What Is B2C Copywriting? (With Examples)
B2C copywriting is an essential marketing tool for any business that wants to capture and keep the attention of their target audience. It’s a proven way to engage potential customers and inspire them to act. In fact, in one survey, 70% of B2C marketers reported that the importance of content marketing has increased in their organization over the last year.
As a freelance copywriter, developing your B2C copywriting skills can help you build your portfolio and attract new clients. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry – we’ve got the answers! In this guide, we take you through everything you need to know about B2C copywriting, including examples of successful marketing campaigns for inspiration.
What is B2C Copywriting?
What is B2C copywriting, and how is it different from other forms of copywriting?
The acronym B2C stands for business-to-consumer and refers to businesses that sell their products or services directly to individual customers. Household names like Netflix, McDonald’s, and Walmart are all examples of B2C businesses.
B2C copywriting is about creating content – webpages, advertisements, email campaigns, etc. – that engages a businesses’ audience and persuades them to take a desired action. Known as a conversion, this action can take many forms, including
making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading a resource (like a free ebook).
Business-to-business (B2B) copywriting targets other businesses, so tends to feature a lot of technical, industry-specific language. B2C copywriting, by contrast, typically uses more informal, conversational language tailored to particular buyer personas. Below are some of the key elements common to B2C copywriting:
- An engaging, conversational tone
- Sensory language and emotional appeals
- A focus on benefits to the reader
- Persuasive writing techniques
- Social proof (e.g. customer testimonials or reviews)
- A strong call to action (CTA)
While you can find B2C content almost anywhere, it’s especially prevalent in website content (such as blogs, landing pages, and product descriptions), social media content, and email marketing campaigns.
What Does a B2C Copywriter Do?
The day-to-day routine of a B2C copywriter can vary based on the specific client or project they are working with. However, there are some responsibilities that are consistently part of the role:
- Understanding a client’s USPs, target audience, and brand voice
- Gathering demographic and psychographic data on the intended audience
- Drafting engaging, persuasive content tailored to specific audiences
- Proofreading and editing their writing
- Collaborating with other creatives like designers, marketers, or branding teams
- Optimizing content for search engines
- Tracking and analyzing the performance of content
Most B2C copywriters are also expected to ensure brand consistency by sticking to a style guide and writing in a way that reflects the brand’s identity.
B2C Copywriting Tips
B2C copywriting is an in-demand writing niche – making it the ideal skill to add to your professional development plan as a writer. Here are some tips for mastering B2C copywriting:
Research Your Target Audience
To write copy that appeals to a specific target market, you need to understand their wants, needs, and pain points. Gather inspiration from your client’s website, social media pages, and past advertising efforts to create buyer personas of “ideal” customers. These profiles should include some demographic information (age, location, employment, etc.), as well as what they value and look for in a product.
You can also analyze your client’s competitors’ marketing efforts to see how they appeal to their target market. If a particular marketing campaign seems especially successful or memorable, see how you can adapt it for your own client.
Highlight the Benefits
Highlight how your product or service improves the reader’s life in some quantifiable way. It’s not enough to describe the features of a product; you need to emphasize how it will solve a problem or become part of the reader’s routine in a beneficial way. For example, instead of writing: “This blender has a 1200-watt motor,” you could instead write, “This blender makes your mornings easier and gives you a healthy start by serving up smooth, nutritious smoothies in seconds.”
Tap into Emotions
An essential element of B2C copywriting is tapping into the reader’s emotions. One way to accomplish this is by writing copy that inspires an emotional response in the reader (i.e., the rhetorical device pathos). One method is to evoke fear of missing out (FOMO) to prompt an immediate response by using urgent, time-sensitive language and emphasizing scarcity (“limited time,” act now”). You can also make an emotional appeal by using power words, highlighting exclusive access (“Join now for VIP deals!), or creating anticipation by hinting at something exciting to come (“Be the first to know!”).
Tell a Story
Stories create emotional connections. B2C copy often engages readers by telling a story that highlights the brand’s journey or other customers’ experiences with the product. These customer success stories and testimonials are examples of “social proof” – when potential new users see endorsements from current users, it helps boost the authority and credibility of the brand. This type of copy can be incorporated throughout the client’s promotional materials, from their social media to the landing pages of their website.
End with a Clear Call to Action
One of the most important elements of B2C copy is the CTA, as it’s usually the last thing the reader sees before deciding whether to take a meaningful action. A CTA should be motivating and memorable, clearly outlining what the reader should do. Create something clear and concise – such as “Don’t wait – shop now to find your perfect fit” – that catches the reader’s attention and encourages them to take the next step in the customer journey. For more ideas, check out this list of effective attention-grabbing CTA examples.
B2C Copywriting Examples
Here are three examples of real-life B2C copywriting content for inspiration:
- Airbnb
Airbnb’s tagline “Belong Anywhere” is a great example of concise, emotional messaging that resonates with their target audience. It speaks to their customers’ desire to have authentic travel experiences and feel at home wherever they are in the world. This campaign also helps set Airbnb apart from other forms of travel accommodation (e.g., hotels) by positioning them as a more welcoming option that’s more than just a place to stay.
- Geico
Geico’s long-standing slogan “15 Minutes Could Save You 15% or More on Car Insurance” is a great example of B2C copy that highlights value for the customer with a focus on time and savings. The phrase directly communicates the benefit of switching to Geico – it’s a way to ensure quick, easy savings. Not only is it a memorable campaign with a catchy slogan, but it also uses measurable figures to demonstrate quantifiable results (“15 minutes” and “15%”).
- Nike
Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan is another example of incredibly successful B2C copywriting. Upon its introduction in 1988, this tagline gave the company a major sales boost. It has been part of the Nike brand ever since, demonstrating the importance of consistency when it comes to messaging. It encourages immediate action and makes an emotional appeal to potential customers to overcome their personal obstacles, find their motivation, and take the first step toward becoming more active.
Becoming A Copywriter
Are you interested in learning what it takes to become an expert, in-demand copywriter? Check out our comprehensive Becoming A Copywriter course. It’s ideal for new or aspiring freelance copywriters and takes a deep dive into the art of writing captivating web copy. Sign up for your free lessons and start learning today!
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