Old School Copywriting for New School Businesses

https://www.slideshare.net/marklittlewood/joanna-wiebe-old-school-copywriting-for-new-school-businesses

by smg • 9 years ago

51 10 9 years ago

nerdponx• 9 years ago

I think this kind of misses the mark in some cases, or at least ascribes causality where there's little evidence for it. Some alternative hypotheses about slides 20, 22 and 23:

- The inSSIDer ad on the right looks got fewer clicks because the styling is outdated and obnoxious, whereas the one on the left is on-trend.

- The "control sweat" ad is worse because the word "sweat" is right there in big letters, and that's distasteful.

- The buttons with "free" got fewer clicks because they talk about money, not about the benefit of the product. Talking about money up-front is a warning sign to people, like they're overeager to prove the wrong thing to you.

tmnvix• 9 years ago

The "control sweat" ad is worse because the word "sweat" is right there in big letters, and that's distasteful.

The more successful alternative had "my armpits are always wet" in the equivalent location.

foxhop• 9 years ago

Joanna Wiebe is hands down my favorite Copywriter. I know her voice just by reading her copy. She is truly a master of this craft.

jevgeni• 9 years ago

I feel this is painfully banal. I know that it is industry best practice, but still.

It is pretty transparent when somebody is writting to me to sell something and I care less about that text instinctively. I don't care what the copywriter wants, I care about what I want. I don't care about your sales or conversion rates, I'm solving my problems. Going through all the desperate fluff is just too bothersome.

Oh what's that, you've figured out how to put my first name into the first sentence? We know how templates work, that doesn't make it more personal.

Oh you use fancy designs and flashy graphics? How does that bring me closer to my goals?

Etc., etc.

A short, valuable, plain text is more important to me than all the fancy vacuous copy in the world.

wmeredith• 9 years ago

Eh, I️ feel you, but we are outliers. I️ suspect the same of most people on this board. All this stuff works better than not, MOST of the time.

siddharthdeswal• 9 years ago

I don't care what the copywriter wants, I care about what I want. I don't care about your sales or conversion rates, I'm solving my problems.

Isn't that exactly what she's saying? Seems like you're not an outlier after all.

commenter1• 9 years ago

I'm not a marketing person, but even I know that everything you or your company does is PR for the company. Then people put up stupid slides like this. In 2 minutes time, this company lost me. That's one hell of an achievement. You're in marketing, at least act like a semi-professional.

mark_l_watson• 9 years ago

I am surprised by the negative comments. I am not a copy writer, but I write technical books. I thought her views on the business of copy writing to be very interesting, even though that is not my business.

blueyes• 9 years ago

This is great advice. And it's great copy in itself. Most companies focus too much on what they do, and not enough on who they serve.

marklittlewood• 9 years ago

We will publish the talk online (with a transcript), soon. It will be available here: http://businessofsoftware.org/2016/07/all-talks-from-busines...

Alternatively, subscribe to the BoS newsletter and we will email you when it is live. http://businessofsoftware.org/updates/

Old School Copywriting for New School Businesses

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