Wish to improve digital copywriting for your online channels? How do you differentiate between copy that attracts versus copy that converts?
Learn all of that and more in this comprehensive guide to online copywriting for your marketing funnel!
As a content strategist, I’m often challenged to write online copy for clients across multiple channels for various content types—Facebook posts, Instagram stories, YouTube videos, LinkedIn ads, blog articles, email newsletters, as well as landing pages for websites.
While there are certain similarities in how you craft digital content, there are also major differences in how you relate to your target audiences at different stages of their buying journey.
In this article, you will discover:
- What customers are looking for at different stages of their buying journey
- Useful formulas for crafting effective online copy
- How to write effective copy across your digital marketing funnel
Know Your Customers at Different Buying Stages
The golden rule in online copywriting is to know who your target audiences are.
Depending on the stages of their buying journey, they may be looking for different types of content. For instance, a prospect in the early need recognition stage may be attracted to content that rides on a recent trend, whereas one who is further down the journey may scrutinise the details of your offer.
Here’s an infographic illustrating the type of questions and content that customers at different stages of the buying journey may have.
Useful Online Copywriting Formulas
When it comes to online copywriting, there are numerous formulas that you can apply. Here are five of the most commonly used copywriting frameworks you can use.
#1 Problem Agitate Solution Transform (PAST)
This first formula comes in three parts:
- Problem: Highlight the problem that your prospect faces, eg “Wish to worry less about meeting your financial commitments?”
- Agitate: Amplify the pain (or the missed gains), eg “Without a stable income, you’ll find it difficult to pay your bills—mortgages, children tuition fees, insurance, daily expenses… The list goes on.”
- Solution: Talk about the offer and what it covers, eg “Our monthly investment plan helps you to grow your wealth, even as you sleep!”
- Transformation: Describe the positive changes, eg “Thanks to plan A, you can now enjoy your life without worry!”
#2 Hook-Benefit-Action (HBA)
A simpler copywriting framework, the Hook-Benefit-Action formula works like this:
- Hook: Captivate your audience with their most important benefit/ greatest pain point
- Benefit: Highlight why they should consider buying from you or hiring you
- Action: Tell them what they need to do to enjoy the benefits
Here’s an example:
“Tired of feeling sleepy throughout the day? Our all-in-one supplement is tasty, easy-t0-mix, and available in convenient pouches. Best of all, they only cost $1 a day. Get your free trial pack here: [link]”
#3 Day-in-the-Life
Here, your goal is to build a relationship with your followers and share what you’re doing. This helps to build brand trust and relationship.
Examples include:
- What We’re Doing Now: Describe what you’re doing to create value for your customers
- How We Do It: Write about the process of building your product or service, eg “Here’s a simple 5-step recipe to bake those delicious cupcakes!”
- Behind The Scenes: Invite them for a sneak peek, eg “We’re all excited to show you what’s behind the curtains. Ready? 1, 2, 3!”
- Walk Throughs: Help them visualise what your product or service is like, eg “Let me show you how it works. First, you do this. Next…”
- Interviews: “Today, we’re very honoured to have with us Mr _____, our product development manager.”
#4 If You Want That, Do This
In this structure, your goal is to get them to visualise and imagine the future—with your help, of course!
Using the right combination of words and images/videos, you can excite them about the future, before showing them how to get there.
“Imagine how fun it’ll be to work anywhere, any place, at any time. Wouldn’t life as a digital nomad be great? Well, you can have all that (and more) with our monthly “Work From Anywhere” plan!”
#5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Last, but certainly not least, consider all the million and one frequently-asked-questions that your customers may have.
Your job here is to answer them—on your social media posts, your stories, your videos, your blog posts, or your website!
Copywriting Strategies for Your Marketing Funnel
Now that you’re familiar with the copywriting tactics for an online audience, let us look at how you should structure your copy across different stages of your customer’s buying journey.
This varies according to your target audience’s relationship with your brand, channel, as well as content types. We can structure it as a digital marketing funnel as shown below.
#1 Awareness Stage — Attract & Allure
Let us look at how you should craft your copy for the awareness stage.
- Goal: Stand out from the online clutter, and trigger audience interactions
- Audience: Cold audiences who are brand unaware
- Channels: Social Media Posts, Instagram Reels, TikTok Videos, Search Ads, Display Ads, Blog Articles
- Message Formats: Bite-sized, easy-to-consume, trending, edutaining, contests, addresses pain points
Copywriting Example
“Here’s what top brands are doing to prepare for Mega Sales Season.”
“5 upcoming trends in furniture design for modern small apartments.”
#2 Consideration Stage — Educate & Engage
At this stage, you are no longer talking to strangers but people who know who you are.
- Goal: Build brand trust and engage with your followers/fans/subscribers
- Audience: Warm audiences who are brand aware
- Channels: FB and IG Stories, regular “how to” videos on YouTube & TikTok, SEO-optimised articles
- Message Formats: Longer-form educational pieces, tips and tricks, 101s, step-by-step guides, mini-courses
Copywriting Example
“Need an easier way to improve your online copywriting? Our step-by-step guide shows you how!”
#3 Conversion Stage — Convince & Convert
Here, you are not just speaking to fans but engaged ones—those specifically looking for a solution.
- Goal: Nudge engaged audience to sign up as a lead or purchase product
- Audience: Hot audiences who trust your brand and are ready to buy
- Channels: Landing pages, product pages, lead magnets, direct messages on social media, emails
- Message Formats: Discounts and offers, freebies, conversion-focused content (read my article on Conversion Rate Optimization)
Note that conversion is where traditional sales-focused copywriting comes from. Hence, you’ll need more “ammo” to convince (and convert) your prospects to become paying customers.
Copywriting Example
“Over 3,000 customers transformed their workspaces from drab to delightful—won’t you be next? Our adjustable desk and chair are perfect for Work From Home (WFH) entrepreneurs or small offices. Here’s why….”
#4 Loyalty — Relate & Reward
At this point, your message should resonate with an existing customer.
- Goal: Build brand loyalty and encourage repeat purchases
- Audience: Hot audiences who have already consumed your product or service
- Channels: One-to-one channels like direct messages, Facebook Groups, email sequences
- Message Formats: Customer stories, relationship-building, brand storytelling, customer-only offers, helpful content
Copywriting Example
“Congratulations! As a valued customer of _______, you are eligible to get up to 20% off your subsequent purchases!”
#5 Advocacy — Move & Motivate
Here, you should focus on enlisting the help of potential brand advocates in getting the word out.
- Goal: Encourage brand advocacy and social sharing
- Audience: Hot audiences who may be either fans or customers
- Channels: Influencers (paid and unpaid), premium customers, tap on user’s channels and networks
- Message Formats: Testimonials, case studies, reviews, customer quotes, referral incentives, user contests, posts, stories
Note that advocacy doesn’t automatically happen for most of your customers. You’ll have to identify who your best customers are, and may need to incentivise them to put in a good word!
Copywriting Example
“Longtime customer Madam Y began her journey with us 10 years ago. Prior to signing up for our Tingkat service, she spent a lot of time and effort preparing meals for her family every single day.”
“Enjoyed using our ______ (product name)? Help us get the word out to be rewarded.Click on this link to share what you love about _______.”
Conclusion
Writing copy for digital channels is both an art and a science.
The art part comes from knowing the right combination of words and phrases. The science part comes from identifying the right triggers at different stages of your customer’s buying journey.
As the needs of your cold, warm and hot audiences differ across your marketing funnel, you need to ensure that your online copy not only attracts attention and action—it needs to nurture your prospects through the different stages from awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty to advocacy.
