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Copywriting Mistakes You’re Making Without Realizing

Home Copywriting Mistakes You’re Making Without Realizing

Unless you were an English major in college, copywriting is one of those crafts we hone through experience. Chances are, it’s not a main responsibility of your job to do copywriting and it might not come naturally when you’re asked to write a blog post, a social media caption or an email blurb. The good news is, the more that you do it, the easier it gets. The even better news is that we’ve got some tips for mistakes to avoid making while whipping up some copy. Even the most talented writer can still benefit from editing and feedback so whether you’re new to copywriting or a seasoned writer, we hope you can benefit from this refresher on the mistakes you might not even realize you’re making!

Never Forget: Grammar Actually Matters

Look, let’s be real, there’s a lot of things you learn in grade school that will never apply to your real life—long division, anyone? Grammar is not one of those things. I’m sure we’ve all seen the funny comparison of “Let’s eat Grandma!” vs “Let’s eat, Grandma!” The use of one comma can distinguish if Grandma is replacing the pot roast for dinner that evening. This is a dramatic example of course, but using commas and punctuation in the correct places or choosing the right word (e.g. your vs. you’re) are incredibly important to your writing. Even the smallest grammatical error can make you lose credibility with your audience. This article from CNBC covers the top 11 grammar mistakes and provides us with the below infographic so you can brush up on which grammar pitfalls to avoid in the future. In addition to taking a field trip back to Language Arts and refreshing yourself on possessive nouns, it’s always a great practice to have someone proofread anything you write before it goes out to the public. Having a second set of eyes will catch mistakes that you’ve missed and make sure your copy is the best it can be. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to send to a colleague for editing, you might want to utilize free apps like Grammarly that can check your copy for errors. Either way, make sure you’re taking that extra step to put your best foot forward through your writing.

Infographic with the 11 most common grammar mistakes employees make.

Don’t Complicate Things

It’s natural in our field to lean into the storytelling mode and want to paint a picture every time we write. Oftentimes this can make things complicated, adding in details that are unnecessary or unrelated to the point that you’re trying to make. Keep copy simple and direct. This doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity in your writing or that your writing has to be boring. Writing can still be interesting without all the extras. Think about social media captions. Very rarely do you see more than a line or two with some platforms even limiting the number of characters you use. I find that writing something for Twitter can often be helpful in getting right to the point. You don’t have a choice but to be direct when you’re limited to 280 characters. Try to keep this in mind no matter what platform you’re writing for. Avoid overused words or phrases, check copy for redundancy and shorten run-on sentences. Focus on the audience that you’re writing to and understand that not only is their attention span hovering around 8 seconds, but they’re looking for the “what” and “why” of everything that you write. Give it to them clutter-free!

Avoid Inauthenticity

Sometimes when you’re writing for a large group, you tend to use a more stiff and general tone that might appeal to the larger masses. It’s an easy habit to slip into, but it’s actually having the opposite effect that you think it is. Rather than engaging with more people, you’re isolating your library by coming off more rigid. Always write like you would speak to a patron one on one. If you think of it that way rather than a large group, it becomes less intimidating and easier to be more authentic and relatable. People gravitate toward familiarity and reading something that comes across more conversational will make them much more likely to engage and keep coming back for more. Skip any inside library jargon. Feel free to use personal anecdotes (when appropriate) and write for the person that you’re speaking to. No one knows your audience better than you and it’s important to cater to your patrons’ interests in every piece of marketing content that you create.

The NJ State Library and Talking Book and Braille Center will also be closed on Monday, February 17, 2025 for Presidents Day.
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