What is Eye-Catching Copywrite?

So you have your product figured out and are ready to sell. What would you say about it? What about your product or service would make someone buy it? But most importantly, do they understand what you are selling?

The problem we African brands face doesn’t have to do with the product; it’s what we say about our product. Or service. How are you communicating with your audience? What do you want them to take away from your advert or social media post?

Many of us think that just a good-looking website, fancy graphics for our socials, or the poshest Instagram reels will get us clients. Don’t get me wrong, these are very important in marketing. But imagine if we aligned these high-quality images and videos with what we are trying to communicate. Visual Storytelling. Or storytelling in general.

I could just give an overview of what goes on in the so-called ‘marketing world’ in Africa, Uganda, at least. A business goes straight to a designer with the common question, How much is it to make a flyer? And just like that, pictures that are poorly cropped with terrible lighting (usually surrounding a large image of the founder) are slapped into a piece of A4-sized paper and glued on every electric pole downtown. So all your potential clients will see is a flyer with your face and phone number. Which would work fairly well if you weren’t selling solar panels or basic electronics.

What are you selling? What are you trying to communicate? Will it be the same message you will communicate on all your platforms? Message clarity is one of the most important aspects to consider when advertising. There are a few things to consider when communicating with your clients, especially digitally:

Have a call to Action: what do you expect your clients to do when they view your ad online or see your poster on the streets? Is there a link leading to your landing page? Is your phone number clearly stated in your flier? Having a call to Action makes it easier for the client to know what to do and why they are seeing your ad.

Clearly state your message: Pictures and videos could do a great deal for your website or graphics, but words in the end sell things. Outline what you want to communicate clearly to avoid the clients getting confused. In this fast-paced world, unless someone has gone online specifically looking for you or your product, you will be quickly ignored or scrolled out. You have to make sure your message is precise, concise, and easy to understand. It doesn’t need to have the best graphics and video scenes, although that helps. The point is to make sure your message has come across and your audience understands it.

Simplicity speaks louder: It is a common misconception that the more complicated, the easier it is to understand. No one wants to know about how your product was birthed or the capital you spent starting your business. All they need to know is what your product or service can do for them. As long as you can communicate how your product or service benefits your client and why choose you over your competitor, then you are 80% there.

Hopefully, this will give a short overview of how to get started with basic marketing.