Weekly Round Up #45
Your once-a-week digest filled with copy tips/tricks/hacks, must-read articles, and some pretty cool copy examples.
Welcome to the 45th edition of the Weekly Round-Up — your once-a-week digest filled with copy tips/tricks/hacks, must-read articles, pretty cool copy examples, and much more!
In this week’s issue:
Copy Tip: Powerful, Active Verbs
NEW-ish! Weekly Discussion Question
How to Use Behavioral Psychology to Drive Marketing Success
15 Powerful Tips for Writing Marketing Emails
The Power of the Empathy Gap
NEW-ish also! Podcast Pick of the Week
Pretty Cool Copy Examples
Job Opportunities
Housekeeping 🧹
ICYMI over the last few weeks, I made a few permanent additions to this newsletter:
Weekly Discussion Question 💬
A safe space to express your juicy hot takes on trending industry-related topics.
Podcast Pick of the Week 🎙️
I selected my top pick for you to check out this week!
Rotating Selection 🤝
From FREE templates, tutorials, product/tool reviews, featured interviews, and more – the goal here is to add value back to you, my lovely reader.
If you’re not yet a subscriber, why not join? It’s free and I promise not to be a jerk.
Copy Tip of the Week
Use Powerful, Active Verbs
Writing a sale campaign? Active verbs are key for making your sales copy pop. They create urgency and action, nudging readers to take the next step. Here’s how to use them effectively:
Energize Your Sentences: Active verbs make your copy lively. Instead of saying, “Our product is used by thousands,” go with “Thousands use our product.” It’s more direct and powerful.
Prompt Immediate Action: Words like “discover,” “boost,” “transform,” “unlock,” and “enhance” help readers see the benefits of your product. For instance, “Discover how our software can boost your productivity” beats “Our software is very productive” hands down.
Create a Sense of Empowerment: Active verbs make readers feel in control. Instead of “You’ll be given access to premium features,” say, “Unlock premium features instantly.” It puts the power in their hands.
Avoid Passive Voice: Passive voice weakens your message. “Our services are recommended by experts” becomes stronger as “Experts recommend our services.” It’s more persuasive.
Use Strong, Descriptive Verbs: Swap generic verbs for specific ones to add impact. Instead of “get results,” say “achieve results.” Instead of “make improvements,” go with “transform your results.”
Drive Emotional Connection: Active verbs can stir emotions, which is a great motivator. “Experience the thrill of our latest adventure package” is more engaging than “Our latest adventure package is thrilling.”
Encourage Visualization: Use verbs that help readers visualize benefits. “Transform your workspace into a productivity powerhouse” helps them see the change your product brings.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Are you a subscriber? Would love to get your input here:
Must-Read Articles
How to Use Behavioral Psychology to Drive Marketing Success (via Digital Marketing Institute)
Why I recommend it: Behavioral psychology and effective copywriting (and marketing strategies) go hand-in-hand. It’s why you see so many copywriting tips that wed the two together! This article is no different, providing 11 ways you can blend the two into your next messaging strategy.
15 Powerful Tips for Writing Marketing Emails (via Jasper.ai)
Why I recommend it: To be transparent, I hesitated to include this as a must-read article because it was probably conceived and predominantly written by ai. But regardless, it actually conveys 15 very good tips to keep in mind as you’re sitting down to write your next email. In my opinion, number 5 is one of the most important tips in the entire list.
Empathy Gap (via Why We Buy)
Why I recommend it: PLEASE DO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE ME FROM THIS NEWSLETTER! This article is not posted online. Whew. Okay. With that out of the way… Have you ever considered how to manufacture your buyers’ emotional states to get them to do what you want them to do? Sounds manipulative (because it is), but your emotions are crazy accurate predictors of purchase behavior. Big brands know this and use it to their advantage. Learn how.
Ecommerce Playbook
Ryan Reynolds Hates Iterative Creative Testing
⏰ Only 37 minutes
Why I recommend it: If you’re sitting down to strategize an email campaign, ad campaign, or iterations thereof, then you should listen to this. How is your campaign going to intersect with your audience? What story are you telling? What type of emotional connection are you hoping to create? Even though you don’t have a TON of creative license as an agency employee, you can still have an impact.
Pretty Fly Copy
HUCKBERRY
Format: SMS
Why I like it: One of my biggest tips with writing effective SMS campaigns: write for the click. This is a great example of that. They indicate it’s a bestseller (hence the ‘restock’), induce curiosity with hints of ‘upgrades’, and drives a sense of urgency (’this won’t last’), which leads to the click.
CORKCICLE
Format: Email
Why I like it: I love the Olympics. More than likely, your customers love the Olympics. Aside from this being a relevant campaign strategy (seize the moment!), it’s dead-simple and drives a sense of urgency with the scrolling GIF banner declaring “Limited Availability.”
AMERICAN GIANT
Format: Email
Why I like it: Another great Olympic-themed email with a limited availability product. Again, it’s dead-simple. The strange part? They created a SWEATER for the SUMMER Olympics. Make that make sense…
CAMP SNAP CAMERA
Format: IG Ad
Why I like it: The ad itself is timely (i.e. summertime, peak camp season, etc.). And I think the core value props are targeted, especially for parents looking for something for their kids to take to camp. That said, I feel like the messaging hierarchy is a bit off. I think (H1) “Screen Free Digital Camera” with (H2) “Thousands of photos. Rechargeable. Reusable.” would suffice.
👀 SHOW ME YOUR FAVORITE ‘COPY’ FINDS:
You can email your favorite examples to matt[at]copywritercreative[dot]com by EOD every Friday and I’ll drop them in the following week’s round-up! Send a link and tell me what makes it great.
Career Opportunities
These remote opportunities are updated every week with copywriting and marketing roles ambitious job-seekers should definitely apply for.
Senior Copywriter at Tandem Theory
📍Remote 💸 Undisclosed
Copywriter at Core.ai (Part-Time)
📍Remote 💸 $36-38/hr. (USD)
Senior Copywriter at Real Chemistry
📍Remote 💸 $85,000 - $100,000 (USD)
Email+SMS Copywriter & Content Strategist at Homestead
📍Remote 💸 TBD (USD)
Email Marketing Manager at SmithRx
📍Remote 💸 Undisclosed
👉 If you’d like to include a job listing, please email me here and include “Job Posting” in the subject line.
That’s it for this week! If you have questions or comments — drop a note below.
✌️
Matt
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