Crafting copy for your business can often make you want to run for the hills.

Sure, you know what you’re offering and you know you’d like someone to pay you for it. But relying on your words to convince someone to part with their hard-earned money and invest, not only in your services but in you as an individual, can be pretty terrifying.

Conversational copywriting can make a real difference to your overall success as a business. Why? It’s all about those three little words.

No, not “I love you”

The three most important words you need to focus on when creating conversational copywriting for your business are: know, like and trust.

Your potential clients and customers need to feel as if they know you. They need to like you . And, most importantly, they need to feel that they can trust you.

Only by fulfilling these three criteria will you be able to gain new clients and customers. 

Think about it like this: you are looking for a wedding photographer and you’ve managed to find two local wedding photographers who are available, let’s call them Photographers 1 and 2. 

Photographer 1 is right within your budget. They have a simple website with a few photos and some lines of generic text about “making your wedding day dream into a reality”; they have a grainy photo of themselves and a very brief introduction to who they are; they have no testimonials and no visible social media presence. 

Photographer 2 is above your budget (considerably), but as soon as you click on their website, you start to throw your original budget out the window.

Their website is bright, welcoming and professional; they have lots of high-quality photos that showcase their work and a big, friendly welcome message about who they are, what they do and why they do it. They share with you their passion for photographing weddings, and they have glowing testimonials from previous clients. You have a snoop on their Instagram profile and can see more examples of their work, their interaction with previous clients and admiring strangers; they seem approachable, passionate about what they do and they really seem to care. 

Who do you go for? I go for Photographer 2, hands down, every time. 

Why conversational copywriting matters in your business

What was it that Photographer 2 did so well to convince us to book them even though their prices were above our original budget?

They made us like them by showing us a professional, aesthetically pleasing website and lots of high-quality examples of their work; they made us know them by introducing themselves and sharing their passion about what they do; and they made us trust them by giving us examples of testimonials from previous clients and publicly interacting with people on their Instagram. 

Photographer 2 spoke to us, in the same way as if we had met them in real life and got into a friendly conversation.

Remember that, with some exceptions depending on the type of industry you are in, your online presence, whether it’s your website or your social media, is the most important aspect of your business. You don’t get to speak to people face-to-face. You are relying on your copy to convey you and your brand’s personality; you are relying on your copy to have a conversation with your clients.

Three tips for crafting conversational copywriting

1 – Know your audience

This tip also goes for crafting any copy. You cannotbegin to fill your website with compelling copy without first knowing who you are trying to speak to, and this is something you definitely should know since it encapsulates everything about your business. Who your audience is depends on what you are offering, why you are offering it and what makes you different from your competitors. Having a clear idea of your brand’s identity should be one of your first steps . Once you know your audience, you can start to think about how you should speak to them.

2 – Be authentic

Let’s make it simple: you should not copy someone else’s copy. Not only is this legally and morally iffy, but you shouldn’t even want to do this. That person’s copy has been written for their brand and their audience. Even if you are both in the same industry, there is no way your businesses are identical.

There must be something that you are offering, or some niche market you are targeting, that your competitor is not (if not, you should really identify one if you want to have a successful business. Read my article on niching down your business if you need help). This is the aspect you should focus on when writing your copy because it will allow you to speak to your clients authentically. 

Another note on authenticity: don’t be fake. Fake niceness or fake passion is about as obvious as me running down the street in a high-vis onesie. And the chances are you won’t be able to keep it up.

3 – Get personal

No, I don’t mean share every little personal detail about your life drama through your website copy or business social media (it’s really not appropriate. Really). But you do need to let some personality in (this is the real key to ticking the like, know and trust boxes). In your website copy, introduce yourself properly. You don’t need to share your life story, but share who you are, how you got here, why you are doing what you’re doing. Think of it like a mini elevator pitch/speed dating introduction for your business. In your social media copy, share some stories, anecdotes, lessons (just make sure they are related to your business or to business in general). 

Another big tip for being conversational on social media? Show your face! Tell me what you do when you’re not working.

Make me feel as if I know you, so that when the time comes that I, or someone I know, need the services you offer I immediately think of you.