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Power Up 💪

Get juiced with these copywriting tips for more powerful content.

How Much Advice Should You Give Away For Free?

MarketingProfs is one of the biggest publishers of marketing content out there. If you pay attention to them, you know the absurd amount of content they publish.

That raises two questions: first of all, why do they publish so much? And second of all, are they giving away too much free advice? They’re a training company that seemingly gives out all of their advice for free.

In one way or another, that 2nd question is something many companies struggle with. How much should we give away and how much should we make our audience pay for?

Matt Snodgrass, the Marketing Director at MarketingProfs, is here to help you figure out the answer to those questions. His answers might surprise you.

  • (01:48) The vision behind MarketingProfs is to make better, smarter marketers (that’s an idea we can get behind).
  • (04:43) Rather than focus on one type of content, MarketingProfs uses a variety of content types to reach their audience.
  • (04:52) People learn in different ways. To reach your audience in the most effective way, you need to have your content in many different formats.
  • (06:37) MarketingProfs prioritizes their projects by talking to their subject matter experts. They want to know what the experts in their field think will be the next big thing.
  • (09:50) They have their content scheduled out 4.5 months in advance!
  • (12:29) Make a note of this one and use it at your company: MarketingProfs is constantly talking to their readers and users to find out what they want more of.
  • (15:00) How much content do they publish in a week? A ton. At least 6 new blog articles per day.
  • (16:16) How much free advice is too much? Should you hold things back to entice people to buy from you? Surprisingly, Matt says yes.
  • (19:47) 75%-80% of the content that they put out is free with the remaining 20%-30% is behind a paywall.
  • (20:46) The reason this works is that it validates them. They give out amazing free content so people assume that the non-free content is even better.

Still more to learn from Matt in this one.

10 Actionable Copywriting Tips That Will Make Your Content More Powerful

Bet you couldn’t tell, but we love copywriting. And leveling up our content. 

Who doesn’t like more powerful words? Especially when you consider the 87 million blogs published in WordPress alone! You know it, we know it—there is an insane amount of content out there. So, how do you stand out? How do you turn your content into something that not only gets read but gets results too?

Today’s Read is on it: 

Use the power of open loops. Opening a loop in your content creates tension. Readers want to—dare we say need to (psychologically speaking)—release that tension by finishing the story and closing that loop. Our brains are hardwired for closure.

Headlines are the most basic form of an open loop. But you can also use them in your intro or subheading to get people invested in your content. Here’s an example of an effective open loop.

Start with a punch, end with a kick. Naturally, you want your intro and conclusion to be the most impactful—your intro hooks people in and your conclusion contains your call to action. Plus, it’s what most readers will remember. Make it count. 

Use short first sentences. The majority of your audience will read your content for 15 seconds or less. If you can get someone to read your first sentence, they’re more likely to read the second one. If they read the second one, they’re more likely to read the third one and so on…

Use delayed transitions. With a delayed transition, you stick the transition at the beginning of a sentence. Like this example from Copyblogger. Why do they work so well? 

  • They allow you to use shorter sentences, which improves readability.
  • They open a small loop we want to see closed.
  • They add a level of unpredictability to your content, which keeps people on their toes.

Steal your readers’ words. Every audience has its own sayings, its own jokes, and its own language. If you can replicate the way your audience talks, your content becomes instantly more powerful.

And that’s just half of them! Keep reading for ultimate power…

Logo, Lo-gone

Lacoste is doing away with their iconic crocodile logo to make room for animals that could use the visibility. The new campaign, “Save Our Species,” kicks off Lacoste’s partnership with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Instead of the smiling croc, the brand has added ten endangered species to their polos. The Javan Rhino, California Condor, and Sumatran Tiger to name a few. The number of shirts available for each animal corresponds to the number of that species left in the wild… 

Of course, this begs the question: Doesn’t consumerism damage the environment and endanger animals?

“Shh…shh. Buy a polo, it’ll be okay…”

 

“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.”

Christine Caine

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