Writing like yourself: Teaching Against Templates

Amy Elliott, Lightbulb Media
Read time: 3 minutes Amy Elliott is Head of Copy at Lightbulb Media – an agency based in Manchester who provide digital marketing support without the BS. Amy took to the TMM stage to share an energetic, fun-filled session where she covered the value of individuality in writing, and how to escape the trap of […]

Read time: 3 minutes

Amy Elliott is Head of Copy at Lightbulb Media – an agency based in Manchester who provide digital marketing support without the BS.

Amy took to the TMM stage to share an energetic, fun-filled session where she covered the value of individuality in writing, and how to escape the trap of using other people’s templates. It was a mini copywriting masterclass, full of anecdotes, applicable frameworks, and of course, really good words.

Watch the full presentation back below, or read on for the key takeaways.

Table of Contents

👥 The copy-is-conversation principle.

Copy is communication. By definition, it is a bunch of words strung together to share information, thoughts, and emotions with the intended reader. When copy is done well, it engages and converses with the audience. A good copywriter is always considering their reader and finding ways to make the message as compelling as possible for them. And there are two key things to remember about the ‘copy-is-conversation’ principle:

Everyone has their own way of communicating, and writing is no exception to that.

Before you sit down to write, consider what makes you you? What slang do you use? How do you communicate who you are in person? Take some time to think about how you can translate that into your writing.

Copy is 50% for you, 50% for your reader

Like any good conversation, writing copy involves two people. Amy explains how 50% of your writing should be about you or your business – specifically your perspective on a topic. Whatever the channel, whether you’re writing social, sales, or website copy, you need to show up as your business with a point to make. The other 50% of the copy then, should be centred on your reader. In particular, you should be making sure that your reader is going to understand the point you’re trying to make. Invest time in thinking about who your reader is and what they care about. 

Take sales copy as an example. Ask questions like – ‘what objections do my customers have with my products?’ Consider their pain points, and then format and write your copy to show how you can alleviate them. 

🔍 Introducing Amy’s 3-step framework

Instead of looking for other people’s existing template to help you write your copy, Amy preached the value of following her 3-step framework to help you structure and write unique copy for a variety of channels and mediums. It’s less ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ and more of an outline for you to apply to your needs and write personable copy that your readers care about.

The framework consists of a hook, information, and a closer. Let’s dig into those a little more:

Finding your hook

Your hook is a scroll-stopping/thought-provoking line designed to intrigue your reader. To avoid being clickbaity, Amy advises creating hooks that genuinely advertise the rest of the writing. The hook should summarise what you’re going to cover in the main bit of copy.

How do you write a good hook?

Amy suggests testing your proposed hooks before you use them. Take social posts as an example – you could test your hooks as individual tweets. Make note of the engagement rates on each test, and then select the best ones for your next Linkedin post.

Give information

We’re talking about the meat of your writing. This is the part where you can flaunt your personality and have the most fun. When done well, the body of your copy should explore the topic you presented in your hook, and give the reader something they can take away with them.

Consider what your reader is going to get for investing their time in reading your copy. It could be free advice, useful resources, a smile, or a reason to buy your products. Whatever it is, just keep it relevant to the hook.

It’s all about the closer

The closer is the last line of your copy and the note you’ll leave your reader with. The key is to make it memorable in some way. It could be emotional, a joke, or a mic-drop moment. To really succinctly finish up your copy, Amy recommends referring back to your hook in the closing line – a way to close the circle and fulfil the purpose of the post.

🖊️ But, what should you write about?

You now have Amy’s 3-step framework for writing great copy, but what should you be writing about? Perhaps a more important question right now is, with so much content out there, how do you find original topics to write about?

For Amy, it’s all about utilising your personal experiences and applying your unique perspective to the topic. Forget hunting for original topics, and instead dig for original takes.