November 8th, 2021
Written by Nicolette Hatzidimitriou
Nicky earned her bachelor’s degree in Writing from Johns Hopkins University in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating, she turned her childhood dream of moving to New York into a reality and began her career in TV production. After six years of working on shows such as Blue Bloods, Modern Love, and The Punisher, Nicky packed her bags and moved west in search of a more writing-centric career.
You’re gathered around a table with your steadfast Thursday-night crew—the Orc Barbarian, the Tiefling Bard, the Dragonborn Paladin, and the Aasimar Cleric. You’re all on your way to Cragmaw Castle with a singular goal in mind, but a goal that requires specific roles, skills, and above all else, creativity, to achieve.
If you’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, you’re probably super confused right now. But if you have played this classic fantasy roleplaying game, you know that it’s all about creativity.
From crafting a compelling background for your character to making decisions that can completely change the course of the game, Dungeons and Dragons has drawn creatives for nearly 50 years by encouraging them to push the boundaries of their imaginations and create wild, one-of-a-kind adventures.
Why is this blog about copywriting nerding out so hard about Dungeons and Dragons?
Believe it or not, D&D and copywriting have something in common: They’re both narrative forms of storytelling that benefit from creativity. If you’re a creative with an active imagination, a knack for storytelling, and a desire to make a career out of your writing, follow along as we explore copywriting for creatives.
If you’re unfamiliar with copywriting, you may be surprised to learn that it’s literally all around you. And no invisibility spells have been cast here. Copywriting is essentially the text that’s used to market or advertise a product or service.
You can see copywriting in action in the text of:
That’s right.
Those quippy Instagram captions on your favorite brand’s profile have an ulterior motive—increasing sales. What’s more, if these bits of text are written creatively, they’re likely succeeding.
Copywriting by its very nature begs for creativity. It is, after all, writing. Like any other type of writing, copywriting strings words together to create an idea that wasn’t there before or elicit an emotion so strong that the reader actually stops what they’re doing to accept the copy’s call to action.
One of the most effective ways to imbue copy with creativity is to create a compelling story around it. Don’t just use words to describe a product or a service. Instead, build a narrative. Place the product or service in the context of the reader’s real life. After all, at its core, copywriting is its own form of storytelling, just like Dungeons and Dragons.
Think of it like this:
Before you begin a D&D campaign, you choose the role you’re going to play, whether it’s that of an Elf, a Gnome, a Bugbear—you get the idea. As a copywriter, you do the same thing before you craft your copy (although with slightly different options).
I know what you might be thinking: Isn’t my role the role of a copywriter?
Sure… if you don’t want to be creative about it. But if you want to write creative and effective copy, you should put yourself in the role that best:
For instance, you may take the role of:
Once you know your character, you’ll have a better idea of what specific characteristics you can give to them (and your copy).
The creativity within copywriting doesn’t stop after you choose your character. The tools you use as a writer also depend on creativity. Within copywriting, these tools are:
In the realm of D&D, these tools can be thought of as your character’s unique traits.
The brand you’re writing for and the type of copy you’re writing (web copy, email copy, social copy, or SEO blogs) will help you determine the creative syntax and ideas you should wield.
Your imaginative ideas and your willingness to take risks can earn you points in D&D and benefit the entire party.
The same is true for copywriting.
When you write copy that’s creative and pushes the envelope of what’s excepted, you’re more likely to draw a reader’s attention and, more importantly, maintain it.
This, in turn, means that your copy will be more effective in accomplishing its ultimate goal—increasing sales. With creative perspective, syntax, and ideas, your copy can:
So, if you’re a creative looking to transfer your talents into the field of copywriting, you may be wondering how exactly you would put these ideas into play in a real-life scenario.
Let’s go on a quest of our own, using the example of a fictional client to explore the process of creative copywriting together. And don’t worry—we’ll take it one step at a time. After all, no party member gets left behind.
In this extremely lengthy metaphor, the client is like your Dungeon Master. They determine what your quest will be about (i.e. the marketing of their specific product or service) and provide you with a general outline of what they want so that you can fill in the details.
As an example, let’s say your client is an up-and-coming board game rental service that wants to appeal to a wide audience, but still come across as trendy.
Next, you would use your creativity and imagination to get into the mind of your client’s brand and choose the character you know can lead a successful quest.
In this case, you’ll likely want to take on the role of the trendy, board-gaming loving best friend. They’re social, they’re outgoing, and they know there’s nothing quite as fun as hosting a board game night with close friends or family.
Now comes your opportunity to use creative syntax and imaginative ideas to draw the reader into the narrative behind the service. Consider describing the thrilling game-night scene that awaits them, complete with brand-specific syntax and details (see what we did there?).
You might also take your reader on an adventure through:
By the end of your copy, your reader should feel as though they’ve successfully completed a quest and leveled up. Now, they’re equipped with the solution to the problem that’s been holding them back.
Within the field of copywriting, the potential for creativity is endless. You may not be trying to convince a dragon queen to purchase a magical amulet, but you are marketing a treasure just as unique—a product or service with its own story to tell. It’s up to you to decide how to use your creativity to do so in a compelling and effective way.
At Copycat, we use our creativity to forge new quests every single day. In doing so, we ensure our Dungeon Masters—er, we mean, our clients—establish their own unique brand voice and reputation, connect with their customers on a deeper level, and ultimately, increase their visibility and sales. If you’re interested in writing creative copy with us or benefiting from the creative copy we write, contact us today.
