Happy Sunday! If you’re reading this, I know, I know… don’t worry; it’s a shorter than normal newsletter, given tomorrow is not a work day. But I still hope you’re cozied up, have your feet up, a beverage in hand (maybe some Vahdam Chai), and you’re ready to talk about copywriting. I tweeted about my sister this past week, and it did well, so I’m gonna go deeper into it.

Before we get into it, I’ve got some good news. Limited Supply Season 3 starts this Wednesday. We went through a ton of feedback and analysis of our past episodes to think through what would make season 3 even stronger, and I can’t wait for y’all to hear it. Everything from the production quality, the segments, the agendas, the interviews, the side hustles, and the stories are going to be 10x better. If you like the podcast, please, please, please do me a favor and leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. I’ll be in your ears on Wednesday!

At the end of the newsletter, I also put some roles I’m hiring for. If you’re looking for something, please check them out to see if they’re of interest to you! Ok, I’m done blabbering. Time to get into today’s newsletter — talking about copywriting in the context of branding, marketing, and advertising. These are six things every copywriter should have on their checklist, observed by some of the great copywriters and media properties:

Write with an angle.

You’re no different from any other copy or ad without an angle. The angle is your competitive advantage with the copy that’s being written. Use surrounding context to figure out an angle that makes sense. Examples of the surrounding context include:

  • Placement
  • Audience demographics
  • The problem you’re going after

For example, let’s take Lundberg Rice Cakes. They want to sell 3-pack bundles of their delicious rice cakes. Here’s how copy exists without and with an angle:

  • Without an angle: “The best low-calorie rice cakes on the market!”
  • With an angle: “The only pre-workout snack that gives you a satisfying crunch!” or “An after-school snack that moms actually approve of!”

With the angle, you’re connecting the dots to hit something personal with whoever is shopping. This is why we called HOOX by that name, to describe all the “hooks” you can use with different pages and copy, to crack different audiences.

Know the placement or traffic source.

Knowing the traffic source gives you an upper hand. If you know someone is coming from TikTok, where they’ve likely spent the last 25 minutes with their eyes wide open, flicking their thumb upward to get another dopamine hit, then you can tailor your copy or design to that. If you are writing copy without the context of where the eyeballs come from, you’re driving in the dark with no headlights. The traffic source gives you context on the following:

  • What environment is someone in when consuming the copy?
  • How much time will someone likely spend reading it?
  • How punchy does the copy need to be? (think billboards vs. static Meta ads)
  • How hard do we need to work for a click?

Different ad placements should represent the brand or the product in different ways, making the person consuming it feel closer to the copy. Does that make sense? It feels a bit woo-woo, but good copy always elicits a reaction.

Write for skimmers.

When I ran Facebook ads for publishers in 2014, driving people to slideshows filled with banner ads (I apologize to those whom I sent to the advertising hell-hole), I obsessed over studying media companies crushing organic Facebook distribution. These were companies like Little Things & Little Buddha, BuzzFeed, ViralNova, ThoughtCatalog, BoredPanda, and others. Here’s what their copy all had in common:

  • All copy is written with 5th-grade-level reading comprehension. No big words — everything was easy to understand so that you can read faster.
  • Anything worth noting or that you must read was bolded, underlined, or had a heading style attached to it. It was hard to miss.
  • Everything had a positive emotion by the end — in fact, the positive emotion was also why these sites got shared so much on Facebook.

Brands that write copy well do all this, but they also speak in benefits versus value props. You want to write copy so that, as you speak, someone can picture that scene in their head, with them at the center of it. Here’s an example:

  • Value Prop: These pans are non-stick
  • Benefit: Cook with less oil on these pans

Understand the “APOB” acronym.

APOB = Audience, Problem, Objections, and Benefits. Understanding this may take some further research, but it will strengthen the copywriting. Here’s how:

  • Audience. If you understand your audience, you can make better references in the copy that lets the consumer know you’re actually in it with them. For example, if you’re selling Cadence capsules to travelers, using jargon related to that travel journey would make the copy work harder for you.
  • Problems. You have to understand the problem you’re writing the copy to solve. If you’re just writing about the brand or product in another way, it will not be any different than what is already on your site or other places.
  • Objections. In addition to the problem you’re solving, you should know what stops someone from purchasing at that moment.
  • Benefits. Knowing the audience, problem, and objections, you can list the benefits the consumer would want from that scenario in the product.

Here’s an example of how the APOB journey works:

  • Pre-APOB copy: Shop Cadence’s capsules to upgrade how you transport your routine.
  • Post-APOB copy: Shop Cadence’s leakproof & TSA-friendly capsules to transport your skincare routine without a mess.

Know thy competitors.

In most areas of marketing, keeping your head down and creating or innovating is always better than looking at your competitors. Even if it’s for inspiration, you don’t want your competitor to be a north star to you… you’re better than that! However, when it comes to the copy on your site, marketing materials, emails, etc., you have to ensure that your copy sets itself apart.

If you look at a few eCommerce credit card companies, you can see how the copy stands out on Parker’s website compared to this Divvy page or this Mercury page. Parker has done their research to stand apart and speak directly to eCommerce merchants, unlike their competition.

Ensure they take the scenic route.

There are always two ways to get somewhere — the boring and scenic routes. Growing up in San Diego, CA, I learned young that it’s always worth taking the scenic route. And when it comes to copywriting, there’s no exception. Good copywriting, especially long-form copy, should take you down a journey, sounding different at different points.

If you can evoke a reaction from your copy (a “hell yeah!” or a “wow!!” or an “oh my goodness!”), then you’re doing great. If you can paint a scene in someone's head where they can almost daydream of their life with what you’re pushing, then you’re doing fantastic.

That’s all I got on copy for today… on to some fun stuff!

Vendor of the Week:

minisocial — An almost-guaranteed way to be in the top 1% of TikTok ads from a conversion standpoint.

And to be honest, I only care to be in the top 1% of TikTok ads if it’s for the conversion metric! In November 2021, I met Kirsten over Zoom to learn about minisocial and couldn’t help but think, “How is everyone not using this yet?” The pricing is so affordable (and they’re giving 15% off their normal rate today), they do all the work to wrangle creators for your brand, and their content consistently outperforms on paid social.

You probably don’t even realize it, but minisocial creates a lot of content for the ads you see on paid social (Harry’s, Native, Olipop, Care/Of, Imperfect Foods, etc.) and even email or organic social. As the brand, you own the content, so you can use it anywhere you want.

Recently, they ran a TikTok campaign with Plant People (who have an amazing relief tincture), and their conversion rate from minisocial creative was in the top 1% across TikTok’s ad platform.

Right now, and for the next two months, is one of the best times to spend on paid social if you have the right content. minisocial is offering 15% off their rate card if you want to set up a campaign. Kirsten also said she’s open to talking with you directly and building a strategy of how minisocial content will pay for itself with your brand — book a time here to talk to her.

LP of the Week:

If you’ve ever wandered a supermarket, you’ll know this brand and product: Chomps.

As they build out their eCommerce (shoutout to Shray at Good Peeps on their work), they want to introduce the brand to more people. Not only will this LP drive new customers online, but it will also drive product trial of Chomps in their thousands of retail doors across the country.

Click here to view the page.

You’ll notice with this page we want to drive trial and counter the objection that the product is “bad for you” as most of its competitors are.

You know that you need a landing page, but something must be holding you back if you haven’t purchased a page from HOOX yet. In that case, book a call with Dillon, and we’ll walk you through how LPs fit into your marketing stack.

Some Opeb Jobs:

Thank you to everyone who submitted a form for the Chief of Staff role. I am hiring for two more roles ASAP:

  1. Copywriters to join HOOX. If you love writing and wish you could get paid to write for the coolest brands, specifically their landing pages that many people see, click this link to apply.
  2. Account Managers to join HOOX. If you are organized, great at communication, and want to work with some of the biggest brands in the world, click this link to apply.
  3. Creative Strategy Associate for 1180 Media. Are you interested in how clients have such successful creative campaigns and want to play a role in them? Click this link to apply.
  4. Growth marketing generalists for Sharma Brands. Are you a smart growth marketer? If you believe you’re in the top 5% of marketers, just reply to this email with what you’re good at and what you want to focus on.

That's all for this week

Thanks for sticking with me on a holiday weekend. I hope that tonight you’re still planning to get 9 hours of sleep — think of it as a treat since tomorrow is off — and stay hydrated.

I’m excited that Limited Supply is back this week, so if you have any suggestions on how we can improve it, please reply!

Anyways, I’ll see you next Sunday. I hope you have an incredible upcoming (short) week!