Your Copy is Eroding
It’s time to rebuild.
Scenario 1:
It’s 3 years later, and you haven’t touched the copy on your site. Boring at best, cryptic at worst — you think this is why you’re seeing such a heavy drop in returning users. And, you’re probably right.
Scenario 2:
It’s 6 months after launch. You haven’t been sitting around, no. You’ve enabled 3 or 4 team members to make edits in the CMS (content management system) week-by-week. They’ve been improving the message and pathways, adding as they see fit, making the experience better for a user — or so you think.
If either scenario applies, your copy is eroding, and you should keep reading. Otherwise, feel free to back out. (this is a safe space.)
So now that we’ve determined the problem, where do we go from here? First things first, remember your copy’s original foundation.
Refer back to your brand guidelines.
The brand guide is your baseline. Copywriting for a brand is not subjective, not your personal voice, not whatever you decide each week. It’s uniform and consistent, guiding your audiences through the audience life cycle. Want more engagement on site, more purchases, new audience members, higher return? You got it — with clear messaging as your foundation.
And clear messaging starts with brand guidelines. Don’t have guidelines? You can draft them with your internal team in 1–2 days. See how in a previous post.
Next, you’ll want to enable a master editor.
The master editor has the final say with copy, not because they’re most experienced, but because they’re most familiar with the brand guide. The master editor leads helpful discourse on copy and direction of the brand with other members of the team.
With anything that’s published, it’s up to the master editor to steer the conversation. For example, they might ask, “Do you think this expression is too playful for email?” “How do you suggest we make this call-to-action more direct?” “Do you think there’s a simpler way to phrase this?”
Focus on the “small” interactions.
Your brand isn’t just mission and vision. Your brand is the sum of each detail your audience experiences — on the site, on social media, in the email confirmation, in the checkout, on the form submission. Take the time to adjust the small interactions. The smallest letter, or a shift from “for” to “by” can shine to reflect for your brand.
A negative interaction won’t (necessarily) lose a customer, but a positive, tailored interaction may gain a customer. A great example of “small” details from Spotify: https://twitter.com/tinywordsmatter
(Honestly that whole twitter feed is chock-full of goodies.)
Opt for simplicity.
I won’t say always, but 99.9999999% of the time, an edit should bring simpler words and shorter length. If it takes a lot to explain your idea, it could be that the idea itself needs work.
Note, this section is shorter than the others. ;)
Ask your audience what they want.
Luckily for us, rebuilding the foundation isn’t up to us. It’s up to our audience… given, we give them ample opportunity to express feedback in a healthy way.
Want to gauge chops of your copy (or anything, really)? Try sending a 3-question survey via email, use a poll on Instagram (like a straw vote), or ask questions directly on your site via HotJar.
At this point in the game, if you’re not asking users what they want, you’re either too confident, or too lazy. Don’t settle for either. And hint: try to trade an incentive for feedback (10% off, free pair of socks, etc.)
Finally, as you rebuild the foundation, don’t hold copy too closely.
The reason you’re reading this article is the same reason to treat your copy with open palms. The internet is always evolving.
Be willing to experiment. And likely, 2 months from now you’ll adjust your tactic anyways. Ask yourself, “Does this edit help me meet the goal?” “Is it simple and clear?” Past that, don’t over-think it.
Or, let your new master editor over-think it for you.
