Send help!

 

Or advice.

Or energy.

Or a sick note. 

 

ANYTHING to get me through running a marathon this Sunday. 

 

Running 42 kilometres around a pretty Spanish city seemed like a great idea when I signed up last September. But now? I can’t think of anything worse. 

 

Especially since at least 3 Spanish teachers have told me this pretty city, Murcia, is basically one big hill. (Yay)

 

Maybe I’m being dramatic.

Maybe it will be fine. 

 

 

Do you know what I mean, First name / friend?

 

Perhaps not with running. But I bet you’ve done it with copywriting before… 

 

BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE.

IN TODAY'S EMAIL

Right? We've all toyed with the idea of coming up with a ~unique~ headline or phrase… only to quit and settle on something totally generic when it gets hard.

 

Every industry has its go-to phrases that are easy to fall back on but painfully dull to read. 

 

When I (briefly) worked for a tech company, it was all ‘new eras’ and ‘unleashing the power’ of whatever. 

 

 

 

Phrases like these have become popular for a reason. 

 

They sound good. 

They're aspirational. 

They’re easy. 

 

 

(And we both know that’s not an option right now. Right? RIGHT!?)

Great copy isn’t something you can tap out in a matter of minutes. It’s the result of research, strategy and a whole lot of thinking. 

 

And, like running a marathon, that stuff’s hard. 

 

(Although, I would TOTALLY take staring out the window *thinking* over panting my way up, down and around Murcia right now. Just saying.)

 

In theory, there's nothing wrong with using these phrases. But when you've spent so long crafting the PERFECT offer for your people, it deserves a liiiittle more than ‘huh, well at least you tried’, don't you think?

 

YES. YES IT DOES, First name. 

 

1. Think about what your people want
 

Yes, they want to feel confident. But confident doing WHAT exactly? Make a list of their goals and think about which ones your course helps them achieve. 

 

 

Dig into the phrase and consider what ‘reaching the next level’ or ‘getting fluent’ means, in real-life terms, for your students. Is it passing an exam? Speaking to their colleagues? Or feeling more at home somewhere?

 

 

Details are what attract the right people for your offers and repel the wrong ones. Think about how you can make your copy specific to where they’re reading it/studying, what they’re doing, or what’s going on in the world that interests them. 

 

Want some examples? Scroll on to read the blog or scroll even further to see this in action.

I confess. 

 

In the early days of my copywriting career, I used my fair share of generic phrases. Here’s one of my favourite snooze-worthy examples: 

This was the headline from an ad I panic-made when the pandemic first hit in China and the school I worked for had to move all our classes onto a half-ready app. 

 

Past Me though this was a ~super~ cool and unique angle. But Present Me knows better. 

 

Our first mistake was targeting everyone, everywhere (see what I did there?) 

 

So here’s where I’d start if I had to rewrite it now… 

 

 

 

Those are some super early stage ideas that are already miles better than the original one I wrote. So just think what you can do with a bit more time and effort.

 

Now, I have whole paella to eat. (It's carb loading, OKAY!?)

 

If you have questions, words of running wisdom or any idea how I can get through 42km without giving up… pretty please send them my way. 

 

Have a better weekend than me, 

 

Lauren x