Don’t waste your hard-earned money on ads until you know how to write an effective copy. An effective copy is to your music what a mini skirt is to an endowed damsel, short and attention-grabbing.
Let’s skip the part where I try to sell you the generic facade that I’ve written “thousands” of copies that have brought in millions of dollars for my clients just to get you to stay glued to your screen for the next five minutes. While it is true that I know my onions and I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’m pretty much an avid learner just like you, and I believe there’s more to learn about copywriting regardless of how much you know. In this guide, you will learn about the nitty-gritty of copywriting, how you can upgrade your copywriting skills, and the little tricks you may have been missing all this while.
Are you set? Let’s go!
The purpose of copywriting for musicians
The purpose of copywriting for musicians is to draw listeners closer to an artist’s music/merch (without letting the copy distract them) using social media captions, images, or videos.
Copywriting is simply the act of writing an ad copy. A copy can either be short-form or long-form. Short-form copywriting aims to convert listeners or create awareness using a minimal number of words. The word count for a short form copy can range from 5 words to 1000 words. Examples of a short form copy include captions, brand names, product names, direct mails, CTAs, Banner ads, PPC ads, magazine ads, etc.
On the flip side, a long-form copy utilizes more than one thousand words. However, the ultimate aim is to convert listeners just like its short-form alternative. Examples of long-form copy include website copies, eBooks, guides, white papers, lengthy articles, and many more.
Every industry has its unique ways of getting the attention of its targeted audiences. For example, the way a doctor would write a copy is different from how an artist would write a copy. In addition, some professions require a certain level of formality while others use informal words like ‘lol’, YKTV’, ‘LMAO’.
Also, the demographics you are targeting will determine the words and phrases you can use or not use.For instance, when LGBTQ singers want to target their community, they use gender pronouns more.
Generally speaking, there is no one-size-fits-all rule for copywriting. You have to first understand your audience. Determine your aim, and make your rules along the way. When writing to a specific audience, you must consider their age range, sex, race, and interests. You cannot afford to use a slight misnomer, as such mistakes can ruin your brand.
How to write an ad copy like a professional
When promoting your new release, understand that your goal is to sell an experience. The choice of words you use, the slang/slogan you chant, and the story you tell must be in sync with the music. If you use trap terms to promote a soul track, the trap fans would angrily leave your Spotify page or dislike your music on YouTube.
Research
The first thing you ought to do before writing your copy is to research. You can use platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, or YouTube to see what copies are working and those that have failed.
Facebook ads work well because it allows artists to target potential fans where they are gathered, meaning you can target music-related groups and fan pages of other artists. Before targeting them, check those groups to know what the trendy conversation there is. Note their likes, dislikes, and different cultures.
You can do this by searching for a specific genre or popular musician fan groups. You don’t want to duplicate another artist’s copy as they can take down your ad. Searching for the most successful captions can give you an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
For instance, if I wanted to write a copy for a new Afrobeats track, I would search for keywords like Afrobeats, Wizkid, or Burna Boy on YouTube. The second and third keywords are names of popular Afrobeats artists. For your genre, you can use the names of popular artists.
When you search for the keyword on Facebook, you will be shown the popular groups, pages, people, images, videos, forums, events, related searches, and infinite posts on that particular genre.
Define the essence of your copy
Whether you want to trigger your audience to comment, like, follow/subscribe to your social media channel, or you want to tell a story about our upcoming release – setting a goal for your campaign will help you boil the copy ideas down to the slogans and sentences that matter the most.
Use powerful headlines
Your copy headline is the title of your copy. Frequently, it is the first thing people see before proceeding to read your copy. The headline can be designed with your art cover (the picture or video accompanying your copy) Many people would forget the message of your campaign. However, if your headline is good enough, it will stick around for a long time. For example, we all remember Nike’s “Just do it” campaign, but many have forgotten the campaign’s details.
Paint an interesting picture
A good copy seeks to engage and paint a picture. Copywriting is like poetry because the two fields require telling a story with the briefest words possible. The only difference is that copywriting aims to sell an idea without the use of ornate language. As a copywriter, you must use simple words, not complex terms.
When writing your copy, opt for words that stimulate a gut feeling or a visual image. Also, ensure the first sentence of the copy makes the readers curious to read more. In line with the impeccable advice of a legendary copywriter, Joe Sugarman, “the main purpose of the first sentence is to get you to read the second sentence.
Structure your copy using the AIDA model
The AIDA is an acronym for attention, interests, desire, and action. A good copy must;
- Make the reader of the genre, song, or artist.
- Incite the consumer’s interest in the music using stories they can relate to or mirroring their lifestyle.
- Seek to bank on the consumer’s desires. To know their desires, you need to be an excellent researcher.
- Propel the consumer to act.
Use CTA at the end of the copy
People love to be told what to do. When someone enjoys your 30 seconds music snippet on Facebook, you would expect them to automatically like or save the song on Spotify, but the reality is that they won’t do so if you don’t tell them what to do. If you want them to listen to your new song, use captions such as “listen on Spotify now, check out my new release on Spotify” or “join the release party on Spotify.”
If you want the audience to comment, you can tell them to drop a fire emoji in the comment section if they love the snippet. You can also ask the listeners for ideas since everyone wants to be heard.
Keep Rewriting
No matter how ridiculous your first idea is, pen it down. Then, keep rewriting. Don’t be fooled into thinking professional copywriters get it right at the first trial. Your first thoughts are like unrefined gold; the more you refine it, the more it sparkles. According to David Ogilvy, a British advertising tycoon, I am a lousy copywriter, but I’m a good editor. So I go to work on my own draft. After four or five changes, it looks good enough to show the client.”