Thread by @RyanMcCready1

LinkedIn News team puts on a copywriting master class each & every day.

Millions of people see it every day, but don't realize how brilliant it is.

Here are 4 ways to copy their copywriting formula.

🧵

Every headline they publish in that little News section is perfectly written & positioned.

I mean it took me using the platform for 5+ years before I even saw it!

Each of those headlines follows a few simple rules.

That literally any copywriter can use:

1️⃣ Embrace intentional vagueness
2️⃣ Cut the unnecessary words
3️⃣ Bury the interesting metric or data point
4️⃣ Lead with the big name or brand

1️⃣ Embrace intentional vagueness

A lot of content creators give away too much info.

If you tell a reader everything they need to know in the headline or share.

Why would they want to click & learn more?

The LinkedIn News team is always trying to pull you a bit deeper with their headlines.

In this headline, they have omitted the name of the exec so that readers will click to learn more:

If they would have included the name, most people would have scrolled right past it.

But now they are likely clicking to see if Elon Musk or another famous executive is leaving Tesla.

And likely sharing it with their network.

2️⃣ Cut the unnecessary words

As Kevin from the Office said, “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick.”

Those wise words can be applied to headlines, shares, & ad copy.

The editors at LinkedIn news are very deliberate & stingy with their words.

Take a look at this headline:

A typical headline for this same story would likely read:

📢“In 2022, Apartment living is trending at an all-time high of 97% occupancy.”

But it would still tell the same story...

That apartment living is at an all-time high.

3️⃣ Bury the interesting metric or data point

You have worked so hard to collect data & turn it into compelling content.

So why would you give that info away in your headline?

Save that important piece of data for your full article, or throw it behind a lead capture form.

Don't just give it away in a headline or social share!

To be honest, this tactic is the advanced version of being intentionally vague.

They have become masters of cutting data points or metrics out of the headline

But still driving people to click with well-crafted headlines.

4️⃣ Lead with the big name or brand

One thing that the LinkedIn News team never omits is a famous brand name.

In fact, most of the time that they are talking about a big company, it will be the first word in the headline.

My friend @amandanat might call this a form of permissionless comarketing.

I feel like by leading with the brand name, the LinkedIn News editors are a lot more deliberate & take it to the next level:

Not only will this push more people towards the news story, but it will also likely drive more shares as well.

Especially on LinkedIn, where there are around 580k Walmart employees, ready to share some good news about their company:

So if you are wanting to use permissionless comarketing or influence hacking.

Just make sure you don’t bury it in a headline or share.

As you can see, sometimes it's better to edit your content.

We have been taught that more content or copy is always a good thing.

More copy means that you can target more keywords and hopefully get more traffic!

But this idea that you need to drown people in content doesn’t always work.

So take the time to be more deliberate with your words & cut the rest.

Want to learn more? Check out the full article here: foundationinc.co/lab/write-bett…