Curious about how a company with a $1.6+ trillion market-cap writes persuasive copy?

Use these 7 tips to write like an Amazonian 🧵
1. 30 Words Or Less Per Sentence

Keep your sentences Muggsy Bogues short.

Your sentences should focus on one idea.

This makes the communication smoother.

Short sentences help break down the info into bite-size pieces.

Digestible info = Retained info
2. Replace Adjectives With Data

In 1880, Mark Twain wrote, “When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable.”

In Amazon's case, don’t kill them -- replace them with data.
For ex:

A ton of Amazon Prime Members - > 98% of Amazon Prime Members

Common adjectives are vague. They don’t help consumers visualize the context.

Data does.
3. Eliminate Weasel Words

Weasel words take away from the story.

They're vague. Boring.

If you’re going to use adjectives -- use descriptive adjectives.

NOT interpretive adjectives.
For ex:

Interpretive - We went on a long boat ride.

Descriptive - We went on a 5-hour boat ride.

The first sentence makes the reader guess how “long” the boat ride was.

The second sentence tells them how long.

No need to guess.
4. The “So What” Test

Re-read your writing and ask “so what?”

Can the reader understand the sentence, paragraph, or page?

Does it make sense?

Does it provide value?

Are they learning?
The “So What” test helps you understand their perspective.

Readers don’t want to guess -- they want to know.
5. Be Objective

Subjective writing lacks facts and data.

They’re supported by points of view and observations.

Ex: I think Amazon members are happy with 2-day shipping.

This is a point of view. There is zero proof.
Objective writing on the other hand can be confirmed through data and facts.

Ex: We increased customer satisfaction by 95% with the addition of free 2-day shipping.
6. Avoid Jargon and Acronyms

Use an acronym or jargon a new customer doesn’t understand and you’ll lose them.

Your attempt to sound smart went right over their head.

A consumer who doesn’t understand will move on.
For example:

Amazon’s “CAC” was reduced by 5% in Q2.

Amazon reduced their “customer acquisitions costs” by 5% in Q2.
7. Use Subject-Verb-Object Sentences

Use this sentence structure to be clear.

- Who/what are you writing about.

- What did they do.

- What was acted on.

For ex:

An Amazon Prime Member wrote a 5-star review.

Subject: Amazon Prime Member

Verb: Wrote

Object: Review
I'm writing a marketing thread like this for the next 32 days, straight. Follow @alexgarcia_atx to make sure they show up on your feed.

I can email it to you every day also 👇🏽

bit.ly/3flYp6b
TL;DR

1. 30 Words or less per sentence
2. Replace Adjectives with data
3. No Weasel Words
4. Use the "So What" test
5. Be Objective
6. Avoid jargon and acronyms
7. Use Subject-Verb-Object Sentences

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More from @alexgarcia_atx

12 Apr
Ever heard of the PayPal Mafia?

It's a team of former PayPal employees so prolific that Business Insider labeled them "The Richest Group Of Men In Silicon Valley."

After leaving PayPal, many of them went on to build some of the largest companies we now know.

Here's the list 🧵 Image
1. @peterthiel

Peter Thiel was the co-founder and CEO of PayPal.

He was referred to as the "Don" of the PayPal Mafia.

He earned $55m after selling PayPal to eBay.

His net worth is now over $2B.
2. @mlevchin

Max Levchin was also the co-founder of PayPal and the CTO.

He was called the "consigliere" of the PayPal Mafia.

Levchin made $34m from the sale to eBay and then founded Slide.

He sold Slide to Google in 2010 for $180m.

His net worth is $300m+.
Read 23 tweets
12 Apr
Dropbox went from 100k registered users in Sept 2008 to 4m registered users by Dec 2009.

Inspired by Paypal’s Refer-a-Friend program, Dropbox created a referral program so epic that it 2x its user base every 3 months for 15 months.

Here’s how they grew 3900% in 15 months 🧵 Image
First, when I say an epic referral program, I mean it.

Look at these numbers:

- Sept 08: 100k registered users
- Dec 09: 4M registered users
- Sept 2017: 33.9M users, 10b valuation, +1B in rev.

According to the founder, Drew Houston, referrals increased signups by 60%.
How did they come up with this referral program?

By copying the model from PayPal and altering it to fit their business.

In 2000, Paypal launched its Refer-A-Friend program.
Read 20 tweets
10 Apr
Dave McClure, the founder of 500 Startups, created a 6-step framework to help hundreds of startups to go from idea to successful business.

Here's the 6-step framework for startups🧵
1. Awareness

Generating brand awareness is the act of winning someone's attention.

Whether content marketing, paid marketing, or influencer marketing, attention is the deciding factor in having a potential customer or someone ignoring you.

Once you have it -- don't waste it.
2. Acquisition

What channel do your customers spend the most time on?

NOT, which channel is everyone using.

Specifically, your target audience.

Using the right platform can drastically reduce your CAC.

You’ve picked the right platform, now what?
Read 17 tweets
9 Apr
2 weeks ago I wrote about helping a friend launch their ebook and doing $25k+ in sales the first month.

What I didn’t write about was the 5-step growth hacking framework I stole from @GrowthTribe to make it happen.

Use this framework to test for product-market fit and growth🧵
Why do I like frameworks?

Frameworks help eliminate guesswork.

When you’re stepping into uncharted territories, it’s easy to get lost.

What should take a few days takes a few weeks because you’re unsure what the next step is.
When I first started out, I was always searching for frameworks relative to what I was trying to accomplish.

It helped me eliminate wasted time, effort, and money.

This means quicker answers.

Quicker answers mean progress.

I’m all for that.
Read 19 tweets
8 Apr
Here are 8 tactics from inside Airbnb's email marketing playbook 🧵
1. Keep Subject Lines Short

Airbnb's average subject line has 30 characters.

They use those 30 characters to:

1. tell you what the email is about

or

2. pique interest

For example:

Direct: Unique stays in Paris (21)
Interest: Imagine waking up to this (25)
They also keep it short, so it's readable on Mobile.

If it's over 50 characters, there is a chance the subject line will get cut off.
Read 17 tweets
7 Apr
The What, Why, And How Of Building A Minimum Viable Audience 🧵
1. What is a Minimum Viable Audience?

Coined by Seth Godin, an MVA is “the smallest group that could possibly sustain you in your work.”

An MVA zooms into an existing market with a big audience and finds a subset of people who have needs unmet by an existing company/creator.
Your MVA is the small group of people who love what you're doing and why you're doing it.

They believe in you.

They communicate with you.

They trust you.

If you went missing -- they'd notice.

Your MVA will help find your unique position in this world full of noise.
Read 15 tweets

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