In this instalment of our eBay Elevate webinar series, journalist turned copywriter Rin Hamburgh shares ​​tips and tricks of the trade to help you create a bold brand voice - so you can stand out from the crowd.

Writing copy that stands out

Copywriting is an essential skill for small businesses. It’s how you show up and sell your business and products on all your key channels - and ultimately inspire customers to take action. But in a sea of small businesses all competing for attention, choosing the right words is vital to help your brand stand out from the crowd.

This eBay Elevate webinar, hosted by journalist turned copywriter Rin Hamburgh, will help you to do exactly that. By equipping you with the right skills and actionable steps, you’ll be able to create a consistent brand voice for your business, so you can cut through the noise and persuade potential customers to take action.

If you missed it, fear not! You can watch the webinar on demand, which explores:

What is copywriting?

In short, copywriting is writing for the purposes of marketing your business or selling your products or services. It’s how you show up across key platforms and channels, such as:

• Website copy

• Blog posts

• Product listings

• Social posts

• Flyers

• Emails

• Newsletters

• Adverts

• Directory listings

What are the benefits of copywriting?

If done well, copywriting can help you to convey your brand personality and build your brand image.

Copywriting also serves a more pragmatic purpose - and nowhere is this more important than on eBay. If you think of your listings, good copywriting is the key to tell potential customers all the important information about your product - in as clear and concise a way as possible. In short, it’s an effective way to improve the customer experience.

Beyond the essential info, copywriting also enables you to get the key benefits of what you’re selling across - to paint a picture of your products and convert watchers into customers.

How to create your unique tone of voice

There are three important factors to consider when creating your brand’s tone of voice:

You: Be authentic to your brand in your messaging and overall voice. If you’re a down to earth brand, you need to use down to earth language. If you’re a luxury brand, you need to talk and write in a way that conveys this and is true to you.

Your audience: It’s essential to understand what it is that your audience wants and needs to hear. For example, if your brand is based on customers making big financial decisions - you need to be reassuring in your copy.

Your competition: Whenever you’re writing about your brand or products, look at the competition and take the time to think of ways you can differentiate your business to stand out from the crowd and appeal to customers.

To help you on your way, think of the four dimensions of tone of voice:

• Funny vs serious

• Formal vs casual

• Respectful vs irreverent

• Enthusiastic vs matter of fact

How to get and keep people’s attention

• Understand what your audience is searching for

• Think about your hook to get people engaged from the off

• Keep things simple - make your copy accessible

Getting the best results from copywriting

Generally speaking, every message or piece of copywriting should include a clear call to action (CTA). If you’re expecting your audience to read a blog post, for example, think about what you want to achieve before you start writing - and then make sure you provide an actionable next step to support this objective.

Don’t be scared to experiment with options too. Can you test different CTAs to see what performs best? Do your readers prefer long blog posts, or shorter, more digestible content? Take the time to play around with different formats to optimise your copy’s performance over time.

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