Catalog Copywriting 101: Nail The Basics

If you're like most small business owners, you're already playing CEO, board, VP, and marketer. Now that you've decided to create a print document showcasing your products (aka catalog!), you might have to try your hand at copywriting or graphic design too.

The aim of this post is to give a small business owner who has never written ad copy before an introduction to the subject. Armed with this knowledge, small business staff can either create more compelling pieces that sell more of their product or better critique the work of a freelancer that they might hire to tackle a project for them.

The foundation of successful ad copy is getting the facts right. (The WHAT)
Small business owners already know all there is to know about their product, like the dimensions, what exactly it does, or how you use it. These are the basic facts that potential buyers are going to want to know before they buy. This is where the one-man-show approach to business give you an advantage, because you know exactly what you're selling and what makes it great.

Of course, if you don't have the facts at this point, you'll need to get them. There are few copywriting sins as bad for your business as telling customers they are getting a 1-lb block of cheese when the blocks are actually 12 ounces, for example. To paraphrase Mark Twain, "Get the facts right, and then you can distort them as you wish."

Once you have the facts, just tell your potential customers why they want your product. (The WHY)
It's so easy to overthink this part. When you're playing with the big boys, you'll probably hear the acronym "KISS" mentioned. It means Keep It Simple, Stupid. And in catalog copy, simplicity is key. Even before you consider who your audience is, you'll need to keep you copy to a fifth-grade level so that the rest of the world can actually make sense of it.

Think about what you would tell a potential customer in person when you are showing them your product. The first thing you might mention in that encounter should be near the beginning of your copy, while those essential but less exciting details should appear closer to the end. You might ask yourself what the best thing about your product is, why someone would buy your product, or what your product does better or differently, and then approach the answer to that question in the opening line.

Once you have the facts and can tell someone why they want your product, the copy "writing" is complete. From here you can edit your descriptions as needed and work on targeting a specific audience, eliminating errors (the second deadly copywriting sin), reducing length or reforming your opening lines to fit your brand. A seasoned copywriter will usually be able to incorporate this clean-up work with the actual writing to reduce effort, but if you've come this far without having written before you're doing a great job! Good luck on your catalog!