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Writing and communication skills underpin much of the work done by PR agencies and freelance copywriters or advertising professionals.
It is not only correct spelling and good sentence construction that is important. Choosing the right tone, the right content and the right approach will mark the line between excellent communication and a job to be improved.
In this article we would like to give some tips for agencies and freelancers alike to ensure that their copy or messages are as good as possible and help their clients achieve their goals.
Types of PR copywriting
The PR industry is responsible, among other things, for delivering messages in different media and to different audiences. Depending on these two factors, the characteristics of the text will change and will have to be adapted to them.
Therefore, before starting to write, we must be clear about what and for whom we are writing and what we want to achieve with the text.
Generally speaking, in public relations work we can differentiate between 3 types of texts.
Press releases
The press release is made with the aim of informing the media about an event or a new product/service that the company is going to launch. The aim is to get them to echo it and write about it in their media, bringing it to the attention of more people from different perspectives.
In general, they are usually informative and present objective facts about the issue, without including subjective elements. In addition, the tone tends to be more formal.
Social media
In this case, the audience you want to reach is usually customers who already know you or consumers who might be interested in what you have to offer.
It will all depend on the type of sector you work in, but in these media, a closer tone is generally sought, always appealing to people’s needs and feelings.
When writing this type of message, the strategy will be very important. Each social network has a different purpose and, therefore, will accept one tone better than another. For example, while Instagram accepts more informal and approachable posts, LinkedIn is a more professional and formal network where you don’t tend to see as many personal messages.
Having this in mind will be fundamental to choose the tone of the message and which social network we want to use it for.
Campaigns
Marketing campaigns have a very specific purpose: to sell the product or service offered by the company. In this sense, there is a clear objective and, in addition to appealing to the needs of the person, a lot of emphasis must be placed on the benefits of the product or service to be sold.
In this case, they must be messages with a strong hook that instantly catch the reader’s attention.
Strategies to improve and strengthen writing
Even Inspiration can also be worked on and it is important to research new ideas and allow time for them to emerge. However, it is important to be clear about some of the characteristics that a good communicator’s message should have. If we keep the following four elements in mind, we will only have to look for originality.
Simplicity
This is one of the things that communicators often struggle with the most. We are used to having to write sentences with a lot of pomp and circumstance or with a lot of convoluted words, partly because of the texts we have been asked to write during our education.
In marketing and communication this can be a great undoing. A client doesn’t have time to read a big text full of technicalities. They want clarity and problem solving. That’s why simple communication will be your greatest weapon as a copywriter and publicist.
Facts
Appealing to sentimental aspects and to the needs of the reader is fundamental to reach them, as we remember much more those things that have made us feel something. However, including objective data and real facts in your copywriting will add extra confidence in the brand you are writing for.
Supporting your texts with measurable data from reliable sources will give your brand much more value and a very good reputation.
SEO
Your copywriting may be excellent and you may have followed many of the recommendations we have given you here. However, without good SEO applied to the text, your copywriting will go completely unnoticed and it will all be for nothing.
Having knowledge about SEO, web positioning, is a skill that all copywriters must have nowadays. Moreover, this is a constantly evolving and changing field, so it is essential to keep up to date.
Style and tone
As we mentioned in the previous point, depending on the medium in which you want to convey your message, the tone you apply and the style will change.
Therefore, before you start writing a post or article, do your research and establish the tone you want to give it.
Why is PR copywriting effective at Finzel?
At Finzel we have expert content writers with extensive experience working with different companies. We have a structured work dynamic so that all the elements we have mentioned in this text are taken into account.
Our content organisation strategy is based on different phases, but we could highlight three as the main ones.
Editing and proofreading
Even if the texts are written by one person, we always have a proofreading and editing team that reviews the original text to ensure that there are no errors of form or content.
Four eyes see better than two and it is almost impossible for a text to be absolutely perfect if it has not passed through several hands. In that sense, this is one of the advantages that PR agencies have. We have different teams that can support each other.
Audience
We select the target audience precisely in order to adapt the language as much as possible to them. If your target is made up of women between 40 and 50 years old who live in the city, the message will not be the same as if we find that your target audience is teenagers who like to practice risky sports.
Neither of these two groups communicate in the same way, nor do they have similar tastes.
At Finzel we select the audience through a good market analysis, and define it as much as possible in order to have the necessary information.
Second opinion
At Finzel we always have more than one professional for each task because we firmly believe that brilliant ideas come from a difference of opinion. Our strength lies in our team.