RE: WRITING
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COPYWRITING VS. STORYTELLING: THE DIFFERENCE

3/13/2018

6 Comments

 
Picture
The foundation of good copywriting is good storytelling. 

There’s a reason John Caple’s article They Laughed When I sat Down By the Piano, But When I Started to Play! is still considered one of the most brilliant pieces of copywriting of all time. 

Caples didn’t simply make a pitch. He told a story. A story that spoke to his readers—their desires, their hopes, their dreams. And that allowed him to turn those readers into customers far better than any pitch could.  

And that, in short, is the essence of copywriting. 
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Telling a story. A story wherein your reader is the central character. A story so irresistible that your reader realizes that they like being in this story . . .
 
 
And they’re willing to take the desired action—pay money, sign up, click on the link—to make it a reality.  

But here’s the catch. 

Copywriting might be built on storytelling. 

But copywriting is not the same as storytelling. 

In creative writing, your goal is to entertain. To write stories that sweep your reader away and make them forget, if only for a moment, about everything else. 

As a copywriter, your job is to make them take an action. 

If entertaining them will make that happen, then entertain. If telling a story will make that happen, then tell a story. If haughty and insulting copy will make it happen, then that’s what you need to do.  

As a copywriter, you’re no different to a carpenter or fix-it man. You have a toolkit. Storytelling is in that toolkit--as is comedy, psychology, persuasion, and whatever else it takes to get the job done.  

Your story isn’t your end-goal.  

The action is.  
 
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6 Comments
Debbie Burke link
3/18/2018 09:32:42 am

Hi Eli,

Your great post on Jane Friedman's blog about two types of stories led me to your website.

I think copywriting is a vital skill to today's fiction writers--needed for one-liners and blurbs on Amazon--but a technique few writers know much about. Would you be interested in writing a guest post on my blog (debbieburkewriter.com) about how you do it? Or is that revealing trade secrets? ;)

Thanks for your excellent insight.

Reply
Eli link
3/18/2018 09:44:44 am

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for reaching out! I'd definitely love to write something on your blog. I'll reach out to you.

Thanks!

Reply
Jeremy
3/24/2018 10:27:57 am

Perfect!

Reply
Eli
4/11/2018 07:03:11 am

Thanks, Jeremy!

Reply
Lisa Jones link
3/27/2018 02:56:55 pm

Hi Eli

I totally agree that storytelling is a key copywriting skill. I explained it to a colleague as using the pattern of a story to slip information into your reader's mind as easily as possible. First this happens, then this, then that, and the happy ending is... call to action. The story doesn't need to be fleshed out, after all a joke is a story of sorts.

Why storytelling matters is because you put yourself in your audience's shoes to understand why this action is something they want to do. You create in your own mind the character and story of this person and why she or he wants to buy this thing or take that action, and how it will create happiness for them.

The art of copywriting is in putting the important part of that story onto the page as vividly and persuasively as possible.

Reply
Eli
4/11/2018 07:03:33 am

Well said, Lisa.

Reply

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    Eli Landes is one of those weird writers who just can't get enough. A marketing writer by day and a fiction writer whenever he can squeeze in the time, he spends his spare time working on his novel, writing short fiction, or daydreaming (I mean, researching). His main genre is Jewish fiction, but he's been known to dabble in the weird, the absurd, and the truly dark.

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Eli Landes (me, in case that wasn't clear) is a marketing copywriter, manager of content marketing, and fiction writer. This is his blog.
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  • Home
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