May 3, 2024 by

The Secret of Powerful Marketing? (2 Must-Have Ingredients)

Good copy and marketing is a mystery to most.

Should I sell more?

Should I focus more on brand personality?

What’s the optimal mix?

It’s not an easy question to answer. And many pull their hair out trying to figure it out.

But the truth is:

Both selling (i.e., direct-response copywriting) AND brand personality are important.

You need direct-response copy for getting that initial sell and quick wins.

But you need brand personality to create a long-term customer. After all, people want to do business with people (and people have personalities, which brands should have as well).

Yet, if all you do is sell to people (even with powerful direct-response copywriting), they won’t form a bond with you. In this case, you sacrifice your customer’s longevity.

(And possibly your business, too)

On the other hand, if your business has a “personality,” as in, something that feels human and has values and emotion, customers will be more likely to stay.

(Just like a person IRL. If they gel with your personality, you want to hang out more. It’s as simple as that)

But “hanging out” with a business doesn’t equal sales.

And consistent sales are the lifeblood of a business. Without it, it shrivels up and dies.

So what do you do?

Simple – combine direct-response copy (i.e., sales) with brand personality.

With both, you can get those quick, upfront wins in the form of clicks and sales. And also get a long-term customer who sticks around because they like your brand personality.

The question then, is a matter of ratio.

How much direct-response copy should I market with?

How much brand personality should I emphasize?

80/20? 50/50?

What’s the “optimal” ratio?

In truth, there’s no perfect number.

What matters is you try to implement both.

But we can break it down to two basic methods:

  1. Alternate between sales and brand content (as in, sell something in one piece of content, then maybe share tips in another), or:
  2. Blend sales with brand content (e.g., share tips in your content but logically link the tips to an offer of yours)

And of course, the secret 3rd option is to combine both methods.

Honestly, I’ve seen all three options work.

You could argue it boils down to the brand personality and just say, “well, let’s just say our brand sells like ‘this’ and call it a day.”

This approach wouldn’t be wrong.

Personally, I use the “blend” approach. It feels more natural and conforms to the direct-response copywriting concept of hiding your promotions as the medium it’s in.

(e.g., if you’re selling something in a newspaper, write the sales piece so it looks like a news article)

Not that the other option is wrong.

In fact, alternating between “sales piece” and “content piece” is convenient for simplicity and clarity. You may have an easier time mapping out your marketing strategy that way as well.

It’s up to you.

So, what’s the final verdict?

Well, I’d say…

Do both. Not just one or the other. Ultimately, as long as you hit both concepts in your marketing, you’ll be okay.

Now, let me show you how I use the “blend” approach.

Right now, I just shared some insight into how marketing can be executed. I’ve demonstrated proof and authority because of it.

This means I can reasonably and logically push my offer. This is how you blend copy with content. They support each other in the same piece, allowing you to “sell without selling.”

Make sense?

Now, let’s finish it off:

If you’d like help with marketing that blends sales-inducing direct-response copywriting with brand personality (especially in an email setting)…

Just hit me up and we’ll get things started asap.

-Ericson

Filed Under: Copywriting, Email Marketing, Marketing
January 25, 2023 by

Unleash the “Power of One” to Transform Your Email Copy

Are you looking to get your emails noticed and increase conversions?

Studies show that focusing on one powerful idea is the key to writing effective email copy. This is known as the power of one rule and can be a game-changer for your email marketing efforts.

So how does it all work?

The power of one rule dictates that you focus your copy around a single, powerful idea. This will help grab your market’s attention and make them more likely to respond.

A few examples of powerful ideas you can use are:

  • “Achieve X in 3 Simple Steps;
  • “Discover How You Can Transform Your Life in Just 30 Days”;
  • “Learn the Secrets to Financial Freedom Today”.

Then you just need to provide examples and tips that support the single idea you’re pushing. This helps establish credibility and boosts engagement.

For example, with the “Achieve X in 3 simple steps” idea, you would first focus on how you can achieve this in 3 simple steps… then provide examples of how each step works… and then offer proof of success from yourself or others that have tried the 3 steps.

This will embed the message in your readers’ minds, just like in the movie “Inception.” They’ll be entranced by the idea because you reinforced the main idea from multiple angles.

On the flip side, what if you don’t use the power of one rule?

Imagine you get an email and the copy looks like this:

“If you want to achieve X, you’ll need to try Y and Z. Learn some tips here. Also, check out this article to see how others have succeeded with this other related thing. Finally, here’s how to start your journey towards X if you don’t know where to start.”

It’s all over the place and there’s no clear focus. As a result, your readers will get lost and confused – and most likely move on to the next email in their inbox.

But when you focus your copy on one powerful idea and use the power of one rule, you’ll keep your readers engaged and encourage them to take action.

If you want to tap into the power of one for your email copy, then I’m here to help you. As a professional email copywriter, I can create engaging copy that grabs your market’s attention and gets them to take action now.

>> Transform your email copy today!

-Ericson

Filed Under: Copywriting, Email Marketing Tagged With:
March 31, 2019 by Leave a Comment

How to sell in every email without feeling dirty about it

“I want to make more sales from my emails… but don’t want to bombard my list with so many hard sells.”

A valid concern.

But if you want a thriving business… and want your email marketing to pull its weight…

…you’ve gotta find a way to sell without upsetting your list.

And there is a way.

Luckily, it’s a win/win situation for you AND your list.

Here’s the key:

Always soft sell to your list.

And what I mean by that is write your emails in such a way that you can plug your offer in without it drawing too much attention to itself.

How? Just make sure your emails are…

1. Entertaining, and…
2. Beneficial

(In that order).

It’s easy to find beneficial content online. So you need to add some entertainment value to make your list not only open to reading your emails… but happy to do so as well.

A great way to do this is stories.

People are hardwired to listen to stories. Just share an interesting story that’s relevant to your audience, and then tie it to a benefit your product or service has. That’s all you need to do.

Even better is to use testimonial stories. Not only do you get the benefit of telling a story, but you also get to use social proof to build your credibility. People will naturally think “If they got x results, then why not me?”

Make sense?

If you can get your audience pulled in with stories (and entertain them) with each email, are they really going to mind if you slip in your offer quietly at the end?

Probably not.

-Ericson

P.S. Struggling to get more sales from your emails? Send me a message and I’ll write up some emails your list will love (and buy from).

Filed Under: Email Marketing