Writing Copy That Aligns with Marketing Goals

I've been in the copywriting space for 10 years and have generated $100’s of millions of dollars for clients.  Here are the 9 most profitable copywriting lessons I've learned along the way: 1. Most Copy Follows the Same Pattern: Headline → Lead → Body → Offer → CTA. Use this structure for every piece of copy: sales pages, emails, ads—everything. Try this today: Take an existing sales page and rearrange it to follow this flow. Notice how it improves clarity. 2. Stop Selling to Everyone: A hungry niche is far more valuable than a big, lukewarm audience. Identify your top 2–3 customer personas and speak directly to them. Try this today: Rewrite one of your marketing emails to address a single, specific persona’s biggest pain point. 3. Your Headline is King: 80% of your effort should go into writing a headline that stops the scroll. Without a powerful headline, no one reads the rest. Try this today: Write 10 variations of a headline for the same offer. Pick the strongest one (or split-test them). 4. Write First, Edit Later: Separate the creative process (writing freely) from the critical process (editing). More words during writing; fewer words after editing. Try this today: Draft an email or ad in one sitting without stopping yourself, then cut it down by 30%. 5. Make it a Slippery Slope: Headline sells the subheadline → subheadline sells the lead → lead sells the body → body sells the CTA → CTA sells the click. Each section teases the next. Try this today: Structure each element on your landing page to create curiosity for the next. 6. People Care About Themselves: They want to know: “What’s in it for me?” Focus your copy on how your product solves their problems or satisfies their desires. Try this today: Count how many times you say “you” versus “I/we” in your copy. Aim for at least a 2:1 ratio. 7. Embrace the Rule of One: One product, one big idea, one CTA per piece of copy. Avoid confusing your reader with multiple offers. Try this today: If you have multiple CTAs in an email or ad, eliminate all but one to see if conversions improve. 8. Be a Friend, Not a Salesman: Show your personality: use relatable language, humor, empathy. Give value first, then ask for the sale. Try this today: Add a personal anecdote or inside joke in your next email to build rapport and trust. 9. Never Start from Scratch: Use proven frameworks (PAS, AIDA, FAB, etc.) to save time and improve results. Frameworks guide your thinking and help you hit the emotional triggers your audience needs. Try this today: Pick one framework (e.g., PAS) and outline your next sales email before filling it in with copy.

Over the years, I've been fortunate to write copy that has contributed to more than a billion dollars in sales for companies from startups to some of the biggest brands in the world. And I've found that copywriting ultimately boils down to just one thing: persuasion. It may be obvious, but it's important to remember that people take action only when they're persuaded to take action. And to do that effectively requires what I call the 6 Pillars of Persuasion — grouped for easy recall as S.P.R.O.U.T. S - Singularity — Today, more than ever, a product must be perceived as unique to capture attention. And unless you can convince prospects that your product is in some way different from whatever else is out there, even if they like the product they will go off to compare alternatives and price shop. P - Proof — What you say must be believed, and we believe what is proven — with facts, studies, track records, and logic. Proof also includes HOW your prospect will get the results you promise (the "mechanism"). That gives them the all-important "reason to believe." R - Repetition — What we hear once barely makes an impression. Instead, we tend to believe and act on what we hear multiple times. Therefore, the art of copywriting is largely about making the same key points over and over in different ways, from different angles, in a consistently interesting way. O - Overwhelming Value — It's not enough that the benefits promised and proven are worth the price. Or even worth more than the price. They must be perceived as being worth MANY TIMES the cost. (Some say 10 times — and that's a good number to aim for.) U - Urgency — People, just like us, usually don't act unless there is some urgency. In copywriting, that's often scarcity — time or supply (or both) is running out. If both are unlimited, the urgency can be the importance of enjoying the benefits as soon as possible, and not being without them longer than necessary. T - Trust — No matter any of the above items, people don't buy from people they don't trust. (Do you?) So be sure — with your actions, your words, your images, and your intent — that you do everything possible to earn the trust of your prospect. (First and foremost, BE trustworthy.) Effective persuasion isn't about hacks, tricks or formulas. It's about understanding human psychology and then clearly and believably communicating the uniqueness and value of your offer. So, use these 6 Pillars of Persuasion and watch your results S.P.R.O.U.T.

Marketer: We need to define our target market. CEO: Our target market is everybody. Marketer: 😬 If your marketing speaks to "everybody," it speaks to nobody. Here are 5 ways I write copy for a specific target market: 1. High LTV customer surveys + interviews. Identify your highest life-time value (LTV) customers. Survey and interview them. Conduct jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) interviews. Understand what problem your product solves for them, how it solves it, what obstacles they had to overcome before purchasing, and how they speak about your product. 2. Churned customer surveys + interviews. Identify WHY the product didn't work for them. What was the primary obstacle or issue? If it's something copy can help overcome, ensure your copy does so. For example, security and privacy are a common objection for SaaS customers. You can overcome this objection by writing copy that describes your stringent security and privacy measures. 3. Review mining. Find real reviews of products or services that solve a similar (or the same) problem that your product solves. Document how people speak about the problems they faced and how they speak about the transformation the product provided. Sources for reviews: Amazon, G2, Apple app store, Google. 4. User testing. Have customers or people within your target market review and react to your copy. Note where they're confused. Where they resonate with copy. And ask them questions to determine the effectiveness of your copy + design. 5. A/B testing. Run A/B tests to find your highest-converting messages. I recommend testing your hero section copy and imagery OFTEN. This is a high-impact area. Afraid you'll lose customers by speaking to a specific target market? Don't be. You'll lose even more by speaking to no one.