Stefanie Flaxman says, “Do you ever catch yourself romanticizing earlier time periods?Thoughts like, “It was so much easier to establish authority with ebooks when they weren’t as common” or “I wish people still had longer attention spans.”Before you get too bummed out, remember that digital content creators are currently well-positioned and previous generations had their challenges as well.Even way back when long-form, romantic love letters were all the rage, a hastily scribbled note was the equivalent of today’s cursory, ambiguous text message.But let’s see what we can... [...]

Ben Davis says, “Unless you’re a reactionary, as a marketer you probably understand that automation is creating more jobs than it makes redundant.Automation, for all the scale it enables, requires human mastery of technology, process flows and customer lifecycles.Increasingly personal communications also entail the creation of more content, to suit each segment and event you identify.But as much as marketing continues to be a balance of science and art, it seems that automated copywriting software could be about to polarise the world of content.Read on to find out more, but if... [...]

Andrea Johnson says, “Great copy isn’t about writing beautiful prose; it’s about knowing what to say to your prospects, when to say it and how to say it so they immediately become engaged, stay engaged and ultimately buy whatever it is you’re selling. Pretty words and design don’t matter as much as understanding what your prospects are thinking, what they expect during each stage of the buying process and then giving that to them.That’s why MarketingExperiments has dozens of clinics focused on helping you write subject lines, headlines, body copy and more to help you achieve that.... [...]

Sean D’Souza says, “Cartoonists don’t think straight.If you tell them about cars, they think of chewing gum.If you talk to them about dinner, they think of heel balm.In short, they force-fit thoughts that may have no connection to each other.But what’s a cartoonist got to do with the opening paragraphs of your article?When you think about it, most of us get stuck while writing introductions.Let’s say we want to write about “growing tomatoes in a small space.”What are you thinking of right now? Sure, “tomatoes in a small space.” Which is fine to start, but it’s... [...]

Henneke says, “Do you ever read back a draft of your writing and wonder what happened?Red-cheeked, you thought your draft was complete. You felt excited. Brimming with enthusiasm. You knew it … this was going to be superb. Probably your best-ever blog post. Yay!You poured yourself a beer, feeling elated with your success.Any minor editing and proofreading could wait until the next day.But, the next day … you feel disappointed. Your writing sounds bland. Your sentences seem to stutter.What can you do?How can you create a smooth and enjoyable reading experience? How can you make... [...]

Rainmaker team says, “Using envy is a powerful copywriting technique to help your customer find the motivation to accept your offer. But some marketers have overused and abused this approach (pictures of ridiculous speedboats, anyone?)Don’t be put off, not only can you use envy to make your copy more persuasive, you owe it to your customer to do so.This week’s Dear Amy letter on Hit Publish comes from a conflicted business owner who wants to know whether it is ethical to use envy to encourage a customer to make a purchase, and if so, how it should be done.Envy is a powerful emotion.... [...]

Leslie Ye says, “Value, value, value. It’s the key to modern selling and one of the only thing buyers care about when making a purchasing decision.But conveying value isn’t always easy. It can be confusing to separate what a product is from what it does and what that means for buyers.The important thing is to think about form, function, and value separately. Here’s an example:What the product is: An umbrellaWhat the product does: Shields its holder with a dome of waterproof fabricWhat the product offers: Prevents buyers from getting wet in the rainThe last sentence is by... [...]

Hannes Ben says, “Whether it’s for a regional website, direct response marketing or a content campaign, international copywriters have to find the difficult balance between brand guidelines, linguistic standards and marketing performance.This is further complicated in online marketing, where search engines and social media platforms impose distinct rules on the length of copy, the use of particular terms, punctuation etc. All things that copywriters need to factor into their work.If that wasn’t enough, moving into new territories adds a third dimension of complexity – language.... [...]

Brandon Turner says, “Having incredible copy is one of the fastest ways to increase your conversion rates and sales, yet so many companies are terrible at it.Recently, I decided to improve my copywriting skills, so I talked to my friend Neville Medhora, who is a copywriter. The reason I trust his judgement over others is that besides being the most popular copywriter I know, he actually does client work four days out of the week. He rewrites copy every day, then sees it in action through every industry (online, offline, ecommerce stores, software-as-a-service businesses, etc).I... [...]

Andrea Johnson says, “Creating a more effective headline is one of the easiest ways to make a significant lift in any experiment — it doesn’t require teams of developers or the latest technology to make happen.What it does take, however, is applying the five key principles of effective headlines.MECLABS, the parent company of MarketingExperiments, determined these key principles based on more than 15 years of testing and research. These actionable insights were revealed during the most recent MarketingExperiments Web clinic, which featured 12 experiments reviewing 34 total headlines.... [...]