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A Beginner’s Guide to Copywriting: Common Challenges and Solutions

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A Beginner’s Guide to Copywriting: Common Challenges and Solutions

Not sure how to be a successful copywriter?

There is a lot of confusion about copywriting as it is usually compared with traditional content writing, but both are quite different.

Here’s a quick explanation of how copywriting is different from content writing:

Copywriting is a goal-oriented approach through which content is crafted. The purpose of copywriting is to entice readers to take action. This can be signing up for a subscription, paying for a premium package, or buying a service or a product.

This can also be referred to call-to-actions, email copies, social media ads/posts, and other content that encourage a reader to convert or make a purchase.


In the copywriting world, the words and phrases you use in your content copies would have a huge impact on whether you would be able to convince a user or not.

Contrary to traditional content writing, copywriting is precise and more effective. It requires a writer to have a lot of expertise in problem-solving. Note that copywriting would include many components such as features, benefits, pricing, and others organized to persuade a customer to take the intended action.

As a copywriter, you must communicate all these aspects of your copy in a valuable way to the readers.

Proven Copywriting Tips and Techniques for Beginners!

If you are new to the copywriting world, you need to understand that it can be a challenging career, and there is no way you can learn and master it overnight.

Still, for your help and guidance, in this section, we have condensed the most important, helpful, and actionable tips to help you create high-quality marketing material.

1. Know Your Target Audience

Your copy would be valuable and effective if written and directed at the right audience. To create personalized copies, you first need to find out who your target audience is and what they need. Expert copywriters call this process creating a buyer persona.

The buyer’s persona is the profile of your target customers. This profile would provide key information about the customer, including their age, occupation, financial status, wants, pain points, shopping habits, and brand preferences.

Having a clear idea of who you’re talking to will help you create copies that would be valuable for them. So, before planning your writing, it is best to research your intended audience.

2. Do Competitor Research Before Writing

Competitor research is very important for a copywriter. Before you write any content, you must spend time on extensive research. The easiest way to do competitor research is by searching your target keyword on Google and reviewing the posts that appear in the top searches.

This research and analysis will guide you on what content your readers value and are interested in. You can also learn about the type of content that isn’t very valuable.

When analyzing the different content copies, it is important to check their word count, whether they have visuals, type of tips/solutions they’re offering, and the format.

3. Keep Your Writing Simple & Digestible

As a copywriter, your job is to grab the attention of and engage your intended audience. To do this, you must ensure your content is highly digestible. A key difference between content writing and copywriting is that you have to keep your writing concise and to the point.

Many newbie copywriters usually make the mistake of using complicated and clever words in their content, thinking that it would make it sound professional, but you must know that this approach never works as it makes the content confusing for most readers.

It is important to use the right words in your content copy and keep it straightforward. This would help you get maximum engagement.

4. Focus on Addressing the WHY

As mentioned earlier, the core focus in copywriting is to address the “Why”. This means you must discuss and explain to the reader why they should consider buying your services or products.

Most newbie marketers would focus on the “What” and “How” which can make the content sound boring and more promotional, less valuable.

Addressing the pain points of a potential customer and explaining why buying your products or services is beneficial for them can help you connect with them on a deeper level and increase your chances of getting more conversions.

You need to understand that when your audience trusts you, they are more likely to explore your products or services and make a purchase.

5. Always Speak Directly to the Reader

A very important tip that you need to keep in mind is that your copywriting copies must always speak directly to the reader. The reader should feel that you’re having a one-on-one conversation with them. This is important because direct communication will always grab more attention and engagement.

Addressing the readers directly invites them to engage in an active dialogue with you, even if it’s just imaginary and in their minds.

Using “Your” and “You” as second-person pronouns is important in copywriting. Furthermore, you have to make sure that you always use active voice over passive voice when writing your copies.

When writing a marketing copy, it is important to understand that you are not addressing a generic crowd; you are directly talking to a real person who wants help or is looking for solutions. Being direct and personal with the reader would make a huge difference and urge your reader to take action.

6. Create a Logical Flow in Your Content

It doesn’t matter whether you are a content writer or copywriter; your content must have proper direction for the readers. You need to guide your users with the help of a clear structure so that they know how and when they need to take action.

You must structure your content as a “journey” and ensure it flows logically. Your readers must be able to find a sequence between the problem and the solution if you want them to convert.

The best way to create a logical structure in your copies is by introducing a problem, presenting a potential solution, discussing the positive outcomes of the proposed solution, and, in the end, giving instructions for the reader to take action.

Here, adding examples and real-life scenarios to make your content more relatable is important.

7. Use Strong Headings & Subheadings

The best content is the one that is engaging for the target audience. You must know that today, your audience would only take two to three seconds to decide whether they’re interested in reading your text or moving to the next page/search result.

You must divide your content into multiple headings and subheadings if you want to grab your audience's attention and convince them to engage. To create the best headlines, you need to focus on the following points:

  • Always keep your headings and subheadings clear and concise
  • Focus on using action words such as Upgrade, Boost, Triple, etc.
  • Address the reader directly through your headings
  • Ask questions in the heading so the readers can find answers in the body

By using strong headlines, you could easily grab the attention of your busy audience and keep them engaged.

8. Focus on the Benefits, Not the Features

When creating copies for customers, you need to understand that the first thing that pops into their mind is how the stuff you offer benefits them. They would consider how purchasing your products or services would change their lives or resolve their problems.

You have to focus on describing the different benefits the customer would receive when they purchase from you. If you put all your efforts into discussing the features of your products or services, it would make your content promotional and less relatable for the intended audience.

Your customers are always interested in how your offer solves their problems. They aren’t interested in reading a list of features or specs.

9. Include Stories Whenever it is Possible

In copywriting, you must include stories and real-time examples in order to make the copy interesting and relatable to the readers. Here, you must ensure that the stories you include are straight and simple.

Ensure that the stories you include are original and not copied from another source or that will damage your credibility and authority as a content marketer.

An important point is that the stories or examples you add to your content must be relevant to the solutions you give the reader. If the stories are not relevant, it is going to affect the credibility of your content.

10. Don’t Forget to Include a Call to Action

As mentioned in the beginning, copywriting aims to entice an action. So, every piece of content you write should be focused on getting your readers to do something (sign up, register, purchase, subscribe).

Without a powerful and relevant CTA, your audience would surely enjoy your content but remain passive, and you wouldn’t be able to get any conversions or returns on your investment.

A clear call to action can easily turn passive readers into active participants and help you get higher conversions. Moreover, adding CTAs would also help you eliminate confusion as you would tell your readers what to do next.

Common Challenges for Copywriters & their Ideal Solutions!

From facing issues in coming up with new ideas to plagiarism, rookie copywriters face many challenges and hurdles. Let’s discuss them in detail one by one.

1. Experiencing Blank Page Paralysis or Writer’s Block

One of the most common challenges newbie copywriters face is being pressured and, at the same time, blank while writing quality copies. Well, it is quite normal to go blank, especially if you are unfamiliar with the topic you are writing about or the details of the business/products/services you would be promoting. Instead of wasting your time staring at the screen and scrolling your cursor up and down, you must tell yourself that Writer’s Block is not real!

Solution:

In the world of copywriting, there is no room for writer’s block because when you are writing copies, you are assembling information you already know. So, there is little creativity and more of a presentation.

If you are blank, it is important that you immediately spend time on research work. You must first understand the business and the offerings that your content would address. Next, you must understand the audience you will be writing to. This includes identifying their pain points, needs, etc.

You must also spend time on competitor research and check out what copies they publish.

Doing proper research work would give you a solid foundation for writing your copy. Also, once you fully understand the nature of your work, you can write like a machine.

It is important to focus on research until you are comfortable writing the complete copy.

2. Shortage of Vocabulary and Issues with Repetition

Newbie writers usually run out of new words and phrases; in this situation, they reuse their old words and phrases.

You might think there’s nothing wrong with it, but in reality, using the same words repeatedly can make your copies sound redundant and fluffy. This kind of content doesn’t sound valuable or authoritative to the readers. This is why you must avoid repetition and use unique wording.

Solution:

The best way to overcome the vocabulary shortage problem is by simply reading. Reading different articles, blogs, newsletters, magazines, books, and other material can help you learn new words and where they would sound contextually accurate.

If you don’t want to spend much time reading and want to stick to your existing vocabulary to write copies, you can also get help from online paraphrasing tools like ours. Paraphraser.us can paraphrase your existing copies using different wording and in a completely different style. This way, you can easily get a more creative and intriguing text without much human effort.

3. Finding and Adjusting the Right Keywords

Today, the use of keywords is quite common and very important in every type of content, whether for product descriptions, blog posts, product reviews, or other marketing copies.

Keywords are the words or phrases your intended audience uses as search terms on Google and other search engines. These words can tell you about their search intent, any problems they’re facing, and solutions they’re looking for.

Newbie copywriters can easily go wrong with choosing the right keywords and adjusting them in their copies. Many writers would artificially add keywords to their copies just for the sake of SEO and completely disregard the readership. This approach can ruin readability and reduce any chances of getting conversions.

Solution:

First, you must also get keywords from well-reputed keyword research tools like the one by Ahref. These platforms can easily provide a list of keywords more relevant to the business you’re promoting or the title you’re writing on. Along with the list, you will also get details such as search volume, competition, relevance, etc. You need to pick the most top searched and relevant KWs.

The next thing is keyword adjustment. Well, you must make sure that you don’t overstuff keywords. Gone are the days when using more keywords was considered to be beneficial. You must only add keywords naturally where they make the most sense. The more natural the keyword would sound, the better results you would get.

4. Problems with Introduction & Conclusion Writing

Another common problem most rookie copywriters face is writing an ideal introduction or conclusion.

You must know that if your introduction is written properly, it will make a good impression and urge the reader to go on until the end. But if the introduction is not informative, intriguing, or engaging for the reader, they would miss the main body, no matter how qualitative.

Also, we have seen many copywriters face issues summarizing their copies. The conclusion of your content must be concise and should summarize all the information you have presented in the main body. Overstretching or adding irrelevant information can compromise the conversion rate.

Solution:

The best technique to solve this problem and write effective introductions and conclusive passages is crafting them at the end. You should write the main body first, and after that, you can summarize it and create an introduction section and a conclusion.

The introduction should provide information about the topic and highlight the reader's pain points; the conclusion should summarize the possible solutions given and state a clear call to action.

If you cannot create an introduction or conclusion yourself, you can also get help from an online text summarizer tool.

5. Unwanted Traces of Plagiarism in Content

Plagiarism is undoubtedly one of the most common and biggest problems faced by every copywriter and other person related to the writing fraternity.

Plagiarism usually refers to stealing content and ideas from another source without providing them proper credit. Today, you must know that plagiarism can also occur in content accidentally, as there is always a chance that multiple copywriters working on the same kind of topics would have similarities in their work.

If plagiarism is found in your marketing copies, it can badly damage your credibility and reduce the chances of you getting conversions.

Solution:

First, you must always check your copies with a well-reputed plagiarism checker before you post them on any commercial platform. You have access to tools like Copyleaks that can help you check duplication for free.

If you find plagiarism in your content, you must remove/rephrase it. You can also use the “Anti-Plagiarism” mode of paraphraser.us. The tool would paraphrase the duplicate content in different wording and ensure the new version is 100% original. The best thing about using our paraphrasing tool for removing plagiarism is that it can easily present content in different wording without compromising intent/context.

End Note

After reading this guide, we hope you can differentiate between copywriting and traditional content writing. Effective copywriting hinges on precise communication and understanding the audience's needs, which differs from writing a generic content draft.

The guide also addresses common challenges copywriters face, such as writer’s block, vocabulary limitations, keyword usage, and issues with introductions and conclusions. Solutions include thorough research, reading widely for vocabulary expansion, utilizing keyword tools for SEO, and writing introductions and conclusions after the main content.

Today, copywriters can easily resolve common problems using AI tools like our Paraphraser.us! After reading this guide, we hope you can streamline your copywriting journey.

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