Ever feel like your copy just doesn't flow right, no matter how hard you try?
This is where the little-known art of Copyboarding comes into play.
That's what Agora Financial, a leading financial education publishing company, uses to generate more than $100 million a year in their model.
In this post, we'll talk about everything you need to know about copywriting.
And how you can begin to implement this strategy in your copywriting process.
So you can become a better copywriter than most people.
Key Takeaways:
- Copyboarding helps you lay out ideas clearly so readers can easily understand and follow.
- It's a powerful tool for writers to organize their thoughts and plan content that flows smoothly from start to finish.
- By changing the way we treat customer doubts, copy builds trust and convinces people to say yes.
- Using Agora Financial's method, you create strong headlines that make complex technology like Bluetooth look simple.
What is Copyboarding?
Copyboarding is a methodical approach to conceptualizing and writing copy inspired by the storyboarding process in media.
Storyboarding creates a series of blueprints with directions and dialogue to show shots for different scenes.
These pictures are arranged as a comic strip.
And helps directors see how the story flows, scene changes, camera angles, and how the visuals work with the story.
“But I'm a copywriter, how does that relate to me?”
You don't need to draw illustrations to plan the copy. But you want to embrace the idea of visualizing your idea before writing a word.
Do this by breaking down your sales pitch into small, manageable messages.
This will make it easier to create a compelling story.
Here is an almost 2 hour long video of how Agora Financial teaches their new affiliates:
If you have some time, watch it in full.
Why Copyboarding Works?
Copyboarding works because it forces you to visualize and validate your sequence of ideas before you write your copy.
This process will help you.
- Stay on track!
- Create a coherent flow of ideas
- Address common objections before they come
The key to a successful, fast and efficient writing phase is a well-thought-out message structure and hierarchy.
And this is exactly what you get with copyboarding.
Additionally, the outline you will create with this process will allow you to identify potential problems and make adjustments before committing to the actual writing.
How to copy?
Agora's success in copyboarding can be attributed to its five-step method.
But for simplicity, I modified it a bit in 4 steps.
Here is a breakdown.
1. Find your big idea
Every successful copy starts with a compelling big idea.
You can find yours by researching your product or service.
I will start by listing every feature and fact about it. I will then assess which features are specific to my offer.
The “big idea” usually comes from identifying your unique selling proposition and clearly defining the problem you're solving and who you're solving it for.
2. Create an irresistible promise
Once you have your big idea, the next step is to formulate a promise that resonates with your audience.
Consider your readers.
- Needs:
- Desires
- Or pain points
This formula can help you create a promise that offers them a solution they can't resist.
(Correspondingly large benefit) and: (this is why it works)
To see this in action…
Turn your passion into profit with this a step-by-step, practical plan that I used to grow my side hustle of content creation.
3. Identify and address objections
People will resist your offer, especially if you're just starting out.
So you need to anticipate your audience's possible doubts or concerns.
My favorite place to find customer complaints is in product reviews. If you're writing copy to sell your book, research the best-selling books in your field.
Then go through the reviews of each of them.
People share what they liked and didn't like in these comments for you to take notes. Especially the ones they didn't necessarily like.
That way you find a gap in the market that your product would ideally fill.
4. Create your outline
In the previous steps, we basically assemble our puzzles. Now it's time to put them all together.
Keep this phrase in mind when creating your copy flow.
“Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.”
Lead
I like to start the copy by connecting my audience with a powerful statement or question that revolves around my big idea.
But I will not reveal everything in that introduction.
Not at this time.
The purpose of this lead is to stimulate readers to read the next line.
Body copy
Then, once you've got them interested, expand on the big idea of your body copy.
Give a little more detail about the basic concept. You can begin to support your claims with evidence.
Do this by sharing relevant statistics, stories or examples. This is also the section where you want to inject and review potential objections.
Put your readers at ease by briefly addressing existing concerns.
Conclusion
Summarize your main points. And start seamlessly transitioning to your call to action.
When writing your CTA, you should clearly define the next steps.
Make it ridiculously easy for your audience to know what action to take.
Summarize
Follow this step-by-step guide to create a comprehensive and well-organized outline that serves as a roadmap for your example.
Remember, Copyboarding is not some magic system.
This is a structured planning process taken from visual storytelling and applied to copy.
It can also be used with celebrities copywriting frameworks and does not replace any practice copywriting.
Keep tweaking until you achieve a seamless process that helps fit your workflow just right.
