Writing persuasive copy: A one-day course

Learn the skills necessary to write and commission copy for different media – from product descriptions to marketing materials

Persuasive writing is part process, part skill and part talent. This interactive course teaches you the process and skills behind great copywriting, and develops your talent through practice. Led by professional copywriter Barnaby Benson, the day mixes theory and practice to teach you how to write commercial copy for different media – including websites, emails, brochures and product descriptions.

During the course, you’ll learn everything from how to write persuasively to how to brief copywriters and review their work. Importantly, you’ll also learn how to write for different audiences, ensuring you grab people’s attention, sustain their interest and nurture their desire to act.

Content

• How to convey the key aspects of a product or service through copy
• Ten persuasive writing techniques
• How to establish an appropriate tone
• How to write for different media including emails, newsletters, websites, advertisements, product descriptions and marketing materials
• How to profile an audience: what do they currently think and feel about a product or service?
• AIDA: attention, interest, desire, action
• Empathy techniques
• Top five copywriting mistakes and how to avoid them
• Advice on how to get copywriting work
• The commissioning process – how to brief copywriters and review their work
• Practical exercise: attendees work on one copywriting project they plan to write or commission, with opportunities to share their work with the group and receive feedback
• Q&A and group discussion

This course is for you if...

• You’re a journalist or creative writer who wants to learn how to apply your skills to copywriting
• You’re a small business owner or marketing professional who wants to improve the quality of your communication materials and product descriptions
• You work in business and want to learn how to commission copywriters and review their work
• You work for a charity or non-profit organisation and want to learn how to write or commission written materials

Course preparation

• Ahead of the course, attendees should have in mind a piece of copy that they want to write or commission from a copywriter, e.g. a sales email, a blog post, a website home page or a job application letter. They should also have an understanding of the audience they want to engage with through their copy.

You may also be interested in...

• How to communicate clearly through writing
• Copywriting: A two-day bootcamp

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Tutor profile

Barnaby Benson has been a professional copywriter for over 15 years. He owns and manages one of London’s leading copywriting agencies whose clients include Next, Deloitte, Novartis, HSBC, O2 and many others. Barnaby is trusted by many global brand consultancies to write copy for their clients including The Partners, Brand Union and Landor (all WPP Group) and Imagination. Before writing, he was an account director in advertising and brings those skills and discipline to copywriting. Barnaby and his colleagues blog on copywriting atblog.barnabybenson.co.uk.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website