Wanna know what Ancient Egypt + Nicholas Sparks have to do with copywriting?

Marshmallows, campfires, fireworks, tawny-red leaves,? heads on spikes, the good ol ‘hung-drawn-and-quartered.’

Yeahhhhh.

Marshmallows, campfires, fireworks, tawny-red leaves,?heads on spikes, the good ol ‘hung-drawn-and-quartered.’

Sound like the kind of bonfire night that went down last week?

Yeahhhhh - not really.

I mean, that last part is just a bit unnerving but it’s kinda true.

Bonfire Night is literally a celebration of Guy Fawkes's gruesome death and his miserably failed plot.

I actually feel bad for the guy. I mean, he even failed his own execution.

But it got me thinking. The reason his lil plan failed was because there was no real strategy behind it.?

It’s the same with copywriting.

You can have a visionary idea - a plot to reel in new customers. But if your words are all over the shop, you’ll end up butchering the thing before it it’s even gone live.

Which is what this newsletter’s allllll about; delivering you a dose of strategic copywriting tips so you can avoid the fallout (and keep your head).

KONRAD'S KILLER KOPYWRITING TIPS?

Readers are just like five-year-old kids.

Bold statement, I know.

But think of it this way - they’ve both got limited attention spans. And the minute something even remotely more exciting pops up, they’re off.?

So you’ve got to make the very first thing they see count and that’s your headline.

1. Strip down - the more ‘naked’ your headline copy, the better. And by that, I mean be crystal clear + compelling. Avoid poofy highbrow ‘dictionary’ words and always opt for easy-to-understand language.
2. Make your headline instantly unmissable with numbers - they’re actually scientifically proven to STAND OUT to a reader’s peripheral vision.
3. Tease readers with just a tidbit of information - enough to pique their curiosity and leave them on the edge of their seats, eager to find out more.?

THE POWER OF A GOOD STORY

Me and my other half have been together for 15 years now - I recently wrote about it on LinkedIn.

Met in Australia. Tied the knot in Cyprus. And now we’re a powerhouse couple co-running a copywriting agency.

Allllllll from one lil chance encounter.

Now, don’t worry - I’m not gonna go all ‘Nicholas Sparks’ on you but there is a lesson behind all of this…

A lesson in the power of storytelling.

Because that one post got over 300 likes, 100 comments, and 41,700 impressions.

I’d love to put it down to my sexy topless photo (Tom Selleck, anyone?) But really, all you need is one hell of a good story to hook readers in and keep their eyes glued to the screen.

And you can do allllll that with a few strategic copywriting moves:

1. Bring in a comparison - a contrast that lights up readers’ primal brains.?

Just like I did with those date comparisons - comparisons that subtly hinted at just how long Nitzan and I have been building up our empire together.?

And the side-by-side pics?

Those too.

I mean, look at me. I haven’t aged a day.

1. Channel your inner novelist

That whole ‘Nicholas Sparks’ romance spiel wasn’t just some random thing I’d written up - it was carefully calculated. I knew it would hit readers in the feels and get them feeling all mushy inside.

Whatever story you bring in - whether it’s an anecdote or a flashback or a completely made-up scenario - put emotion at the heart of it. Make it personal. Use emotive language that gets your audience invested in what you have to say.?

1. ‘ 2007: The most important "sliding doors" moment in my life happened…’

And just like that, you’re pulled in. Entranced by what I HAVEN’T revealed. Eager to find out more.

That right there is called the curiosity gap -a lil device that teases readers with just a tidbit of information. Just enough to hook them in and hold their interest.

Next time you write a story, open with a bit of mystery - dangle the carrot!

LOOKING FOR A LONGER READ??

Discover the content strategy agency of your dreams and brush up on your web copy with these top reads:

Hot off the press: Content Strategy Agency Qualities You Should Look Out For?

Aged like fine wine: How To Make Your Website Content Pack a Powerful Punch

PREFER TO LISTEN?

THE EVOLUTION OF COPYWRITING

Copywriting’s been around for 5022 years.

We’ve gone from penning words on papyrus to writing for millions of people on the internet.?

That’s a bigggggg difference.

So big that you’d think everything about copywriting would have changed. Just like humans did with evolution. And how dinosaurs did when the meteorite (or whatever it was) came and made them all non-existent.?

Truth is, the core fundamentals of copywriting haven’t actually changed all that much.?

Sure, we’ve got SEO and social media and dwindling attention spans to think about.?

But readers still respond to the same emotional and psychological triggers now that they did when they were walking about in Ancient Egypt.

Watch this video to find out just how much we have in common with our copywriting ancestors and what makes good copy GOOD.

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