How To Avoid the 10 Plagues of Copywriting

As Passover is upon us, it's time to take pause and think about the "plagues" of copywriting to avoid when writing short-form content like copywriting, or long-form text such as blog, web content, emails, etc. So, here are some tips on what to avoid in your copywriter and/or content writing:

1. Being BO-ring: There's nothing more off-putting than mundane, redundant, condescending text. So, give your copywriting or text - blog, web copy, social media post, something fresh.

2. Overused phrases: Like powerful, empowered, useful, features and all that blah-blah.

3. No real benefit: Example - Erasing something from a photo is not a benefit. It's a geeky feature (are you listening, Google?).

4. "Copycating:" Imitation is the best form of flattery? Not if it's obvious. Don't use similar phrases, words, idiom, style, or humor of the competition. (Unless your aim to is to make fun of them - but that's something else)

5. Promising without delivering: If you promise, say, 10% in the banner, make it stand up. No microcopy conditions.

6. Mistakes: There will almost always be mistakes. It's part of the trade. There are plenty of mistakes that exist on high-profile websites (believe me, I've checked). The trick is minimizing them and making sure they don't happen where and when it matters most. On the other hand, not to "flip out" when you do see a grammar mistake ( Which usually can be corrected. Things happen) and making sure the errors don't occur in offers.

7. Past due: Don't start a promotion a day after the big game, or the Oscars, for example. Give yourself enough time to come up with something that's both creative - and relevant.

8. Irrelevant (Aka "being late to the party): On the flip side, in today's "insta-world," timing is everything. So when it comes to current events, you want to be 'on the money' to come up with timely ads, promotions, and posts in general. Today's hot bread can be cold by tomorrow.

9. "Poking the bear" for no reason" -there was a time when being controversial would be a 'conversation starter.' today, it's best to stay away from most anything controversial. That's not to say there's no room to be edgy, because there is. The trick is, how to to it properly.

10. Not leaving enough time: This is perhaps the most egregious plague. People assume that copywriting is instant, like pudding. But it's not. You need time to think, rethink, edit, make sure it's in line with what the manger wants, the product person wants, etc. And that doesn't take five minutes. Sorry. It's a fail I still see happening.

Example of an "edgy" ad.