Reason: Open loops pique a reader's interest by presenting an unsolved mystery to the reader. Our brains are hardwired to find closure. Make your product the final closure.
Example: Woody Justice
Tip from Blake: Write short, snappy sentences
Reason: People have short attention spans. And big blocks of text are super hard to read.
Reason: Words like may, can, hope, could, leave doubt in a reader's mind. You want readers to feel confident in their decisions. Use words like will, can, and do.
Example: Hubspot
Tip from Blake: Start with an engaging hook
Reason: The purpose of every sentence is to get readers to check out the next. A proper hook engages the reader immediately and piques curiosity.
Example: Zippo from a fish by David Ogilvy
Tip from Alex: Use Repetition
Reason: The repetition of words puts an emphasis on your messaging. It makes the main points memorable.
Example: New York Times
Tip from Blake: Optimize for clarity
Reason: Clear writing beats clever writing every single time. People want to understand and then be delighted, not the other way around.
Example: Be concise chart
Tip from Alex: Use Opposites
Reason: They say opposites attract. The same goes for copy. Opposites are a powerful way to get someone's attention.
Example: Stella Artois
Tip from Blake: Start in the middle of the story
Reason: Begin with action. Don’t wait to excite and delight the reader until it’s too late.
Reason: Using an active voice illustrates taking action. And your goal is to make consumers take action. Writing with an active voice delivers a direct, strong, and punchy message.
Example: Nike
Tip from Blake: Talk about them, not you
Reason: People don’t care about you. They care about what you can do for them. Make that benefit abundantly clear.
Reason: Stories drive attention. Take the consumer into a different world. And create an emotional connection that’s hard to break.
Example: John Caples
Tip from Blake: Don’t be guided by grammar
Reason: Focus on clear messaging and engaging storytelling more than grammar. This will create more connection with the reader than perfect sentence structure ever will.
Reason: Analogies help connect something complicated with something known.
Example: Dropbox
Tip from Blake: Brain dump before anything else
Reason: Getting all ideas on paper first helps organize the whole process. Then, build an outline. Next, write the sections. Finally, put it all together.
Reason: Rhyming keeps the readers eyes moving organically. Naturally, it flows. This makes it more believable.
Example: Animoto
Tip from Blake: Pass the Friend Test
Reason: It helps you write great copy. 1) Write 10 variants of a headline. 2) Send it to some friends and just ask them to read them. 3) Wait 24 hours and follow up. 4) The variant most remembered by that group is your headline.
Example:
Tip from Alex: Use Alliteration
Reason: Alliteration uses the repeat of initial consonants to put an emphasis on a benefit. Use it to address important points.
Example: Animoto
Tip from Blake: Pass the Voice Test
Reason: You don’t want to sound like a robot. Here’s how: 1) Read your written copy out loud. 2) If it sounds robotic or boring, rewrite it
Helper: Just say it out loud! No secret sauce here.
Tip from Alex: Copy Should Have a Goal
Reason: Every piece of copy should have a goal. If it doesn’t pass Amazon’s so what test -- then cut it. It’s fluff. If you can’t notice the goal -- neither can the consumer.
Example: KFC
Tip from Blake: Focus on feeling over selling
Reason: Refrain from pushing sales explicitly, and focus instead on helping the reader feel a strong emotion or connection
Reason: You want consumers to trust you. Being honest breaks the barrier between a business and a customer. Let them know it’s still people behind the words.
Example: Hyposwiss Bank
Tip from Blake: Minimize risk
Reason: Make the requirements to get the solution to seem smaller.
Explanation:
Your H1 is the first (and most prominent) element we see right away. That first line of text is the difference between hooking them and losing them.
Design a quick asset in Figma or Canva that you would find helpful for yourself.
Make sure there is overlap with your target audience.
This piece of content is going to be your lead magnet.
Examples:
- An interactive calculator
- Your full content strategy
- A short, free online course
- You fully organized tech stack
- An ebook on how to design graphics
- A checklist for a complicated process
- A sheet of the most popular tweets ever