What is copywriting
Also known as: copy, advertising copy, persuasive writing, sales copy
Copywriting is writing meant to lead readers to an action: buying, clicking, signing up or requesting a quote. It lives in ads, sales pages, emails, buttons and chat messages. The text, called copy, starts from the reader's need, shows why the offer solves the problem and makes the next step clear.
A dental clinic's landing page opened with Welcome to our clinic, followed by its founding story. People arriving from an implant ad had to scroll the whole page to find out whether the clinic did implants, how much they cost and how to book.
The headline became Dental implants with same day assessment and 12 month payment plans, with case photos, three FAQs and a Book an assessment button. The offer was the same; the text now answered, on the first screen, what visitors came for.
Copy, content and writing
Content teaches and attracts; copy persuades and drives action. An article on how to choose an implant is content. The page offering the assessment, with price, proof and a button, is copy. The two mix all the time, and good educational text almost always ends with a bit of copy, the invitation to the next step.
Classic formulas
The oldest is AIDA, associated with American advertiser E. St. Elmo Lewis. A three step version already appeared in 1898 in Printers' Ink: an ad must attract attention, create interest and convince. A formula helps organize, but it does not replace knowing the customer.
| How it works | |
|---|---|
| AIDA | Attention, interest, desire and action, in that order |
| PAS | Problem, agitation of the problem and solution |
| Before, after, bridge | The situation today, the desired situation and the offer as the path |
| Features, advantages, benefits | What the product has, what that enables and what changes for the customer |
Techniques that work in any channel
- Talk about the reader, not the company. Swap we offer for you get.
- Benefits before features: what changes for the buyer.
- Be specific. Real numbers, deadlines and examples persuade more than adjectives.
- One main idea per piece.
- Show proof: testimonials, cases, numbers, guarantees.
- Make the next step obvious, with a verb and the outcome on the button.
- Read it out loud and cut everything that is not needed.
The limits of each channel
| What matters | |
|---|---|
| Google search ad | Up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90, combined by Google |
| Landing page | A headline that confirms the ad's promise |
| Subject line and first line decide whether it gets opened | |
| Chat message | Short, conversational |
| Button | Verb and outcome, such as Get my quote |
What copywriting is not
Promises the product cannot keep, fake urgency and invented testimonials are not technique, they are liability. Consumer protection laws forbid misleading advertising, including ads that mislead by omission, and ad platforms have their own policies against false claims.
Good copy persuades with what is true, said the way the customer understands.
Frequently asked questions
What is copywriting?
Writing meant to lead readers to an action, such as buying, clicking or getting in touch. It appears in ads, sales pages, emails and buttons.
What does a copywriter do?
Writes the text that sells: ads, landing pages, emails, video scripts and messages. To do that, they research the customer, the offer and the competition before writing.
What is the difference between copy and content?
Content teaches and attracts; copy persuades and asks for action. An article is content, the offer page is copy, and a good article often ends with a bit of copy.
What are the most used copywriting formulas?
AIDA (attention, interest, desire and action), PAS (problem, agitation and solution) and before, after, bridge. They organize the text, but they do not replace knowing the customer.
Can AI write copy?
It writes drafts and variations quickly, which helps testing. What it does not know on its own is what only the company knows: the customer, the real objections and the proof. Human review is still needed.
Related terms
- CTAA CTA (call to action) is the element that invites a person to take the next step: a button such as "Get...
- Landing pageA landing page is the page a person reaches after clicking an ad, email or link, built to lead to a single...
- Conversion rateConversion rate is the percentage of people who took the desired action out of everyone who had the chance...
- Value propositionA value proposition is the clear promise of what customers gain by choosing an offer: which problem it...
- Buyer personaA buyer persona is a description of a company's typical customer, with a name, context, goals, questions and...
Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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