out of them. You really helped me hone the language I use and bring it to life with a deeply human touch. And that, in turn, drives everything else I do in my marketing and in my business generally.
“Working with you was so much more than simply a copywriting service. It was a means to explore the purpose of my business and how I communicated that to the world. I was feeling very vulnerable about my offer but feel incredibly confident about it now – the difference you made is incredible.”
This is the value that a strategic copywriter brings to the table.
It’s effectively about building the solid foundations for your business, from which all subsequent words will flow.
And once you have strong cornerstone messages in place, they’ll inform all your marketing activity –ensuring you never have to start from a blank page ever again. 🙌
One final point (and a frequently asked question): Can I just rely on AI to do this for me?
In a word: No.
In a slightly longer sentence: I really don’t recommend that.
There’s no denying that staggeringly rapidly developing AI tools are enabling businesses of all sizes to quickly and easily produce all sorts of (usually pretty bland) content that ticks basic boxes.
But clear positioning and effective messaging that blends the value of your specific expertise with elements of your own personality is different. It’s what really sets your business apart in the eyes of your ideal clients. It requires a different skillset.
And from my perspective, it’s a skill that requires emotional intelligence and human judgement.
Intrigued? You can learn more about that here:
Trust in a more human way of connecting with your audience
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If you enjoyed this, you might also like:
> How to write when you don’t feel like it
> How do you nurture ‘Know, Like, Trust’?
> Are your words working hard for you?
