Even if I am an experienced copywriter, sometimes nagkakamali pa rin ako. Whenever I’m writing in-arts, captions, or blogs like this, I get really nervous kasi may mga nagva-viral sa socmed na mali-mali. Kaya I try to do my best na ma-lessen ang mistakes. Pero still, may mga nakakalusot. So really, ginawa ko ‘tong blog para maging reminder sakin HAHAHA 🥹 Pero who knows, ‘di ba? Baka makatulong din sa inyo ‘yung mga tips here (wink). SO without further ado, let’s start with 6 Copywriting Habits I Should Avoid (and syempre, ikaw na rin 😉)
Misuse of Punctuations
OKAY! So unang-una at hindi sa huli: DAPAT TAMA ANG MGA PUNCTUATIONS. PERIOD. Kasi naman, beh, kapag mali-mali yung punctuations like walang comma o period edi wala nang hingahan yung ferson kasi dere-deretso ang thoughts mo tapos minsan pajump-jump pa so ano na lang ang gagawin ni reader kundi intindihin kahit suuuuuper haba na ng sentence or paragraph, ‘di ba? Then of course. if mali yung punctuation in general like using period (.) instead of comma (,) sa thought, edi mas nakakalito. Like for example. nagmumukhang magkaiba ng sentence yung one thought mo, dahil hindi comma ang ginamit mo, And then nung nag-comma ka at the end of sentence. hindi na naputol. HAHA. As a rule of thumb, may pride ka dapat sa grammar correctness mo as a copy dahil nakakahiya naman kung laging ‘yun yung problem mo. Ok lang magkamali paminsan-minsan dahil tao ka lang din naman, but like… sana naman one or two punctuation mistakes lang NA WHEN EDITING PART MO NA, EH BABAGUHIN MO NA RIN!!! So better watch out for punctuation mistakes, ha! (Like me na hindi nagkakamali here. PWE! 🤣)
Too Much or No Emojis At All
Okkk. This one naman is depende sa brand or task na gagawin mo. Kasi meron talagang super ma-emosyon na brands. In my experience, bet na bet ‘to sa mga food brands para lang madama nila ‘yung sarap ng food. 🔥Fire sa anghang, 🐷pig pag happy fiesta. Ganern. For others naman like beauty brands, dapat mahilig sa diamond 💎o sparkles ✨para madama yung ganda at freshness. But usually, minimal lang din ngl. Especially kapag high-end brand yan. Sus! Allergic na allergic sila sa mga emojis. Nakakababa ng clean on-point sosh branding kasi. Also, since we’re talking about it, writing in a professional tone does not require and actually prefers no emoji at all ✌️This is because emojis are generally seen as playful. 🙃So remember that if you want to be taken seriously by your audience, then try to avoid emojis, especially the quirky ones. 💯
There Are So Many Flowers
I’m not talking about roses and tulips, ha? (pero bigyan niyo ko hihi) What I mean here is ‘yung super lalim o overkill na mga words. Lalong-lalo na kapag tagalog ang brand na iyong hahawakan, eh hindi mo naman kailangang gumamit ng mga matatalinhagang salita dahil ang patalastas ay hindi naman talastasan kung gaano ka kalalim magsalita, kundi kung paano mo maibabahagi ang mensahe ng iyong kinukumpanya upang ito ay mabili. And this type of mistake happens in the English lexicon, too! Some utterances may be difficult for your fellow personages to follow. And while thesaurus is your bosom buddy, it is not a necessity for you to string along with it as doing so could formulate an idiosyncratic merger of phrases that is counterproductive in conveying your announcement. In fact, going for an unembellished glossary would permit a serene understanding of the information that you’re attempting to deliver. An example would be endeavoring to liaise the information to the assemblage of having a “3-plus-1 promo” and telling it as “we offer to include a supplementary item should you purchase three of such in one checkout” in your copy. As it just simply does not look tolerable, it is downright extreme to even profess as you are delivering your message similar to a 16th century poet.
Conjunctions… AGAIN AND AGAIN
It’s very simple naman to do this but really difficult to follow, lalo na kung sobrang daming caption ang ginagawa mo. Important kasi na dynamic pa rin even with your CTA or phrases. So you better have something na magpapa-iba sa kanya. So you should add a variation like forming it like a question, starting with a verb, or literally anything other than a conjunction. So avoid creating captions na paulit-ulit lang. Kaya naman dapat matuto ka ring gumamit ng ibang words, hindi ‘yung puro “SO” lang. Kaya try mo rin maglagay ng adjective sa start ng sentence mo. Like for example, after mo sabihin na “So bili na ng food na ito!” you can instead say “Masarap, ‘di ba? Edi bili na ng food na ‘to!” sa CTA. O ‘di ba? Naiba na siya at mas may laman! Kaya sa oras na susubukan mong gumawa ng next caption mo, ‘di mo na uulitin ang mistake na ‘to, ha? Pero to be fair, starting your CTA with a conjunction is okay… just don’t use “SO” SO MUCH. Gigil niyo ko. Hmp >:(
Repeated Thoughts
I know na mahirap gumawa ng captions and contents. Pero sana naman mhiemha, ‘wag paulit-ulit ‘yung thoughts. Kasi naman, usually magte-tell ka naman ng story eh. So dapat meron ‘yang start to finish, hindi ‘yung ang dami mo pang hanash pero pinaikot-ikot mo lang yung audience. Nako, gawain ‘yan ng ferson na gusto lang talaga abutin ang 1,000 word count. Hindi naman kasi dapat na repeated lang yung story. Dapat, may konting roller coaster of emotion and, most importantly, end. Nakakasawa naman kasi na ilang words na ang nasabi mo, hindi ka pa rin dumadating sa point. Like seriously, move on na sa next topic! Hindi yung similar pa rin ang sinasabi mo, nandoon ka na sa near end part ng paragraph mo. You can try to add variation naman hindi yung paulit-ulit lang sinasabi mo. Kasi naman, mauumay ka ‘pag similar topic pa rin at wala nang madagdag na laman sa kalagitnaan. Try to add more to the story instead na sasabihin mo nanaman yung sinabi mo kanina. Tapos kung papahabaan mo lang din naman yung sentence, eh ibahin mo naman yung pinag-uusapan at least. Why not entice them more using another angle naman? Hindi yung from start to finish, 1 item pa rin mine-mention mo. I mean even as a writer naman siguro mauumay ka rin, ‘di ba? Puro ka lang dada and walang substance, all because papaabutin mo sa word count. And then, nahilo na lang ang reader mo and ‘di na maintindihan ang story kasi ‘di na gumana brain cells nila kaka-yapping mo. Tapos, babalikan mo nanaman yung una mong sentence kunwari tying in pero hindi naman talaga. I know mahirap gumawa ng captions and contents, pero kaya mo yan. 🙃
Not Checking Enough
Well, buti na lang graduate na ko rito kasi I don’t make this mistake anymore. 😒Not a single thing from the aforementioned prompts have I replicated my omissions, Siguradong walang mali sa sinabi ko rito kasi ni-check ko ‘to kanina pa. So ant mistakes here ay wala na. So ayun. To add lang, usually, I take 2-3 glances muna kasi bago ko ipasa ang caption or article ko to our editor para ma-lessen na rin ang trabaho niya. 🤮. Plus💯, gaya ng sabi ko kanina… it’s a pride thing na rin kung paulit-ulit ang mali, ‘di ba! So what I do is read and re-read my article to chck if there are any mistakes.🤞 Para naman hindi na ko mapagsabihan> HAHA. And I understand na ‘pag pagod ka na, eh kung ano-ano na lang masasabi mo kaya wala nang kwenta. Kaya beri beri important ang checking para makita mo ang mistakes mo and correct it by reading and re-reading bago pa mapasa or ma=post. Kaya sa susunod, hindi mo na mauulit mga katagang mali ang ibig sabihin Kaya naman dapat try niyo na rin mag-read and re-reading. Proven and tested ‘yan dahil walang mistaeks sa article ko, ‘di ba? 😌
And, that’s it! I hope na makatulong sa inyo ang article ko ‘cos it’s very insightful on what NOT to do para na rin hindi mo na magawa. Remember na kung ang puhunan mo ay ang pagiging professional keyboard warrior (copywriter), then do your very best to excel at it by focusing on the smallest details. Kasi you might not notice it, but yung small copy mistakes ay napapansin pa rin ng mga tao and we don’t want that. REALLY.
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