Weekly Round Up #128
Your once-a-week digest filled with copywriting insights, AI tips, must-read articles, pretty cool copy examples, and much more!
Welcome to the 128th edition of the Weekly Round-Up — your once-a-week digest filled with copywriting insights, AI tips, must-read articles, pretty cool copy examples, and more!
In this week’s issue:
Copy Tip: When editing REALLY starts.
AI Tip: End every strategic session by asking Claude to summarize the decisions made.
The Psychology Behind Inbox Placement (via InboxAlly)
I’ve Written 47 CTAs. Only One Worked (via Copywriter Collective)
“Better Copy” Kills Positioning (via Kate Guerrero)
What the Best Copywriters Will Have in Common 10 Years From Now (via The Copy Minimalist)
Podcast Pick: The Hook Secrets That Make You Keep Watching
Swipe File Additions
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Copy Tip of the Week
Most copywriters edit the same way they were taught to write.
Start at the top.
Work down.
Clean up what you find.
But that’s not editing, that’s proofreading.
Real editing starts BEFORE you touch a single word.
Before I read a draft, I orient myself.
I know the audience.
I know where they are in terms of awareness.
I know how sophisticated this market is.
I go in with a frame, like Schwartz said, and I have an idea of what I’m about to read. It’s that frame that allows me to see structural problems that have nothing to do with word choice.
A line can be grammatically clean and still be wrong.
Wrong for where this reader is.
Wrong for what they believe right now.
Wrong for the sequence of the argument.
That’s what I’m looking for on pass one: whether the argument is landing in the right order for the right person.
If it isn’t, nothing else really matters.
You can’t edit your way out of a broken structure. You can tighten every sentence and still end up with copy that doesn’t convert, because the problem was never the words in the first place. It was the sequence.
Remember this: structure first.
Always.
If you’re spending your first pass fixing commas, you’re editing the wrong thing.
AI Insight of the Week
End every strategic session by asking Claude to summarize the decisions made.
Not a recap of the conversation – the decisions.
There’s a difference. A conversation summary tells you what was discussed. A decisions summary tells you what you actually committed to, and that’s where the surprises live.
Most strategic sessions with Claude produce more conclusions than you realize. You agreed on an angle. You ruled out an approach. You made an assumption about the audience and kept moving. None of it felt like a decision in the moment, but it was.
Ask Claude: “What decisions did we make in this conversation?” and read it carefully. You’ll almost always find at least one assumption you didn’t know you’d made.
Must-Read Articles
The Psychology Behind Inbox Placement (via InboxAlly)
Why I recommend it: Inbox placement isn’t just a technical outcome, it’s a behavioral one. Mailbox providers aren’t checking your DNS records, they’re watching what your subscribers do in the first fraction of a second. Kath Pay applies Kahneman’s System 1/System 2 framework to deliverability and makes the case that you’re not just optimizing emails, you’re conditioning expectations.
I’ve Written 47 CTAs. Only One Worked (via Copywriter Collective)
Why I recommend it: After 47 versions of a two-word button, the winner was “See the prices.” Not punchy. Not branded. Not elevated. Just a doorway that told the reader exactly what was on the other side, and doubled the click-through rate against “Discover the Collection.” The whole piece is a reminder that a CTA isn’t a headline. It’s a promise.
“Better Copy” Kills Positioning (via Kate Guerrero)
Why I recommend it: Positioning sessions feel great until the copy ships — and suddenly the founder wants to say something completely different. Kate Guerrero nails why: strategy is theoretical, copy is public. A great copywriter’s job isn’t just to write well. It’s to hold the line when fear shows up dressed as a feedback note.
You Should Read This Too:
JOANNA WIEBE
The Hook Secrets that Make You Keep Watching
Why I recommend it: Eight strategies for hooks built on a century of direct response thinking and updated for the 30-second scroll. The most useful framework: every piece of content needs a super hook (the big open question held until the end), nested hooks underneath it, and mini hooks every 12–15 seconds. If the tension closes too early, the brain moves on…
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PITVIPER
Format: Email
Spotted By: Jessica L.
Why I like it: 100% the last thing I’d expect to see from a brand in my inbox. Absolutely love the quirkiness and personality this type of campaign demonstrates.
CHEWY
Format: Email
Why I like it: I thought this was great for a solution aware/most aware audience (me!). It includes all the right persuasion levers for me (outside of a discount), and a hilarious product pic to boot.
PAKT
Format: Email
Why I like it: There’s a trend I’ve been noticing lately with a lot of DTC brands: intentional storytelling via email. It’s a welcomed shift, imo. But I like how this begins by placing a demand on your imagination as a way to prime you for positioning their product as a value-add to said imagined situation. So good!
Classifieds
Job Opportunities
Creative Lead, Performance Copy
Kin Insurance | RemoteSr. Lead Product Copywriter
Hims | RemoteCopywriter and Creative Strategist
Super Speciosa | RemoteSnr. Content Copywriter
myTomorrows | Remote
That’s it for this week! If you have questions or comments — drop a note below.
✌️
Matt
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