How can I highlight a negative aspect of my product?

Everyone out there is trying to prove their products are the best of the best!

Yes, but you wouldn’t be the first nor the last to use a negative aspect of your offering to set yourself apart.

It’s a technique that savvy copywriters throughout history have used in their campaigns at one time or another, and it proved to be the missing piece for those brands that were struggling to finally take off.

If you think about it, the idea is not that far-fetched.

By embracing a not-so-positive aspect of your product, you demonstrate that:

• You are an honest brand
• You are so confident in your ability to deliver what you promise that you aren’t scared to expose everything, both the good and the bad.
• You know how to turn something negative into something positive.

Furthermore, you not only accept what you lack or what is not so perfect, but you expose it for all to see.

Because in the end great advertising is- as the copywriter Andy McLeod rightly says –

“Expressing a truth about a product in an arresting way.”

This advanced copywriting technique is called “reverse psychology“

Do you want to learn how to use it?

Stay with me for this copywriting class in which we’ll look at several ways to exploit a disadvantage of your product.

1.   Admit that you are not the best in the market

Admitting that you are not number one in your niche can work in your favour.

Let’s see this with a great example.

The rental car company Avis was going through a hard time.

Hertz, the competitor, was gaining market share by leaps and bounds, so much so that Avis was losing literally millions of dollars.

They understood that they needed a powerful campaign to turn the situation around and hired the agency Doyle Dane Bernbach.

The agency then decided to turn the tables and make the most of the fact that Avis was number two in the market.

This truth was the perfect argument to convince their audience that with Avis, their experience would be smooth sailing.

These ads have made history because they helped Avis recover from its financial slump.

Doyle Dane Bernbach’s advertisers were able to use this disadvantage to convince audiences that they would get better service and a smoother experience with Avis, which is ultimately what everyone wants when they rent a car.

Think about how you could apply this advanced copywriting technique to your business.

Not being a big, well-known brand may mean that you offer a more personalised service, that you are cheaper, or that the buying process is easier.

Let’s now look at another way to use a disadvantage to your advantage.

2.   You are not the first choice your customer had in mind.

You may be the alternative they haven’t considered, and you may turn out to be even better.

I know this is a bit complicated to grasp, so let’s look at an example to help you understand.

Vespa, the Italian motorcycle brand, wanted to penetrate the U.S. market.

They were not fools.

They knew very well that it was not going to be easy to convince a country where every member of the family has their own car from the age of 18 to get on a small and fragile-looking motorcycle.

(Picture a Vespa next to one of those huge pickups that abound in the USA).

Vespa then hired the advertising agency Carl Ally and it was copywriter Ed McCabe who came up with this extraordinary campaign.

Pay attention to the header

“Maybe your second car shouldn’t be a car.”

It’s masterful because you’re already planting doubt in your ideal customer’s mind.

But the lead is even better:

“Don’t laugh. It makes a lot more sense to hop on a Vespa than it does to climb into a 4000 lb automobile to go half a mile for a 4-oz pack of cigarettes.”

Notice how it already plays on the fact that the average American has never considered a scooter, and therefore goes right into making the most robust argument for owning a motorcycle, but preceded by a “don’t laugh”.

McCabe goes on to strengthen that argument by outlining all the advantages of a scooter, for parking, for getting around traffic, and, course, there is also the economic issue, “you can buy one of them with the money you’d spend to insurance and fuel the average second car for a year”.

Think about how you could apply this advanced copywriting technique to your business.

Are you a cheaper but equally (or more) advantageous alternative to a more obvious choice?

So make the most of it and make sure you create headlines that already sow doubt in your audience’s mind.

Do they really need that more expensive option, or can they get a similar result with yours plus other advantages they hadn’t considered?

Let’s take a look at another very clear way to use reverse psychology. 

3. Ask your audience not to buy your products

Sounds pretty idiotic, doesn’t it?

If you want to sell more, how can you ask your prospects not to buy?

And yet that is what Patagonia did

You will know Patagonia for its clothing made with quality materials for hiking in the mountains or just walking around the neighbourhood.

In 2011 they ran the following ad in the New York Times for Black Friday:

Of course it was a campaign that attracted a lot of attention.

Patagonia is known for its environmental advocacy and campaigns to protect the planet.

That’s why on Black Friday they wanted to launch a message against the fanatical consumerism typical of these dates.

They even have a page on their website explaining why they decided to run this ad.

I copy here the most relevant messages:

…to lighten our environmental footprint, everyone needs to consume less. Businesses need to make fewer things but of higher quality. Customers need to think twice before they buy.

Why? Everything we make takes something from the planet we can’t give back. Each piece of Patagonia clothing, whether or not it’s organic or uses recycled materials, emits several times its weight in greenhouse gases, generates at least another half garment’s worth of scrap, and draws down copious amounts of freshwater now growing scarce everywhere on the planet.”

Of course, many branded them as hypocrites, because they knew that with this ad they were actually giving more publicity to their products.

They had foreseen that this would happen, so on their website they also face this truth without any hints:

“But we’re in business to make and sell products. Everyone’s paycheck relies on that. Moreover, we are a growing business, opening new stores and mailing more catalogs. What do we tell customers who accuse us of hypocrisy?

It would be hypocritical for us to work for environmental change without encouraging customers to think before they buy. To reduce environmental damage, we all have to reduce consumption as well as make products in more environmentally sensitive, less harmful ways. It’s not hypocrisy for us to address the need to reduce consumption. On the other hand, it’s folly to assume that a healthy economy can be based on buying and selling more and more things people don’t need—and it’s time for people who believe that’s folly to say so.”

Patagonia is actually doing here what it always does – selling a concept rather than a garment itself.

Patagonia not only sells quality clothing but above all presents itself as that brand with scruples that really cares about the planet.

People who buy Patagonia garments do so not only for the quality of its products but also to be seen as a person who loves nature and wants to help protect it.

That’s why this ad makes so much sense, it’s the pure essence of their “buy less but buy quality” marketing strategy.

In other words, don’t buy from Decathlon and buy from us.

Think about how you could use this technique in your marketing strategy.

If your brand is also environmentally conscious, invite your audience to buy only if necessary.

Encourage them to repair, reuse and resell when possible.

Your entire marketing strategy has to take the environmental factor into account if that is how you have decided to differentiate yourself from other brands.

And above all, be consistent with what you preach.

Let’s take a look at one last example of the marketing technique of making a negative thing positive.

4. Your brand doesn’t do everything

Specializing can be a double-edged sword.

When you only do one thing, people may decide to go for another brand or service that offers them more possibilities.

But specializing in something can also be positive because it differentiates you from other businesses and gives you that expert aura.

In the 2000s, the Umbro brand was dedicated to apparel and footwear for one sport: football.

It now also makes rugby and training apparel, but its biggest market is still football.

And it is this speciality that this campaign highlighted:

Copywriter Andy McLeod exploited the fact that all the other brands were making everything, from skateboards to yoga mats, to emphasize that Umbro only made football apparel and nothing else.

This campaign focuses on making their ideal customer – people who play football – feel proud to wear a brand that differentiates them from the rest of the crowd.

Wearing Umbro they say to the world “I play football”.

This kind of emotion is often used in advertising – the feeling of belonging to a group and being perceived as a member of it.

Because it works.

Besides, a brand that specializes in only one thing has to be better, right? This was the other message they wanted to convey.

Think about how you can use this type of message in your marketing campaigns.

Are you specialised in only one thing and that’s why you do it better than the competition?

What is the emotion you want your audience to feel?

Pride in belonging to a group?

Remember, one of the most important goals of your copy is to create an emotion that makes your audience want to get your product.

Summarizing

That not-so-positive aspect of your offer can become very effective in differentiating your brand.

Don’t be afraid to discover that disadvantage that can make you shine brighter than you thought.

Perfection is boring and too flat.

The flaws in business – as in people – are what make us memorable.

I invite you to discover them and share them out there.

See you soon!

I’m talking about those direct messages on LinkedIn that you don’t even read because you know in less than a nanosecond that they’re trying to sell you something.

And you just ignore them.

You don’t want to be one of those ignored messages.

Neither do I, which is why I’ve spent a lot of time and practice perfecting my DMs.

LinkedIn was created to facilitate networking and job searches.

Now it’s the social network that freelancers and businesses use to promote themselves and get new clients.

But who said it was easy?

I certainly didn’t.

Look, I’m not here to rub your nose in the hundreds of clients I get on LinkedIn by sending a template message that took me 5 minutes to write.

Truth: I’m not good at lying.

Out of maybe twenty or so messages I send, two work, but those two have already paid for the time I’ve invested.

As you can see, my method is not infallible, but it has a pretty high conversion rate, and that’s what counts.

Want to know how I do it?

Then stay and pay close attention.

Waste your time posting every day or invest it in strategic messaging? It’s up to you

Do you feel depressed when you open LinkedIn and see your competitors’ daily posts and the truisms 🥱people comment on each other’s posts?

Well, don’t, because most people spend a lot of time doing this and get very little return on their precious time.

Let me explain.

These posts only appear in the feeds of the people who follow them, and in most cases these are not their target customers.

So they may get a lot of interaction, but in the end, they get minimal results for the time invested.

The reality is that your potential customers are also busy feeling depressed by the rate at which their competitors are posting, and in the end it all becomes a Catch-22.

To break this vicious cycle, you have to be prepared to take some action.

And that’s what we will see here.

But first, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

The almighty personal brand

My motto is: Less personal branding, more sales.

We are all obsessed with becoming social media celebrities.

But the reality is that only a few achieve real results from all the time and work they put into recording videos, creating presentations, interviews, etc.

If that’s what you want to do, go ahead, I won’t be the one to stop you.

But if you’re someone who doesn’t like competing for people’s attention all the time, and you prefer to invest your time and effort in getting flesh-and-blood clients who will pay you for a gig, then you need to go straight for them.

And one way to do this is with direct messages on LinkedIn and a well-thought-out strategy.

Here is the first step you should take.

Create a list of prospects

LinkedIn is an invaluable source of information.

There you can find those key people who work in the companies or agencies you want to collaborate with or those clients to whom you want to sell your services directly.

LinkedIn is the most effective social network if you sell to other companies (B2B).

If you sell consumer products (B2C), you’d be better off trying other channels such as Instagram or TikTok.  

Here we will focus on B2B.

First, you need to be very clear about who you want to sell to.

Who are those companies that are closest to buying your products/services.

And you know that after having done in-depth research on your buyer persona.

Only then will you be able to search LinkedIn for the companies and contacts within companies to send direct messages to.

Try to write to contacts who have decision-making power within the company.

For example, purchasing managers, marketing managers, HR managers, etc.

Once you have your list of contacts, create an Excel file with the following columns:

An Excel spreadsheet like this will help you easily track your interactions with leads.

In the column that says LinkedIn, copy the link to the person’s profile so you can always find them.

It’s important to note whether they have responded to you, and whether the response was positive or negative.

If you haven’t heard back after three attempts, forget the lead.

Same if you get a negative reply.

Don’t be a nightmare.

If they’re not interested, don’t bother.

I leave at least a week between attempts. Don’t overwhelm them by sending messages every other day.

And don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a reply the first time, I have often received a reply on the third attempt.

People are busy and don’t have time to respond to everything that comes their way. Also, many people don’t check LinkedIn every day.

How to send DMs without paying LinkedIn Premium

LinkedIn Premium is not cheap and I understand if you aren’t planning to pay for it.

Without this mode, you won’t be able to send direct messages to people you aren’t connected to.

Use the free months of LinkedIn Premium to send more DMs, and if you have the basic version, send contact invitations to the people you’ve identified as potential customers.

Ideally, you should have already exchanged comments on their posts, although this isn’t strictly necessary.

My experience is that most people will accept your invitation as long as you’ve added a personal note.

A successful contact request note should have the following ingredients:

• Say that you have similar interests or work in the same industry
• Comment on something positive about the company or person
• If it’s someone very active on LinkedIn, say that you like their posts
• Introduce yourself without trying to sell anything (yet)

These contact request notes have a maximum of 200 characters, so you won’t be able to go into much detail.

This is where you need to use your summarising skills to the maximum and say what is important in very few words.

See a real example of a contact request:

“Hi John,

I saw your post with your own headline for Purple – what a great idea!

I want to see more of your posts 😊

Greetings

Elena”

I wrote this note to an executive of a marketing agency.

We all love to receive positive feedback, with a message like this no one will ignore you.

Now let’s look at an example of a contact note for someone who doesn’t publish, so we can’t comment on anything they’ve posted.

“Hello Carmen,

I have seen that you are involved in personal development, this is a topic that interests me a lot and I thought it would be great to have you as a contact.

Best regards,

Elena”

As you can see, they are simple messages, written in friendly language and without any element that smacks of salesmanship.

If you try to sell too early, they’ll ignore you because they don’t want any more messages from people trying to sell abruptly from minute one.

Not to mention the scams that are so prevalent on LinkedIn!

Now that you have them as a contact, get a little closer.

Most people who contact me on LinkedIn to sell me something try to do so almost immediately after I have accepted them.

This puts me off, so I ignore them. You probably do the same.

Don’t make this mistake when you’re the one approaching people.

Let at least a few days pass before trying.

First, you need to get to know your target customer and think about how you want to approach this second contact.

You might consider that offering your service straight away might work.

And the truth is that many people appreciate getting to the point rather than beating around the bush.

Another way to engage them before sending a sales message is to comment on their posts or send them links to content they might be interested in, such as an article or video on a topic related to their industry.

If you have a lead magnet, it might be a good time to send it to them.

But don’t fool yourself, lead magnets are all the rage and people know very well that they are a preamble to a sale.

And that’s fine.

I mean, if the lead magnet offers value to your prospect and you make them see it that way, they’ll want it, but you have to “sell” it very well, even if it’s a freebie.

Examples of direct messages designed to sell

If you decide to send a pure sales-oriented message, you need to prepare it in advance.

Identify a specific problem that the person or company may have.

Go into detail. Generalities are useless, unconvincing and boring.

Sit down and think about what this person or company needs.

Most want more sales.

Or if it’s someone who is doing pretty well, maybe what they need is more time and you can help them tons of it with your software or service.

Perhaps what they need is more structure in their business, and you help entrepreneurs have more clarity in their goals so they can grow.

Think about the problem your product or service solves and focus on selling them a concrete solution to a concrete problem.

It is also very important to identify what differentiates you from your competitors.

What you have that they don’t or aren’t talking about.

To do this, you will have done your competitive research beforehand, which is essential to building a marketing strategy that works.

If you still don’t know what your unique selling proposition is, don’t miss this article where I guide you step by step to find it.

To understand all this better, let’s look at an example of a message I sent to a Spanish company.

Hello X,

I have seen that (company name) is growing and that you are opening up markets in India and Korea.

Congratulations, it is always a source of pride when a Spanish company does well abroad.

I am writing to you because I have helped several Spanish companies, such as (name and company), which also export abroad, to communicate in English and, as a result, they have seen an increase in their portfolio of clients abroad.

I have helped them to get more leads by using

– Cold emails to prospects

– Persuasive copy that differentiates the product for the web, social media and explanatory brochures.

– Video scripts 

One of the companies I worked for landed two major clients in China, resulting in a 30% increase in their business.

All thanks to the emails and website I wrote for them and, of course, a masterful closing of the sale by the salespeople at the meeting I arranged for them.

I have a lot of experience working with international companies operating in different countries, which helps me find ways to convince and interest potential customers who aren’t familiar with the product.

This is my number- +XXXXXXXXXX

I can also help you get more customers outside of Spain.

Give me a call and I will tell you more about how I can do this.

Best regards,

Elena

I have marked in green the part where I offer my solution and proof of authority by mentioning the names of companies I have worked with.

And in blue the part where I state my Unique Selling Proposition, which is having experience with companies abroad, something that not all copywriters have.

Now you might be thinking, “But, what happens if I’m starting and can’t show or mention any examples of work I’ve done before?”.

Don’t worry. You too can get clients through direct messaging on LinkedIn.

In these cases, you need to highlight your unique proposition even more and try to convince them by showing confidence in your skills.

Let’s take a look at an example of an email (I didn’t send it via LinkedIn, but it would work just the same) that I sent at the beginning of my copywriting career to an international school here where I live in The Hague.

They hired me to write the copy for their website without me having much experience.

I knew they were looking for more students because I saw some posts on Facebook advertising the school.

Their web copy was pretty bad, so it was obvious that they were not working with a copywriter.

This is what I wrote to them:

Email subject: An easier way to get more students

Body of the email

Hello,

I saw that you were advertising your school on Facebook. I clicked on one of the posts and it took me to your website.

That’s when I saw something that caught my attention!

But before I tell you what it is, let me introduce myself.

I’m Elena and I write compelling copy that helps businesses grow.

Although my greatest value is not in the writing…

What really helps my clients sell more is that, after studying their service and that of their competitors, I’m able to bring out that unique value they offer that their competitors don’t.

And not only am I able to identify this key value, but I also express it in an original and convincing way that helps my clients multiply their sales.

This is exactly what struck me about your website.

That although you are the only school in The Hague to offer Mandarin Chinese lessons, you don’t advertise this on your website.

I know this may not appeal to all parents, but it is certainly an important point of differentiation!

I’m sure you have other unique values to emphasise and I can help you identify them and express them in a compelling way to attract the attention of those parents that are looking for a quality school for their children.

Contact me on XXXXXXXXX or reply to this email and I will give you more details on how I can help you attract more students.

Best regards,

Elena

The day after sending this email they called me and I worked with them on the website and Facebook posts.

Why did it work?

Because I used several copywriting techniques that never fail.

1. An email subject line that arouses curiosity. Because if they don’t even open the email, it will be difficult to convince them.
2. An introduction with a hook. I mention a piece of information that interests them at the beginning but don’t reveal it until the end so that they read the whole email.
3. I don’t forget to explain clearly how I can help and I already give a clear example, so they can see that I have spent time researching their school.
4. I create another hook by telling them that I have more details on how I can help them but that they will have to contact me to find out.

You can use the same model also on LinkedIn.

To sum up

Don’t get overwhelmed every single day thinking about what are you going to post on LinkedIn.

Also, don’t spend an inordinate amount of time creating presentations or videos in Canva just to get a “like” from your former co-worker, your childhood neighbour or a peer who is actually relieved to see that you’re not doing better than her….

Spend your time connecting with the people who could be real customers.

If you do it right, the time you spend will be much more profitable.

You can also do both.

I mean, one doesn’t take away from the other.

If personal branding is very important to you and your goal is to become a celebrity in your niche, then go for it, I won’t be the one stopping you.

But if you are frustrated of all the nonsense people post online and want to get real customers faster without wasting your time entering the “look-at-how-wise-and-successful-I-am” game, give DMs a try!

Are they doing it right?

Most of them aren’t, that’s the truth.

It’s very common to tend to navel-gaze and come across as pedantic or cheesy.

“Our mission is to turn the world into a cotton candy where everyone is happy eating strawberry ice cream while gazing at unicorns and rainbows”.

• Excuse me?!

Many other businesses would like to write an original, clear and compelling mission, but nothing decent comes out.

Because everything they try sounds empty and boring and they are afraid of sounding cheesy or pedantic, like those other businesses.

It’s just not easy, that’s all.

However, when you write with your heart, but using your brain, something good comes out.

Even very good!

Maybe after 10 tries, but hey, it’s worth it.

Not every business needs a mission

I’m sure you’ve come across the typical business that sells parquets and the cousin who made their website has added a grandiloquent mission that sounds ridiculous.

“Our mission is to revolutionise the world of the traditional parquet”.

Just because you have a business doesn’t mean you set out to revolutionise the world.

Not all businesses need to include their mission in their website.

Judge for yourself.

Perhaps simply writing an interesting About page is enough.

Nor is it necessary to explicitly mention “our mission”.

But let us first clarify something important.

What exactly is the mission of a business?

I’ll bet that the idea for your business started to form in your head when you began to notice a need in certain people and that it was linked to something you like and are good at.

You thought about how you could meet that need and came up with the idea for your business.

Well, that’s exactly your mission.

It’s your main objective: satisfying your ideal customer’s need while exceeding their expectations.

In other words, you won’t only cover that particular need, but also improve many other aspects of their lives as a direct consequence.

You already have the idea, now the hard part is to express it in a relevant, original and honest way.

But that’s what you and I are here for. To help you writing your mission.

Let’s take it one step at a time.

A relevant mission

For your mission to be relevant, your ideal customer has to see themselves reflected in that journey towards your goal.

And for that you have to make your goal exclusively about him or her.

Let’s look at this with an example.

Project Fearless is an NGO that helps girls from 9 to 14 years old feel more confident through after school activities that push them out of their comfort zone and face their fears.

They teach them to skate, dance, box, draw, etc. and with those activities they help their self-esteem and the strength to overcome obstacles.

Their mission statement reads as follows:

“Our Mission: Girls, Going Places

To enable more girls to become scientists, engineers, builders, makers, creators or to get to the top of any ladder they wish to climb.

We want to equip girls with the tools to succeed in any aspect of their lives by plugging the gap currently left by society. By empowering girls to define how they see themselves from scratch, we will, in turn, rewrite how the world views girls.”

Their mission is clear and relevant because if you are a woman, or if you have daughters, you will immediately feel related.

You will want to be part of that journey to transform girls’ destinies.

Therefore, your mission has to be relevant to your target audience.

“OK – you may think – writing the mission of an NGO is much easier because it’s always about something laudable and with a vision of wanting to change something in society that is not working.”

True.

However, we can easily extrapolate this to your business, which has nothing to do with NGOs.

Let’s look at an example of a “for-profit” business.

Sunsama is a SaaS platform that helps people organise their day.

It’s aimed at those who don’t have enough life to do everything they have to do (99% of the population in the so-called First World) and who want to be more productive.

On their About page their mission statement (although they don’t explicitly call it that way) says:

“Most of our waking hours are spent working.

And we don’t need to suffer through it.

Work should bring fulfilment and meaning to our lives but we often feel overwhelmed, overworked, and overcommitted.

We deserve tools that help create a healthy relationship to work, ensure our time is well-spent, and that we can do good work, day-in and day-out, without burn out.

We built Sunsama to be that tool – to help us work with focus, calm, and harmony.”

This is a SaaS, nothing to do with an NGO, and they exist to make money.

But they state their mission in a compelling way, transforming their goal into something laudable: “to help people work with focus, calm and harmony”.

Look at the expressions they use:

“We deserve tools that help us create a healthy relationship to work”.

At all times they are trying to make people like you and me feel part of that mission.

This objective speaks directly to us because we also want to have a healthy relationship with our work.

So write a mission that is relevant to your ideal customer’s needs and make your objective go beyond your own interest as a business.

An original mission

To be original is not to be funny or irreverent.

Nor is it pretending to be someone you are not by trying to be as flamboyant as possible.

It’s being afraid of what people will say but doing it anyway.

It’s trying to express the same thing in a different way.

It’s telling a story that hasn’t been told before.

Or not in the same way.

Because you tell it from a different perspective, a different place, with other characters, other experiences, other emotions.

No need to rack your brains trying to be groundbreaking.

Express your mission in your own way and stop mimicking what others do.

I must admit that I haven’t always been brave. Not at all.

I’m scared to expose myself, that’s why I don’t use social media that much.

But for my business I like to do things my way.

When I started this and sat down to write my mission, it didn’t come to me the first time.

In fact my real mission only came to me 3 years after I started my copywriting business.

It’s OK.

There is always time, what matters is that your mission is clear.

I called my mission: “crusade against zombie copy“.

So I asked my illustrator to draw me surrounded by dying zombies. We had a blast at the photo shoot!

When I saw it published on the website I loved it but then I had moments of doubt.

Is it too informal and can it come across as unprofessional?

I was sure it wasn’t going to resonate with many people.

But in the end the clients I’m interested in working with are those who have a sense of humour and who aren’t afraid to be different.

If your mission reflects you, it will reflect your ideal customer too.

And if your mission reflects you, it will be original because no two people and no two businesses are exactly alike.

An honest mission

Now that greenwashing is on everyone’s lips, being an honest business is more important than ever.

If you don’t know what greenwashing is, it’s the name given to the widespread marketing practice of companies trying to claim that they are doing much more for the environment than they actually are.

Most of these companies have had to rectify and change their marketing messages because they were giving misleading information about how green they were when in fact they weren’t green at all.

So you have to be very careful not to exaggerate your mission and to be as honest as possible because we are facing an increasingly informed audience.

It’s one thing to embellish a mission; it’s another to lie.

The difference is the crux of the matter.

But what’s embellishing?

It’s finding that different perspective that sounds better than it really is but at the same time is real and true.

Let me explain.

An example makes everything easier to understand.

Frida is a brand of baby products.

In their About they tell us this:

They are just an ecommerce for baby and pregnancy products but they embellish their mission by saying that they are the most needed help every struggling parent needs.

Is this exactly true?

No, they won’t be on the phone for you to call them in the middle of the night.

But with this gracefully expressed “exaggeration” they imply they are there to help you.

To summarise

Now that you have seen several examples of how to write a business mission statement, sit back and reflect.

Why did you start your business?

Apart from earning a living, of course.

There is a clear reason and you know it better than anyone.

Now you just have to express it in a compelling way so it is:

• Relevant – make it important to your ideal customer and help them see themselves as part of that journey to their main objective.
• Original – tell it from your perspective and it will be different from all the others.
• Honest – Exaggerate gracefully to embellish your mission but don’t overdo it or lie.

I hope this copy lesson has helped you to get some clarity in your mind.

So now sit down and write your compelling mission!

And yes, it’s great because it saves you a lot of time and gives you ideas that might otherwise be hard to come by.

But there are 2 not-so-positive aspects of using AI for everything:

1. We lose the habit of thinking and expressing ourselves in writing.

2. Our texts will look like everyone else’s.

But what are the real consequences of these 2 negative aspects?

Regarding the first aspect, I think it’s clear.

If we don’t have to work hard to come up with new ideas, our brains become lazy and lose their ability to create something original.

Human creativity is not only the driving force behind the world’s most beautiful works of art, but it’s also the reason why such revolutionary and important inventions as the aeroplane and the washing machine have come into our lives.

Creativity is important for mental well-being.

Humans need to create.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the lyrics of a song, a delicious meal or a wooden box for your bits and pieces.

Creating makes you feel good about yourself.

But let’s look at the second of the negative aspects, the one we’re going to focus on correcting in today’s copywriting lesson.

How can it affect you if something you’ve written using ChatGPT looks too much like what others are doing?

The answer is blunt: your text won’t help you stand out.

You can draw your own conclusions from this when we’re talking about a CV, a product page or a LinkedIn post.

In this copywriting lesson we’re going to learn how to turn a text written with ChatGPT into an eye-catching and memorable piece of copy.

Replace boring words with less common words

I know this goes against all the copywriting advice you’ve read a thousand times on the internet.

(Although if I were you, I’d only believe half or less of the advice people give on social media).

A lot of copywriters will tell you that it’s better to use common words that everyone uses, and that you need to write like you speak.

This is not entirely true.

A study found that the average 45-year-old knows the meaning of 30,000 words in their mother tongue.

On the other hand, the average person uses 300 words in everyday communication. 500 if they are highly educated.

We are not talking about the words a person knows, but the words they use in their everyday life.

This narrows down the possibilities considerably.

However, you don’t have to avoid using words that people don’t use every day.

What’s more, those words we understand but don’t use every day stay in our minds longer and make our brains pay more attention.

Because they are no longer background noise.

Let’s see some examples.

Isn’t it more memorable to say “shrewd” than “smart”?

Or “natter” rather than just “chat”?

Or “obstruct” rather than “complicate”?

There are so many words you could use that better describe a situation or a characteristic!

The better a word describes something the easier the reader will picture what they’re reading in their minds.

But we will dwell on this in the next section, because it’s crucial if you want to sell more online.

For now, I want to make this first point about making your sales copy more eye-catching and memorable very clear to you.

Just because your reader uses an average of 300 words a day doesn’t mean that they won’t appreciate or understand words that they don’t hear a thousand times a day.

In fact, the opposite is true.

Don’t you find that when someone repeats themselves too much, you stop listening?

That’s why I encourage you to let go of the fear these media gurus have instilled in you and use all the words you know or like and that you think best describe what you want to say.

Paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Selling online is not easy. Prospects can’t touch or smell your product.

Nor can you have a conversation with them -initially – to convince them that your service will solve their problem.

So you have to help them visualise themselves having your product in their hands.

Or, if you provide services, put all your arguments on the table to convince them that your service is what they need.

And to do this, you need to describe the transformation your prospects will experience: from where they are now to where they want to be, and how your product/service will help them get there faster.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a dress, a financial investment newsletter or a holiday in Kenya.

Most of the copy I see online fail to describe this transformation.

Because they just stay in generalities when it’s the details that matter.

What helps you imagine a scene better?

If I tell you: “Soak in your private jacuzzi”.

Or: “Soak in the perfectly tempered waters of your private jacuzzi, rest your neck on the soft edge, sip your favourite drink while listening to the exotic and evocative sounds of the jungle.

When could you better picture that extraordinary moment?

Don’t listen to what the copywriting gurus say on LinkedIn:

“Your copy should be short and crispy!”

The truth is that copy needs to be as concise as possible, yes, but without skimping on the details that will increase the reader’s desire to buy what you are describing.

And now you might be thinking, “well, a photo will do”.

Not always.

Let’s take the example of the jacuzzi.

You see a picture of a beautiful young woman smiling – as usual-  as if she were having a sexual experience (how predictive some advertisers are 🙄).

This image won’t be as powerful as a well-crafted description of how your prospect will feel.

Seeing a picture of someone so different (and unreal) can make it harder to imagine yourself there.

But when you tell them the details of the experience they could be living, they will picture themselves perfectly in that jacuzzi.

Do you see what I mean?

If not, here is another example.

Have you ever watched a film based on a book you have read and been totally disappointed to see that the main character has nothing to do with the person you imagined?

You had imagined her in a completely different way from that actor whose acting skills make you cringe.

And you think to yourself, “Oh boy, they’ve screwed it up”.

You are not alone.

Science tells us that it’s much easier to identify with a character in a book than in a film.

There are several reasons for this, but the one that concerns us in this case is this:

A book focuses more on a character’s feelings and thoughts, so that we can feel what they are feeling, and this helps us to relate to them.

Whereas in a film you can’t help but look at the actor and focus more on their physicality and actions and less on their inner self, their essence.

I’m not saying that you can’t relate to a character in a film.

Of course, this is possible.

But it doesn’t happen as deeply as when you read a book.  

If something is well written (and it could be a book, an article or a post on Instagram), you identify with it and make it your own.

You imagine the scenes, put a face to the characters and make the story your own.

That’s why you’re often disappointed by a film or a video because it’s not what you imagined and it doesn’t touch you as much because it’s not “your story”.

This is why you need to make an effort to paint the image you want to create in your prospects’ mind as well as you can.

Steal the voice of customers

This may sound a bit heavy, but I’ll make it clear right now.

The first thing I do when I start a copywriting project is spend hours (if not days) reading reviews, opinions, testimonials, interviews and anything else I can get my hands on with words spoken directly by customers who fit the profile of my buyer persona.

They can be your own customers but also those of your competition.

They are the ones who will give you the best clues about what benefits they crave, what drawbacks they see, what problems have been solved after the purchase, what could have been better.

Often you find real gems.

People who perfectly describe the transformation we talked about in the previous section and who will help you attract more customers.

Use their expressions, their examples, the way they describe their emotions.

Spend as much time as you can reading and listening to customer reviews because it’s the only way to find those gems.

Sometimes you have to read 40 reviews to find one that contains that perfect description of the person’s transformation, or that invaluable information you needed to differentiate your product or service from the competition.

Steal these expressions from your own customers and those of your competitors’ and use them in your copy.

To close

Don’t be afraid to write longer copy, or use uncommon words and focus on describing in vivid detail all the good that your product or service will bring to people’s lives.

ChatGPT is fine as a base, but if you want to stand out you have to turn that flat, repetitive information into something three-dimensional that transcends the screen and connects with all those people with attention deficits.

Go for it!

3 high effective tips for writing eye-catching copy #copywriting #copywritingtips
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There are too many stimuli and too many brands fighting for the attention of your potential customers.

So before you spend a penny on TikTok, Meta or LinkedIn ads, make sure you understand the principles of persuasion.

A well-crafted ad will grab attention and hold it long enough to persuade your prospects to click on the link that takes them to a product sales page.

Too many social media ads fail to attract attention. It’s sad to see people throwing their money away.

That’s why I want you to learn the techniques the advertising pros use to create ads that get real results.

Knowing these principles will make it easier for you to create ads and SM posts that will make your prospects stop scrolling and pay attention.

Let’s see them all.

The (almost) foolproof formula for creating attention-grabbing social media ads

I learnt this formula from the copywriting group I belong to, The Fix, the teachers like to mess around so they called it D.I.E.

It’s a great name because it’s memorable, and that’s precisely what we copywriters are always looking for: Words that evoke emotions that stick in people’s minds.

D.I.E. stands for DISRUPT – INTRIGUE – ENGAGE

We will look at this formula step by step and with examples so that you can see very clearly how to apply it to your ads and posts on the socials.

How to shake people so they stop at your ad

We are so blinded by so much content and silly videos that almost nothing surprises us anymore.

But surprise is important to shake people out of their lethargy and make them pay attention.

That’s why you need to do everything you can to surprise your prospects with your ad.

And this is how you do it:

✅With a statement, promise, question or image that is completely unexpected or out of the ordinary.

You need to disrupt the pre-determined schemas that people have in their heads so that their brains get a (metaphorical) shock and pay attention.

It isn’t easy to come up with that unexpected or unusual idea, but if you want your ad to get noticed, you have to take the time to find it.

Don’t worry, in this copy lesson I explain several exercises you can do to get to that unusual idea.

They don’t have to be super clever ideas, often the simplest ones work best.

What can help you arrive at your big idea is to think about the end result your prospects want which your product can deliver.

For example, if you sell after-school tutoring, an ad that would work well would be a child saying:

– Dad, I passed!

That’s every parent’s dream: their children doing well at school.

Let’s look at another example to make it clear.

One that proves that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on dazzling images or videos.

With that headline, everyone will pay attention!

Because it shocks and makes us stop in our tracks. Even if we don’t have a husband!

After that headline, the ad goes on to say that this brand of shirts has different sleeve lengths because that is what often goes wrong.

Hence your husband being in another man’s arms.

Michael Gluck was the copywriter who created this ad and I’m sure it took him a lot of discarded ideas to come up with this great one.

A tip to stand out

Do the opposite of what your competitors are doing.

If they’re making videos, make static ads.

If they take themselves too seriously, try being more loose and approachable.

Once we have the attention of our prospect we now have to get them to stay with us so we can tell them why they should buy our product or service.

Intrigue, the most effective hook

Why are series so addictive?

Because they manage to hook us with the old (but super effective) method of intrigue.

We want to keep watching them because we NEED to know what will happen.

The same goes for an ad.

If you want to intrigue your prospects you should ask yourself the following question:

– What is it specifically that makes it essential for my prospect to find out more about this and why?

And this is the solution:

✅ Offer them an interesting fact they didn’t know or a new way of getting a desired result.

Often the novelty of that new way of getting something resides in how you explain it and not really what it is.

Let me clarify this concept with an example.

You would never have guessed that this ad is about a bank because it doesn’t follow the same ad style as all the other banks.

But why is it intriguing?

Because it starts with a very everyday question, especially in the lives of British people:

How long does it take to make a cup of tea?

The comic format of the ad makes you want to read more.

About the same time as it does to open a current account that pays 9% interest.

The above formula consisting of demonstrating the ease of a formality by comparing it to an everyday routine is tried and true.

What’s different here is that we’re more used to seeing this formula start with the action you’re trying to sell.

Like this:

It takes as long to open a BBXA bank account as it does to make a cup of tea.

But Steve Henry – the copywriter who created this ad – knows that this formula neither surprises nor engages, and has set out to turn it on its head.

He starts with the routine action we all identify with (making a cup of tea) and then moves on to the product’s main benefit, that 9% interest.

Notice that they don’t even mention the name of the bank until the very end, in big letters and with a phone number (call to action).

The difference between good copy and poor copy is that good copy emphasises the benefit to the customer, not the product itself.

The third step. Engage your prospects to take action

Engage is a buzzword in all things marketing and sales.

Its real meaning is to stimulate your prospects by giving them a powerful reason to take the action you want them to take.

And you do it by:

✅ Giving them clear instructions on what they need to do to get the benefit they’re looking for and reassuring them that they won’t regret clicking on the link. 

Think about the objections your prospects might have that prevent them from buying your product or service.

Is it the price?

Do they think they won’t use it and feel like they’re throwing their money down the drain?

Show them that they’re buying more value than what they’re paying for and remind them how your product or service is going to help them become a better version of themselves.

Remember, we all buy things to be more attractive, clever, successful, rich, free, in the eyes of others.

Let’s look at an example to clarify this point.

This is not an ad per se, but it could be the last part of one.

Ampliance is a platform that helps online shops sell more with simple tools.

In the image above, they encourage their prospects to book a demo by reminding them of the big benefit they get:

Bye-bye bad shopping experiences.

And by reassuring them that they have already helped more than 400 brands win.

This image sums up the final principle of our Engage formula:

Give prospects compelling reasons to take that action – book a demo.

Wrapping up

Many brands are now embracing video, and yes, it works.

But a well-thought-out static ad that follows the D.I.E. formula can work much better and it often implies a smaller investment.

Think about it.

To make people want to buy your product or service you first have to grab their attention, intrigue them and engage them to take that action that will benefit them.

If your message is attractive, they will listen to you, and whether it is attractive or not depends on how well you communicate that benefit they’ll get if they buy.

Remember:

You aren’t selling what a product or service is, but what it does and the result it brings.

So always think about the benefit of the benefit.

As Happy Ears has done here

This ad follows the D.I.E. formula to the letter.

Disrupt – It looks like an ad for a sex toy, but it’s not.

Intrigue – What saved their marriage?

Engage – it implies a powerful reason to take action – You’ll sleep better with them on. You’ll be less irritable with your partner. Or they’ll be less irritable with you.

I hope I’ve helped you to think better about your next SM ad or post.

Get started now!

You’re looking for an agency to help you with your social media and you stumble on a LinkedIn post from an agency that caught your eye.

You click on the link to their website and as soon as you start reading the content, you can’t help but roll your eyes 🙄

You don’t believe a thing…

Because they just repeat what you’ve heard a thousand times before, without any charm.

Like this piece of copy from a website of a real agency…

“We manage your community, starting with the planning and development of a content strategy that projects your brand values to your potential customers.” 🥱

And after that wishy-washy opening, they just go on talking about themselves and you get the feeling that they don’t give a damn about what their customers really need.

So you just close the window and invest your attention in something more worthwhile.

But what about your own website and what you post on the socials?

Are you sure they are compelling enough to convince your prospects that what you offer is precisely what they need?

How can you make sure your copy won’t make people roll their eyes?

This is what we are about to see.

How to check your web copy and SM posts are persuasive

For a piece of copy to engage, it has to be:

• Clear
• Specific
• Valuable
• Reliable
• Actionable

Let’s look at this with an example.

Clear

Let’s say you sell office cleaning services. 

The first thing you need to do is make sure that as soon as someone lands on your website or Facebook page, they understand that what you are offering is actually office cleaning services.

You may be thinking “This person is discovering America for me”, and you’re not wrong, but when we see a LOT things like:

“Dream Mongers” for a company that organises parties, or “we only offer quality” as a catch-all for any kind of business…

Clarity always comes first

So make sure there’s no doubt about what you are offering.

❌ Broom Ninjas

✅Office cleaning services

People don’t want to solve puzzles when they’re in a hurry to find the service they need.

7 quick ways to make sure your copy isn't crap 💩💩💩#copywriting
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Specific

There’s nothing worse for boring people and failing to convince than being too vague.

Generalities are neither interesting nor believable.

That’s why you need to add details that make your offer interesting and unique.

❌We meet your cleaning needs

✅Offices that look, smell and feel clean

The second headline solves a problem for your prospect and helps you stand out from the competition.

If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll know that many companies clean so superficially that you hardly notice they’ve been there.

Valuable

The information you provide about your service must be of value to your prospects.

Information is valuable when it resolves a doubt or need.

In the example of the cleaning service we’re using, valuable information could be the price or the type of contract.

There are cleaning companies that have inflexible fixed contracts.

A difference in value could be:

✅ No commitment on duration, month to month, with the option to stop at any time.

There may be many companies that offer this flexibility but don’t make it clear in their communications.

Don’t expect people to guess.

Be transparent about the value you offer to your prospects and then emphasise this in your communications.

 Reliable

People are tired of hearing the same thing over and over again and have become very wary.

If you want to convince your audience that they can trust your company, show them how confident you are about the quality of your service, without going overboard.

One way to do this is to describe in detail how the service will be delivered.

Details make a concept more tangible.

They make it easy for your prospect to imagine what it will be like to have a clean and tidy office.

✅In the first week, we estimate the time it will take us to leave your office spotless. We take care of waste disposal and recycling of materials such as paper and packaging. Depending on the number of employees, we will clean the fridges 1-2 times a week.

These details will reassure your prospect, who will always doubt whether your service is worth it.

Details turn an intangible concept into a reality and they dispel objections.

7 quick ways to make sure your copy isn't crap 💩💩💩#copywriting
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Actionable

Always remind your audience what they need to do to get the result they want.

✅Send us a message with your number and we will call you back within 24 hours.

Make the step they need to take easy and quick.

Don’t make them fill out a form with lots of questions because people don’t have patience.

Make it simple.

The ultimate litmus test to make sure your copy will work

When you’re revising your copy before publishing, always ask yourself these 3 questions to be sure you aren’t about to publish a 💩

1. Am I losing the reader?

You may have gone too far by giving too many confusing details and the reader (or viewer, if it’s a video) feels confused.

Imagine this person looking completely lost 😵‍💫

For example:

❌We don’t use EDTA products and we follow instinctive refinishing methods, i.e. when there are areas that need it more than others, blah, blah, blah…”.

Here your prospect is about to close the browser window…

To solve it:

Re-order your ideas and don’t overcomplicate things in an attempt to sound more professional.

Turn those complex concepts into easy-to-understand words.

✅We use environmentally and health-friendly products. We follow intensive zone cleaning methods. One day we clean the kitchen thoroughly, another day the stairs, and so on. This way all areas are clean at all times.

Always try to put yourself in your reader’s shoes who isn’t an expert in your field.

2. Is the reader thinking… “So what”? 🤨

Sometimes we don’t realise it and we talk too much about ourselves and not about our customers who should be the real protagonists.

Don’t make that mistake.

Every word you use must have value to your audience. Your copy needs to:

✅ Entertain them

✅Answer a question

✅Give them useful information that they didn’t have.

If you think what you’re saying doesn’t fit any of these characteristics, think again and fix it.

Add a personal anecdote, give them an easy-to-implement tip, let them see themselves in your words.

❌We are a leader in our industry. We use the most innovative cleaning processes and operate in 20 countries.

✅Did you know that more and more people suffer from allergies? In 30 years, 50% of the population will be allergic to something. A clean office with special products to kill dust mites is the key to the well-being of your employees.

3. Am I being called into question? 🤔

You’ve listed all the benefits of your product and you’re happy with the result.

But when you look back over your copy, you realise that you haven’t provided enough evidence to prove what you’re saying is true.

Can you see the reader rolling his eyes again?

It’s time to prove your point.

❌ We are the number one company in our industry

✅9 out of 10 customers stay with us after the first week of trial.

To prove your case, not only testimonials and case studies work.

You can also be credible by being honest. Not everything has to be perfect.

In the example above, we didn’t say that 100% of customers stay with us, there are 10% who don’t.

You can give reasons why they do not, such as price or relationship with another company.

You can also provide data, statistics, and cases that support your arguments.

Remember: People recognise and appreciate honesty in a world full of companies promising to 10x your income 🙄

See you around!

7 quick ways to make sure your copy isn't crap 💩💩💩#copywriting
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It’s so well written that you can’t help but pull out your credit card.

The copy has managed to convince you that what you’ve got before your eyes is precisely what you need and that you need it NOW.

That website is surely written by a copywriter who knows how to apply the 4 Us.

Or at least 3 of them.

The 4 Us make your copy more persuasive and push prospects to keep reading and take action.

First because they attract their attention and second because they increase their urge to get what they don’t have yet.

Once you understand these 4 elements you’ll start recognising them in all good pieces of copy and you’ll be able to apply them when writing your own copy.

The 4 Us are taught in the best copywriting schools and no copywriter can afford to do without them.

These are:

Ultra-specific, useful, urgent and unique.

Let’s look at each of them in detail so you can learn how to use them to elevate your copy.

Ultra-specific

I insist on this all the time.

If you’ve read other of my articles, you’ll know that I hammer on this a lot, but it’s because ultra-specificity is what will make your copy interesting and compelling.

If people don’t stop to read (or listen, if it’s a video) what you have to say, you won’t sell anything, will you?

For a piece of copy to be interesting it must be ultra-specific.

Generalities won’t work because we don’t retain them in our memory, nor do they help us to picture in our minds what we’re being told.

To be ultra-specific, details are very important.

The world is made of details and these details are what people will notice and remember.

When selling online, putting an image in the reader’s mind is super important, especially when selling something immaterial.

A design course, a cleaning service, a facial massage, an accounting software etc.

Prospects cannot immediately see what we’re selling.

It’s not a jumper but something more abstract that doesn’t appeal directly to the eyes.

And therefore we need to paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind of what it’ll be like to enjoy all the benefits of that massage or software.

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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If you want them to picture it easily, you must be ultra-specific and bring up the details.

In the book Made to Stick written by the Heath brothers  – which I highly recommend – they explain why some stories stay in the collective imagination and others don’t. They also give many examples.

Instead of telling you one of those stories, I’m going to give you an example closer to me the Heath brothers don’t talk about.

What I’m about to tell you took place a long time ago but I still remember it.

In the 1990s there was a programme on Spanish television called Sorpresa, Sorpresa (Surprise, Surprise) and as the title implies, it was about giving big surprises to people devised by family and friends.

In all of these surprises there was a celebrity involved.

Basically, the programme was about your mother, boyfriend or friend contacting the programme because they knew you loved Enrique Iglesias and then the programme would organise a funny situation to surprise you and have you meet Enrique Iglesias in person.

The Spice Girls, Back Street Boys, Shakira and other celebrities in the limelight at the time, had been on the programme.

So you can imagine what a huge audience the program had.

Then one day in February 1999, a story began to spread like wildfire.

I was still living in Spain at the time and I remember that it was a friend of mine who came to tell me this:

Last night on Surprise Surprise they wanted to surprise a girl with Ricky Martin so they hid him in a closet at the girl’s home. There were hidden cameras around the apartment to film the girl’s reaction when she opened the closet and saw him there. The girl arrived home, went to her room and got undressed. Then she opened a can of foie gras (there were other versions with jam and Nutella) and smeared it on her private parts. Then she called her little dog that was called Ricky! and he started licking it… People went nuts and they cut the emission and went back to the studio and Concha Velasco (the host) was horrified and announced they were going to the intermission.

There were lots of people who assured to have watched it but it was a tremendous hoax. It never happened!

Why did people believe it and why is the story still remembered today?

Because it was full of details.

Ricky Martin in the closet waiting to come out, the girl undressing in her room, the jam, the doggy called Ricky…

The details were modified as the story passed from mouth to mouth, and more details were added or changed, but it was those details that made the story entertaining and credible.

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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The takeaway from this story

Add details to your copy and it’ll be more entertaining, memorable and credible.

Don’t be afraid details will make your copy too long. Those details are what will make people stop scrolling and pay attention.

How to apply ultra-specificity.

When talking about people

One specific person’s story is more compelling than hundreds. Talk about one of your customers or about your own experience. Rather than saying “Everybody experienced X”, say “Sarah experienced X” and detail that person’s experience.

When talking about places

A headline written by Nick O’Connor, one of my mentors, went:

“What happened in Room 301 at Columbia University?”

It was a way of appealing to people’s curiosity so he could bring them to read his sales letter with which he was selling a financial product. What happened in that room was that several future millionaires studied there and in his letter, he linked this curious fact with the rest of the copy.

Saying Room 301 at Columbia University generates more curiosity than just saying Columbia University, or Columbia, or the US.

When talking about time

Especially when you talk about the production process, give details about the time it takes to make that product.

“This dress takes 52 hours to embroidery by hand”.

Or you can create expectation and curiosity by giving an exact time when an event will take place.

“Tomorrow at 18.45 something will happen that can change the course of the world economy”.

When talking about objects

Don’t spare details of the materials. How is it made and where, where the materials come from, and so on. These details may differentiate you from your competition or justify a higher price.

“The cotton this shirt is made of has been hand-picked in the fields of Urtala, a village in Pakistan, by a women’s cooperative. This cotton hasn’t been treated with nasty chemicals. Instead, we use natural pigments of such and such origin”.

So when doing your research ask:

• When?
• How?
• Who?
• For how long?
• How far?

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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Useful

People are quite selfish.

Most of the time we’ll only pay attention if we think there’s something in there for us.

If your prospect thinks what you’re saying could be useful to him, he’ll listen.

But, when is something useful?

Something is useful when it offers a solution to a problem.

When you can empathise with your buyer persona’s problems, you attract their attention because they feel related.

The reader or the person watching the video thinks “this interests me because it perfectly describes the problem I want to solve”.

The solution to your prospects’ problem can be explicit or implicit in your headline or introduction.

Let me explain it.

An explicit benefit would be a headline like this:

“Discover how this hearing aid will help you hear like you used to”.

And an implicit benefit would be for example this one:

“Prevent nasty arguments with your children”

The prospect will no longer have arguments with his children because they won’t have to shout when talking to him.

The second headline is more unusual and nudges people to read on because it triggers their curiosity.

That’s why it’s better to make the benefit of your product implicit.

This is also called “getting the benefit of the benefit”, which I talk about in more detail in this article about how to create original ideas for your social media ads.

But what happens when your product doesn’t solve a problem?

Suppose you’re selling something that doesn’t offer a clear solution to a problem, such as an ornament, clothing or make-up. In that case, you’ll need to concentrate more on making your headline and introduction ultra-specific and unique.

Although in reality everything has a use and solves a problem or desire.

A garment or a piece of jewellery satisfies the desire for status and sex appeal.

Glenn Fisher, in one of his master classes on The Fix (the copywriting network I belong to), gives this example of a headline that doesn’t contain any useful elements but can work very well because it piques our curiosity:

“Elon Musk’s nightmare”

It’s a great headline because it makes you want to know what Musk’s nightmare will be.

But Glenn improves it by adding usefulness:

“Elon Musk’s nightmare and 4 other investment mistakes that can help you save your portfolio”

Yes, the headline is longer, so what?

Don’t trust the greatest untruth in advertising: the shorter the copy the better.

Feel free to add whatever it’s needed to make your copy more compelling.

Urgent

People are quite lazy.

“I’ll do it tomorrow” “I don’t need it right now” “That needs a lot of energy”.

But you know how dangerous this is.

If a prospect abandons your sales page or doesn’t watch your video, you won’t be able to convince them to buy from you.

That’s why you should give them urgent reasons to stop scrolling and click on your link now.

Not tomorrow or in a while.

And for that, you must add urgency to your copy.

You add urgency when you convince your prospects they need to pay attention now, because the sooner they do, the sooner they’ll enjoy all those benefits.

It isn’t just about creating special offers for a limited period of time – which, yes, works very well – but about learning other ways to add urgency.

And that’s what we’ll see next.

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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Ways to add urgency to your sales copy

With an approaching date

Dates work really well for financial products, software or courses.

Example:

“On the 8th June, the government will pass a new law that could change forever the way we use banks”.

To apply this way of adding urgency, look for dates when something is going to happen.

It doesn’t have to be drastic, you’ll make it important in the body of the copy.

It can be a summit, the publication of business results, holiday periods, anniversaries, policy changes, etc.

The point is that these dates can trigger an important event in your prospect’s life so they’ll feel the urgency to read it and take action.

With a certain time in the day

Examples:

“Before you go out to lunch this Friday, set aside 2 minutes to get 30, 50 or even 130 € tax-free”.

To add urgency in this way use specific everyday events:

“Before brushing your teeth tonight, take 3 minutes to do this to prevent your teeth from losing their natural enamel”.

“Before you go to work tomorrow, do X”.

With this type of headline, you’re giving them precise instructions on how and when to do something to get a specific result.

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With scarcity

This way of adding urgency is more common but just as valid.

When your prospect knows the product won’t be available forever, they’ll act quicker.

Take the Vinted app as an example.

Vinted is a platform where people buy and sell second-hand clothes.

When you see the shirt you just liked has been also liked by 10 other people, you feel the pressure to buy it before someone else does it.

And that’s why Vinted is so successful.

As we mentioned earlier, special prices for a limited period of time also work well here.

But be careful! If you use this technique, don’t forget to let your prospects know when the special price is over.

And don’t offer it at that special price anymore, otherwise, they won’t believe you the next time you launch a limited offer.

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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With implied urgency

Agora is a company that sells financial products. Glenn Fisher, one of my mentors at The Fix, worked there for over 10 years and wrote spectacular sales letters for them.

One of those letters said: “Tell us where you want us to send your £500 cheque”.

If you receive an email like this you’ll open it for sure.

Urgency is implicit in this headline.

It’s not something that will end but people will want to get that cheque ASAP, because it’s something too good to ignore.

This promotion went on adding a specific date “On 10^th January at 9 a.m. I will send you your cheque….”.

It was an offer for Agora customers who had already bought a financial product. They were offered to buy all the other products at a reduced price so they’d get their money back for the product they had already bought. (Upselling).

But be careful, adding urgency for the sake of adding urgency won’t work.

Sometimes it won’t be necessary or maybe you don’t see how to do it.

But try always to spend some time thinking about what form of urgency you could add to your sales copy.

You can also add some degree of implicit urgency when you emphasise your prospect’s pain points.

Pain points are all those emotions, setbacks or problems arising from their current situation that your product solves.

“Welcome to the club of those who sleep soundly without money worries”.

If you get this part right, your prospect will feel the urgency to solve her problems. Especially if you have included the other 3 Us.

And now let’s look at the fourth and final U.

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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Unique

People aren’t only selfish and lazy (I’m not being very kind to Humanity, am I?) but also bored with everything.

We spend hours scrolling down on our phones in zombie mode.

Scrolling and yawning as we read and listen to the same arguments, the same inspirational phrases (that no longer inspire anything), the same repetitive stuff…

But when a business knows how to do things differently, that’s when we wake up from our lethargy and start paying attention.

What makes something unique?

The first thing that comes to mind is that something is unique when it’s completely new, so it didn’t exist before.

But this is very difficult.

It only happens with cutting-edge technology like when the first iPhone came out.

So there’s only one way left to make your product unique, and that’s to sell it in a completely new way.

A different, more original way.

Let’s see this in detail.

Something is unique when it surprises us because we didn’t expect it.

Or when something is unclassifiable and therefore cannot be quickly dismissed with the kind of thinking: “that’s yet another online course…” or ” another miracle diet, yeah, whatever…”.

That’s why when most brands follow the same copywriting techniques, with formulas, headlines and promises already seen a thousand times, their campaigns flop.

And the funny thing is that they’re shocked when this happens!

So how do you make your copy unique?

You should always aim at making people stop in their tracks and read/listen to something different and interesting.

And to find that interesting and original thing to tell your prospects, you have to study every detail of your product or service and think about your prospects’ lives until something unusual comes up.

This is what you need to look out for:

Find out what hasn’t been said before

There’s always a different angle you can take on an issue or an ingredient that no other brand mentions or gives importance to.

Claude Hopkins already realised this in the early days of the last century when he created an ad for Schlitz beer that catapulted the brand to the top, being a record seller for years in the U.S.

And all thanks to the way he presented the beer, in a totally “new” way. Something that wasn’t really unique but that only Schlitz beer talked about.

Let me explain.

At that time all beers in the market claimed to be very pure.

Hopkins did a thorough research on how Schlitz beer was made and realised that the purity was the result of careful processing.

All the beers went through a similar process BUT none of them talked about it.

So Hopkins had a light bulb go off and decided to write an ad dedicated to the Schlitz brewing process.

This ad summarised the scrupulous process the grains went through, from their careful selection to the number of months the beer was left to ferment in barrels to obtain its unique flavour.

He talked about how Schlitz beer was purified in glass rooms with filtered air.

How it was left in casks for months in refrigerated rooms so the beer wouldn’t cause bile disorders as ordinary beers did.

And so he gave his product a superior and desirable aura.

The other beers, although they went through very similar brewing processes, had never talked about it, and even when they started copying Hopkins’ ads it was too late, he had been the first one and Schlitz beer remained the best-selling beer for years.

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Name a flaw or drawback of your product or service

It sounds counterproductive: “why should I say to my prospects that there’s something negative about my product?”

But trust me, it can earn you points if you do it right.

You see, several studies show that mentioning a flaw in your sales copy creates the perception that your brand is honest and trustworthy.

And then you’ll be more persuasive when you list the benefits of your product.

Let’s look at several examples of this.

Canadian cough syrup Bukcley’s has spent years saying how awful it tastes.

Some of their ad headlines go like: “Our biggest bottle is 200ml. Bigger than that would be cruel” or “We are committed to making every new bottle of Bukcley’s taste as bad as the last”.

Their tagline is always the same: “It tastes awful. And it works.”

With the first sentence, they give more credibility to the second. “And it works”.

Moreover, proclaiming that it tastes horrible makes them unique and their ads are attention-grabbing because they are unusual.

There’s even a challenge implied:

“Let’s see if you dare to try it”.

This tactic has worked wonders in making their product unique.

Volkswagen used this same tactic when introducing the Beetle to the American market.

Knowing the Beetle was very small compared to the average American car, they decided to turn this shortcoming into an advantage.

Try to think differently

If you want your product or service to be unique you should try to think differently.

For example, imagining someone else is talking.

Just think, what title would Tarantino give this ad? And Wes Anderson?

Or how would Lisa Simpson describe the benefits of this product?

Try to stay away from what everyone else is doing.

If your competition is trying to be funny, try to sound serious.

If your competition is too conservative, try to be more approachable and easygoing.

Only by being unique will your brand stand out in a saturated market.

To sum up

We live in a world saturated with brands thanks to social media.

If you want to attract attention and get people to listen to you, try to make your videos, posts and ads:

• Ultra-specific, so people get a clear picture in their minds
• Useful, so people pay attention because they sense they’ll get something out of it
• Urgent, so people don’t procrastinate and pay attention right now
• Unique, so people see something different in your brand

I hope this copy class has helped you to improve your sales copy.

The 4 Us are your allies to become more persuasive.

Use them!

The 4 Us that will make your copy work 11x better. #copywriting #ads #socialmedia
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First, you need to write a powerful script that will portray you as a believable professional.

Video works great for B2B companies too.

They’re powerful weapons to get your prospects’ attention and nudge them to request a quote.

Writing a compelling script requires following a few important steps.

You need to think carefully about who you’re targeting and how you’re going to nudge your audience to take the action you want.

And this is what we’ll see in this copywriting class.

Are you staying?

Here we go.

Follow these 4 steps to write a promotional video script

Who is your customer

As with any piece of copy with which you intend to sell a product or service, you’ll need to do a thorough research beforehand so your video has the impact you’re looking for.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• What action do I want that person to take after watching the video?
• In which channels will I publish it? Social media, website, email, etc.

The clearer your goal is, the more effective your video will be.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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The Big Idea

Once you have the answers to these 3 questions comes the most important part of the process of creating a video script.

It’s quite a difficult part, but once you get it, the rest will come much easier because you’ve got the piece that will allow you to complete the puzzle.

It’s about finding your Big Idea.

The Big Idea is the foundation of every marketing strategy.

It’s what will make the difference between a weak and average sales message and a powerful one that will bring you real results.

Don’t panic.

I’ll explain now how you can get to that Big Idea you need for your video.

The Big Idea is basically that transformation your prospects want and you’re going to deliver.

But listen because this is important.

Your Big Idea should sound different from all the others – even if it’s basically the same thing your competition is offering – but you’re expressing it in a unique and memorable way.

And how do you get to that unique and memorable Big Idea?

Paying close attention to those words your customers use to express how they feel after that transformation they’ve experienced thanks to your product/course/book/service.

Ways to get to the Big Idea:

• Talk to your customers about their journey. From experiencing their problem to the moment they found you and the reasons they chose you.
• Summarise their experience while receiving (or after receiving) all the benefits of your product/service.
• What expressions come up more often?
• Give a title to that transformation, as if it were a film. For example: “The real YOU is paid better”

Your Big Idea has to be crystal clear and should be expressed in one sentence.

Let’s look at an example.

In this video the Big Idea is:

“Green bin keeps trash in”

It could be a film title. It’s memorable and it rhymes.

The video breaks our mental frameworks, something that works great when we want to get people’s attention.

And it does it right at the start: “To prove our trash bin is better, we invited these trash experts”

We expect to see people in a lab, not raccoons.

The Big Idea of this video is simple and concrete: 2 raccoons trying to open a trash bin.

One manages it, the other one not because our bin is better designed.

They’ve come up with this Big Idea knowing that one of the big problems of their prospects is that they wake up in the morning and see all that trash lying all over the place.

They didn’t need many words to demonstrate the value of their product in a clear, memorable and credible way.

But the Big Idea cannot always be explained with images alone. And then you’ll need more words.

The transformation

Once you’ve found your Big Idea and it’s clear in your mind, you’ve got to land it.

Let me explain.

Sometimes the Big Idea can be a bit abstract.

So it’s important to bring it down to earth by explaining what it means in your prospects’ everyday life.

This way you make it more concrete.

And to make it more concrete you should clarify these points by taking into account the expressions your customers used when speaking to them:

•   What does it mean to live up to the Big Idea?
•   What does belonging to that group who achieved the Big Idea earn them?
•   How does it feel now compared to before?
•   Why any of this matter?

In the example of the trash bin, there’s no need to land the Big Idea because the benefits are clear and tangible – no more rubbish lying around.

But for most businesses, the benefits might not be so clear from the film title alone.

That’s why we have to land that Big Idea and not leave it up in the air.

Let’s look at another example to see this clearly.

Coach Accountable is a platform that helps coaches do their work.

The Big Idea is “Deliver better programs, to more people, with less work”.

They came up with this Big Idea because they realised this is what their target audience wants.

But this Big Idea is a bit abstract.

How do these benefits – better programs, more clients, less work – actually apply to their everyday life as a coach?

In the video, they explain in a clear and compelling way how the app will help them and their clients.

They land that Big Idea with concrete examples every coach knows well: clients losing motivation, coaches unable to check their progress every single day, tasks not being completed, etc.

The video shows how with the app they will manage to have better control of their clients’ progress and help them keep motivated and accountable.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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The trajectory

The next step in the process of writing your script is to describe how your prospects can achieve that Big Idea or film title.

With your customers in mind, write about:

• How do you get to the Big Idea?
• What’s the emotional path to get there (overcoming false beliefs/mental blocks)?
• What about the external path (actions/decisions)?
• What will it be like to have achieved the Big Idea?

Let’s look at an example.

SalesForce is a platform companies use to manage their leads and customer support.

This video explains in a clear and simple way – without technicalities or business jargon – how SalesForce can help your company grow.

That’s the Big Idea behind this video: “With SalesForce you’ll soon see your small business grow”.

And they show how to achieve that Big Idea by telling the story of a small business becoming a bigger one thanks to SaleForce.

We can see concrete examples of how the platform helped that company convert more leads into customers and to deliver better support to existing ones.

It’s an entertaining and compelling story.

Other companies can feel inspired by that transformation.

In this part of your video script, the most important thing is to show your audience that attaining the Big Idea is possible, they just need to take the action you propose.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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Take the first step

In order to move your prospects to take action: buying/contacting/downloading a lead magnet, etc., treat them as if they had already attained the Big Idea.

Talk to them as if they’d already achieved that new version of themselves before they or anyone else do.

This is very powerful.

Think about it – what kind of people make you feel more comfortable in your skin?

I have no doubt.

Those who see my potential and encourage me to achieve anything I want.

So inspire your prospects to pursue what they really want and give them precise instructions on how to get it.

If you do so they’ll trust you and will take action.

Let’s look at another example to see this crystal clear.

I bought this course.

And I wasn’t thinking of buying any yoga courses!

I already go to a yoga studio 3 times a week…

But an Instagram ad convinced me to take action.

Meaning: to pull out my credit card and buy this online course right away.

It wasn’t this exact video – I couldn’t find the one on IG – but it was pretty similar.

The ad showed a very diverse group of people – not so young, not so slim, not so “perfect yoga body” – trying to do inverted poses I wish I could do.

They’re challenging but they look so cool!

The ad said:

 “You aren’t too weak, too old or too inflexible to do this or this or this”

While showing these real people trying different inverted poses, for which you need a lot of strength in your arms and abs, and above all balance.

With this video, this yoga teacher convinced me that I can also achieve these positions with training and persistence.

She convinced me that it was actually POSSIBLE for someone like me.

Because she showed me real people of various ages and conditions trying too.

The way she talks to camera, in an honest and friendly way, without exaggeration, also convinced me she was trustworthy.

So convince your prospects they CAN achieve the Big Idea if they follow your advice and take action.

And you may wonder…

Have I managed a headstand without using a wall?

Not yet, but I’m working on it 😉

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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To sum up

For your promotional video to bring real results:

1. Find your Big Idea
2. Know how to land it to make it more concrete in your prospects’ eyes
3. Encourage them to trust you so they want to take action

See this process as if it were a bridge over a river that connects 2 points: the one where your prospects are right now and the one in front of them which is where they really want to be.

But for them to want to cross the bridge this must look safe and tempting.

At first, they might feel a bit anxious because they’re scared of heights.

But you’re going to persuade them that it’s safe and that life looks better on the other side.

Plus the views from the bridge are stunning!

They’ll feel happy and proud while crossing it.

But be careful!

Because there are other bridges along the river.

So in order to convince your audience to cross your bridge and not any other, yours must be unique.

When explaining the path to attain the Big Idea, it has to sound different.

A revolutionary way of studying, a different way of exercising, a much more user-friendly software, etc.

The way to get to the Big Idea needs to be more compelling than the rest.

“The 5-routine method to get a body you’ll be proud of”.

“The revolutionary software that solves your administrative chaos so you can focus on getting more projects done”.

When your path is more attractive and unique than the rest, customers will trust you and be willing to cross your bridge.

I hope this article has inspired you to write a script for a promotional video that will make your offer stand out and bring you real results.

See you around!

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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• What empty phrases to avoid

• How to be inspired by others without copying them

• The process of finding your Unique Selling Proposition

• How to make your brand voice unique and original

• How to project authority even if you are just starting out with your business

• The trick to keeping your creativity alive and kicking

When I give copywriting workshops, some students tell me they’re tired of reading the same empty phrases on websites, emails and posts.

It’s as if they don’t believe anything anymore and think that copywriting is all about the same boring tricks.

A free webinar and an email sequence using templates with exactly the same words as hundreds of other brands, maybe just changing the name of the course they want to sell you.

Or online shops that copy other people’s product descriptions and end up sounding too similar.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

The best emails, ads, posts, websites, etc., sell you something without you even noticing. Because they are genuine, interesting and new.

And I’m not saying that selling is a bad thing. Not at all.

What I mean is that if you want to sell more with your business you need to learn how to do it properly, without boring people to death and certainly sounding different from your competition.

And that’s what we’ll look at in today’s copywriting class.

Here we go.

Avoid empty phrases everybody use

These are all those empty promises that your competitors make without any solid arguments behind them.

“Market leaders”.

“The best customer service”.

“We get you results”

“The best X you will find on the internet”.

These phrases mean nothing. They’re used left and right without any qualms and they’ve got zero solid arguments behind them.

Don’t use them.

Instead, focus on studying your buyer persona closely to find out what are their most pressing problems and how you can solve them with your product or service.

You avoid empty promises by being ultra-specific.

Gain your prospects’ full attention and trust by adding details about how your solution works and how it will help them achieve their goals.

The more details you add, the more real your product or service will seem and the truer the promise you make to your prospects.

“We have already helped 95 clients to increase their productivity by 10-20%”.

Adding numbers and concrete results will give you more credibility and make your copy more real.

Look for the concrete, for example, talk about that special material you use to make your product and why it’s better than others.

Or explain the steps of your service in detail so your prospects can see themselves enjoying every benefit of the process.

Don’t skimp on the details.

Find out what your prospects really want and give them concrete examples of how you’re going to help them.

How Hey.com does it:

On their How does it work page they give you the option to watch a 37-minute product walkthrough by their CEO.

But in case you don’t want to watch the video they give you several key details about how it works and why it’s a better system than your current email platform.

There are plenty of examples with features and benefits.

Remember, displaying a feature without its associated benefit won’t sell as well.

How to make your web copy sound different (and especially credible). #copywritingtips #webcopy #SmallBiz #freelancers
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Be inspired by others without copying them

It’s tempting.

When you come across a killer website you’d love to copy it word by word.

But this won’t make your business stand out, you’ll be just a mere copycat.

Studying your competition will help you find out what they’re doing right and wrong, and to draw out your difference or Unique Selling Proposition, which is essential and we’re going to see in the next section.

But, how can you get inspired without copying?

The first thing you need to do is to analyse why you like that website or Instagram account.

Is it because they’re funny?

Or because they explain things in a super clear way?

Or maybe because their copy is so convincing?

Study which techniques they use and try to see how you can adapt them to your business without copying them exactly.

You can also take inspiration from businesses that have nothing to do with your niche but you like the way they do things.

For example, if you like the subject line of an email you’ve just received, take it as a starting point from which to create your own.

Imagine you’ve received this email from a bedding shop:

“Do these 3 things before you go to bed and you’ll sleep soundly”.

First analyse why you like the subject.

Probably because it has piqued your curiosity to find out what those 3 things are (hyper-specific subject) and because it promises to solve your problem (useful).

And now imagine you’re a web designer, you could adapt that subject to your business in this way:

“These 5 easy tweaks will make your website look more modern (no coding required)”

You’ve followed the same technique of the previous email subject but you’ve adapted it to your business and even improved it since you’ve eliminated an objection that many people will have when reading your subject line – not knowing how to write code.

So take inspiration from headlines, email subjects or expressions you overhear on the bus and use them with your own touch.

How to make your web copy sound different (and especially credible). #copywritingtips #webcopy #SmallBiz #freelancers
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The process of finding your Unique Selling Proposition

To differentiate yourself from your competition you should find what you do differently.

It might be something that at first glance seems insignificant but that can be exploited.

For example a detail in the production process that is different from all the rest – a better material or a longer and more careful manufacturing process.

Or maybe the difference lies in your excellent support service – you call the customer to check how the process of adapting to the new software/workflow is going, and not the other way around: the customer has to call when something goes wrong.

Anything will do as long as it’s something your prospects want because it’s useful to them, or any detail that proves the higher value of your product.

To find this difference you need to study your competitors from top to bottom and get to know every detail of how they work so you can compare them with your business. 

If your competition doesn’t talk about or promote a certain positive detail or benefit then it’s as if it didn’t exist, so that can be your difference.

For example, if your competitor also manufactures its products in Europe but they don’t mention it anywhere, you can exploit that difference.

Anything that gives you an edge over other businesses is worth exploring and using.

Find out more about how to find your Unique Selling Proposition by reading this post where I explain it in more detail.

Without a clear and desirable USP it’ll be much more difficult to make your business stand out from the crowd.

How to make your brand voice unique and original

When working on their branding many businesses focus only on colours, templates, logos etc., and leave their brand voice aside.

However, when we believe someone has a strong personality that makes them stand out, it’s because of what they say, how they express themselves and how genuine they are as a person.

The same goes for brands.

If you want to create a personality for your brand that is quickly recognisable in any medium and that makes people feel attracted to it, give as much importance to your brand’s image as to its voice.

We all buy certain brands and not others because we feel reflected on them and want to be linked to them.

To create a voice with personality you first need to decide what kind of customers you want to attract and what expressions they use.

What they consume, who they follow and why, what makes them laugh, get fired up, feel annoyed, etc.

To find out about all this, you have social media, where prospects talk, comment and leave reviews.

Social media and customer reviews are inexhaustible sources of super useful information.

Once you’re very clear about who your customers are and how they behave, you can choose to be an elegant brand or a bit sassy, intellectual, snarky, etc.

You should be consistent and not change your voice and “attitude” abruptly.

Many people get the brand voice and tone of voice mixed up.

Your brand voice doesn’t change but evolves over the years.

The tone of voice is adapted to the situation and the type of message you want to convey, so it should change depending on the context.

Writing a payment error message isn’t the same as writing a funny post to increase interaction and followers.

You also change your tone depending on whether you’re explaining a problem to a client or telling a funny anecdote to your sister.

Your brand voice is part of the personality you’re creating so your prospects feel reflected on your brand.

Give it the importance it deserves!

In this post, you’ll find 4 exercises that will help you create your unique brand voice.

How to show authority even if you’re just starting out with your business

In the first section, we’ve seen that being ultra-specific and adding details of your product or solution will help you build credibility.

Authority is also very important.

It makes prospects trust your know-how even if you haven’t got 10 years of experience.

You don’t need to have thousands of positive reviews (although they help), nor do you need to be endorsed by a celebrity (that would be great but not all of us have that privilege), nor do you need to display 5 excellently written success stories.

You can show authority by being hyper-specific and adding as much detail as possible, but also by literally getting inside your prospects’ minds.

When studying your buyer persona, look closely at how they describe their problems or desires and use those same expressions.

If the reader feels that you understand them perfectly, they’ll be much more open to listening to you and doing whatever you ask them to do.

Writing good copy is about having a friendly conversation with prospects.

It should feel like when you call a friend to ask for advice.

And in order to succeed you first have to show empathy by literally describing what that person is going through and by agitating the problem. So put your finger on the problem and twist it a little.

Do this right at the beginning of the introduction so the reader is immediately hooked.

In this mini-class, you’ll find examples of how to write a great introduction and gain your prospects’ trust from the very beginning.

How to make your web copy sound different (and especially credible). #copywritingtips #webcopy #SmallBiz #freelancers
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The trick to keeping your creativity alive and kicking

I’m one of those who believe everyone can be creative.

I don’t believe creativity is a special gift given to only a few privileged geniuses.

What happens is that some people exercise their creativity every day and others don’t.

It’s like physical exercise.

The first time you go out for a run you feel like you’re going to have a heart attack, you think you’ll never manage to run for more than 10 minutes at a time and that you run like a dizzy duck.

However, if you go for a short run every day, you start enjoying it, you don’t feel ridiculous anymore and you challenge yourself to run a little bit further each time.

The same holds true for creativity.

If you dedicate a little time (almost) every day to writing, painting, drawing, sewing, decorating – whatever you have fun doing – you’ll get better and better at it and you’ll come up with great new ideas.

You might think, come on, there are people who are very witty by nature, who have a special ability to make a joke out of everything or geniuses who were already playing the piano at the age of 6.

True, but those are very few exceptions, all the rest of us who create something on a regular basis is because we sit down to work.

That’s the trick.

Sit down to write-paint-stitch-draw for a little while every day and enjoy it without the pressure of how the outcome will be. Do it for yourself.

It will also help you keep your creativity alive to enjoy the work of others. Read, see exhibitions, and talk to people who have good ideas.

All this information that you accumulate in your head and in your soul nourishes your ideas when it comes to creating.

Everything is a circle that feeds back on itself.

And above all, don’t compare yourself too much with others. It’ll only make you suffer and get you nowhere.

You are unique in the world, there is no one who moves, thinks, talks and laughs exactly like you.

To sum up

If you want your website to be different and to convince prospects of the value of your product or service, you have to say things differently and sound credible.

Avoid clichés, take inspiration from others without copying them, find your difference, create a brand voice that is uniquely yours and feed your creativity by CREATING.

Authority will come as a consequence of all that.

See you in another copy class!

How to make your web copy sound different (and especially credible). #copywritingtips #webcopy #SmallBiz #freelancers
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1. What kind of content you should send to your subscribers so they look forward to your emails
2. Why variety is the secret to success
3. Is it better to send emails with more pictures and less text?
4. Which email subject lines work best for ecommerce?

Sending emails to your subscribers is the way to make them pass by your shop window and tempt them to step inside as if your physical shop were on their way home.

If a person has given you their email address it means they’re already interested in your products, otherwise, they wouldn’t have left you their details to get a discount, a free delivery or a lead magnet.

That’s why you can’t miss this great opportunity.

Email continues to be the most profitable marketing channel, as the investment is much lower than in other channels (social media and Google ads, influencers, etc.) and it continues to work extraordinarily well despite the years and new trends.

Email is also your best ally in retaining customers.

A recent Harvard Business School study showed that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.

In other words, it’s much easier and more profitable to sell to customers who have already bought from you than to attract new customers.

Therefore, creating and maintaining an email marketing strategy for your online shop is essential if you want to increase your profits.

But how do you get your subscribers to keep opening your emails and not unsubscribe from your list?

This is what we’re going to see in this copy class. Are you staying? Here we go.

What kind of content should you send to your ecommerce subscribers?

You might be thinking: “It’s been proven that emails with discounts and promotions have the highest open and click-through rates”.

True, but, what happens when you only send discounts?

That they stop working.

Why am I going to rush and open an email saying “20% off!” when I’m receiving similar emails every 3 days with promotions and sales?

The excitement will wear off after the third email when I realise you always have products on promotion.

There’s no novelty and zero urgency.

So what kind of content can you send other than promotions?

The first thing you need to think about is what are your subscribers’ interests.

What entertains them or what they’d like to know, and then create content that answers those questions.

But in order to answer these questions you should have done your homework and researched your buyer persona’s profile.

Your emails must always have your prospect in mind and put them at the centre of everything.

Bearing in mind the topics your buyer persona is interested in, we can create 3 types of emails:

1. Email that informs and educates
2. Email that entertains and brings them closer to your brand
3. Sales email

Let’s look at some examples.

Imagine you sell traditional clothes for children. These garments are expensive because they’re handmade with the highest quality fabrics and they include embroidery, smocking, etc.

Your ideal customer is a mum (Sally) with a fairly high income who wants quality clothes for her children and doesn’t mind spending a lot of money as long as the clothes are well-cut and stylish.

Sally has been taking a look at your website but is still not convinced.

She’s left you her email address to take the 20% off you offer on her first purchase.

The first email she receives will be the one with her discount voucher. In this email, you can tell her more about your brand since it’s new to her. Think about things like:

“What objections are passing through her mind? “

Maybe she thinks the clothes might not be worth what they cost, they could be made in China like most things.

In that email, you can put a banner with the discount voucher and underneath add copy that brings Sally closer to your brand and clears up any objections she might have. For example:

Why variety is the secret to success

Imagine that Sally hasn’t purchased yet because she still has doubts, she forgot or she simply hasn’t had the time. Don’t forget she is a busy mum…

Send her a second email the next day, but this time you’re not going to sell directly, you’re going to tell her more about your brand and include a link to a video on your Instagram.

This type of email educates your prospect about your brand’s values and what makes it a good choice, as well as reminds them that the garments are quality and durable, something that can be an objection before they buy.

In this email, you’re also expressing your Unique Selling Proposition: traditional kids’ clothes with a modern twist.

How to write #ecommerce emails that bring you the results you want. #copywriting #smallbiz #emailmarketing
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By sending emails with varied content you make your prospects curious about what they’ll find.

If you always send the same type of emails, they’ll stop opening them because they don’t expect anything new.

That’s why variety is the secret to success.

A type of email that works very well is also the one that interacts with your prospects. For example with a question or by inviting them to give their opinion:

When Sally clicks on one of the designs she is taken to a page on your website thanking her for helping you choose the next design and reminding her that she has only 3 days left to take advantage of the 20% discount on her first purchase. Here you should add a CTA (call to action button) to shop the collection.

Most of us like to give our opinion and feel useful, so this type of email works really well. Give it a try.

How to write #ecommerce emails that bring you the results you want. #copywriting #smallbiz #emailmarketing
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In addition, people’s answers can help you better understand your prospects’ preferences and thus fine-tune your products.

To close this sequence of 4 emails you send to your new subscribers, send an email on the last day reminding them that time is running out to take advantage of the 20% discount.

So the welcome sequence would look like this:

1. Welcome email with a discount coupon (Sale)
2. Email with Unique Selling Proposition (Educate, brand outreach)
3. Interaction email (Engage)
4. Reminder of the discount (Sale)

Is it better to send emails with more pictures and less text?

Many brands think that text is superfluous in ecommerce.

But this isn’t the case.

No matter how shiny the images you include are, if there’s no story behind them, no copy that pushes people to buy, no clear unique value proposition and no personal approach, selling will be much harder.

You might be thinking “Well, I get a lot of emails from brands like &Other Stories or Mango with very little text”.

True, but neither &Other Stories nor Mango need to educate you or bring you closer to their brand.

They’re already popular so they only need to show you spectacular images taken by photographers who charge thousands of euros for each session to make you want to buy straight away.

But your brand isn’t yet at that place on the podium and you have a lot of competition from other lesser-known brands like yours, so you need to work harder on the copy.

People do read when they are interested in something, especially if it’s written in a concise and entertaining way.

So don’t be afraid to write slightly longer texts in your emails.

Many studies claim that people prefer emails with more images and less text, but this study by Hubspot showed that when measuring open and click-through rates, emails with more text and fewer images generate the most opens and clicks.

Why?

Because email platforms are increasingly filtering emails (especially commercial emails) to provide a better user experience.

An example of this is Gmail’s promotions tab.

Image tags and HTML-rich templates are most often marked by providers as commercial email, which means they are filtered out of the recipient’s main inbox (and therefore people won’t see them).

Better combine them for variety, send some emails with a lot of images and others with fewer images and more copy.

If the recipient opens the ones that don’t have so many images as they arrive in their main inbox, Gmail will filter all emails from that account as important mail and won’t send them to the commercial or spam mailbox.

The length of your emails depends on prospects’ level of awareness and where they are in their buying journey.

The higher the level of awareness, the shorter the copy can be (because prospects already know your brand and your products) and vice versa.

The less a person knows about your brand, the more arguments you should give them to choose you.

Further reading: How long should my sales copy be?

Which email subject lines work best for ecommerce?

Subject lines are super important. It’s what will determine whether the person opens the email or not, so you should take your time to think thoroughly.

If you’re offering a discount or promotion add it directly in the subject line:

“20% off the entire collection”.

Subject lines involving urgency also work really well:

“Limited offer”.

“Only until 31st December”.

But when you’re not offering discounts or limited promotions, what can you write in the subject line?

The first rule is to never mislead.

Subject lines must always be in line with what readers will find when opening the email.

People’s innate curiosity is your best ally.

In the subject line, you should mention something your prospects want to find out. For example:

1. Ask an interesting question
2. Mention something unusual
3. Tease the content of the email

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Ask them a question

In the email I created earlier inviting Sally to choose a fabric for a dress the subject line could be:

“Which of these fabrics do you like the most? Or maybe: “Sally, can I have your opinion on this?”

Notice that these two examples use an informal tone of voice as if a friend wrote to ask for our opinion on something.

Because remember, we all prefer those brands we find friendly.

How to write #ecommerce emails that bring you the results you want. #copywriting #smallbiz #emailmarketing
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Mention something unusual

Here you can mention an unexpected fact, something that surprises them and they didn’t know.

In the email in which I include a link to a video showing how the seamstresses work, the subject line could be:

“This dress takes 30 hours of work”

Your prospects will be curious to see the dress, as this fact may come as a surprise since they’ve never wondered how long it takes to sew a dress by hand.

Tease the content of the email

Always provide the missing piece of information in the body of the email.

If you don’t your prospects may feel cheated and never want to hear about your brand again.

A subject line for such an email from The Lovely Kid might be:

“This cool material is the new trend”

Sally will want to open that email because she’s curious to find it out.

Let’s look at other subject lines that help prospects want to open an email.

Solve a problem

In the subject line, you can name the problem your prospects have and your product solves.

Let’s look at a couple of examples for The Lovely Kid:

“5 ideas to dress your children for a wedding”

or

“These beautiful shirts don’t need ironing”

Make them smile

People like a good joke.

But be aware, these days you need to be careful about hurting people’s feelings. So think about whether your subject line brings a smile without offending.

For example:

“Be ready to hear a LOT of “OMG, how cute!!”.

Or

“Days when your kids weigh you down… Then you look at them and all feel worth it 🥰”

Notice how I use that personal tone that brings your brand closer to your prospects.

We receive quite a few passive-aggressive, work-related or unpleasant emails (taxes to be paid, deadlines, etc.) every day.

So your mission is to brighten up your customer’s day, bring a smile to their face, entertain them or tell them something funny.

To write good subject lines you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Be inspired by those emails you receive and open and simply adapt the subject lines to your business, audience and content.

Think about why you opened those emails and the reasons you like them.

Also study those you hate and unsubscribe from, so you don’t follow the same strategies.

I hope this mini class of copy has given you some ideas for your ecommerce emails, so you can maintain a long and productive relationship with your customers.

See you around.

How to write #ecommerce emails that bring you the results you want. #copywriting #smallbiz #emailmarketing
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