Mastering the Craft of Click-worthy Copy

1. Welcome to the class!: So you want to know about this crazy little thing called digital copywriting. Welcome to copywriting. And when I went with me, makes, you might know me as a digital marketer, but I've been keeping a huge secret from you guys. One end. One of the biggest parts of digital marketing is in fact copywriting. And I am so thrilled to get to share ten years with an insight into wordsmithing and the time of the World Wide Web with you. If you are already a copywriter, chances are you've been asked repeatedly to explain exactly what it is that you do. What does copywriting mean exactly? Well, copywriting is in fact the art of crafting words for the sole purpose of conversion, it means that your job is to convince someone to take action. If you want to compel a prospective customer to click a link or call a number, sign up with an email address, or crucially by something. A lot of this heavy lifting relies on, you guessed it, copy, it is the foundation of your brand and the secret sauce to your sales. And while the goal for copyrighting it may be to increase conversion rates. The best kind of coffee out there uses storytelling. The aim is to create emotional resonance or while guiding the prospect through a valuable buying experience. As Seth Godin once famously said, people do not buy goods or services. They buy relations, stories and magic. Copywriting is used in various marketing materials like sales pages, websites, e-mails, promotional videos, you name it if you're selling. Well, anything you need copy, if you think about it. Everything from the text on a website to the subject line of an e-mail needs a copywriter to make things happen. Digital copywriting provides information to visitors, engages with them, convinces them to take the desired action all the while conveying your brand's ethos. It does also provide context and relevance to search engines. And because of the sheer volume of information on the internet, quality content is king. Many people argue the conscientious, one of the most significant determinants of the success of your online campaigns and considering it as one of the most direct lines of communication with your consumers. This is not surprising. I'm currently working for one of South Africa's biggest e-commerce brands, writing product descriptions for all of their new and most exciting product launches. It has been difficult, even for me to comprehend the volume of copy required for e-commerce brands who are uploading hundreds of products per week, meaning you, my friend will always have worked interested, right? There's digital copywriting course. It's everything you've always wanted to know, but were probably too scared us. Think of me as your big sister on this wonderfully weighty and journey. If you're keen to jump into the ABCs of copyrighting the tactics which actually converts. And all my best tips and tricks you have come to the right place. Let's jump in. 2. What does a copywriter do?: So what exactly does a copywriter spend their day doing? Well, copywriters spend most of their time, you guessed it, writing copy. But there are a whole host of additional steps that can go into the writing process. So e.g. you probably going to be asking good questions to obtain key information, research and competitors, choosing the appropriate copywriting framework, planning out each section of your copy, getting feedback from stakeholders, going through multiple rounds of editing and so much more. If you are employed as a copywriter at writing is probably going to account for about 75% of your time. The 25% going towards meetings, performance reviews and feedback, and then also collaborating with other kinds of monitors on the project that you're working on. So e.g. in my role currently within an e-commerce business, our team are mandated to output a minimum of 16 skews the day. So that means I need to write, edit, and radiate 16 product pages for publishing. In the rest of my time, I'm answering emails, I'm attending meetings, and I'm also checking the products which have gone live on that particular morning as a final fail-safe. In other instances, whether you're running a freelance copywriting business, e.g. you're writing may only account for about 25% of your time. 75% is probably going towards pitching, managing your clients, running their businesses, and marketing your brand. You are also likely to have a network of other freelancers. You may also use trends show that you can assist clients as far as possible, even when your own capacity is limited in terms of what your output may realistically look like. It would, of course, dramatically differ depending on the service or industry operating in. But the aspects typically include brainstorming and creating concepts for advertisements and marketing campaigns, and often working in partnership with a graphic designer. So during my time working for the global ad agency Ogilvy, I really enjoyed witnessing the creative and copied years that they paired up so far from being seized at a pot, two people would be paid to work on copy and design together. And that's what ensure that whatever was written looked great and such, and that the concepts were executed from both a visual perspective and a copy perspective too. And in every agency I worked for, I spent a lot of time pitching ad campaign concepts to clients or company decision-makers. There is almost always a golden thread or big idea, which one signed off by your client must then be articulated in a multitude of different ways. Copyrights is seriously pivotal in both the big idea and executional phases. You're also going to be researching products, customers, websites, search trends, competitors, and even entire industries. I cover all of the tools that you're going to need to do this in the Toolkit section of this class. Another popular service required whether you're a freelancer, working for an agency or working for a brand, is really going to be developing a brand tone of voice, so often referred to as a tone of voice guide or even forming part of the corporate identity or CI, as it's commonly called. This is a document which covers the do's and don'ts of writing for a particular brand, e.g. one corporate brand I used to work for, never used exclamation points. They felt that their brand was a formal one which I wanted people to trust. They didn't want to seem either excited or excitable in press releases or any other written content for that matter. And another great example is the company I'm currently working as a copywriter for. They will always use contractions in order to seem less formal. If e.g. a. Cushion isn't washing machines safe, they will adapt the supplies content to say something like Don't wash in the washing machine and they want to avoid seeming overly negative. So this is all for the purposes of seeming less formal and to mimic the way that we actually speak. Other rules that would also be incorporated in their tone of voice documents. So this would be things like always using the active sense instead of the passive sense. So instead of saying best maintained using wood oil for a wooden chopping block, they would say use wood oil once a week to maintain your wooden board. Can you see how these minor distinctions are actually helping to craft your brand and the eyes of the consumer. The brand results for this particular brand is friendly, hits a help kind of a brand which is fanatical about customer service. And every single part of their copy is actually working to underscore that therefore match copy work is actually adapting the sorts of writing to establish a brand. And finally, another non copy tasks that are copyrights it is likely to do is looking at the insights like open rates on an e-mail or click-through rates on a landing page if results are seriously subpar and maybe a flagged initially by the data analysts or strategists, it's likely that you as the copyright. So I would seriously benefit from looking at those historical stats and benchmarks to see where things are maybe going arrive. I hope this section has shed some light on why being a copywriter is so much more than just writing copy. 3. The ABCs of copywriting : There is a super helpful framework that I like to use called the ABCs of copyrighting. And I'm heads unpack exactly what it is and what it means when you sit down to write a is full attention. If there's one thing that copyrighting absolutely needs to do, It's to grab your attention. Good copy should hook your reader's interest and establish a connection for long enough to guide them through the next steps of the buying process. This is usually established with a strong, compelling headline, subject line, or opening line, depending on the medium, whether it be a sales page, e-mail, ad, or video. You can do this through opening a loop that makes the prospect want to find out more. Typically we're adding a little bit of scarcity to create that sense of urgency or provoking the emotion, the buildup, the desire for the particular benefits you offer. B is for this big benefits. The number one question on your reader's mind will always be, what is in it for me. People don't buy what they buy the y. If you haven't yet watched Simon Sinek TED talk, how great leaders inspire action. I have linked it in the notes below. One of the most poignant paradigm shifts you need to undergo as a copywriter and training, consumers are way more interested in the value and the outcome of your solution rather than the specific product. And with audiences getting more savvy and the market more saturated more than ever before. You need to make sure that you're focusing on the big promise that you offer a friend. Prospect's needs to be convinced of not just your product, but also of you and your unique selling proposition. In order to do this, it needs to get crystal clear on what you do better than anybody else. This is where you communicate your singular benefit. This means not just describing the product that you're offering, the results that you can get when you use it. There's a big difference between your product features and your product benefits. By the way, a feature is something that your product has or is planned and executed in a particular way in order to directly solve a problem. Features are really those factual statements about your product or service. What is far more likely to entice your customers to buy from you, or actually the benefits. So they're describing the outcome that a user will experience by using your product or service, in other words, of a big promise. So e.g. if you're writing for a workout app that gives people access to various studios around the world. It would be to get access to over 100 studios, but you'll benefits would be not committing to just one gym, getting a variety of workouts in every single week, anywhere, anytime you see the difference, C is for call to action. If you're asking for something that might cause a person their attention, time or especially their money, do not make them struggled to understand what it is that you want them to do next, confusion is one of the biggest conversion killers and not having a clear and concise call to action is one of the biggest mistakes a copywriter can make, no matter how persuasive you are with your copywriting, none of it really matters. Unless you have a strong call to action section. You should only be asking your prospect to do one singular thing. And you should have a clear and concise call to action that does that. It can't leave any room for confusion. That's usually to either visit cold click and sign up, and many others. And don't be afraid to be repetitive either. So studies have actually shown that people forget things at an alarming rate. So unless there is repetition, people may be unclear. So be sure to repeat your call to action at least once or twice, particularly in longer format contexts, so that your consumer is super crystal clear on the next steps. And that my friends is the ABCs of copyrighting. 4. Golden rules for copywriting: In this video, I'm breaking down a ten super ways to dazzle your audience or with your digital copy. So number one is going to be writing texts that can be easily scanned. We know how busy users really are, so we want to make it easy for them. Number two is to use meaningful headings and subheadings as well as subject lines. So consider the difference between the following titles. Guide to online copywriting or ten steps to online copywriting that cells. Can you see the difference with the second one being a whole lot more compelling than the first number three is to highlight or bold key phrases and words. So making formatting your best friend. In other words, formatting is there to aid an understanding and readability. So make sure that you're using it as far as possible for those two reasons. Number four is to use bulleted lists, especially for product descriptions where people are having to skim through a lot of information. It really makes it much easier for them to digest and it's kind of like bite-sized content. This can also be done on social media using relevant emojis to list the solution to a particular product or give the consumers some ideas of when and how to use your products. Number five is to limit each paragraph to one main idea or topic. The leading sentence should give a clear indication of what the paragraph is about. In this way, readers can scan each paragraph but without missing any essential information. By doing so, number six is to cut the flarf, get rid of meaningless turns of phrase and words that unnecessarily bulk up your copy. This isn't your high school English essay. Redundancies are often going to creep into our work by accident, but we should really work to eliminate them in order to get our point across. Oscar slough at every turn, is this meaning clear and direct and f naught, change it. Your aim for body copy is brevity and readability and a wall of text is an immediate zero converting tunnel. Number seven is short and simple. Check that the copy conveys the features and benefits necessary in order to make your point. So are you addressing the key use cases of the product or service, conveying the benefits of using it succinctly, if not, please be sure to summarize. Remember that small mobile screens typically means loads of scrolling, which means that message hierarchy becomes even more important when we consider that more than 70% are on their mobile phones. Number nine is to sell using social proof. So before they can met, many people like to see that other people have benefited from using your particular solution. So social proof is what's going to prompt your visits to think, well, it has helped them. I'm sure it can help me too. Case studies, reviews, and third-party testimonials are what are going to help convince people that you've got the goods quotes and logos from named happy customers work super well in this instance to number ten is to keep your content consistent and error-free, you need to thoroughly proofread your copy to ensure that they are no grammatical errors or typos. Fact-checking is super vital if you have data or statistics included, Especially if you mentioned another brand, please make sure that it's spelled correctly. Something which I often pick up in other people's copy online as a lack of understanding between the difference of the em dash and the en dash. This is really grandma E101. So the en dash is approximately the length of the letter N and the M dash is the length of the letter M. The shorter dashed the en dash is used to mark ranges and the meaning two. In phrases like Dover, collect crossing, the longer em dash is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence. Make sure not to confuse your dashes with shorter hyphens, either. These are used to combine words as in well-behaved or long running. I am a huge fan of the em dash in digital copywriting as it makes your copystand a whole lot more conversational, almost mimics that pause in the conversation that you may need to land a point. So consider the following two sentences and how they really do come across naturally. Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and shod, are an important part of a healthy diets some years ago, nevermind how long precisely. I thought I would sail about in a little bit and see the most watery parts of the world. Em dash can be used to market break in a sentence in place of a semicolon or a colon. In this context, dashes are often used for emphasis or to signal a change in tone, e.g. there was no arguing with her. She was set in her opinion, don't you love the em dash to? These sorts of small grammar rules are really the kinds of things we need to pay a lot of attention to once we become a digital copyrights is making these mistakes are really integral. 5. How to become a copywriter: How to become a copywriter in four simple steps. So step one is to write drunk and edit soda. As the story goes, Ernest Hemingway once said, right, drank and edit so bad. And whilst this may not be the sound is seeming advice, the premise is spot on. You're not going to be able to write good copy at first, and that is completely okay. The way in which you grow as a copywriter is to first write bad copy and then to fix it. Well, as I say, sometimes you get a ride crappy before you ride copy. My favorite way to practice this is to rewrite headlines that I find. So the next time I see an ad landing page or email, I'm trying to rewrite it in my own words. It's a fan on small practice that I can do daily to improve my skills. And in fact, this is the task for you. For this class, I have provided a number of different headlines and I want you to rewrite them. We're living in an attention economy, right? So the ability to produce a thermostat and copy is what's going to set our product or service apart. Step two is to find a community. I truly believe that this is the single biggest needle mover for those looking to start a new business in anything, but especially copywriting. You're going to want to do this sooner rather than later. Connecting with a community of like-minded peers is gonna be massively beneficial to you. You probably don't know many other copywriters in your normal life, right? So if you can find someone who can really talk to you about your struggles, you can ask to review your work or give you honest feedback on something that you wrote. This is gonna be the person that you reach out to when you need tips for land and clients or what to do once you've actually landed a client and you now need the support. Having an online or offline crew that you can connect with is going to make your journey that much easier. Because trust me, you're going to have some questions along the way and you're going to want that support and guidance and most of all encouragement from people who get it. I can suggest Facebook groups for doing just this and searching using hashtags on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to help you find people online doing what you're doing. Step number three is to write your elevator pitch. Once you start practicing and building that confidence up and your craft, it's time to start getting clear on how you plan to serve your future clients. Think of this as your elevator. Think of your elevator pitch as a personal sales pitch, you need to be able to quickly and effectively communicate what it is that you offer, who you serve and how you do it. You should be able to communicate all of that in just 10 s, no pressure, right? Let's break this down a little bit. What do you offer? What do you offer will be a combination of maybe a couple of different services. And you want to be clear on your niche to what do you want your area of expertise to be? It could be something like personal development, online education, beauty, health, or fitness. The list really goes on and on. So first ask yourself, what are you truly enjoy researching, learning about and writing about? And that's probably what you should pick as your stats Aneesh, and whilst picking a niche can fill a whole lot like picking a partner. Remember that this needn't be a lifelong commitment. You can pivot at anytime. Next step, you want to be asking yourself, who do you serve? Do you want to help coaches, entrepreneurs or authors, female lead businesses, local businesses, sustainable products or e-commerce companies. You should really be narrowing this down and getting specific about who you want that ideal client to be and then write that down. Step four is all about a format. What services are you going to offer? Is it blogposts, sales copy, video scripts, e-mails, social media, homepage, websites, ads and so much more. There are so many different mediums up them. You may be wondering if it'll be super hard to get clients when you are that specific. And I know that can be a scary thought. It may feel like you're cutting yourself off from tons of opportunities by being super specific. But trust me, when you do get specific, it typically will help you to find, enlarge your clients if you're still not too sure, Let me prove it to you. Which of these two elevator pitches do you think is more likely to land a client? I help coaches Kraft website copy that is clear, effective and personal to help them to attract more sales and more leaves. Oh, I'm a copywriter. I can write copy for you. Yeah. It's pretty obvious that the first one is going to be the one that stands out. It's short, clear and concise. Now, that doesn't mean that you have to turn away work that falls outside of this niche. It simply means that you have a laser focused approach for finding clients that you are actually super excited to work with. Five is to start building up that portfolio and profile. So you can put all of that stuff you've been doing into practice. It's time to organize everything into neat, a tiny place where if you do have a client that's interested in potentially working with you, you can showcase your skills in a way that is super professional. The key here is that if you haven't actually been contracted to do any of that work, makes sure that you are saying that it's a writing sample and that it's not confidential client copy. You can then add in any other relevant writing samples you may have and showcase all of your skills and abilities. Now, I like using Google Drive for my writing portfolio because I can throw it in as many documents as I want and make it super organized with folders. It's gonna be really easy for my prospective clients to browse. And remember, you do have to prove to clients that you know what you're doing, then you're going to want to get out there on Instagram, Facebook, and attending both online and offline events to start offering that value, make it super clear who you are and what you do and enter that elevator pitch, the key has to make himself as visible as possible because you can spend hours actively looking for clients, but could easily attract clients to you by showing up and connecting with the right people, get Visible, be active and put yourself out there in whatever way feels most natural to you. You never know what might happen next. 6. Know your audience: In marketing and advertising and knowing your audience is vital, it will guide you in developing your content strategy, Determining the topics they are interested in, and helping you organize information in a way that it makes sense to your audience. So step one for writing for digital is to ensure that you've researched your target audience, you need to be understanding exactly what it is that they want. Once you have a clear idea about this, you can figure out how you're going to fulfill those needs using your copy, the following questions are a super good guide to get you started. Number one, who are you writing for? Number two, what is the main message that you wanting to get across? Three, where does the action take place and where will it be read for? When is it relevant? And five, why is it important and what is the goal? So let's break this down with an example. Who am I writing for first-time moms? What is the key message? Or baby kids can help you? Where will those copy appear in parenting forums, magazines, and social media. When is this product helpful? Immediately before and after the birth of your first child? And why is this product important? Because first-time moms are commonly riddled with self-doubt Questions. So simply by asking yourself a handful of questions, you'll have your copy is immediately going to better serve its audience. So let's also consider that the fact in some instances, your audience is going to be much warmer than in others. So this means that these people have already been nurtured or primed in some way to receive your brand's messaging. Depending on the format of this writing, this will vary greatly. So e.g. anyone on your newsletter database has opted in for that communication, there are at least somewhat familiar with your brand. Compare that to the audience of a Google display ad. That key KPI is brand awareness, which means that that audience is ice cold. The first level is the totally unaware audience. And this audience has no idea that they even have a problem worth solving. The second level is a problem aware audience. So they may be aware of their problem, but they don't necessarily know that a solution exists. Then you have a solution away audience, they will know the problem that they have and the results that they want. But they're out there actively searching for what can fulfill that need. You have the product away, audience which is familiar with your product and your brand and its features, but they're not quite yet. Shirt if it's right for them. You also have a very aware audience who may know one to where they wanted and be in a place where they're ready to buy. So typically, the more aware that audience is the show to your ad can then be because less education is needed. In other instances, you really got to work hard to get someone to drink your Kool-Aid either way, I believe in you try to ensure that you're writing portfolio. It does contain a couple of different writing samples for this precise reason, to reflect that you are perceptive enough to know that there are vast differences in these audiences reflecting the subtle and not so subtle differences between the audiences and they familiarity with your brand. 7. The not-so-humble call to action (CTA) : Call to action, or CTA, is a written directive used in marketing campaigns. It helps to encourage website visitors to take a desired action. A call to action can take many different forms. It can be a text hyperlink, it can be a button, or it can be plain text with no link by now or download now are typical examples of a call to action. A CTA can run longer to, so it can be subscribed today so you'll never miss a post e.g. the possibilities are truly endless. A good call to action can help with decision fatigue and give meaning to your content, even if it's just a two-word phrase, users do need some direction as to what they're going to do next. Ctas that creates a sense of urgency will also help to increase your conversions. So as long as it encourages potential customers to stay engaged on your site, then your call to action has done its job. So let's take the example of the call to action. Download this ebook now, it would look something like this. So download is what is giving you the relevance. This e-book is what's giving you the clarity and now is what's giving you the urgency. So download this ebook altogether is creating that value proposition. You can also use the text surrounding your call to action to reduce distractions. Removing unnecessary links and images, as well as easing anxieties to adding the disclaimer about no credit card it being required. If you want to evoke an emotional response and our users opt for a longer call to action. You'll need to incorporate more modifiers in this case to get the desired effect. So here are some key examples by adding numbers by now and get 50% off making a promise, lose weight in just six weeks. Influencing the FOMO or fear of missing out limited time offer gets you a free t-shirt now, playing up a unique selling point, Order, a handmade soap. Now, in my opinion, the best way to implement a call to action on social media is to take a CTA that's implied rather than direct. So e.g. our new shoes or in stores, when will we see here is probably a whole lot more engaging than our shoes or in stores click to buy now, so like everything else in social, the best CTA copy tends to be conversational, even when it's intended to be transactional. Next, let's talk about longer format copy. Uses scan web pages and look for clues on what to do. Tell them a call to action as a short descriptive instruction that explicitly tells the reader what to do, e.g. clicker or by now, anytime there is an action you want to read it to take a call to action should instruct them on what to do. So this means using very active verbs when you write and craft hyperlinks. Also, knowing where to place your call to action so that it makes sense to a reader's eye. And depending on the structure of your webpage, it might be better to start with your call to action and then qualify it. Whereas in other cases, ending the page with your call to action may have a stronger impact on the reader. There may be more likely to act once they have the information they need in order to do so. Each piece of online copy should be written with a CTA or at least a question in mind like what is next? One model which I find particularly helpful when it comes to call to actions or CTAs as the left model. As you can see here, the value proposition is that plane. That's what's driving your business forward. It's this compelling offer that we're trying to get across for her audience. In order for us to do that successfully, we're going to have to focus on the things that give us left. So those would be relevance and clarity. We know what the CTA that it's important to be really clear about what we're actually asking the user to do, what action we're asking them to take and what we actually want them to do with the information that's come before it or after it. So here you can see you're going to AP level any of those kind of words that are going to provide you with relevance and clarity. At the same time, you're going to want to consider what could distract you or create anxiety at this particular step in the journey. And you're going to make sure that the copy and the CTA is going to diminish that. This is what's going to drive your value proposition forwards. And if you want to be cooking with gas, you definitely need to consider the urgency factor. So how do we make this feel like it's an action that people have to take now to avoid them from clicking off that web page and then having to pay to get them back, either with paid ads or maybe re-marketing of some kind. So as you can see here, it's a really good way of thinking about uplift modeling relevance and clarity, and removing distractions and anxiety. And I hope it helps you as much as it helps me. Did I help you to understand the power of the humble call to action? Remember to reference the left model when you're unsure, you have put so much time into your copy at this point that you'd really need to take it up to the next level with a CTA in order to seal the deal. 8. Writing for Facebook : There are almost 2.9 billion Facebook users in the world, all at different levels of understanding. Your best approach when it comes to rights and copy on Facebook is to keep it simple. And to the point, how do you go about doing this? Well, even if you are an industry expert, we know that there is a temptation to use impressive industry words, but try not to because only you and the people in your industry are likely to understand your post. So if you're wanting to reach a broader market using layman's terms and making sure that your copy is understandable for everyone. Really going to enhance that engagement. So remember, Facebook is their social media platform, meaning it's real people out there looking at your posts with personalities and emotions. So do try and make that connection in your copy. Let your brand's personality shows through in each and every post. Are you young and cool or a little more formal? Having a clear and consistent brand turns your actual post is really going to help. And don't forget to use those emojis today I'm gonna be sharing a simple framework for writing Facebook ads that are going to get you more clicks, generate more leads and stop scrollers dead in their tracks. If you want to generate more leads, a bolt more awareness and get more customers in your online business? Or what is the single one thing that you need the most? If you guessed traffic, URI, and how does one get this traffic? You may be wondering, Well, there's three general sources of traffic online. The first is organic traffic. This is the kind of traffic you're going to get through. Seo, word of mouth, and content marketing efforts like social media. The second is referral traffic. This is when someone else promotes your product through affiliate marketing or some sort of endorsement. And finally, the third is paid traffic. This is when brands and businesses are spending money on ad campaigns, like purchasing Facebook ads or maybe banner ad placements through Google. These are all going to generate you high traffic. But the thing about crafting a good ad is that it's easier said than done. Let me hit you with a crazy stat, but average person is bombarded with 1,700 ads every single month. And that's just on the internet. Unless you are using some sort of ad blocking software, you are literally going to be seeing ads constantly. But think about it for a second in the last month, how many of these ads do you actually remember seeing? It definitely wasn't 1,700, right? So here's the thing. Only registered 18% of the ads that you see and the rest of them are immediately rendered as unimportant by your subconscious mind. So it goes without saying that if you want your ad to cut through that subconscious mindful to grab attention and make a lasting first impression, you're going to need to do this with a powerful hook in Facebook ads, the headline, or often what's referred to as the ad title is actually way down at the bottom of the ad, below the add image or video. Which means by the time your prospect actually sees this ad Tidal, They would already be scrolling past it. So when you're writing a Facebook ads, actually needs to be the first sentence of your ad text, which is what your readers are going to see first at the top of the ad. And you have exactly 125 characters to grab their attention on curiosity before your text would be cut off. So in Facebook ad land, these 125 characters are everything. Next type is the ad buddy. This is essentially the rest of your ad texts or you add caption. Now the goal of your ad body copy is to present a solution to a problem, creates empathy and connection and open another loop to make your reader want to click and learn more. One mistake I often see and made is saying the same thing in the ad title and in the ad description because Critical waste of precious at real estate. And finally, for the headline, my best tip here is to keep your headline to 25 characters and your description to 30 characters. And both of these are going to avoid having your texts cut off by Facebook. Finally, be crystal clear on what you want the audience to do after interacting with your posts. We aren't just posting to fill up our feeds. Do you want the audience to click through full in comments like or share? In other words, you're going to have to nail that call to action. I really hope that this framework helps you and I'll catch you over in the next section. 9. Instagram caption creation: A framework: Let's talk about how to write for Instagram. So Instagram is of course, one of those first impressions are really count kind of platforms. Users are super likely to scroll past it later and find you interesting. So make sure you stop them in their tracks with amazing images and grade copy. Because Instagram is such a visual platform, you're going to want to make sure that the visuals copy and call to action work seamlessly together to ensure that your audience engages with your post and that elevates your social media success. A great Insta captions as one that provides context, adds personality and inspires your followers to take action. But let's get a whole lot more specific than that. In this class, I'm going to share three actionable tips you can take to improve your copywriting on Instagram and well, all social media platforms are really first off, what we have learned from the know your audience section of this task, we know that our audience isn't just a consideration. They are the main consideration. I love this very practical approach offered by Australian Agency, the digital picnic, where they suggest breaking your target audience into four subcategories. And spending some time early brainstorming the pain and pleasure points of these audiences. A pleasure point is a topic which gets your audience Hi, aka feeling some takeaway. Were a pinpoint is something that's holding them back. A great exercise is alternating writing, a pinpoint post, appointed post to really get those creative juices flowing. And then only writing a truly salesy post every fifth or so post, you can bank on an 80, 20 breakdown here where 80 per cent of your posts, our pleasure and pain point posts were only 20 per cent are the truly Sales Lead post. Next, let's talk about a truly delicious approach to content, namely be captioned burger. So our top band as an attention grabbing first-line and this is our hook which is going to loris and using emotive language and interesting topic or a relatable sentiments, be a consistent brand voice is off tomato. So tone of voice is critical in helping to build brand affinity. We want to live it brand's unique personality here and really lean into what makes our brand consistency as knowing who you're speaking to is our letters. So here you're going to use those four quadrants to really look into the hearts and souls of your target audience and make it about them. So even when content is about the founder of a business, they should ideally be representing an opinion or feeling which is likely to resonate with the target audience. Knowing who you're speaking to is our letters. So use those four quadrants to really look into the hearts and souls of your target audience and make it about them, even when content is about the founder of a business, that they should ideally be representing an opinion or feeling which is likely to resonate with the target audience. The cheese is readability, lot of rereading and formatting, ensuring that nothing overloads your reader. Instead, the post flows beautifully with correct punctuation and especially those line breaks. And finally, I'll Patty as our CTA, the seeds to be ultra juicy and leave our audience with a clear understanding of what to do. Although a CTA does need to be simple, it means be boring. So nothing makes me smile more than a clever call to action. And we have a whole section of this class dedicated to the not so humble CTA. And finally, for the third fantastic framework for writing on Instagram, courtesy of Dr. Jonah Berger in his New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Contagious, Why Things Catch on? So he really describes or by some content spreads like wildfire across the Internet where others goes and dies. Journey has spent over 15 years studying how to get more out of word of mouth, how social influence works and how it drives products and makes ideas catch on. And devised the step method with two p's to help you do just that. So first-off is social currency and people care about how they look to others. So we want to leverage that. We want to make them seem smart, Cool, and in the know, they need to seem remarkable and make people feel like insiders. Number two is Triggers. So top of mind means tip of the tongue, considering the context and growing the habitat that people are more frequently triggered to think about your product or idea. So I think Rebecca Black's Friday music video, it's a great example of just how catchy those can be. Number three is emotions. So when we care we share emotional content often goes viral. So focusing on the feelings rather than the function is a good starting point and kindling the fire around high arousal emotion. This is really what's going to work better. And posts, number four is public, so bold to show able to grow. The more public something is, the more likely people are going to imitate it. So design products and initiatives that advertise themselves like red bottom shoes. They really create those visible cues that creates behavioral residue. Number five is practical value, news you can use. This is about how useful things gets shared. So people really want to share stuff on that as valuable. And finally, stories, information, travels and at what seems like idle chatter. So create that Trojan horse where people are actually carrying your idea along for the ride. Well, I really found his framework super insightful. I hope you do too. And next time you need to sit down and write. But Instagram, I hope you think about pain points, pleasure points on how these should be the largest component of your content and not that hard selling. The juicy and delicious caption burger with an attention grabbing first-line, consistent brand voice, rich understanding of the audience, superb readability and of course that enticing CTA. And finally adopted Jonah Berger's stick approach, which is really centered around those barriers to leave as the good people to take action. Congratulations, you've just taken your ability to create compelling IG content from here to here. 10. Mean business with LinkedIn: I mean, business on LinkedIn. Linkedin, unlike Facebook and Instagram, is a slightly more serious platform in the sense that it really does encourage you to position yourself as an industry thought leader, publishing articles on LinkedIn without earned content relevant to a business and professional industry audience is going to allow you to position yourself as an expert, which is great when you're trying to get your name out there as a copyright, that's a great way to achieve this is by writing content that is relevant and up-to-date within the industry, keeping up to date the latest trends and news in that industry and having an opinion on the trending stories, you want the audience to see that you're in tune with the current trends. So some topic ideas could include answering frequently asked questions that you may hear about when you go to networking events, e.g. secondly, you could chat about news and updates from industry in a conversational yet professional manner and how you as a business are playing a role in that industry development are all great topics and you want to make sure that the copy is demanding. Engagements are asking your readers for your thoughts, seeing if they agree or disagree with the tone you use, unlinked and may not necessarily have to be totally serious and Samba, but it does need to indicate that you value your professionalism. One of my absolute favorite brands on LinkedIn as the Australian social media agency that digital picnic on their website they share just why they love LinkedIn, so don't match on their website. They say, I want to know what LinkedIn currently reminds us off Facebook circa 2010 to 2013, I eat all the organic reach for this reason that we're like folks, you're smack bang in the middle of the good old days with this platform. Like hop on now so that you're not saying later how you wish you'd hopped on this platform when it was in its good old days. On this platform, sharing can pluck up to 2 million impressions amount via her personal LinkedIn account. But understanding what it is that the social media platform once from us and how that differs platform to platform. So whilst the content is still serious in the sense that it's a tracing of very real challenges in the workplace on LinkedIn. They flexible leave, policies, available roles and social causes close to their heart and more. You can see that they lighthearted turn on their website really underscores that they have a strong business essence point about reaches also really important. So we're Facebook and Instagram have a dwindling reach figures. Linkedin is still able to get some serious eyeballs on your content. I like to use a three hashtags in my LinkedIn copy to aid this organic reach. And I like to speak about topics which I know will resonate with a rational audience. So here are some examples of posts which I have recently made which got some grades engagement. So the first pose which I find super impressive, got 2,600 impressions, which when you consider I only have about 2,600 followers on LinkedIn. Super impressive, that is unheard of organic reach. So how did I do it? Well, the first line of this caption is PRB, just RTO, living my wildest dreams. So definitely a more emotive first-line. I then drew a line break and say, beyond excited for the most incredible launched yet with future females, read more about their exciting platform launch here, I give a short link. Then I use two hashtags feature females and WhatsApp marketing, which is what this course was about. So you can see I get the point, but I do pip it in that emotion upfront. Definitely use the formatting to ensure that people click the See More. And in terms of the photograph, it's a behind the scenes look at a course that I have created and a photo taken by the videographer that was hoping on the set. So definitely you're getting a great understanding of what was going on behind the scenes. And the fact that I'm very excited to launch that is going to translate super well on LinkedIn. The next one which I wanted to share is a carousel post, which I did. There is a way in which you can actually create these unlinked and not many people know about them and they are definitely the best math in my humble opinion. So basically, I will show you exactly how you do them. But this is HOD came out, I designed it on Canva and the topic was how much money do Skillshare instructors make? In my latest video, I shared my total Skillshare earnings. We all have useful skills we can teach and it's one of the easiest ways to make money passively online. So you can see I'm really sharing in my passion. And then in terms of the caption, curious about how much many Skillshare instructors may question mark, line break. In my latest video, I'm excited to share that I crossed the 10,000 years dollar mark in my Skillshare innings. I would love to encourage other South Africans to try. They handed teaching online as it is much easier to earn decent income than people might initially think. And then I've got three lengths hashtags. So you can see I'm trying to keep it simple, but it does really present beautifully. The other examples that I wanted to share that are not from my page, but from the Digital Picnic, which is that beautiful Australian agency that I've referenced previously. So here is a nice post that they released two months ago from our founder, Sherry, ever see owed your waist or a two plus year pandemic in Melbourne nom with two school age children to homeschool and a team of 20 plus employees? I did. And by 20 December 2021, if absolutely hit me profoundly. So I'm in a much better place now and I'm subsequently on LinkedIn today to walk you through the steps I've taken to recover from entrepreneurial burnout. She's taking something that is definitely a trending topic on LinkedIn entrepreneurial burnout. And the way in which she's framing it is super relatable. So they would have been loads of people parenting through the pandemic, loads of CEOs parenting through the pandemic. So worth a read. She doesn't make it salesy. It's not like overly selling. It's more just about sharing her experience which works super well on LinkedIn. And then I also love the use of emojis in this post from them, the value offered in these Lunch and Learn masterclasses is amazing. I couldn't believe how much information you provide and how generous you are with your knowledge. Five-stars for me, and then see more in order to read the rest of the information. So again, they are also using this PDF format which creates a carousel. So here's the caption that's immediately going to grab your interest to anyone who's on the verge of outsourcing their Google ads. I mean, how many people are experiencing that problem or has done in the past even more people, everyone pretty much uses Google ads that has a business in 2022. So basically they've used screenshots from emails of people asking him for help. And then they respond in a way that is beautifully on brand, beautifully written and superbly helpful, which of course paints them in this incredible lights as an agency. Hi lovely humans, so nice to hear from you. Sorry, it's under some not-so-great Google ad Z circumstances to answer the below, and then they go into the explanation. So altogether, this PDF careful format is super engaging. They've also used it to leverage a key content pillar of Sherry and the digital picnics content which is around awareness in terms of autism and in the caption, She's really hearing disability. So she says, I in no way want to squash the fact that I know I am a disabled woman who lives with my disability, that I can't help but also wanted to share with you the many ways in which my autistic strengths lend themselves beautifully to this company. You cannot make this stuff up, but it's just so good. So she then goes on to break down each of the traits that are really helpful to hear as a CEO having autism. So how did I do this? You may be wondering, well, as I mentioned, I created a sequence of images in Canvas. So this is what it actually looked like in Canva. I basically had just chosen the square aspect ratio. I had then used my CI, or corporate identity in order to make a set of posts which are speaking to my colors, my fonts, and so forth. So if you go to Styles on the left-hand side, if you're on the premium version of Canva, you'll see that it actually saves the brands that you work on regularly. So here is my brand style sets. That's what makes it super easy for me to create this in the correct color green. Then say, my latest video sharing my total Skillshare earnings. We all have useful skills that we can teach. I would love to see mortal Africans teaching online. Really hope I can encourage others to pluck up the courage. Being able to pay my rent every single month with Skillshare earnings since men five, life hack. By comparison, I started my YouTube channel in November 8th, in November 2018, and I've just turned over 2000 total. Keen to get started, check out my YouTube channel and subscribe link and caption. Then this was linking to a video. So that's exactly what it looked like. I then go to Share, I say download and I select the PDF Standard or print. Print is slightly high-quality. So once I've exported that, I'm going to hit to LinkedIn and I'm going to click in the startup post block. Then you'll see that if you go over here, you actually get all the different options. So not only do just add a photo or video, celebrated occasion show that you're hiring and so forth. You can actually add a document which is exactly what we're gonna do. We're gonna click Choose File, head on over to my imports, add a title. Skillshare, hit Done, and wallah. Here you can see exactly how it's displaying. Because the LinkedIn algorithm is based a lot around dwell time on a post. These sorts of posts are going to generate two omega engagement because of course, the dwell times is gonna be far longer than a static page because people are actually searching and clicking through your story. So that is both a little Canva hack as well as a copy tutorial hack. Where if you're writing copy for LinkedIn, consider how you can make it as a ridiculously engaging as you possibly can using those tutorial, you are welcome. What do you think? I'd also like to point out? Linkedin is one of the few social media networks where longer-form content can still flourish. So think of LinkedIn articles feature, or they're brand new newsletter functionality both mean that you have the luxury of more words, glorious words. So be sure to use them wisely. I really hope this video helps you to mean business on LinkedIn and I can't wait to see what you produce. 11. How to write copy for newsletters : Let's talk about writing email copy e-mail is absolutely not. Did anybody without an email address? Well, whether it's a weekly newsletter and auto responder, a sales e-mail or an update during an online course. Email marketing is here to stay, especially if you're sending hyper relevant behavior-based emails in real time at the right time. So here are four of the most profitable types of emails I like to suggest to budding copywriters. The first is what I like to call the collect magnet. This type of e-mail is short and sweet and builds up curiosity, opening a loop in the reader's mind. Click magnets are succinct, conversational messages that rely heavily on a call to action that peaks your prospects curiosity. Oh, it triggers a micro commitment like answering a yes or no question and paired with a compelling subject line. These e-mails can drive massive amount of clicks, which makes them fantastic for reviving dead leads or starting a dialogue with your prospects, e.g. makes a useful interested in blank or Dunkin, a useful interested in buying a house. And C point, the next kind is a long-form storytelling e-mail. This e-mail feels personal, it builds brand loyalty and it provides endless opportunities for you to overcome your audience's objections right there. And they inbox whilst you have their trust and their attention, the key with any long form email is to hook your reader's attention right away. Keep it by telling a story that's believable, relatable, and valuable, and then converting this interest into a sale. Next up is the sales e-mail. Here's why you need to buy, right? Yes. Right now, plain and simple. It's not romantic, but it gets the job done. The goal of the style of email is to make quick sales and to include three core elements. The first is a discount or a premium offer, and then throwing in some limited time bonuses, maybe a lower price of your original offer and increasing that value gap. Secondly, there's a strong reason why you need to make sure to give a good brief explanation on why you're having that sale. And number three, scarcity is going to give you a readout, deadline or limits and quantity so that they're more likely to act straight away. This simple e-mail template allows any business or with an email list to ramp up their sales for a limited period of time. So you could e.g. use this for a holiday sale like Black Friday or back-to-school, or you could use a more personal reason for the discount, like your anniversary or a day That's spacial to a cause or mission that your business supports. The best part of this is a template can be used time and time again. You're just going to be replacing the information and then you're ready to rock. But the bad news is that because e-mails are kind of salesy and not as personal, they are not likely to be well-received by colder leads or where the trust is low. This style of email works best when used with an audience you contact regularly and who you're very familiar with and who's familiar with you. And also a quick heads up is because these types of e-mails often include words that may be deemed spammy, like sales, discount free, etc. You want to make sure that you're careful with the language you use to avoid landing in the junk folder. So make sure to read your emails through a spam taster before sending this out. The last email template is called the soap opera. And it works exactly as a soap opera does. It creates open loops throughout an entire campaign by using the art of serialized storytelling. So imagine leaving a cliffhanger at the end of each email that continues onto the next one. Just like your favorite Netflix drama or soap opera, opera emails creates a series of valuable touchpoints that are going to help you to create a strong connection with your audience. They get your readers committed and not just your brand, but also to your offer, your mission, your personality, and your story. Now, because this email actually requires a whole series, it's best used with evergreen funnel is for targeted list and they do have a downside too. They require especially thoughtful planning and storyboarding. And I'm definitely not for copywriters who are reluctant to ride. I really hope these examples have given you some inspiration in terms of writing an email or an e-mail series for you or for your plants. 12. How to write a video script (HIVE framework) 2: Let's chat about the high framework I love to use for video script writing. So when am I ever to YouTube those? Ali Abdullah talks about the hive model when he expands his success with a video retention. And if video script writing is going to form part of your remits on a job, you are definitely going to want to watch this H stands for hook. It's the very first port of call for both copywriters and for readers. And the first 10 s of your video is key, which means the first 10 s of your script is key to. The average human attention span is actually shorter than a goldfish according to the Times. You're really going to want to keep people engaged using a hook. The best hook is going to address an issue or make an emotional connection with the audience straight off the bat. So e.g. this is likely to mean using enticing B-roll with a video, asking a question, showing some sort of transformation and sharing something that is really quite thought-provoking in terms of effect around the topic. You could also provide a tip. Then after you've really done that hook, you're going to want to move on to your intro. It technically on YouTube, specifically, Alice's that you only really need an intro for discoverable type of videos. So that is where viewership is outside of your core audience. So you're going to want to think about how much you need to introduce yourself depending on the familiarity. So you could say, I'm ex and I do why? I help X do Y or I help X do y by z. So it just depends on how much of that context you really need to give the audience depending on how cool they are. Next up is the value which is really the main chunk of your video. How can we add value to our audiences whilst keeping them engaged? And there are two main things to think about here. The first is gonna be your structure and the second is going to be your writing style. And broadly speaking, he really unpacks for different types of videos structure. The first is the listicle structure, the triplets structure, cortex structure, and then finally the story structure. So let's chat about how these work and give you some examples. So first off, let's tell about the listicle. So the more you speak from personal experience, typically, the lower the lift is in terms of creating consistent videos. From a YouTube perspective, a listicle is really going to be great because you can literally rough off 5-10 things and provide clear value to your audience while doing so. The second kind, the triplet. So this is super helpful for topics where you have three broad statements, but you want to give the audience action points within those. So in that instance, you would definitely want to go with the style. So within each of your three main points, you're going to have a number of smaller points beneath that. Then with the cortex style of video scriptwriting, you're going to talk about the why, what, how, and what if. This structure works incredibly well for educational videos or videos where you want to convince the user that the topic is going to elicit a positive change for them. It also works great for sales videos when you want the audience to follow a particular call to action. Finally, the most creative way of getting your point across would be the story match like the hero's journey. So this works great for sales video, where you want the audience to follow a particular CTL. It is creative because it tells more of a journey and paints more of a character arc. And then finally the E and HIV as your end screen. So if the viewer has actually gotten to the end of the video, which a lot of users we know don't it has to do with your retention rates. They are probably your ideal audience. So your main aim is actually to then go and keep them on your channel. So the best ending and a YouTube contexts when it comes to a video script, is gonna be the one in which someone doesn't even realize it's the end. It's short, it's snappy and it's going to compel you to take action. So if you're ever in a pinch and needing to write a video script, just remember the hive framework. You are so welcome. 13. How to write landing page copy: Your landing page is probably one of the single most important parts of your sales funnel. If you double your conversion rate, you're going to double your deeds and yes, the double your business. So here are my six copy components of a landing page that is going to convert. These components are especially relevant to what today's customers demand, which is high-value, more transparency and zero flux, whether you're a freelance writer, working with clients or writing your own copy. A different landing page should actually be used for every single one of your marketing campaigns and traffic sources. This is going to be how you build your list, which is one of the most valuable assets you can have as an online entrepreneur, the purpose of your landing pages to give you a visitor's something for free. The demonstrates the quality of what your business offers in exchange for their information. Now, this is typically a user's email address, which you can collect through a lead capture form. But you might also be asking for their phone number or permission to contact them over Facebook Messenger, whatever is your desired outcome. The goal of this is to create a list of engaged subscribers to nurture high-value relationships and convert the right prospects into customers using your marketing. Now, it's no secret that businesses capture leads at higher rates by sending prospects to highly targeted and relevant landing pages are rather than simply just to their homepage. Now, those are two very different marketing tools. So unlike landing pages and sales pages, homepage isn't primarily used for conversion. Instead, it features your brand, tells you a story and bolts trust and credibility. This is how people learn more about you and your business, which is great for cold organic traffic landing pages. But on the other hand, landing pages are really those that have a singular purpose to build your list around a single benefit or solution. They are used for conversions and up both for direct traffic, either paid or endorsed affiliate traffic to capture your visitors, your landing page gives you a brand, a one-shot opportunity to demonstrate the value of your product and service and earns your prospects trust from day one. The copy therefore needs to convey a singular benefit without being happy or unbelievable. So listen your audiences really getting more and more savvy these days. So what's used to seem like a no-brainer to Shan e-mail address is not actually a heavily weighted decision. They need to know why you wanted and what you plan on doing with it. There's also a ton of valuable content available for free out there, which means your leads are expecting some seriously good stuff. And lastly, be sure to deliver on your premise immediately. Make sure that whatever you're providing an exchange for their e-mail address or offer comes immediately into them. So this needs to be super handy upfront. And even though you're offering it for free, you should absolutely deliver results. In fact, you should actually be giving some of your best stuff away for free, because that's how you're going to turn leads into raving fans and lifelong customers. It's the law of reciprocity at its finest. Okay, so for component number two, you need a strong reason why you're offering the sales discount to visitors. So there's a reason behind your online marketing is so often overlooked, but you need to include an authentic reason for the discount or freebie, which is going to help build trust and rapport with your audience, then you can play with some good old scarcity. Scarcity is one of the most effective techniques for increasing your conversions, but try not to simply make an app if your offer is evergreen. So say e.g. you're actually writing for an evergreen landing page where there is no scarcity, it would be better not to make this app, but rather relying on one of the other key components of copy called authentic social proof. Here we're going to rely on social cues from others on what to think, feel, and do a lot of situations, but not just anyone, the people and sources that we actually relate to and feel a seminar to us in some way. Social proof LA's any fears or dots that visitors have about committing to your order and bulls that authority for your brand. It's also a great way to get to know those authentic prospects. Landing pages are one of the very first touch points you have with your prospects. So having that social proof is what's going to help them to establish a positive association with you and your brand. Therefore increase the chances of them coming back even if they don't opt in in that moment. So be sure to show your visitors how others have benefited, benefited from your product will serve as gather up your best user testimonials and feta them on your landing page with permission, of course, another way to use social proof is to showcase the sides of your social media following, as well as recent comments from your followers, or including screenshots of positive reviews that have slid into your DMs if you've received any press coverage, you can also include an as seen on Logo panel or screenshots which you can then link directly to the article or story, being sure to communicate that social proof throughout your entire landing page. Now before I trust factors, I have seen many landing pages that put so much focus on the design that they forgot, that they forget to build trust with the visitors first. So write your copy and then design the landing page to support that and work strategically with social proof and trust factors. Some of these trust factors include a privacy promise on your opt-in form. This is a clear statement on how you're going to use that prospects email address and how they can expect to receive communication from you and when bus a reminder that they can unsubscribe or cancel at anytime to know that your visitors are going to be taken care of. Let's say using a secure domain or adding a third party trusts seals TO side. Component number five is of course, a crystal clear call to action. Studies have shown that you only have 5-10 s to convince your visitors to stay on your page before you ban. So it's absolutely critical that you make clear what it is that your offer is giving the person and how they can get it in the simplest way possible. The call to action needs to be front and center, leaving absolutely no room for confusion on where the prospect should click or go next. So keep your CTA easy to spot and to use. And if you're landing page features a quiz or something form of multi-step into action. Please be sure to break that prices down into smaller steps. Having your leads make a series of micro commitments is actually likely to increase the likelihood of conversion. So e.g. rather than having your laptop form directly on the site, it can be quite nice to have a simple button with a clear CTA. Clicking that button is actually what's going to be your prospects of first micro commitment. The resulting pop, pop up, the resulting pop-up will then actually confirmed that often another micro commitment and then ultimately asking for their e-mail address brand consistency is critical to locking down a prospect. Long term, the market is growing more and more cautious and intolerance of any inconsistencies. So the promises that you make and the language that you use are really going to be critical here. Remember too, that you may have multiple team members working on copy and they might be using slightly different terminology if there's any disconnect between what your ad or email says and what the landing page is delivering. You might as well have a broken website because that customer is going to exit out immediately. And worst of all, you're going to lose any chance of converting that visitor into a customer. So there must be a congruence overlap in the messaging across all your marketing touchpoints known as omnichannel marketing, leading up to that landing page and then promising what you deliver. The same rule applies to the rest of your pages, your social media, annual customer service. So make sure your brand has a distinctive and impactful voice or can be consistently communicated across the board. Alright, away you guys have it there. The six components of a landing page that convert, just like the famous Albert Einstein once said, If you cannot explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. And if you don't understand it, your audience definitely weren't. So keep those landing pages. Sample. Got it. Good. 14. Why start a blog?: Why start a blog? Well, when I started my MySpace in 2007 and a blog later in 2008, I remember it being stuck on this thing of having to be original. I really fixated on the fact that everything out there had already been said. What did my opinion really matter? Then I discovered this book called show your work by Austin Kleon. This book single-handedly has changed my life. So one of the things I really like about this book is that it's really a guide to self-promotion for people who are not crazy about this. So as an introverts, it's really something that I have struggled with historically. And I'm sure introverts like me can relate. It's really hard to put yourself out there. I really used to feel like self-promotion was like this duty thing and thinking, Oh my goodness, if I put myself out there on the internet, what are people really going to think of me by having a blog or later a YouTube channel. The way that he talks about it is that it's less about self-promotion and more just about showing your work. Now, if you can imagine e.g. if you are watching me as a YouTuber or you're watching me as a digital marketer, you've probably be actually quite interested in the behind the scenes of what it's like doing those sorts of professions. That is a compelling piece of content, right? Whereas in the past, when the Internet wasn't really a thing that people couldn't get that behind the scenes. Look if they wanted to become a copyrights or a digital marketing strategist, it would really be hard to get that firsthand understanding. It would be like a writer who probably just goes into a cave and comes out with a book. Or maybe an artist who is reclusive in their studio and then comes out with that painting. The Internet has really fundamentally changed that. The other big fear that I remember having was that I'm not an expert I'm not an expert on anything. I'm not an expert in copywriting I felt, or digital strategy. So how can I possibly write about it, whether it's blogging or as a YouTube channel topic. So one of the chapters of this book is all about how you don't need to be a genius. You don't have to be an expert in order to share your process and to document your work and to show how you're learning stuff is actually all about embracing this beginner's mindset. So when you become a pro at something, it's often the case that you'll forget what it was like to be a beginner in the first place, which makes it a lot harder to teach and relate to people who are beginners. And this is what CS Lewis calls the curse of knowledge. Let me give you the example of a lecture. As a loose rule of thumb, typically the higher qualified a lecture, or the longer that the lecturer has actually been out of learning, the more niche they explanations are likely to be. And so often it's quite hard to learn from people who actually are experts. And the common pitfall of the lecture is that they assume that the students have the same level of knowledge or expertise as they do. As a result, they're sometimes make logical jumps or use esoteric jargon, which is really going to confuse students. And so blogging is really something where you can heavily relate to people writing the blog. So you're kind of being that tutor. You've recently done a subjects you're quite young. And you probably going to be better able to explain a bunch of different concepts through a blog or writing a script for a YouTube channel. You also have a lot better memory because it's fresher in your mind in terms of how you struggled as a student. And you remember what some of the most difficult concepts work, you're able to more accurately explain your logical train of thought, thought and how you then came to understand this topic. So articulating your very relatable processes of learning through a blog or a vlog is going to be really the antithesis of this curse of knowledge. We're putting our hands up and we're saying, I'm a beginner, learn with me, and that is one of the most life altering ways to approach most things in life with this beginners or growth mindset. So one way to help overcome this is to think of your perspective blog as a serendipity vehicle or as increasing your serendipity surface area. So what do I mean by that? The way that you really want to think about your perspective blog, to imagine you're living in a village. So the only people that you can interact with at that point in time with other people in your village. Occasionally, potentially, a train may come past and someone visits the village. And maybe you'll have a chat to them and understand a little bit more about your life. But you're quite limited in terms of the amount of people that you could possibly interact with. And you could possibly come to understand their perspective in life, which is a key part of rising. So there is an exceptionally limited factor to that in terms of who you can be friends with and have very limited serendipity vehicles. So serendipity cannot really happened to you at that point. You've just done a tiny village of the same people. Whereas if you think of being the sort of person who wants the men, took a trip to a neighboring town and you started to meet people. You started to say hello to different perspectives, welcomed different cultures, and welcome new friends, you'd see that your perspective would be quite different. Let's use a different example for the internet. So think of robots. So when you create and share an idea and you put those out onto the Internet, it's basically having these little robots then going to carry your idea and go do, do, do, do, do all the work around all the world. And these people that are sitting then from Malaysia to Americious and Australia to Algeria, who are then going in and scrolling that content. They are probably in a similar space to you and trying to learn exactly what it is that you've written about. And when you are sleeping, when you're playing tennis with your friends, or even when you are sipping cocktails on a rooftop somewhere, those robots are actually like little carrier pigeons that are delivering your ideas to people all over the world. And what's super amazing about that is you can then make something once and the robots are doing the rest of the work for you, for the rest of time. And you might make friends from this blog, you might make business associates. You might even meet the person that you married because of this blog and all, because you're really increasing that serendipity surface area or enhancing and leveraging that serendipity vehicle. So just by putting herself out on the internet, you're really moving away from this tiny, tiny village to suddenly opening up your network to the entire world. And that is something truly amazing. Let's briefly talk about how you'd actually then go about starting that blog and what you'd write about once you've been convinced that you want to increase that serendipity surface area. Some of the most popular ways in which to start blogging or to create a website on Wix, squarespace, WordPress called Substack. You really want to be starting with the smallest thing that you can possibly think to write about, whatever it is that interests, you, just type what do we chatted about with the starter niche? So you're probably going to be wanting to showcase things that you're learning. You might be a bit more active on Twitter and sharing those lengths. And hopefully you're going to find people that are interested in the same things as you do. So if you've decided to start a blog as a result of this video, I would really love to hear about it and post the link in the comments posted in the project section. I'm gonna be shirt to give you so much love and support you on your all new adventure. 15. Introduction to SEO Copywriting: What exactly is SEO copywriting? Well, SEO copywriting is the practice of producing keyword optimized content that's designed to appeal to human users and search engine algorithms. In other words, SEO copywriting is arising conscience that Google can understand at the same time that contents of course, needs to be the type of content that people want to read, link to and shame. So if you write content only for Google, your content sound super robotic. But if you write content only for readers, your page probably won't contain those all-important keywords that people are actually using. So it's a really tricky balance, but if you want to master SEO, you need to get good at birth. In this class, we will cover the following aspects of SEO copywriting, namely UX signals, optimizing your content with SEO copywriting, boosting your organic the click-through rates and advanced SEO copywriting strategies, one of the biggest buzzwords and AC are right now is actually UX signals. So this is Google's way of evaluating content quality it against bounce rate time on site. Pogo sticking. Sticking is one of my most favorite terms because of just how true it really is. So imagine a hub-and-spoke style website where you end up navigating forwards and backwards between a routing page and these sub pages resulting in a terrible user experience. Seo experts agree that content with positive UX signals rank better. The opposite is also true. Content with bad UX signals is going to struggle to rank. So let's discuss three super practical ways in which you can leverage unique signals to get the most results for the blog or website you write content form. So the first way is by structuring your content. So you are watching this course on a beautifully structured learning platform. It makes it easy for people to access the content that is of interest to them in a super fun trick is to use the way the course topics have been broken down and structured to inspire you about Hutterites around those topics. You can also use indicators like how many students have enrolled in these classes and how the titles have been written in order to inspire you breaking down your topics like this is really going to help to structure them in a way that already has some data points to spare you from writing about the less popular topics are not structuring it in the most meaningful way to use this next step is adding back at brigades to your contents. So backup Brigades or an old-school copywriting tactic that were originally designed for sales newsletters. Adapt bucket brigades, what is SEO content? And they work really well to increase a user's time on site or tier is, as it's commonly referred. Effectively, what you're doing is finding spots in your content with someone may hit the browser's back button. They adding a bucket brigade. Here is an example on screen. Then you're going to rinse and repeat until you have around five bucket brigades proposed. You can make up your own backup Brigades, or you can use these tried and true classics. Here's the deal. Now, what's the bottom line? You might be wondering, this is crazy. It gets better, it gets worse. Here's the kicker or one to know the best part. All of these are really going to help you to ensure that the user can quickly and efficiently find the information that they are interested in and stay more engaged with your content. Thirdly, let's talk about the AC method. So next up is our AC method stands for a great promise and preview. And let's break each element dance. First off, we have agreed this is an idea or concept that a Google search I will agree with. This is going to show them that you understand the problem and instantly make your article or post that much more relatable. Next step is the promise. Here you're going to stay in clear terms the benefits and outcomes someone will get after reading your content to help convince them to keep going. And finally, the preview. I really always used to shirk this part as it can feel too on the nose when most of us like twists, an irony and cleverness. But the reality is if you beat around the bush, People are going to feel like they're missing a page from the ikea manual as it were. So be sure to answer, how is this supposed to work and what am I going to end up with after having read this piece of content? So to recap the section, the three ways to positively impact your UX signals are using the following three points. First of all, those learning platforms like this one, which is going to help you to observe how topics gets structured and how this influences their popularity using bucket brigades to entice the user and keep them engaged. And finally, the app method of writing, where you structure an article or post to agree, promise and then preview. In the next section, we're going to be discussing the more advanced SEO techniques. So strap in. 16. Advanced SEO copywriting concepts: Now that we've covered how UX signals can help you to a term on site for users rate speak about some more advanced principles of SEO, namely, modifiers, LSI keywords, and optimizing for e-commerce traffic. So the first is our concept of modifiers. If you want more traffic from long-tail keywords, the solution is simple and they are called title tag modifiers. So what exactly are their title tag modifiers are the words that you're going to add to your title that is designed to rank for long tail keywords. What a long tail keywords you might be wondering. So long tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases the physicians are more likely to use when they are closer to the point of purchase or when they using voice search. Most long-tail keywords that do have lowest search volume than the short or head keywords. And so therefore they can be a little bit counter-intuitive at first, but they actually super valuable if you know how to use them. This visual is really going to give you a better understanding of why they are called long tail. You'll see the very long tail at the back. So how do we get meant modifiers to create long-tail keyword titles, you may be wondering, Well, I'm super glad that you asked. So first off, you're going to find a page on your site that has a short title tag, 25-40 characters. You're then going to add one or two of these modifiers from this list. So how to the current year? Review best, fast checklist guide to easy and simple. So you're not gonna be able to predict exactly which of these keywords the modifiers will rank for. But you're going to get more search engine traffic then you would without them. So really they are those golden nuggets. And of course that web traffic is what you're really after. Modifiers are brilliant. Apart from using these modifiers, It's also super good idea to use more emotive language in order to boost your click-through rates, as well as testing our questions and your titles in order to entice people to click on your article. Next step is adding LSI keywords to blog content. Wait, why? Today's AI powered? Google doesn't care how many times you start a keyword into your post. Instead, it's now paying close attention to latent semantic indexing or LSI keywords, watermark ball, LSI keywords or a super fancy way of saying synonyms or closely related words. And these LSI keywords are going to be what helps Google dan, what your page is all about. To find LSI keywords, you're just going to search for the keyword that you want to rank for. You're going to scroll to the bottom of that first page of search engine results. And here is where Google is going to show you related searches keywords, because these terms come straight from Google, they are perfect LSI keywords to add to your content. Top tip number three is about optimizing for e-commerce traffic with Amazon dominates and Google's first page, it's not easy for small e-commerce sites to run. So despite that fact, you'll see tiny e-commerce sites beating the odds or what is the secret they are targeting? The long tail keywords that most of their competitors don't even know about. And here is how they're doing it and how you can do the same thing. So first off, you're going to search for a product that you sell on Amazon. So e.g. let's say that you're running an e-commerce site that sells a dog food, you can simply search in dog food and Amazon, but don't hit enter yet. If you wait for just a second, Amazon is going to show you the long tail keywords related to the keyword that you are looking for. So just like Google Suggest, it's gonna give you other alternatives which are a bit longer. Sprinkle those keywords into your product and category page. And, and the title and description tags. Again, these three simple techniques or a sure-fire way to improve the SEO factor in your online copywriting. To recap, we said that using title tag modifiers are important to help you rank for long tail keywords that latent semantic indexing or LSI keywords been now way more important than keyword stuffing. And that Amazon is also a fantastic way to find those long tail keywords to incorporate in your coffee. Well-done, you've covered some of the more advanced concepts of SEO copywriting, and I am super proud of you. 17. Tips, tricks & hacks: One to know my seven favorite tips, tricks and hacks afford digital copywriting. Watch on. I'm gonna be sharing all my insights on how I produce my best copy work in this video, first off, you're going to want to get into a writing frame of mind by finding a secluded spot where you can hear yourself think without any distractions, switch off those social media notifications, put it on flat mode or better yet, put your phone away out of sight, out of mind. Dr. number two is to research your topic and advance before you start writing about it, saving those links as a reference, this is really going to help your mind to marinate on the topic. I can, you can bet a form ideas about this topic. Number three is to make use of the notes app on your phone, right? About thoughts. As soon as they hit you, don't fall into the trap of thinking. I must remember because more than likely you won't. Number four is to know what time of the day your most creative. So some people work better early in the mornings while others come alive at night. I'm certainly most productive in the mornings, especially after exercise and a great cup of coffee. I love it sitting on my balcony listening to nature, journaling, writing that to-do list, and then hitting my copy tasks. Anything I do in those first couple of hours is definitely my best step. Number five is if you're writing a long piece, I like to break it down into just the headings and subheadings. So it stopped by populating your headings, followed by the subheadings. Only then will you go and actually fill in those paragraphs. And this is going to help you to keep focused, keep track, and avoid that overwhelm. Number six is to Google the topics. There is nothing new under the sun as we know is the likelihood is that someone has already written a great article about the piece that you are writing. Perhaps some inspiration from the content that is already out there while being sure to add your very own spin. Number seven is to write, read, and rewrites, also known as editing, before sending off your piece, makes sure that you have read it through and you're happy with what you have written. My absolute best tip here is to read it out loud because trust me, this is what's going to help. What do you guys think? Is there something which really helps you? If so, I would love to hear about it. Be sure to let me know if some of yours. 18. Tools & resources: Now it wouldn't be one of my classes without a toolkit section. So next up, let's chat through the resources I recommend when digital copywriting. So first-off is grammarly, despite not being convinced by Grammarly at first, I am now completely sold. Although you may feel like they are already spell checks built into most of the writing software we use already. Grammarly is great because it's a Google Chrome extension. So that means it works well everywhere in my case, because a lot of the time I am writing product descriptions from a website content management system or CMS, I don't actually have the benefit of microsoft Word to back me up. Plus it's correcting a whole lot more than just my spelling, correcting my grandma to it also makes suggestions on how to improve your writing and letting you know what tone you using nifty, right? Next step is to answer the public and this is one of my absolute favorite. So find out what people are searching for in relation to your topic. Stood out by a very powerful words. So e.g. if I was creating a landing page or website for this course all about digital copywriting, I can deduce that the following questions may be well-worth answering in my FAQs. Here you can see it's spreading it out by how RY will When you were to wear white and can. Let's see what some of those useful questions are. What is digital copywriting and no surprises there. Which digital copywriting courses are best? Hopefully mine and well, copywriting be automated, futuristic, interesting stuff and super-helpful is when you hit that dreaded writer's block on the topic, this is really going to play to your favor. Next type is word counter, which has an app which tells you how many times you've used certain words in your text. If you're worried that you say a particular word to match, you can use a word counter to check how many times you've used in the passage up next is Google Trends, which provides access to a largely unfiltered sample of actual search requests made to Google anonymous, which means no one's personally identified, it's categorized, meaning determining the topic of a search query and aggregates that are grouped together. So this is allowing Google to display all the information around a particular topic, down to a particular geography. So you can actually reflect upon the searches that people are entering into Google every day, working out how people are phrasing those very popular search topics and breaking it down by date, range and regions is actually a dedicated demo video just explaining how this works. That's honestly it's a game changer for me and copywriters everywhere. Lastly is the Hemingway App, which is going to tell you a whole heap of information about what you write. This includes grade level, word count, how many sentences are hard to read, how many are very hard to read? Which faces have simpler alternatives? How many adverbs you use and how many times you use the passive voice. And finally, online dictionary and thesaurus.com need I say more. This one even includes an emoji dictionary. I use it for spellcheck and checking the meaning of phrases or as I intend them and so much more. And thesaurus.com is of course, an authoritative source on synonyms and antonyms. So if you find that you use a word too often, you can simply find a synonym that is going to help you to get the same point across. Do you have a favorite tool or resource? Let me know about it. I am always on the lookout. 19. Google Trends demo: Third sides, it's a shared Google Transit, you guys, because if you're anything like me, you're going to leave that feeling so inspired. So you simply need to make a Google search for Google Trends and then click on the first search results and you'll get this beautiful landing page explored. The world is searching. You'll see immediately, they're giving you some fun examples in terms of seeing here is more popular between Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian in the states, how the World Cup really looks in terms of search results as well as football versus American football. So they already waiting appetite in terms of what is possible here. So if e.g. I. Am trying to promote my copyrights and cause let's just type in copywriting and add that as a search term. It defaults to South Africa because that's where I am. However, I can change it to worldwide if I wanted to. And then here you'll see there are a whole different, a lot of options in terms of debt ranges. So if you've got any familiarity in terms of working with Google Analytics, you'll it might feel a bit familiar here. And then also you can look at specific categories. I've actually never used this category search because it hasn't been relevant to me necessarily. And then you can choose the different kinds of searches, web search, image search, new search, Google shopping search, or YouTube search. So here you can see that over time in the past 12 months, there has been a growing interests in the search term copywriting. But if we look at a slightly longer time range, like let's say past five years. You can see that that trend is just continuing on, right? The other thing that you can notice, which is more obvious with particular search terms and others, is the trends in terms of month of the year or season. Because obviously, things like Christmas decor is going to change depending on where you are in the year. So let's e.g. say Christmas. Yeah. Obviously that's a very exaggerated fee on what happens. It's at all of the interests is peaking around this point in time. So what it then does is it shows you that interests by region. I'm just going to go back to the copywriting example. So you can see that actually Nigeria, in the world-wide view, Nigeria is actually the most interesting copywriting, followed by Malaysia, followed by Kenya, Singapore, Indonesia. Whereas if I had put this as South Africa, where I am living, you'll note that it actually is just changes to the states in South Africa, Western Cape cartoon, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern care price. Then this is where things start to get up. A GCF is what are the related topics which are trending? So here they say breakout and search interests, which is really exciting because obviously that means that there's a huge amount of interests here. So people are trying to understand copywriting from an artificial intelligence perspective. They're trying to search for courses about copywriting. They want to understand how to write a CV. It's not necessarily the most straightforward search that you would initially anticipate. They also seeking those services out on Fiverr, looking for it in the context of e-commerce and then also understanding it from an affiliate marketing perspective. And then some related queries here. I'll say it's pretty dependent in terms of which topic you choose, in terms of how insightful, these sorts of things, or sometimes it's more insightful than others. But the other way in which you can use this beautiful tool is if e.g. you're not sure where the copywriting is, the term that people are actually using. You could e.g. write something a little bit different. So copywriting, it's a bit difficult, but maybe let's change it to creative writing. Compare that to journalism. Immediately. You can see that journalism is a more popular search term than creative writing, e.g. so you might want to take a more kind of journalists angle when you are promoting the course to say, the new demands of journalists has fundamentally changed. Now not only are people hired into hard news professions, but they actually also hired into the Creative Writing and agency space. So then you're using keywords that pertain to a more popular topic while still getting your point across. So it's just one of the ways in which you can leverage how people are actually searching. And there's a lot of different examples where as marketers will use one term, meanwhile, consumers are using a totally different term. And so just doing some preliminary searches on Google Trends is going to be really helpful. You can also do it from a brand standpoint, which I use it a lot for, from a strategic standpoint. So if e.g. I'm trying to compare Coke versus Pepsi, let's say you can actually see that Coke has had a lot more interest and it peaked over every particular point in time. Maybe this was a brand sponsorship or something like that. Then if you wanted to add in a third, you could add in something like fantasy and so on and so forth. So you'll see you can go, I think, come for quite some time before you get bored with this comparison tool. So I really hope that Google Trends has helped to spark a little bit of excitement and imagination in terms of how you can use Google search trends to inform your copy. It's been really helpful to me from particularly a paid media ads copywriting perspective. But just generally trying to work out what is going to rank organically the base based on what people are actually searching for. So I hope that was helpful. 20. Your assignment (and a huge thank you!): You are now officially ready to complete my digital copywriting task for you guys. And that is really starting to hone your eye when it comes to online copy. One that I really found quite interesting was from a news articles. So that's one of South Africa's biggest online news publications. And of course, sometimes opinion pieces do have longer headlines because it's trying to convey not just the subject, but obviously where the person stands on something. But I found this title to be particularly clumsy. So not even a win-win mosque week in which regulators silence shattered the spring Bach brand. So on the right-hand side, you can see that I've shown you ways in which you can still get the same point across but use less clumsy English. So leadership silence, Fall, Spring Bank brand. The knock-on effect of spring bike liters silence this week. If you guys are not rugby fans, obviously knock on is a fall in rugby. Why has the spring back brand being shattered by right? The lead is a wind cod mosque spring bike ride be leaders, silence or how the spring back liters silence shattered the brand. There. You can see there's actually loads of ways in which you can write this differently. So I'm not asking you to do this exact re-writing of this particular headline because as I say, not it runs a rugby fan and maybe not everyone understands it from a South African context. But certainly as you go through Instagram, as you go through these online news publications, as you read more and more, that is obviously what is going to help you ultimately improve your copywriting. And so if you can just use this fun exercise of looking at something and thinking of the way in which you would rewrite it. I really believe that your online copywriting is gonna go from zero to hero. So here's another bad captioning example and let me tell you, Instagram is littered with them. So you Magazine again, massive news publication within South Africa. Tell me what you think of this headline. From being South Africa's most eligible bachelor to living in the streets of Cape Town. Leigh Thompson fall from TV stardom is a complete shocker. Guys. What are they thinking? Click on the link and find out how he how he wreaked havoc in a rented guest house before he was evicted and now lives in a homeless shelter. I mean, I don't even know where to start with this one. I think that's about three issues, chapter two. And then another one from you. And apologies for picking on those, that African publications, the magnets. But I just found this subject so interesting because it is definitely relatable in the sense that many old people are looking to move into a retirement village, especially in South Africa is security is a risk. People are doing this and they drove strides, but this caption is so boring. I could barely get through it. It says, here's what buying a life writes in a retirement village means, how it differs from sectional title ownership and some things to consider so you can decide which of these two options is best for you. So the reason why I'm picking on this specifically is not because that caption is as horrific as the previous one, but it's because it's a relatively boring news article arrives. But they could have used a question like they did in the hero image or a blend statement in order to drag your eye into the copyright. Because as soon as you see it opening with that paragraph and you see things or words like sectional title, ownership. Even if you are interested, I'm really not sure that Instagram is the right place for the copyright. So even though it is a boring topic, let's think of ways in which we can make it exciting. So I would suggest saying something like retirement village versus sectional title question mark and then breaking it down a little bit further. But you can see if you have a boring topic and then boring copy, the click-through rates of the Lincoln buyer is going to be absolutely awful. I mean, even the hashtags, hashtag, retirement village hashtag life, right. Hashtag, sectional title. Please tell me who is searching for the hashtag sectional title on Instagram. So really it is just an exercise and common sense. You can always just pop your consumer hats on. If you're not sure, think about whether you'd click on something. Obviously, unless you're getting on an age, you're not interested in a retirement village. But you can put yourself in that position where it's like, you can imagine how that's impacting on affecting a lot of people, but there's still ways in which you can make it seem a bit less depressing. I mean, even this copy almost close to the woman's face or over the woman's face. It's just it's just poor on so many levels. The IU logo in the bottom center, It's just, it's too small. It's central lines. I just have so many questions. These are the kinds of things I want you to play with and look out for. And not to name and shame people, but really just to think about how you can do it differently and how you can do it better. And even if you purely going to appear play a copywriting role, are there ways in which you can make recommendations about how the coffee interfaces with the creative like, yeah, like I said, I would caution against using copy over someone's face. You could move the copy, you could use a color overlay. There's so many different ways in which you can do it. But I think the more that you proactively push yourself to work out, what is the copy look like in Situ? Is it falling across two lines or goodly as a cropping someone's face, is the logo too small? Try to, try to train your eye. That is what's going to make you an asset to an ad agency or a brand. And I think having an opinion on more than what you had to have an opinion for is really, really positive. I think people look for that initiative where it's like I'm not just ticking boxes, I'm not just doing exactly as I have to do, but instead, as a copywriting specialists, I'm going to make broad recommendations that are not only pertaining to the copy itself, it's also pertaining to how the copy lives and Suchi. So in terms of that, I thought this was a brilliant example. Good luck if you do feel so inspired, please do pop a link maybe to an Instagram caption that you didn't like or that she loved, or any kind of project that we can all learn from each other in terms of what to do and what not to do. That is it from me? I hope that this task and class was helpful. I really had so much fun creating this class so much love wind into it. And I can't wait to catch you in the next one. So with that in mind, please do let me know what you think in the review section. If you have any feedback, I'm always looking at ways to improve my classes and I can't wait to catch you in the next class.