Explain things clearly

Copy's for closers

Do you know all the copywriting frameworks?

AIDA is probably the most popular.

Probably from that scene in Glengarry Glen Ross when Alec Baldwin verbally abuses everyone.

“Put that copy down.”

“Copy’s for closers only.”

Major side note — if you watch the scene, he walks over to the board and flips it, and he knows ABC and AIDA are already written there.

How?

He’s only just entered the office, and I don’t think he works there either, he’s just come down from head office. So how did he know what was on the board?? Unless he came in and wrote it before just to then flip it and look cool. It would fit the psychopathic character.

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In the copywriting world, there are many frameworks which claim to tap into human psychology of buying, AIDA being one of them.

Here are some I found on the internet just now:

• Qualify, Understand, Educate, Stimulate, Transition (QUEST)

• Interest, Desire, Conviction, Action (IDCA)

• Awareness, Comprehension, Conviction, Action (ACCA)

• Problem, Agitate, Solution (PAS)

(Found on Bizwrites.com).

But I’ve got some good news.

You don’t need to know them and I don’t really know them either.

They’re good to think about, but I’m not sure anyone sits down and goes “I’m going to apply this framework”. I think most copywriters have their own secret frameworks.

They’re good to know to flex your skills as a writer and understand new sales methods, but most of the time, they are frameworks which don’t necessarily fit what you need.

Most of the time you’ll get a webpage, which needs to inform a specific type of customer about a certain product offering, or an email which needs to direct customers to a specific product or page.

There isn’t always room to start hard selling and applying frameworks.

Also a lot of these frameworks are good for ecommerce emails for example. Something where you’re clearly selling something.

Landing and sales pages work too.

But what if you’re trying to educate someone on market liquidity in order to hit the rankings on Google and also make them more inclined to sign up for an account?

Does AIDA work here? Most people need to be slow rolled a bit more.

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Writing clearly

Writing clearly is the main objective.

Plus, if you write well, and have a clear message in mind, all these frameworks will kind of happen naturally anyway.

Clear writing is jargon free, and has a straight message.

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Three frameworks you can use

Here are three ‘frameworks’ I use when writing copy.

(They aren’t very polished, but maybe that’s a good thing).

1. The ‘Dear Mum’ strategy

I stole this from a guy from LinkedIn called Jasmin Alić. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the actual post).

But basically, it was as follows.

Start every piece of copy with ‘Dear Mum’, and then delete it at the end.

It will change how you write.

This works best I think when you’re explaining something super niche and complex.

It’s also perfect for knowing what is jargon and what are normal people words.

My mum is a clever woman, but she won’t know the words only people in the business use, or the endless abbreviations.

So using this strategy will push you to subconsciously write more clearly and care about the meaning.

2. What does the copy need to do?

This is it really, what it all boils down to. Find the purpose.

• What is the intended outcome?

• What exactly does this copy need to achieve?

• What do you want the reader to know?

• What do you want the reader to do straight after?

• What actually is the thing we’re selling/doing here?

This is harder than you’d think. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to get an answer sometimes.

3. Think about the funnel

Once they’ve clicked through, where do they end up?

Dead ends are common, so make sure there aren’t any.

This forms part of a sales funnel.

I’ve got more about sales funnels here (this is a funnel in itself you see) 👇👇

Creating sales funnels

Even on this newsletter now, it’s important to give you somewhere to go. Otherwise the content feels finite and dry.

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Once you have these things down, you can then explore creative ways to get people’s attention.

Generally speaking, good writing is writing that’s never been seen before.

“A campaign against cliche”👇👇

All bad writers are in love with the epic

So try and break out of the frameworks and bring some personality into your writing.

Think about whether your parents or mates would actually read it. If the answer is no, then it’s probably time for a refresh.

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Let me know in the comments:

What are your personal frameworks when writing?

How do you explain things clearly?