1.
Old school
FOR NEW SCHOOL MARKETERS
COPYWRITING
JOANNA WIEBE @COPYHACKERS

2.
“You'd better not let your
father see this.”
John Caples’s mom
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

3.
IF IT FEELS SAFE,
SCRAP IT
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

4.
“Five times as many
people read the
headline as read
the body copy.”
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

5.
“I find if I drink two
or three brandies,
I’m far better able
to write.”
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

6.
COPY IS NOT YOUR BRAND’S
CREATIVE EXPRESSION.
COPY IS YOUR ONLINE
SALESPERSON.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

7.
WANNA BE CREATIVE?
WRITE A poem. got that
outta your system?
great - let’s work.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

8.
“The only
purpose of
advertising is
to make sales.”
claude hopkins
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

9.
I ROLL WITH THE HARDEST.
MAKE MONEY WITH THE SMARTEST.
AIN’T GOT TIME FOR YOU ARTISTS.
bOS-APPROPRIATE rewrite
of lyrics by The Game
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

10.
Gene Schwartz
John Caples
Claude
Hopkins
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

11.
CAVEAT
Err on the side of caution
sometimes. Not everything that
worked then flies now.

12.
Let’s START WITH 4 quick hits
(‘cos it’s end of day)
@COPYHACKERS

13.
ASK GOOD
QUESTIONS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

14.
Ba
@COPYHACKERS
sold better

15.
WRITE FOR
READERS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

16.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017
Ba sold better

17.
“THAT’S MORE COPY THAN
WE’RE USED TO”
Andrew Capland, Wistia

18.
TAKE THE
CAP OFF THE
COKE
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

19.
DON’T BE
TOO
FORTHCOMI
NG
aka
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

20.
fewer clicks
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017
Ba

21.
PUT YOUR
HEADLINE &
BUTTON IN
THE FIRST
PERSON
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

22.
sold better
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017
Ba

23.
24% increase in CTR with
98% confidence
13% lift in CTR with
99% confidence
24% MORE CLICKS
13% MORE CLICKS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

24.
3 BIGGER IDEAS
TO SHAPE YOUR COPY
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

25.
Don’t write copy.
1
@COPYHACKERS

26.
YOU GO TO A QUIET PLACE TO WRITE.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

27.
(Because to write, you need to be alone with your thoughts.)
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

28.
Yet, somehow, genius doesn’t strike.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

29.
Turns out the copy in your head… sucks.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

30.
So you give up. And find something else to do.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

31.
Don’t write copy.
HOLD up a mirror.
1
@COPYHACKERS

32.
Stop “writing”
Understand that the thing on the
page is the customer - not “the
product”
Know the customer so you can
show the customer him/herself
(ideally happy or getting there)
Hold the mirror (i.e., be in the
background)
to do this,
you must:
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

33.
the PRODUCT
is NOT the
product
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

34.
the PRODUCT
is NOT the
product
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

35.
the PRODUCT
is NOT the
product
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

36.
the
CUSTOMER IS
the product
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

37.
YOUR COPY IS
CREATING A
CUSTOMER.
NOT SELLING
A PRODUCT.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

38.
HOW DO YOU KNOW
WHAT THE MIRROR
SHOULD REFLECT BACK?
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

39.
What do you do with the mad that you feel
When you feel so mad you could bite?
When the whole wide world seems oh so wrong,
And nothing you do seems very right?
What do you do - do you punch a bag?
Do you pound some clay or some dough?
Do you round up friends for a game of tag?
Or see how fast you go?
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

40.
LISTEN.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

41.
HERE’S THE EASIEST,
fastest, cheapest WAY
(I’LL FORGIVE YOU IF YOU OPEN
AMAZON.COM NOW)
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

42.
1. On one or more sites with reviews,
find products / services in your category.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

43.
2. Go through the reviews and clip
the STICKIEST insights.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

44.
3. TAG THE VERBATIMS AND ASSEMBLE THEM INTO DRAFT 1.
@air_story#bos2017
Joanna is
assembling
in

45.
“Copy is not
written. Copy is
assembled.”
gene schwartz
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

46.
TO TRULY BE A MIRROR, YOUR PAGE
HAS TO REFLECT BACK A SPECIFIC
PERSON. NOT AN “AVERAGE PERSON.”
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

47.
“Your message
should single out your
prospect like a man
being paged in a
crowded hotel
lobby.”
claude hopkins
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

48.
~ POEM BREAK ~
@COPYHACKERS

49.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue -
Donate to a teacher
With the same name as you.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

50.
Dear Joanna -
Roses are red,
Violets are blue -
Donate to a teacher
With the same name as you.
Mr. Wiebe
French novels for his junior high students.
$68 remaining
Donate to Mr. Wiebe’s project
3x more likely to give to a project
Gave 3x as much
Reactivated lapsed donors
Source: Donors Choose Annual Review 2014 - 15
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

51.
Can your prospect
see herself on YOUR page?
@COPYHACKERS

52.
Don’t write copy.
hold up a mirror.
1
@COPYHACKERS

53.
“THEY ALL LAUGHED WHEN I
USED A FORMULA. BUT WHEN
THEY SAW THE RESULTS!”
2
@COPYHACKERS

54.
FORMULAS
FOR ADS
FORMULAS
FOR
LAYOUTS
FORMULAS
FOR
ELEMENTS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

55.
FORMULAS
FOR
LAYOUTS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

56.
Problem
Agitation
Solution
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

57.
“The correct
solution, the right
headline, the perfect
ad lies buried in the
problem itself.”
gene schwartz
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

58.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

59.
Problem
Agitation
Solution
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

60.
NO FORMULA PAS FORMULA
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017
Ba

61.
(when you suggest delaying the product
shot, even the coolest lose their cool)
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

62.
sold better
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017
Ba

63.
“Just as the physician uses the
same prescription many times with
beneficial effect… Just as the civil
engineer uses the same formulas
again and again for building
bridges… So can the copywriter
use formulas that have worked
successfully in the past.”
john caples
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

64.
Don’t write copy.
HOLD UP a mirror.
1
@COPYHACKERS

65.
start with a formula
or framework.
2
@COPYHACKERS

66.
EDIT IN THE AWESOME.
3
@COPYHACKERS

67.
YOUR FIRST DRAFT
SHOULD BE A BUNCH
OF ASSEMBLED VOC
DATA
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

68.
grammar!!!
PROOFREADING!!!
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

69.
grammar???
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

70.
1. The clarity sweep
2. The voice and tone sweep
3. The So What sweep
4. The Prove It sweep
5. The specificity sweep
6. The heightened emotion sweep
7. The Zero Risk sweep
THE SEVEN SWEEPS
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

71.
“You cannot bore
people into buying
your product. You
can only interest
them.”
DAVID OGILVY GENE SCHWARTZ
“Advertising is
the literature
of desire.”
G. BENCIVENGA
“Emotions are the fire
of human motivation,
the combustible force
that secretly drives
most decisions to
buy.”
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

72.
emotion /
“feeling" isn’t
always edited
in after

73.
• Need for love
• Fear of shame
• Pride of achievement
• Drive for recognition
• Yearning to feel important
• Urge to look attractive
• Lust for power
• Longing for romance
• Need to feel secure
• Terror of facing the unknown
• Lifelong hunger for self-
esteem
GARY BENCIVENGA

74.
“It’s not about building
better mousetraps. It’s
about building larger
mice - and then building
a terrifying fear of them
in your customers.”
gene schwartz
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

75.
As many as 60% of sales are lost to “no decision.”
Source: CorporateVisions.com @COPYHACKERS#bos2017

76.
MAKE YOUR READER DECIDE.
EVEN IF THEY DON’T CHOOSE YOU.
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

77.
DON’T “WRITE COPY.”
use formulas.
EDIT IN THE AWESOME.
@COPYHACKERS

78.
“THIS IS NO LAZY MAN’S FIELD”
Claude Hopkins
@COPYHACKERS#bos2017

79.
JOANNA WIEBE
THANKS!