When to Use Copywriting Techniques and Templates (And When To Abandon Them)
When you start riding a bicycle, you have stabilisers – training wheels. Eventually, you shed those training wheels. When you start learning copywriting, your work will probably be highly derivative. You’ll use copywriting techniques and templates that you’ve got a list of and you’ll constantly refer to it.
I wrote about how I used to do that in this article.
Some people who are at this stage want to know when they’ll move away from copywriting techniques and templates and graduate to a more fluid approach that uses raw brain power and creative magical stuff as opposed to a fixed set of templates and devices.
In this article… I’ll give you my view.
When Do You Stop Using Copywriting Techniques and Templates
You won’t ever really abandon particular writing devices. Instead, you’ll internalise them and use them in a more artful, less conscious way.
Think of it like this; a guy wants to learn boxing. Let’s say he goes into the gym on Day One and they teach him how to jab. (Disclaimer: I know next-to-nothing about boxing.)
The jab is your basic “feel out your opponent, gauge the distance and hit them in the face” punch.
At no point would a boxing coach ever say, “Right… you’re past the basics now. It’s time to stop using the jab and rely on flashy punches instead.”
It’s the same with copywriting techniques and templates.
When I started writing, I’d have a checklist of things I needed to include, both structure-wise and technique-wise. I had (and still have) a folder of copywriting techniques and templates that I would refer to every time I’d write something.
Whether that was a how-to article, a sales letter, a Facebook post or a niche site product review, I’d have a set of copywriting techniques and templates that I’d use every time. At some points, I’d work these things out on a sentence-by-sentence level.
Now, I don’t need to use those copywriting templates and techniques in any conscious way – they’re internalised.
Those techniques are still universal though; naming your refund policy, “The Internet Guru’s Cast-Iron 100% Satisfaction Guarantee” as opposed to just saying, “I’ll give you your money back” will always be more effective.
The techniques don’t change and neither does the fact that you have to use them; the only thing that will change is your need to reference outside materials in order to produce them.
When Will That Happen?
People internalise things at different rates. I’ll split copywriting techniques and templates into two separate parts here. That said, you could probably do worse than reading two articles from earlier this week about how long it takes to learn copywriting:
- How Long Does Becoming a Professional Copywriter Take?
- What Is A “Professional Copywriting” Standard?
Here’s a further idea of how long it takes to learn copywriting from a structure stand-point and a techniques one.
Copywriting Templates/Structure
This will take you a few months to learn and internalise in general.
Sales letters tend to follow a pretty universal formula. You’ll internalise the structure of copywriting by doing two things: reading sales letters and writing sales letters. The more attention you pay, the better it’ll be and the quicker and more comprehensively you’ll internalise the structure and language.
Studying the material is crucial. You can’t just read sales letters by skimming them and think you’ll get the benefits. You have to read and recreate with a lot of attention paid to what you’re doing. That’s why most copywriters suggest handwriting out great adverts; because you have to concentrate. (If you want to be professional about this, you could do worse than enrolling on the Copyhour course. I did and it helped me tremendously.)
Once you’ve learned how sales letters work in general, you can apply what you’ve learned to any media.
For instance, Facebook Ads are extremely simple adverts. They’ll contain the elements of a sales letter but in basic form. You then just have to create for yourself a new template based on the new structure.
How Long Does It Take To Learn Copywriting Techniques?
You can internalise copywriting techniques very quickly. When I say quickly, I mean in an afternoon. You simply have to find a few good examples of it and then break down what the technique is and why it works.
Then replicate it a hundred times until you fully understand how to use it.
That said, you’ll find copywriting techniques and new tricks to try all the time. It’s not a case of finding a book of copywriting spells, reading it and knowing everything. Instead, you’ll find out about a new technique every so often.
So, Aside From Constantly Learning New Tricks, When Should I Abandon Copywriting Techniques and Templates In Favour Of The Brain-Only Approach?
I’m going to throw a curveball here and say: never.
The goal of learning every new skill is to internalise the rules so that you can express yourself.
The problem with creative expression is that it is pretty difficult. It’s intensive, regardless of whether you’re talking about playing the guitar, a martial art or copywriting.
For high level work, you can rely on your mastery of your subject. If you were in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, you’d have to adapt and think on your feet – throwing simple combinations wouldn’t be enough. If you’re writing a sales letter for a multi-million pound company, then by all means, throw everything and the kitchen sink into the project.
That said… you don’t want to pay the same amount of time, attention and brain power to writing a 500 word product review for someone on Fiverr. It’s a waste of your brain, and there’s no need to.
Instead, just open up your copywriting techniques and template folder and use one of those instead.
For instance… if you’re building niche sites, you shouldn’t be spending all of your waking hours devoted to them. You won’t get a positive return if you spend eighteen hours working on a sales letter for a product you’ll get a $5 affiliate commission from once every two months.
However, if you can open up a template, throw a review together in fifteen minutes and post that, then you’ll be ok. Also… you’ll be able to write 70+ reviews in the same amount of time, without wearing your brain out as much.
(More on this tomorrow for the next niche site challenge update.)
Final Thoughts
Copywriting techniques aren’t like training wheels. They’re like a boxer’s punches; fundamentals that you’ll always build upon and reference without ever giving up. (I’m going to stop with the boxing analogy… I don’t know why I picked it in the first place.)
Copywriting templates are something you’ll use heavily when you start. Eventually you’ll internalise the major points and you’ll be able to create great copy on the fly without referencing anything. However – there will come a point where creatively generating everything you write will be pretty brain-power intensive; so keep those old templates handy because there’ll be times where you just want to copy/paste.
…Speaking of which… when I’ve mentioned copywriting templates in the above article, I don’t mean literal copy/paste templates. Most readers here seem smart so understand this without me saying, but for those who are new – don’t copy/paste stuff and think it’ll work. When I say template, I mean a set of instructions that you use to structure a piece of writing.
Also… be aware that when I’ve mentioned “brain power” and “creative processes” I’m not talking about anything scientifically literal. It might all be pseudo-scientific gibberish, but it’s correct gibberish to the best of my knowledge.