twointwomillion
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Copy matters. A lot.
A site with incredible copy but terrible design will do far better than one with world-class design but horrible copy.
Why?
Because copy conveys the message. Copy seduces the reader. Copy makes a hot cup of cocoa for you while lighting some candles and putting on slow jams.
If you’re in a rush, this 1 tip will blow up your sales: Simplify your communication.
Remember that most users are very, very impatient. So when they land on your site and it takes more than… well, immediately, to figure out what it is you do, they’ll do the worst thing you can possibly imagine... hit the dreaded back button.
The most important thing any beginner should do is to simply make their message clear. Forget about being cute and fancy.
A useful heuristic is the niece test: If your 12-year-old niece landed on your website, could she instantly get what you do?
Another one is the walk test. Put your site on your laptop and see if you can figure out the value prop while walking past it.
This is where people usually object because what they do is so much more complicated than what other companies are doing. ‘’Surely, my target audience would understand my jargon right?’’
Maybe. I’m not discounting that, and it’s worth testing. But usually, founders overestimate the degree of interest that cold traffic has. Remember that your prospects are in system 1 type thinking: fast, intuitive, unconscious. In that state, they’re equivalent to a teen with a short attention span. They’re not gonna take the time to figure out what you do, so you have to remove as much friction as possible.
Read this in-depth essay on removing friction here: How To Increase Profit By Removing Friction
But testing is cheap so feel free to test ideas you think will work better. But the above should be your starting point.
But also remember that if you’re professional and communicate mostly in jargon, you’re gonna blend right in with your competition. That’s what professional means. Following the status quo. Which implies, devoid of personality. That might be okay if you’re an employee. But that’s the opposite of what you want as a founder. If you wanna learn how to differentiate read this: Mountain Of Carrots—How Companies Must Differentiate In A Cluttered Market.
Let’s look at advertising for a quick second okay. A great ad has 3 conditions:
1. Get attention
Nothing happens if people don’t see your ad.
2. Clearly communicate what you want
Nothing happens if you have attention but people don’t understand what you want from them or how you can help them.
3. Persuade the prospect
Nothing happens if you have their attention, they understand what you want from them or how you can help them, but they aren’t persuaded to take action.
I don’t want to go deep into behavior science right now but the easiest way to get people to take action (to cross the action threshold in the FBM) is to 1. Find the people that already want to get the result you’re offering. (That share the outcome or aspiration you’re talking about, to put it in technical terms.) And 2. Simplify the desired behavior such that the quantity of motivation required is minimal and the ability to execute the desired behavior is high. I.e. Make it easy for them.
Now, this isn’t an essay on advertising but those are solid copy conditions as well. Most businesses fail at all 3. Just observe your own behavior while scrolling through Facebook or going through your inbox. Almost no business even gets your attention. Your brain’s spam filter filters it out.
1.Realize it’s possible to make much more by rearranging letters (Or by using Dutch School Marketing in general. And yes, an extensive essay on Dutch School is forthcoming for those who’ve been murdering my inbox.)
‘’Well duh!’’, I hear you think. But most founders don’t believe that’s possible. This is why they say things like: ‘’Marketing doesn’t work for our company. It’s very hit or miss.’’ They believe there’s some miraculous marketing god that either graces you or doesn’t.
Remember that cheap and tiny changes can have disproportionate effects.
Read more about that in This Essay Will Save Your Company Money.
2.Practice the oblique elements of creating copy: Swipe File and Cloning
Start building a swipe file. Any time you see compelling copy, steal it. Put it in a shoebox and fill that thing up. Headlines, CTA’s, Pictures, Value props, etc.
This’ll build your mental swipe file, it’ll train you to start noticing great copy so you’ll find more great copy (cuz you’re looking for it), and it’ll build your physical swipe file for moments when you’re lacking creativity and are staring at a blank screen.
Start cloning copy that has done well. This is exactly like mathematics. It’s one thing to be able to follow along with a proof, but it isn’t until you recreate it that suddenly all the gaps in your knowledge become painfully apparent. You don’t want to just understand the copy, you want to understand it in your kidneys and spleen. It should become a part of you.
3.Use the 3 direct elements of creating copy: Fact aggregation, benefit transformation, and offer crystallization
Fact aggregation: Start writing down every, single fact about the product. Don’t edit yourself and be ridiculously thorough.
Benefit transformation: Transform as many of those facts into benefits.
Offer crystallization: Write down your offer and keep rewriting it until it’s crispy. I.e. Clear, snappy, and compelling.
4.Use all your raw material to craft your copy.
You got the building blocks with your facts, benefits, offer, swipe file, and the copy you’ve cloned.
If you lay that all out, you’ll be able to create the skeleton of your copy. You can then sand off the edges and make it into something neat.
From there it’s testing, testing, and wait for it… yes, more testing.
Is this going to make you a world-class copywriter by tomorrow 7 PM?
Yes!
Is this going to give you 6-pack abs, raise your IQ, and instantly make you sexier?
Why yes again! You’re 2 for 2.
Look, it’s not magic. And if the people looking for shortcuts would’ve taken the long path instead, they’d be done by now. (Reminds me of a very non-PC saying: Some fat people will do anything to avoid eating less and exercising more. I think that all of us are or have been that person in some area of our lives.)
But applying what you’ve learned in this essay will make you better than a good 90% of companies out there. Most companies don’t know how to do this. And the vast majority of professionals suck at this. When your job isn’t to be effective but rather to avoid getting fired or making your boss look bad, or to win awards, you’re gonna do the opposite of what you need to do if you want to create great marketing.
This is why Dave Trott and Rory Sutherland are always ranting about the sorry state of advertising and marketing. And you know what… they’re not wrong.
There are, however, a few people that have dedicated their lives to this and they’re absolute monsters. But that’s the cool thing about business, you don’t have to be amazing at every single thing. You just have to be amazing at a few things and okay at the rest.
This will make you more than okay.
Good luck out there and go build the future,
RJ
P.S. If you enjoyed this, I got a 4 part essay series that goes into absolutely ridiculous depth on everything mentioned here. Best part? It’s free.
You can find it here Alchemy: Turning Words Into Money.
------------------------------
Enjoyed today's essay? Sweet! For business essays that are nearly as good as checks in the mail, gold in your hand, or blue crispy M&M's (don't @ me) join me here: https://www.younglingfeynman.com/subscribe
Go build the future,
RJ
A site with incredible copy but terrible design will do far better than one with world-class design but horrible copy.
Why?
Because copy conveys the message. Copy seduces the reader. Copy makes a hot cup of cocoa for you while lighting some candles and putting on slow jams.
If you’re in a rush, this 1 tip will blow up your sales: Simplify your communication.
WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?
Remember that most users are very, very impatient. So when they land on your site and it takes more than… well, immediately, to figure out what it is you do, they’ll do the worst thing you can possibly imagine... hit the dreaded back button.
The most important thing any beginner should do is to simply make their message clear. Forget about being cute and fancy.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR VALUE PROP
A useful heuristic is the niece test: If your 12-year-old niece landed on your website, could she instantly get what you do?
Another one is the walk test. Put your site on your laptop and see if you can figure out the value prop while walking past it.
This is where people usually object because what they do is so much more complicated than what other companies are doing. ‘’Surely, my target audience would understand my jargon right?’’
Maybe. I’m not discounting that, and it’s worth testing. But usually, founders overestimate the degree of interest that cold traffic has. Remember that your prospects are in system 1 type thinking: fast, intuitive, unconscious. In that state, they’re equivalent to a teen with a short attention span. They’re not gonna take the time to figure out what you do, so you have to remove as much friction as possible.
Read this in-depth essay on removing friction here: How To Increase Profit By Removing Friction
But testing is cheap so feel free to test ideas you think will work better. But the above should be your starting point.
But also remember that if you’re professional and communicate mostly in jargon, you’re gonna blend right in with your competition. That’s what professional means. Following the status quo. Which implies, devoid of personality. That might be okay if you’re an employee. But that’s the opposite of what you want as a founder. If you wanna learn how to differentiate read this: Mountain Of Carrots—How Companies Must Differentiate In A Cluttered Market.
KEEP THIS IN MIND WHEN WRITING COPY
Let’s look at advertising for a quick second okay. A great ad has 3 conditions:
1. Get attention
Nothing happens if people don’t see your ad.
2. Clearly communicate what you want
Nothing happens if you have attention but people don’t understand what you want from them or how you can help them.
3. Persuade the prospect
Nothing happens if you have their attention, they understand what you want from them or how you can help them, but they aren’t persuaded to take action.
I don’t want to go deep into behavior science right now but the easiest way to get people to take action (to cross the action threshold in the FBM) is to 1. Find the people that already want to get the result you’re offering. (That share the outcome or aspiration you’re talking about, to put it in technical terms.) And 2. Simplify the desired behavior such that the quantity of motivation required is minimal and the ability to execute the desired behavior is high. I.e. Make it easy for them.
Now, this isn’t an essay on advertising but those are solid copy conditions as well. Most businesses fail at all 3. Just observe your own behavior while scrolling through Facebook or going through your inbox. Almost no business even gets your attention. Your brain’s spam filter filters it out.
HOW TO START CREATING GREAT COPY
1.Realize it’s possible to make much more by rearranging letters (Or by using Dutch School Marketing in general. And yes, an extensive essay on Dutch School is forthcoming for those who’ve been murdering my inbox.)
‘’Well duh!’’, I hear you think. But most founders don’t believe that’s possible. This is why they say things like: ‘’Marketing doesn’t work for our company. It’s very hit or miss.’’ They believe there’s some miraculous marketing god that either graces you or doesn’t.
Remember that cheap and tiny changes can have disproportionate effects.
Read more about that in This Essay Will Save Your Company Money.
2.Practice the oblique elements of creating copy: Swipe File and Cloning
Start building a swipe file. Any time you see compelling copy, steal it. Put it in a shoebox and fill that thing up. Headlines, CTA’s, Pictures, Value props, etc.
This’ll build your mental swipe file, it’ll train you to start noticing great copy so you’ll find more great copy (cuz you’re looking for it), and it’ll build your physical swipe file for moments when you’re lacking creativity and are staring at a blank screen.
Start cloning copy that has done well. This is exactly like mathematics. It’s one thing to be able to follow along with a proof, but it isn’t until you recreate it that suddenly all the gaps in your knowledge become painfully apparent. You don’t want to just understand the copy, you want to understand it in your kidneys and spleen. It should become a part of you.
3.Use the 3 direct elements of creating copy: Fact aggregation, benefit transformation, and offer crystallization
Fact aggregation: Start writing down every, single fact about the product. Don’t edit yourself and be ridiculously thorough.
Benefit transformation: Transform as many of those facts into benefits.
Offer crystallization: Write down your offer and keep rewriting it until it’s crispy. I.e. Clear, snappy, and compelling.
4.Use all your raw material to craft your copy.
You got the building blocks with your facts, benefits, offer, swipe file, and the copy you’ve cloned.
If you lay that all out, you’ll be able to create the skeleton of your copy. You can then sand off the edges and make it into something neat.
From there it’s testing, testing, and wait for it… yes, more testing.
Is this going to make you a world-class copywriter by tomorrow 7 PM?
Yes!
Is this going to give you 6-pack abs, raise your IQ, and instantly make you sexier?
Why yes again! You’re 2 for 2.
Look, it’s not magic. And if the people looking for shortcuts would’ve taken the long path instead, they’d be done by now. (Reminds me of a very non-PC saying: Some fat people will do anything to avoid eating less and exercising more. I think that all of us are or have been that person in some area of our lives.)
But applying what you’ve learned in this essay will make you better than a good 90% of companies out there. Most companies don’t know how to do this. And the vast majority of professionals suck at this. When your job isn’t to be effective but rather to avoid getting fired or making your boss look bad, or to win awards, you’re gonna do the opposite of what you need to do if you want to create great marketing.
This is why Dave Trott and Rory Sutherland are always ranting about the sorry state of advertising and marketing. And you know what… they’re not wrong.
There are, however, a few people that have dedicated their lives to this and they’re absolute monsters. But that’s the cool thing about business, you don’t have to be amazing at every single thing. You just have to be amazing at a few things and okay at the rest.
This will make you more than okay.
Good luck out there and go build the future,
RJ
P.S. If you enjoyed this, I got a 4 part essay series that goes into absolutely ridiculous depth on everything mentioned here. Best part? It’s free.
You can find it here Alchemy: Turning Words Into Money.
------------------------------
Enjoyed today's essay? Sweet! For business essays that are nearly as good as checks in the mail, gold in your hand, or blue crispy M&M's (don't @ me) join me here: https://www.younglingfeynman.com/subscribe
Go build the future,
RJ