Lauren Jefferson - FocusCopy®

The Email Marketing Metrics That Will Dictate Your Copy

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / May 7, 2024 May 7, 2024

Does the idea of reviewing your email marketing metrics make you yawn?

Stay with us because you should know that if you can’t devote enough time or establish a process to continue connecting with your customers through email, it’s not enough to keep it growing. And your click-to-open rates (CTOR) probably reflect this.

If you’re picturing a dark room with just you and your laptop hunched over crunching numbers, stop stressing. This may be what it looked like years ago to track the progress of your email marketing. But modern solutions like Keap give business owners the automation and data necessary to track, measure, and implement future changes to their email marketing strategy – mainly, the copy.

Want to automate your email marketing? Let’s chat.

The Secret To Building Your Email List Is In Your Email Marketing Metrics

Why use email metrics to come up with fresh copy? First, it lets your audience know that you’re listening. Furthermore, it shows an intentional effort to keep what’s most important to your customers at the top of your list. And more importantly, it can help you to strategize what will drive prospects to join your email list.

Whip Your Email List Into Shape With A Spring Cleaning

Before using any outside email marketing tools, look into your specific email service provider for existing tools and rules about using third-party resources like Klean13 or SpamKill.

Depending on how long you’ve used email marketing, your subscriber lists may go from hugely profitable and engaging to downright confusing. A few things we’ve heard from clients interested in email marketing include…

My lists are unorganized and it makes me feel overwhelmed.
How can I spot “spam traps” or fake email addresses in my email lists?
How do I know which email addresses are simply bots?
Is it okay to delete everything and skip email marketing altogether?

Hold up on that last one!

The average ROI for email marketing is $44 for every $1 spent.
— Insights For Professionals

It’s easy to give in to your intrusive thoughts and scrap everything you’ve ever done without looking back. But the last thing you want to do is lose any valuable data and traction you already have by abandoning your email marketing. You also don’t want to interrupt any campaigns that are still in progress.

Another way to be productive AND start fresh is by cleaning up your email lists. You want clearly defined email lists you can easily categorize and label. Doing so not only helps you clear out the old and obsolete. It also makes it simple to filter further and tag contacts with automated follow-up actions to keep them engaged – even when you’re sleeping.

Know How To Handle Improving Your Bounce Rate

One of the most fundamental email marketing metrics out there is your bounce rate. This percentage reflects the number of emails returned to the sender (you) because they could not be delivered to your customer’s inbox.

If you struggle with your email bounce rate (and it isn’t due to your message being too large) it’s likely because the email or inbox you wish to send to is…

Invalid or non-existent
Blocked from receiving communications
Full
Experiencing server issues

Look again at your bounce rate metrics to find out where the holes in your contacts exist. Then, eliminate those emails from your lists and watch your bounce rate decline.

Take Action Against High Unsubscribe Rates

Email is a proven marketing tool that regularly yields results for business owners. But if you’re running into high unsubscribe rates, it’s time to make a change.

The average unsubscribe rate is below 1% for most industries.
— Constant Contact

However, figuring out why people unsubscribe to email marketing isn’t a mystery by any means. In fact, it doesn’t take too much of your time to identify what you’re doing wrong by looking at the emails you’ve already sent.

If your business emails…

Are too frequent
Contains irrelevant or repetitive content
Look like spam
Offer unsolicited promotional information
Are no longer relevant to your audience
Provide too much or too little information

You’re in for an email copy overhaul. Make more of an impact with Keap for your email marketing.

Count Those Open Email Clicks

Everyone wants to know…What is a good email open rate?

The average email open rate across all industries is 26.80%.
— GetResponse

That’s just the starting point. Depending on the list maintenance and existing list, we typically produce emails with open rates of 40% on the low end and upwards of 65% on the high end.

If you don’t know how to measure the success of your copy with the goals you have in mind, then you will continue to struggle to convert leads into loyal customers. This is why you must pay close attention to your click-to-open rates (CTOR) and ask yourself…

Is my subject line sexy enough?

Changing how you write your subject lines, preview text, and body copy directly impacts your sales. Effective copy that makes people jump to open your email should…

Speak to your customers in your brand voice
Make your audience think
Relate to your audience personally
Be authentic

If you’re looking at your email’s subject line or preview text thinking you wouldn’t click on it yourself, take a few minutes to write something else. You don’t need to get too technical to get your point across and entice your audience to click.

BONUS TIP: Ask a question in your subject line and let us know how it goes.

Know What Your Average Engagement Looks Like

Did you know…?

The average email clickthrough rate (CTR) is 2.6-3%.
— Hubspot

Your CTR offers data on who and how many people actually engage with your email marketing content.

Notice a dip in your CTR? Again, it’s important to review your email’s messaging. Your overall message should be concise and equipped with a clear call to action.

Craft Your Success With The Right Marketing Recipe

Adding email marketing and automation to your business model may sound like a ton of extra work. However, it’s much easier to implement when it’s done for you.

Catch up over a cuppa with us to get started.

The Pros And Cons Of AI For Content Writing

Systems / By Lauren Jefferson / May 1, 2024 May 1, 2024

Want the pros and cons of AI for content writing without any bias? Many people expect us as copywriters to tear AI writing to shreds (we won’t) out of fear of it replacing our expertise.

P.S. It won’t, but we’ll get into that later.

We will fully admit that we’ve had (and still have) questions about AI for content writing and its future impact on businesses across the world. We’re not doing this to poke holes in its possibilities…We believe in the power of technology!

What we want to do is approach AI writing with an open mind while remaining diligent about answering a few pressing questions like…Can I use AI copy for my business without dealing with copyright infringement?

Is AI writing plagiarism?

Can I trust AI to routinely write optimized copy for my business?

Will AI be able to fully replace my copywriting team?

Let’s dive into all the pros and cons of AI for content writing!

Join the Copy Roast to be the first to know about events, resources, and blogs all geared towards your business growth.

The Cons of AI For Content Writing

Without sugarcoating, let’s get directly into the cons of AI writing.

1. AI Lacks Creativity & Authenticity

AI writing is an excellent tool for certain parts of the writing process. But using it to completely mimic your brand’s voice, tone, and personality is nearly impossible. And this is why…

Creativity requires a human touch. AI is not able to convey genuine human experiences because it cannot feel or express emotions as we understand them. This makes asking AI to write about certain experiences a headache-inducing task.

When AI is prompted to write about an experience in first person, it may use several general descriptors without being able to connect with the reader further. Even with all of the right information in front of it, AI will never be able to describe what you felt as an entrepreneur opening your doors or launching your website for the first time. Because it’s an experience unlike any other – it’s human.

P.S. We are working on how to prompt AI writing tools to better understand your voice and brand so that it can provide more authentic results. Be sure to subscribe to our Copy Roast to be the first to know when they are out!

2. AI May Provide Inaccurate Information

In a dream world, AI researches AND writes everything perfectly the first time around – artfully capturing your brand in every way. It’s an incredible idea but current AI capabilities are much further away from this reality than you may realize. This is why AI writing continues to confuse business owners. Because AI writing should be able to take over all copywriting, right? Not at all.

The thing about AI for content writing is that because it pulls together all information online, it isn’t capable of deciphering which data is reliable or current. This means that while you can prompt AI to write almost anything, you must also have the time, know-how, and resources to spend dedicated to fact-checking and correcting information.

Also, AI responds best to extremely detailed, specific writing prompts. If you have trouble expressing your thoughts and ideas, getting your prompt just right can be a time-sucker itself.

You can avoid both of these issues entirely by having a professional copywriter write your website for you with unique, optimized content. It’s a good idea to have a copy audit of your business copy if you need help finding where you stand.

3. AI Does Not Protect You Against Plagiarism Or Copyright Infringement

Plagiarism and copyright laws have everyone from creative professionals to academic institutions wondering how AI writing will have an impact. And entrepreneurs want to know…Is it legal to use AI writing for my business including AI-produced taglines, naming ideas, mission and vision statements, etc.?

Brand messaging may be produced by AI. But if it’s still being published by your organization, YOU will likely remain liable. AI writing is such a new tool that it makes zero promises about its long-term use and impact – focusing most on its ability to churn out lengthy copy in seconds.

Simply be aware as you use AI-generated copy and check that it is not already being owned or used by another business. Doing so could get you into some real legal trouble with a copyright infringement attorney.

Beyond plagiarism, many publishing organizations are now requiring disclosures if you use artificial intelligence to produce your content.

The Pros of AI For Content Writing

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get into the pros of AI writing. Here’s a hint…automation is everything.

Don’t forget to join Copy Roast for relevant AI content and copywriting tips.

1. AI Produces Ideas Quickly

Many people absolutely hate writing. It’s time-consuming, tedious, and takes brain power. AI helps you break down your writing tasks into smaller segments.

For example, you can use AI to help you brainstorm and sift through topics to be sure they align with your company and brand. As you tweak your prompt, it should be able to refine your results better. Think about using prompts like…

Come up with 10 modernized ways to market my [business industry or product] business.

What email marketing examples can assist in boosting sales for my [company or product]?

What are the latest most-discussed topics related to [your industry]?

Even if you don’t fully agree or understand every suggestion, it’s a good way to get the creative juices flowing. With vague and short prompts like this, we usually get 1-2 sparks that lead to some brilliant ideas.

2. AI Offers A Great Starting Point For High-Level Information Or Ideas

As you transition from generating topics, AI is also good for organizing high-level information and ideas.

Instead of seeing a blog as one huge undertaking, for example, you can use AI to help you strategize and map its flow for your audience. With a solid outline, you can easily fill in each section of your blog with your unique thoughts and suggestions.

AI is also fantastic for note-taking as it can transcribe, add time stamps, provide a table of contents, and much more. This is a BIG win for copywriters as it frees up our resources (especially in meetings) to focus on our client’s creative vision rather than simply recording what’s being said, leading us to touch on the relationship between…

3. Cultivating The Relationship Between AI & Creatives

Creatives and AI are extremely familiar with one another (trust us, we go way back). AI isn’t new to copywriting or marketing. Older office assistant applications like Clippy have been around since the 90s. Ever since then, copywriters and other creatives have implemented as much AI as possible to streamline non-creative workflows.

Again, it’s important to know that using AI for content writing is a tool, not a replacement for writing. Even AI software like Grammarly and Monica seem to agree…

Monica website screenshot with headline that says All-in-One AI Assistant Personal and Fast

Grammarly website screenshot with headline that says AI-Powered Writing Assistant

Using AI as an assistant is helpful to…

Spellcheck
Fix grammar mistakes
Clean up punctuation errors
Make structural suggestions

You get the idea. When it comes to automation for tedious tasks that don’t require a huge amount of creativity, we’re all in.

Creatives & AI Technologies Make One Hot Pair

Over the years, we’ve accomplished so much in the digital space with assistance from AI and will continue to work together in the future. Doing so helps make creative services more accessible and affordable to business owners without compromising the quality of creative work needed. Don’t miss a thing when you join Copy Roast for the latest marketing updates.

The Taylor Swift Content Marketing Strategy: What Businesses Can Learn From Her

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / April 11, 2024 April 11, 2024

Are you part of the Swiftie movement?

Whether you’re a fan or not, there seems to be a method to the madness when it comes to Taylor Swift’s marketing strategy. The bottom line? Swift’s strategy is a blueprint that businesses can (and should) use as a framework for growing brand awareness and knowing what to do when success takes over.

Many people believe that Taylor Swift’s (34) rise to stardom began with her first released pop-country 2006 single “Tim McGraw”. However, becoming a star is a dream that Swift and her team have worked tirelessly to build since signing with Big Machine Records in 2005.

The ultimate dream for businesses mimicking Swift’s marketing style? Worldwide success and the ability to break free from trends and set them yourself.

Strategizing your business’s long-term success? Join us at AMPLIFY to plan a Swift-worthy event for your business.

7 Steps Of Building Your Business’s Reputation Using The Taylor Swift Marketing Strategy: Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose, & Remix

Becoming a celebrity takes a ton of work behind the scenes that you never truly see. Unless, of course, you know what you’re looking for. This is why we’re breaking down one of the most famous marketing strategies into easy-to-digest actions.

In the mid-2000s, Swift appears to be a rising country music star. But behind every hit, there’s a plan in place to take her success to the next level.

1. Navigating Industry Dynamics & Finding The Gap

The music industry is a highly competitive space where very few people make a life-long career out of it. Before quick videos like TikTok and Instagram reels, your best bet to becoming famous meant…

Being discovered organically at in-person events
Putting it all out there on TV shows like American Idol
Recording videos for platforms like YouTube
Knowing valuable people already in music and production
Cultivating industry connections

Where do you start when you’re trying to make a name for yourself?

Inspired by country music stars like LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, and Shania Twain, Swift felt the need to start her career in Nashville. This made sense at the time as pop was heavily saturated with a mature look and style that didn’t fit her music. There were also far fewer known female entertainers in country music and room for fresh ideas to take off. Leaning toward a less saturated genre of music gave Swift’s lyrics and voice more of a chance to stand out – and stand out she did!

2. Refining Natural Skills With A Mentor

Before reaching any type of success, you need to refine your craft and connect with your audience. Even when you think you know what you’re doing best, having a mentor or someone who can guide you through the process is vital.

Swift started songwriting as young as 9 years old. Although she had a natural talent for writing, she still needed someone with relevant industry experience to propel her forward. This is why she began working with professional songwriter, Liz Rose, through Writers ‘Round in Knoxville, Tennessee. For Swift, working with Rose helped her produce hits like “Teardrops On My Guitar”, “You Belong With Me”, and “White Horse.”

3. Relating Authentically To Customers

Having trouble connecting with your audience? Think about what you’re trying to say and how it relates to those you want to do business with.

In the country music genre, Swift built an audience interested in her music based on her storytelling abilities. As a teenager, boyfriends, break-ups, teen drama, and friendships were what she knew, so she wrote about them!

Being able to transform personal experiences into ones that can be shared is what connects us to many of the melodies that we know and love today. The same can be said for brands that go above and beyond marketing expectations to create a genuine connection with their customers.

4. Creating A Marketable Image

Beyond finding where you fit in, you also need to rely on growing your brand as much as possible to make your name known. One of the best ways to do this is by learning everything about your audience to market your business best.

Swift took this step by embracing herself and her image as the face of a new generation of country music using opportunities to leverage her success with endorsements, partnerships, and appearances. Think bedazzled cowboy boots, a slight Southern drawl, boho chic looks, and appearances in popular magazines like Seventeen, Allure, and Teen Vogue. Everything down to the particular shade of red lipstick she uses is marketable, appearing in headlines without fail.

5. Knowing When To Grow & Expand

Your business may not look the same over time and that’s okay! On top of building brand awareness and maintaining its image, you also need to know when it’s time to move on.

After building a solid following of young female listeners in country music, Swift made a choice. No longer a teenager and with the support of an already successful singing career, Swift was in her 20s when she officially transitioned into pop with her 2014 “1989” album.

As a strategy, she maintained connections with her loyal customer base through public appearances, signings, meet and greets, and similar efforts. With the launch of her pop album, she unlocked an opportunity to build a new type of following through storytelling to attract a much larger audience (and one that felt more relatable to Swift in her 20s). It’s from this transition that she would go on to become a worldwide superstar, adjusting her strategy from building her brand to maintaining its relevance.

Ready to relaunch or refresh how your brand shows up through events? Join us at AMPLIFY and we’ll show you how.

6. Old Content Isn’t Old

By using older (but not old) material and refreshing its messaging to give it new life, you keep the focus on your brand with less effort moving forward. This is HUGE for entrepreneurs as continuously creating, producing, and delivering can be an excruciating process.

Swift’s re-recorded studio albums and remixed tracks offer proof of using an old-to-new strategy as you should. As a business owner, you can repurpose content by:

Placing the spotlight back on your best-selling product or service
Expanding your best-performing blogs with compelling copy
Resharing social media posts to recapture your audience
Keeping customers engaged with a snazzy launch or re-launch of a product or service

If you’ve hit a point of what feels like no return in your business, try repurposing your most valuable content to maximize its effectiveness and save yourself from having to innovate – all the time.

7. Dealing With Public Scrutiny

Even when getting a viral amount of attention, you need to know what to do with it to keep the momentum going. As with any other high level of fame comes intense public scrutiny, which can be damaging to your brand – unless you know how to harness its power.

When everyone’s watching and judging every move you make, it can feel stressful. But, we’re human so mistakes are bound to happen! Even big brands like Kate Spade and Adidas have fallen victim to making marketing mistakes that left a bitter aftertaste for their most loyal customers.

P.S. Both multi-million dollar mistakes could have been avoided with careful proofreading!

Even when in the public eye negatively, Swift has bounced back through…

Media training
Carefully crafted public apologies
Reclaiming her artistic rights
Embracing “bad press”
Being able to laugh at herself

When addressing a mini or major marketing mistake, it’s best to acknowledge, apologize, and move on. Be authentic, avoid rambling, stick to the facts, and don’t forget to have someone read it well before you publish.

Craft Your Success With The Right Marketing Recipe

Effective marketing strategies are essential for the success of any business. It’s also crucial to adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape and offer your value upfront to your customers. And we believe it all starts with tailored copy to establish your core values and set the foundation for your growing success.

For a limited time, you can sign up for AMPLIFY to learn more about building a business and brand that you’re passionate about.

Looking For A New Way To Boost Sales In 2024?

Hosting A Virtual, Hybrid, Or In Person Event Offers A High Return…If You Follow Our Process.

How To Use ChatGPT For Market Research

Systems / By Lauren Jefferson / March 13, 2024 March 13, 2024

Newly launched tools to make creative strategies more efficient always give us an aha moment that we can’t wait to implement and share. This is why we’re revealing what we found useful in our strategy sessions and how to use ChatGPT for market research.

When ChatGPT and similar AI writing tools started becoming available, we immediately clicked around to see what the hype was all about. And we were glad to have found something (a few things actually) that we could plug into our internal systems to revolutionize the way we brainstorm, strategize, and write – starting with market research!

21 Prompts To Ask ChatGPT To Conduct Market Research For Your Business

Try using these ChatGPT marketing prompts to conduct your own brand’s market research, broken down into 3 sections:

Audience
Offer
Industry

Targeting An Audience For Your Business

It’s impossible to write copy that’s geared toward everyone, but you can potentially narrow your messaging with these questions.

1. What Are The Top Questions My Target Audience Asks About My Business?

Find out exactly what your audience wants to know about your business so you can hang up the phone. You read that right! Understanding what your audience wants to know about your business allows you to get to know THEM better in return. Find out what they’re looking for, why, and why it matters. You can then answer your FAQs on your website and spend less time on the phone repeating your answers.

2. What Are The Top Objections My Target Audience Has When Investing In My Offer?

Another way to find audience objections is by thinking about what it is that bugs them about your industry. Dig deeper into your audience’s FAQs and find the sore spots that need to be addressed to put uninformed minds at ease.

3. How Would You Describe What My Target Audience Is Struggling With?

You probably already have a good grasp of what your audience struggles with. However, it’s a good idea to get a fresh perspective using online tools to do the heavy lifting for you.

4. How Does My Offer Solve My Target Audience’s Problem?

Pay close attention to how you built your messaging and poke holes if necessary. If the response given doesn’t touch on solving every problem your customer has, you may need to adjust the way you ask this question. You might also need to go back to your customers’ struggles to find which issues are going unresolved.

5. Can You Write A Summary Of My Target Audience?

Asking this question should give you a general idea of what ChatGPT thinks your customers look like based on what it can find. This information allows you to uncover who you typically work with and what opportunities you may be missing out on because of the clarity of your marketing message.

6. What Does My Audience Want Me To Know?

Use this question as another unique way to find out what your customers want you to know (but maybe don’t have the heart to say out loud) about your business.

7. Where Does My Ideal Customer Spend Their Time Online?

Finding out where your customers are shopping around can offer big benefits to your marketing strategy. For example, you may find out that your customers are on Instagram or LinkedIn more than Facebook. If you’ve been allocating your budget to Facebook ads, it might be a good idea to cut back and reallocate those funds to the social platforms your customers are already using.

Up next? 7 more service-based questions to ask ChatGPT for market research.

Service & Offer-Focused

Your marketing works as well as you can tell a story. Learning how to use ChatGPT for market research can help you find a better way to connect your purpose to your audience with the right copy.

8. How Would You Describe The Founding & Growth Of My Business In A Short Story?

Whenever you don’t know where to start, ChatGPT is a solid tool to use when outlining your big ideas. By using what ChatGPT can pull together, you can find areas of your story to improve and connect with your main offer. Underline or circle information you like, don’t like, or find inaccurate to fix it up as you go along.

9. Can You Describe My Business’s Offering In 1 Sentence?

When all else fails, simplify, simplify, simplify!

Explore different ways of wording your offer so that it fits into one sentence with clarity. Your offer shouldn’t sound too detailed or complicated and should sound like your brand’s voice and tone. Our offering, for example, is…

FocusCopy^® caffeinates your brand messaging so it energizes your target audience to take action.

See? Simple, clear, and on brand (for us that is).

10. How Would You Describe The Features Of My Offer?

Your features should include everything your services or products do for your customers like…

Open 24/7
Valet Parking
Video Calls Available

You should then be able to turn these features into benefits.

11. How Would You Summarize The Benefits Of My Offer?

As you identify your features, you can further develop the benefits that your customers get to experience like…

All-Day Appointment Times
5-Star Valet Service Handles Parking For You
Get Started Right At Home With Video Calling

Find what you believe will speak to your audience best and use them consistently throughout your marketing campaigns.

12. Can You Write 20 Different Ways To Describe My Service Or Offer In A Short Paragraph?

From social media posts and newsletters to email campaigns and beyond, it’s challenging to make an offer sound exciting time and time again. Asking this question in ChatGPT allows you to uncover various ways to word your offer so your copy doesn’t go stale. You can save these ideas to tweak and use later.

13. What Are The Top 5 FAQs About My Business’s Offering?

Did you know that verified businesses average 1,803 monthly views from Google searches? Finding out what questions online users have gives you the power to offer detailed answers across your other digital platforms like your website and Google Business profile.

14. What New Service Would Encourage Or Attract New Customers To My Business?

Use all ideas as a jumping-off point to get your creative juices flowing. Tack these ideas to your next meeting agenda and bounce them off of your team members to open up advanced strategy conversations. Also, don’t forget to include reliable industry research to back up your claims!

Give your business the jolt it needs to convert clicks into customers. Book Discovery call.

Asking The Right Questions About Your Industry

Get industry-specific by asking these questions…

15. How Satisfied Are Customers With The Existing Service Offerings In The Market?

Add to what you know is out there on the market in your industry by digging into what people have to say about those experiences. Take notes of what you could improve or pull back on to make your marketing strategy more effective.

15. Who Are The Top 3 Competitors For My Business’s Industry?

Learn more about exactly who your audience turns to when they aren’t buying from your business. You can even ask some of the same questions above to figure out your competitors’ go-to brand voice, messaging, and benefits.

16. What Are 5 Common Misconceptions About My Industry?

Ever wish you could debunk common industry-related misconceptions impacting your business? Plug this question into ChatGPT to learn more about how you can address these concerns while adding value to your messaging.

17. How Would You Compare My Business To My Competitors?

If this question is tough to swallow, that’s okay! It’s hard to take feedback about the business you’ve worked so hard to build. But this can also be a huge chance to learn what others in your industry are doing for their marketing efforts. Not to “steal” anything, but to analyze and see if those strategies can also work for your business. It never hurts to try something new when you’re feeling stuck.

18. How Would You Describe Current Market Trends In My Industry?

Gauging marketing trends in your industry is an ideal time to get the team together and brainstorm what’s possible for the future of your business. You don’t need to follow every single trend. But this is a cool way to discover what your marketing plan might be missing to boost your business’s ROI.

19. How Does Technology Impact The Industry And How Can I Use It To My Advantage?

If there’s a faster, simpler, smarter way to do something, you better believe people are talking about it online. From emerging AI and automation to CRM applications and more, you never know what you could be missing out on. In fact, we have our own Tech Stack collection that you can check out here.

20. What Are Pricing Trends For My Industry In 2023?

Asking this question can help you answer some of your own questions like…

Am I pricing my services correctly?
What do my competitors charge?
What offers are typically included or free?

Again, using this information (while fact-checking your sources) gives you a good idea of where your business stands compared to the rest of the market you’re in.

21. What Are The Buying Practices Of Gen Z, Millennials, & Gen X?

We highly recommend looking into what the future of your business could look like. Ask questions about what future generations will come to expect from businesses like yours.

Knowing How To Use ChatGPT For Market Research Isn’t Simply For Marketing Professionals

When was the last time you looked into your market research?

If the data you have doesn’t align with your business today, it’s time for a research (and copy) refresh.

Need copywriting for your business to put all of this information together in one easy-to-use packet? Your copy baristas are in!

Let’s talk shop.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

Breaking Through The Noise: How To Make Your Brand Stand Out

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / February 16, 2024 March 13, 2024

Your online content is constantly up against that of your competition. You know you must remain driven and strategic about your digital marketing to push your business in the right direction.

On top of optimizing your copy, you’re interested in how to make your brand stand out. But you’re not quite sure how to make it happen.

It’s the question most business owners in a competitive industry ask at some point…How to make your brand stand out?

What Is A Brand?

First, what is a brand? Everybody has their own definition. We’ve even gathered a few of our favorite definitions (see below). But being the Texan company we are, let’s look at cows. To identify that a cow is yours, you brand them with your specific mark. Everyone around you knows your branding. Likewise in marketing, you are leaving your mark so that everyone around you knows who you are.

“A brand is the identity and story of a company that makes it stand out from competitors that sell similar products or services. The goal of branding is to earn space in the minds of the target audience and become their preferred option for doing business.”
Hubspot

“Branding is the process of creating a distinct identity for a business in the minds of your target audience and the general population. At its core, branding consists of a company’s name and logo, visual identity design, mission, values, and tone of voice. Your brand is also determined by the quality and uniqueness of your products, the customer service experience you provide, and even your pricing strategy.”
Shopify

“A brand is any distinctive feature like a name, term, design, or symbol that identifies goods or services.”
American Marketing Association

But what does a brand consist of? It includes visual marks (i.e. logos, imagery, photos), messaging, voice, and even experience. It breathes who you are to the world.

What Noise Are Brands Experiencing?

But there’s something that’s impacting brands, in our opinion, negatively. Let’s dive into what to look out for so that you can protect yourself.

The Invasion Of AI

AI has made a widespread invasion in the digital world – particularly impacting marketing. While there are plenty of places to use AI efficiently and effectively, it’s when we aren’t careful that our brands will see a negative impact. How so? Here’s what we’ve seen:

Increase of vagueness and formulaic copy that you can spot from a mile away
Decrease of authentic messaging (and therefore, no deep emotional connections)
Increase of lower-value content on social media or email
Increase of questioning whether an offer is valuable and high quality

Political Turmoil

As our brand, we stay faaaaaaarrr away from politics. So far, the last time I really watched any news was the first week of the pandemic in 2020…4 years ago. But regardless of where you stand, you can agree that we are in a politically turbulent time. And it’s even more volatile with it being an election year. So how does that relate to marketing and branding?

Brands that need to address politics do so.

But likewise, brands that do not need to be in politics, stay out of them.

There may be certain things in the political sphere that impact your business directly. Go ahead and address those. There may be conversations that your target audience really cares about. Join the conversation.

Not quite sure where to draw the line? If you don’t know what to say on a given topic, the best option is to stay out of it until you know.

Cultural Polarizations

Politics, meet culture. This age isn’t the first decade to experience massive cultural polarizations. But with our access to information and platforms, it’s becoming a potentially dangerous environment – even for the most innocent.

Some brands need to step on the line and speak out. Be prepared to respond to opposing critics.

Other brands don’t have to have an opinion, and it impacts what they do.

The biggest thing that we’ve noticed is there is very little forgiveness in the digital realm. Simply be prepared to respond with grace and patience.

How To Make Your Brand Stand Out

Now that we’ve addressed all the difficult topics that may negatively impact your brand (phew!), let’s get into how to make your brand stand out to result in amazing results.

Be Authentic

First things first…Authenticity will always win. That’s why Google has indirectly woven “authenticity” in their SEO framework – E-E-A-T.

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.

So how do you be authentic as a brand? You make sure that every single asset of your brand is aligned with one another. It’s what’s on your website, social media, and email. It’s the experience your clients have with your offer. And it’s your team and their ability to connect.

“Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet – thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing – consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust.”
Lance Secretan

For example, FocusCopy has a lot of coffee influences in our brand. This started because I could spend all day, talking with entrepreneurs about their businesses over a cup of coffee. I believe that’s one simple way to connect and make the world move forward. Beyond our marketing where coffee is apparent, you’ll experience our “sales calls” where we’ll brainstorm how to improve your business (even if it has nothing to do with copywriting).

We get into the tough conversations of burnout and purpose and balance. We acknowledge that life happens, babies need you, dogs bark at inopportune times, and business still happens. While we’re by no means perfect, we do believe that we exude authenticity in our brand.

Be Vulnerable

In tandem with authenticity, vulnerability will also help make your brand stand out. One of my friends and branding expert, Mac Ryan Creative Studio got vulnerable recently and we loved it. Not because it was about a lesson learned. But because they were brave enough to share what they learned.

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.”
Brené Brown

In short, Haley Ryan did things that she believed she should do in 2023. But that’s not what she felt was honest to her brand and who she wanted to be. This is a powerful post that resulted in more conversation with her brand.

Communicate Value

You also need to communicate value. You aren’t selling your offer. You’re selling the transformation your offer provides. The easiest way to find the value is to ask the question so what?

Take your features, and find the benefits of them. Then ask so what? 2-3 times. Then measure whatever you land on against what your audience cares about. Do they align? Does your audience actually care about the value you’re communicating? Or do they value something entirely different?

Understand Your Audience

Your customer is the most important person in your brand. Therefore, you need to understand them deeply. What drives them? What challenges are they facing? How are they overcoming their pain points? How do they measure success? When you know your audience well, you create deeper relationships – ultimately making your brand stand out.

Stay In Your Lane

Last but not least…Stay in your lane. It’s so easy to jump on soap boxes because you’re passionate about them. But that may not be aligned with your brand. That’s why the creation of content pillars is so important. They provide the “bumpers” for you to stay inside of.

What are content pillars? They are overarching categories that you speak on in your marketing. Our pillars, our example, are copywriting, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Anything outside of that holds no place in our marketing.

When you step outside of your lane, you cause major confusion and break up the continuity of your relationship with your target audience.

Branding FAQs

Have questions about branding and how to make your brand stand out? Look no further.

If you have additional questions, contact us here.

What Branding Statements Should Every Company Have?

We always encourage your company to have the following branding statements:

One-liner company description
Company bio/description
Tagline
Mission statement
Vision statement
Unique selling proposition
Value proposition

What Should You Include In A Brand Guide?

You should include the following in a brand guide:

Visual identity (logos, icons, imagery, etc.)
Brand voice guidelines (tone, phrases, rules, etc.)
Core messaging (descriptions, value propositions, unique selling propositions, etc.)
Customer profiles

Want to build a brand voice guide? Let’s chat about how our framework makes it easier for you to build your marketing messages.

How Do You Make A Brand Memorable?

As we’ve discussed in this blog, 5 things make a brand memorable. That includes being authentic, being vulnerable, communicating value, understanding your audience, and staying in your lane.

How Does Branding Impact Marketing?

Marketing is the coffee machine. It’s an engine that drives lead generation and nurtures relationships with your target audience. Branding is the exact coffee beans you put into the machine to brew your perfect cup of coffee. It’s the additives (or exclusions) of half and half, sugar, or flavors. Your branding influences how your audience receives your overall marketing.

Effective Branding Starts With The Right Messaging

Before you apply design to capture your brand, you need to know who your brand is. And that starts with developing the core messaging around who you are and what value you provide to your audience. Start the conversation to build your branding foundation today.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

What We Expect To Trend In Copywriting In 2024

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / January 30, 2024 January 30, 2024

Here to find out what we expect to trend in copywriting in 2024?

It’s no secret that AI is becoming a hot topic for companies, digital marketing professionals, and business owners. But with an influx of AI-related headlines, other copywriting trends are being buried under the hype.

Your digital marketing strategy must have various creative approaches to ensure a well-rounded plan. This is why it’s important to be aware of other copywriting trends at the start of the new year.

Discover growing copywriting trends to best strategize your digital marketing plans in 2024.

Interested in growing your business in 2024? Join our Insider’s List to be the first to know about events, resources, and blogs all geared towards your business growth.

What Copywriting Trends We Saw In 2023

Copywriting trends in 2023 reveal far more than you would initially expect. We saw certain trends take off, supporting copy that uses the following:

ChatGPT
E-E-A-T
Niching down
Voice Search
Emotional intelligence

ChatGPT Entered Every Conversation

2023 brought up a few questions about copywriting from friends, family, and even other professionals including…

Will AI take over writing jobs?

We’ve discussed ChatGPT and similar software before. But we need to touch on it again as we introduce you to upcoming copywriting trends in 2024.

AI writing tools like ChatGPT are just that…a tool, not a replacement. Those tools can be helpful to use for certain tasks like summarizing meeting notes or creating rough outlines. AI writing tools streamline steps in the writing process that don’t require a ton of creativity. This allows copywriters additional time to dedicate to creativity and tailoring their words for their clients’ needs.

E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) have risen to the top of copywriting trends. And we believe we know why.

After years of generic and dry business copy, consumers are focusing more than ever on businesses using copy as a way to make a connection and understand their problems. This means not only pointing out what they’re missing in their lives but also explaining how you directly solve their problems with your product or service.

At one point, E-E-A-T writing may have appeared to be fluff or unnecessary content. However, according to Psychology Today, over 70% of consumers spend more on brands they find authentic. This means somewhere along the way, consumers began craving copy that felt more like a conversation than a straight sales pitch.

Niche Down

Standing out from the competition online requires copy that clearly focuses on your ideal target customer. For businesses relying on website copy that is 3-5 years old, they may not be targeting the right audience at all. Following the announcement of several Google search engine updates, refining your target audience will continue to be more crucial than ever to separate your business from other companies.

Voice Search

As the use of various smart home devices, like Alexa and Google Home, continues to rise, so do voice searches. In fact, voice search and voice commerce spending grew over 300% in just the last 2 years. This is likely because voice search results are known for being convenient, fast, and mostly accurate.

Emotional Intelligence

Aligned with E-E-A-T, emotional copywriting is also on the rise with one key goal in mind: emotional copy should trigger an emotional reaction. The reaction doesn’t need to be overly dramatic or viral to make an impression. As long as you’re connecting on a deeper level with your audience, you’re on the right track.

Emotional copy should trigger an emotional reaction.
Lauren Jefferson

6 Copywriting Trends To Look Out For In 2024

All of the copywriting trends we’ve covered so far will continue to be useful in 2024. Now, it’s time to think about supporting copy that also infuses the following 6 growing copywriting trends.

Get the latest copywriting trends in your inbox when you sign up for our Insider’s List.

1. Personalizing Customer Experiences

Personalizing your messaging means more than adding someone’s first name in an email introduction. On top of using a direct voice and tone, your copy should speak to their specific buyer journey. It’s a good idea to create messaging for groups within your audience including:

New and existing customers
Repeat customers
Prospective buyers

Instead of sending everyone the same message, your copy should intentionally engage your audience by speaking to the next step in their customer journey. How can you accomplish this?

Create separate landing pages for each buyer type (even if it’s regarding the same offer)
Segment your email list based on demographics and/or behavior
Offer a quiz that results in hyper-personalized messages based on their answers

2. Humanizing Overall Messaging

Having the ability to use E-E-A-T in your writing will be a major difference between original, creative copy that connects with human emotions and AI-produced text. Copy that is humanizing allows you to better connect with your audience because they feel they can relate to you and your business. It’s one way to put a face and feeling to your company’s name without having to incorporate copy that is either too gimmicky or too buttoned up.

3. Tell Captivating Stories

Speaking of humanizing copy, storytelling is becoming vital to user search results. Aside from developing unique copy for SEO purposes, storytelling in copywriting draws your audience in by using metaphors, personal anecdotes, and similar styles to create a connection between your business, its purpose, and your customers. A few examples of creative storytelling for businesses include companies like:

Beauty Bakerie is a cosmetic brand founded and led by Cashmere Nicole – breast cancer survivor, mom, and wife guided by faith, resilience, and inspiration to bring cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, and gluten-free cosmetics to the market.

Away Travel hoped to change the way luggage looked, functioned, and felt for good. After launching their line of hard-sided suitcases and carry-ons in 2016, Away Travel took off. It is now the recipient of multiple awards for its innovative luggage designs.

Psst! They’re also great at adding a ton of personality to their branding.

Spanx is a shapewear company founded by Sara Blakely. Relying on her intuition, she moved ahead with her initial invention made of pantyhose and $5,000 from her own savings. Over time, she was able to turn her innovation into a full-blown business now worth $1.2 billion.

Have you read our story from FocusCopy’s CEO Lauren Jefferson? Check it out here.

4. Keeping Search Intent In Mind

Search engines continue to interpret the intent behind search queries used. This means that providing relevant results for users is crucial to remaining at the top of most search results.

Whether online consumers are asking a question or looking for a certain topic, they expect to find reliable answers right away. With search intent in mind, fact-checking should be an essential part of your own copywriting process to ensure that you’re providing the most accurate information that people are searching for.

If you’re still struggling to understand search intent, we’ve struggled with this in our marketing. For example, we like to shorten copywriting to “copy”. But when you search “copy”, you will usually find copy shops where you can get printouts or copy machine distributors. Even though that’s our term, we realize that someone searching for that term is looking for something else other than copywriting services, tools, or resources.

5. Gamification For Businesses

Ever heard of gamification? It’s a strategy companies can use to infuse gameplay or similar methods to keep a user engaged and active. The art of gamification can be broken down into 5 main elements…

Progressive Milestones
Real-Time Leaderboards
Immersive Experiences
Digital Badges & Certificates
Social Community Engagement

You’ve likely already used something like this to remain on task, track your progress, or check off items on your to-do list. For example, companies like Dominoes use gamification to keep you on their app as you track your pizza delivery order.

You can even manage your entire home’s cleaning schedule and add family members to tasks with applications like Sweepy. The app also offers fun challenges, tips, and resources for its users with a low monthly subscription.

There are also businesses offering interactive courses for mundane assignments that most of us will end up needing at one point or another. Defensive Driving is a good example of this type of gamification.

6. Providing Transparent Messaging

Overly corporate, generic copy is officially out. Copywriters and businesses alike are turning to copy that’s authentic, relatable, and honest. This is why transparent messaging is increasingly expected in communication from all companies and brands. People also prefer messaging that is straightforward and easy-to-digest so they can spend less time researching…and more time buying your offer.

Human vs AI Copywriting: Who Wins In 2024?

As much as AI can hit a set word count with precision, it isn’t able to genuinely create messaging that sounds…well, human!

The point is that even with an extensive vocabulary, humanized copy stands out among a neverending bank of AI-generated content.

Caffeinate Your Copy With A Team That’s On Top Of All The Copywriting Trends

Copywriting can easily get overwhelming – we get it! Especially if you’re unfamiliar with digital marketing strategies, writing copy can feel like an absolute mountain. We’re here to help make that mountain feel much much smaller.

Are there any other copywriting trends or topics you’d like us to touch on? Connect with us on social media and leave a comment!

What Is A Lead Magnet Funnel?

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / November 10, 2023 January 3, 2024

What is a lead magnet funnel and why do businesses use them?

Chances are, you’ve become a lead for another business using a lead magnet funnel to attract customers. If you have your doubts, ask yourself if you’ve ever given your name, email, or phone number to a business to…

Download a PDF for research?

Access an online guide?

Download a free book or checklist?

These are all examples of lead magnets or list builders.

There are free lead magnet templates online you can use to attract customers and funnel them into your sales communications. BUT your copy matters. From the lead magnet itself to the copy that generates leads to downloads and beyond, the words require your utmost care — especially if you want to make a real impact on your marketing.

Have a lead magnet idea but need a copywriter to execute your vision? Contact us today.

What Is A Lead Magnet Funnel & Do You Really Need It For Your Business?

Also called a lead generation funnel, a lead magnet funnel has one main goal. The goal is to convert potential customers into leads by convincing them to give up their contact information in exchange for something of value.

You need to add the right messaging to convince your target audience to provide their information. This is why many businesses choose to hire a copywriter to produce a high-value lead magnet and ultimately convert more customers.

But before digging into your messaging, here’s a big-picture view of what your lead magnet funnel should look like – broken down into 5 key parts.

1. Landing Page

Your landing page is where the bulk of your persuasive messaging lives surrounding your lead magnet. It helps to outline this page before you begin writing anything to get a better understanding of its purpose.

Your lead magnet’s landing page should include:

Your offering and what’s included in it
A genuine understanding of your customer’s pain points
Customer benefits of using your lead magnet
Information about you and your business
Call to action buttons throughout
Customer testimonials

Your landing page should walk them through the thought process of why they should download your lead magnet. Because we know that people want to buy from businesses that they feel like they know and trust, your copy should answer any questions they might have and establish a real connection. Without adding in the human element, your customers are less likely to convert.

Be sure to add call-to-action buttons that align with your lead magnet. Whether it says “Download Now” or “Submit Information”, these buttons should be kept simple and easy to find throughout your landing page.

2. Thank You Page

Don’t forget to thank your customers for taking the time to give you what you need to remain connected. Your thank you page should be simple and concise. It helps to offer general information on this page along with your thank you message. Think about offering the answers to questions like…

What can I expect next? Tell them what they should be receiving and what they can look forward to by connecting with you such as insider tips, promotions, etc.

Can I connect with you on social media? Plug in your social media accounts somewhere on your page. Those who are interested are more likely to follow you right then and there.

What if I have more questions? This is one aspect of a thank you page that many businesses either forget or choose not to include. Avoid making the same mistake and be sure to add your business’s contact information in case your customers want to reach out to you for any reason. Adding this information says that you’re helpful, friendly, and responsive.

If you really want to take things to the next level, include your next call to action on this page. It may be to convert leads into paying clients with a low dollar offer or book a strategy call with you.

3. Delivery Email

Have you noticed a theme so far?

Savoring simplicity in your layout and writing is what aids in keeping your audience focused on the one main action you want them to take. This is why, in addition to your thank you page, we suggest following up in an email with your deliverable attached. This email should be sent as soon as they submit their information on your landing page.

Again, quickly thank them for their part in the process and allow this email to serve as a delivery of your promise to give them the lead magnet they signed up for. Keep this email short and add your contact information, just in case.

4. Deliverable

What should your lead magnet deliverable include?

The short answer to this is whatever you think will be valuable for your customers. In more detail, it helps to offer information or a how-to that your customers may not easily have access to. Each lead magnet should be able to help your target audience do 1 thing they couldn’t have done before, learn something new, or gain more insights on the topic. If it takes too long for your audience to process and/or implement, it’s too complex to offer as a freebie.

For example, we offer several free downloadable guides packed with information that we know can help clients who prefer to write their own business copy. From how to answer business FAQs to what you should know before setting up your website, these are the types of lead magnets that we use because they offer value to our customers.

The top 4 types of lead magnets businesses create are:

Downloadable PDFs
Case studies
Resource lists
Videos

Think about pairing your lead magnets with a clean look and content that is easy to digest.

5. Follow-Ups

Don’t know where to start when following up with your customers? Try using a 3-email series that sounds like…

Thanks for downloading our About Page Framework! Have you had a chance to check it out and apply it to your website to gain traffic and rank higher on search engines like Google and Yelp? Feel free to reach out and let us know if you have any questions or feedback. Decide you don’t want to write your own copy after all? Schedule a discovery call and get fresh website copy delivered right to your inbox.

Still working on your website copy? If you have a few minutes, check out your free About Page Framework to quickly pick up 6 ways to improve your About page to better appeal to your customers. Go ahead, give it a shot! Second-guessing DIY copy? We’ve got your back! Schedule a discovery call to caffeinate your website copy.

Been busy? If you haven’t had time to look at our About Page Framework, that’s okay! We’ll write your website for you. Schedule a discovery call to get started right away.

Follow-up emails allow you to remain engaged with your customers and offer solutions they should really think about moving forward.

You Don’t Have To Create Your Lead Magnet Alone

Still don’t think you need a lead magnet? A majority of marketers claim that landing pages helped them achieve more than 10% of their conversions. Your business should offer valuable services whether you’re “in the office” or not – to help you grow, become an authority leader, and thrive in your industry. Schedule a discovery call to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

What Are Signs To Redo Your Website For Your Business?

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / October 23, 2023 October 23, 2023

Post-pandemic, the business world is even more online than ever before. And that means that your target audience is more likely to refer to your website before engaging or even working with you. Because of this, it helps to know more about the signs to redo your website.

But if you’re like many of the entrepreneurs we work with, you have a million tasks on your plate and your website is one of the things you don’t really want to touch.

We get it.

Even as copywriters ourselves, we struggle to find time to update our website copy. And that doesn’t even touch the design aspect of it!

Ready to boost your business’s digital marketing? Partner with a network of copywriters and other creatives to get started.

7 Clear Signs To Redo Your Website In 2023 To Keep Up With The Digital Landscape

We asked a few of our website designers and developer partners for the signs to redo your website and why it matters. Does your business’s website fall into any of these reasons?

1. Your Website Isn’t Aesthetic OR Mobile Compatible

Kyle Griffin of Creative Heights Agency said that aesthetics is a big reason to redo your website. It should fall in line with your current brand and where you want to take your business. If it doesn’t, this is a big signpost that you may need to refresh an outdated theme on your website.

Griffin also mentioned that if your website “isn’t properly optimized for mobile, you should definitely redo it. Over 60% of searches are made from phones and if your site is hard to use on mobile, people will likely leave.”

Haley Ryan of Mac Ryan Creative Studio reiterated the importance of a mobile-friendly design. All design needs to be optimized for multiple devices (i.e. desktop, tablet, and mobile). Why? You don’t want your users or potential customers to waste their time zooming in and out to navigate your website. Again, the more time it takes a user to find what they’re looking for, the more likely they are to bounce from your website to a competitor’s.

2. You Lack Traffic & Conversions

In addition, you may have noticed a lack of organic traffic to or even conversions from your website. Griffin provided a couple of reasons why this may be:

Outdated web technologies. Search engines want to rank sites that are using the latest and greatest technologies. You don’t see many websites using Flash anymore, and that’s for a good reason.
Inaccurate or outdated web copy. Google’s goal is to provide its users with the most up-to-date relevant content available. If your website’s content does not offer any valuable information, it’s less likely to appear early on in search results.
Broken links. Think about the user experience and make sure that you’re walking your potential customers through an undisrupted path. Finding information about you and your business should be an easy and smooth experience. Of any signs to redo your website, a single broken link is something you want to address as soon as possible.

3. You Avoid Updating Your Website Because It’s Frustrating & Difficult

We hear ya! Updating your website takes time and energy that you don’t feel you have. Having an outdated theme on your website makes updating incredibly frustrating and difficult. Whether your theme has reached its end of life or the other web technologies has made it impossible for you to receive updates, it puts your website in a position of perpetual ineffectuality.

An attractive and comprehensive website takes time and skills to build properly. And many entrepreneurs feel helpless when it comes to updating their websites for this reason. However, using a creative team with a proven process for updating websites has the potential to return $100 for every $1 you spend!

Ready to jump on the chance to start seeing more profitable opportunities? Let’s talk about your business’s growth goals.

4. You Have BIG Plans For Your Marketing

As the new year gets closer, marketing plans are being strategized. Maybe you currently have a landing page or single-page site and you’re ready to expand. This is a great opportunity for you to make your website look, say, and perform just the way you want it.

Ryan also mentioned that “you have long-term goals that require more processes baked into your website.” A good designer will help you strategize a site that actually works for you rather than sit as a pretty brochure.

5. Your Website Takes Forever To Load

Another good indicator that it’s time to redo your website is if your website takes forever to load. Kirstin Russ from Mountains to Sea Media reiterates this point:

“Your website should load in under 1 second for an informational site and under 2 seconds for an eCommerce site. As consumers, we want everything instantly and have no patience for slow loading sites, so we just move on. Every time someone bounces from your website, you lose that immediate potential for a new client and likely long-term potential if they never return.”

So what happens when you have a slow load speed?

32.3% of site visitors bounce when the page speed is 7 seconds (compared to 9.6% when the page speed is 2 seconds) (Section.io)
Site visitors will visit an average of 5.6 pages more when load time is 2 seconds rather than 8 seconds (Section.io)

6. You’re Experiencing Security Issues

Wehther it’s a hack, unsecure, or just looks sketchy, your audience will take notice and avoid, avoid, avoid. Especially if you take personal or credit card information online, your attention to security is imperative for your business’s reputation.

Let’s say you click on a website warning you to return to the previous page because of a security issue. Do you feel…

Comfortable giving credit or debit card numbers to make a purchase?
Confident that your personal information is safe?
Certain you won’t fall victim to an online security breach?

…Or do you continue past the warning and take the risk?

A few customers might choose the latter but many will simply leave your website and find a safer one to visit.

7. Your Brand Has Changed

Brands change over time – either out of market necessity or simply because the business is changing. Ryan advises that when “you have a bigger story to tell vs claiming a domain on the internet just to require a person to reach out”, you need to investigate a complete overhaul of your site. As a branding expert, both the design and copy are imperative to providing a better (potential) client or customer experience.

Brew Up Business With The Best Digital Marketing Baristas At Your Side

Did any or all of these resonate with you as a business owner?

Yes, updating your business’s website can be overwhelming. This is exactly why various creative industries thrive! From copywriting, graphic design, website development, and beyond, you don’t have to do it alone. And we wouldn’t let you anyway! Schedule a discovery call with us to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

How To Edit AI Content From A Professional Copywriter

Copywriting / By Lauren Jefferson / October 17, 2023 January 8, 2024

You did it! You just used AI to write for your business but now need to know how to edit AI content to best fit your brand.

Here’s the thing about AI…It isn’t new. A few old examples of AI you’ve likely seen and used include PC games like chess and solitaire. It also includes systems that are constantly updating and advancing like GPS and spellcheck.

The difference between those versions of AI compared to recent developments is that businesses are implementing it more often in their marketing strategies. AI is incredible for automating certain aspects of business marketing like scheduling social media posts, generating catchy hashtags, etc. But these days, AI “writes” entire blogs using information pulled from the internet.

Unfortunately, AI isn’t perfect. And it requires a little human oversight – hence why you need to edit your AI-generated copy.

So if you’re struggling with editing its generated content efficiently and effectively, learn how to transform generic AI copy into content that fits your business.

Give us a call for 100% creative content for your business.

3 Steps You Should Know To Edit AI Content Effectively & Efficiently

If you’re a business owner who’s just used AI to write your next blog, you may notice something critical…AI-written blogs don’t completely make sense the first time around.

You’re probably telling yourself…

Why does this look like a mess?

I’m not sure this even makes sense.

It’s a good starting point but not quite what I was expecting.

Yep, we’ve been there! Here’s how to edit AI content and still produce valuable information for your audience.

1. Read Through Forward & Backward

Before doing a quick spellcheck and hitting publish, take a second to read it to yourself. You might notice a few major issues like:

A lack of human emotion
Odd wording or phrases
An absence of creativity
Incorrect information

Looking at everything at once might feel overwhelming and that’s okay. Start by reading it to yourself and aloud to find what it is that’s missing. Jot down your thoughts and consider the main point of what you’re trying to say. Does it mostly hit the mark or do you need to be more specific about your prompt?

Instead of using general ideas to produce AI content, try being more specific with your prompts by using phrases like…

Write the top 10 ways to ensure your coffee stays fresh at home
Discuss the top 5 coffee-producing countries in the world and their cultural practices
Come up with 15 different hot espresso holiday recipes

…to get content that’s closer to what you want.

No time to write or edit? Hire a professional copywriter for your business.

2. Measure Against Brand Standards

Whatever you decide to publish should match your brand and the main goal of your messaging. If you need help figuring this part out, answer the following questions:

Who is your audience? Your audience cannot be everyone so get comfortable narrowing it down. If your AI content seems too generic, think about what’s missing for your audience. If they have any specific pain points, call them out and be clear about the solution you’re offering.

What is the point? There should always be one minor point that you’re trying to make in your writing. Using ourselves as an example, we’re here to be your copywriting expert, professional, and friend to help you scale your business through DIY writing and other tips. We don’t gatekeep our writing secrets, and we genuinely care about giving you the tools needed to communicate effectively.

However, we also understand that most business owners simply don’t have the time or staff available to produce creative content for their businesses. In fact, most small businesses have no employees at all. This is why we offer our copywriting services as an alternative.

What tone or emotion are you trying to portray? You must be able to identify the right tone and voice for your brand. As you read through your AI content, edit wherever you notice words or phrases you like versus ones that you would never say. Don’t be afraid to mark up the document as you see fit.

If you normally speak to your audience casually, add your own language to make it sound that way. If it sounds too relaxed, edit the sentences that need tightening up.

Depending on the length of your piece, we suggest not spending more than the following amount of time editing…

15 minutes for an email of about 300 words
30 minutes for a web page of about 750 words
30 minutes for a blog of about 2,000 words
5 minutes per social media caption of about 150 words

If it’s taking longer to edit AI content than is worth your time, it’s a good idea to reach out to a team of professional copywriters for assistance.

What is your main call to action? There should be one action you want your target audience to take. Whether you want them to give you a call, schedule a consultation, or sign up for your newsletter, it should be easy to locate and clearly defined.

How many words? This is an easy one. Once you’ve nailed down your other editing needs, simply highlight all of the text you have and conduct a word count. If anything is missing, add in what you need to complete its purpose but don’t force it. Anything you add should offer value to your content without compromising the quality of your writing.

3. Test Facts, Metrics, & Sources

Being a top expert in your industry comes down to a single characteristic: you’re a reliable source of relevant information. Because AI pulls various bits of information across the internet to produce content, it will be beyond vital to fact-check or change anything inaccurate or half-true. The last thing you want to do is be known for producing content that your audience cannot genuinely depend on. Doing so can harm your credibility and business reputation more than you may realize.

(NOTE: Google released its E-E-A-T – experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness – as one of the mechanisms to evaluate content. So be sure to add in your own personal touch to be rewarded in your SEO efforts.)

Don’t forget to do a routine check for spelling and grammar before publishing your newly edited AI content across any platform. Following these steps might sound like a lot at first. Practicing these steps on how to edit AI content for your business will help you become more efficient and effective at doing so over time. Before you know it, editing AI content will become second nature to your process.

Craving Creativity For Your Business Communications?

AI is a great tool to use for planning, brainstorming, and automation. But it may not hit all of the goals that you have in mind when using it to write for your business. If you’re looking for a more creative way to get your message across, turn to the copywriting baristas at FocusCopy to brew your next batch of business copy. Let’s connect to get started!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words

Why You Need To Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice To Make An Impact

Marketing / By Lauren Jefferson / September 15, 2023 September 15, 2023

Apple, Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, and Tik Tok.

No, we’re not simply listing large companies. Instead, we would like to ask what comes to mind when you think of these brands.

Whether you shop their products or not, it’s fairly clear that each of these companies has a very recognizable brand voice. If these brands were individuals and you heard them talking on the street, you’d probably have a good indicator of who they are and what they are about.

Even for brands that have evolved over time, their immediate recognition is why it’s so important for brands – no matter how small – to build a brand voice.

Need help refining your brand’s voice? Watch what we can brew for you!

4 Reasons Why You Need to Create A Consistent Business Brand Voice

Aside from having the potential to boost your revenue by 23%, your brand voice also builds trust between you and your audience in these 4 ways:

How recognizable you are
Your ability to build and maintain relationships
Your uniqueness in the marketplace
How authentic your audience believes you are

1. Your Recognition

What makes your brand stand out from the competition?

The content you produce can make your brand both memorable and immediately recognizable, which is essential to the customer journey. The more someone recognizes your brand, the more likely they are to convert to a buying customer. And, eventually, a loyal customer if you continue to think about the customer journey in every business aspect.

2. Your Ability To Build Relationships

The more someone recognizes and interacts with your specific brand, the more likely they are to grow attached to you over time. By keeping your content transparent and true to your purpose, you continue to relate to your customers and build a relationship based on trust, similar interests, and mutual understanding. It’s kind of like dating with fewer strings attached.

3. Your Uniqueness

Most likely, you are not the only one of you out in the world. Likewise, we are not the only copywriting firm out in the marketplace. But we are the only FocusCopy out there. So we’re going to lean on our own uniqueness. And that’s something no one can steal from us. We combine our…

Years of experience
Ability to teach others
Love of coffee

…And other special tidbits to create a brand voice that’s credible and colorful. But that’s not quite all.

4. Your Authenticity

Authenticity should always be blended into your brand voice. In a world where only about 31% of customers trust most of the brands they use, continue to be true to yourself. Lying about your company, services, or products will set you up for failure and ruin your reputation. It’s best to be honest and connect to your audience on a human-to-human level than tell them whatever they want to hear.

Ready to see more of your distinct brand in your copy? Let’s talk shop!

Breaking Down Your Brand’s Voice

Alright, from the top!

What exactly is a brand voice?

Your brand voice is broken down into 3 distinct categories: Consistency, Clarity, and Character.

Different Cup Of Copy, Similar Quality

Consistency in your brand’s voice is where strategy and uniformity meet. Whether your audience is looking at posts on your TikTok, Instagram, website, or any other platform, your brand’s voice should be consistent across every single one of them.

Apple is a fantastic example of a company that is consistent about its brand voice. They prefer short, clean copy that explains simply what their product has to offer. A few ideas from previous ads include:

Light. Years ahead. (MacBook)
Thinnovation (MacBook Air)
Privacy matters (iPhone)

Creating your own brand’s consistent voice doesn’t mean making 1 person responsible for creating all of your content forever. We do suggest hiring copywriters (like us) who can learn your voice and apply it to all future copy. Especially since it takes about 5-7 impressions before someone starts to truly recognize your brand.

Make It Simple To Understand

Clarity is just as it sounds in that any copy you create should be concise, direct, and easy to understand. Being too verbose or detailed can actually turn your audience off. Give them the big picture in a summary and tack on highlights to answer their frequently asked questions. An easy way to structure your content is by ensuring you answer the who, what, when, where, and why for whatever it is that you’re writing about.

An example of this can be found in Fitbit’s ads that use phrases like…

Know Your Heart Rate
Track Activity
Your best wellness tracker yet.

Their copy is straightforward and lets you know right away what you can expect from their products.

Add Shots Of Flavor

Character is the pop of personality you decide to add to your brand’s voice. It’s that something extra that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd. You may decide to adopt a certain persona to fit what your audience likes. Or you may start using certain words or phrases to fit a theme you’d like to align your brand with.

A large-scale example of a brand’s character is seen in the Houston Astros content. Their copy is, of course, aligned with baseball but also uses space themes and references to its hometown NASA roots. Another example is Chick-fil-A – known for its misspelled ads and a touch of Southern charm.

Create A Consistent Brand Voice With One Copywriting Firm

We write content for a variety of industries like bookkeeping, aviation, construction, and even chocolate (so much fun). And we like to partially attribute our portfolio to the process we’ve worked so hard to develop and define over time.

If you’re done sitting on copy that never seems to get published, we’re the copy baristas you need to bring your brand to life. Reach out today to get started.