The Creative Uproar
1668 Davie Street V6G Vancouver, BC, Canada

I’m going to let you in on a *big* industry secret... ...the best headlines, most gut-check inducting bullet points didn’t come directly from a copywriter’s big, beautiful brain. In some cases, it may be true. ... But the *tears at your soul-strings*, *can’t help but click*, copy doesn’t. The best conversion copythe copy that keeps your customers’ reading, nodding along, slowly wondering if you’ve bugged their homes, and best of all, *commit now* copycomes straight from your customer’s mouth. {awwww SNNNNAAPP!!!} >>>> The best copywriters never write from scratch. It’s taking proven formulas, like PAS (Problem Agitation Solution), AIDA (Attention Interest Desire Action), and JINX (jokes, that’s not real...yet), then adding in the details of your product, story, personality, and VoC. { that’s voice of customer y’all} Copywriting isn’t about guessing at what your dream customers want. It’s about taking real human words, phrases, and thoughts and molding them into highly-converting copy. That’s art guided by science.

I wonder how teenagers express their undying love for each other these days? >>>> These are the things that keep me up at night. You see, there was nothing {<== and I mean, NOTHING} more exciting than the moment ... that boy you liked slipped you a mixtape in math class. I can still feel the rounded, plastic corners of the Maxell MX in my sweaty hands as I rushed to my locker between classes to peak at the song list scrawled in perfect hormone-fueled teenage boy handwriting. The perfect mix is more than jamming 10 of your fave tracks onto a playlist...it’s about finding the right give and take of tempo. Too slow and you’ve inadvertently created a make-out tape, too fast and it’s slam dance city. >>>> It’s very much like finding the sweet spot for your brand voice. Is your cadence sharp and abrupt? Flowing and rhythmic? Do you talk a mile a minute? Or do you find yourself stretching out in a drawl? Nailing down your idiosyncrasies will help you add copywriting elements that fit your brand personality *and* enhance your rhythm and style.

I had found The Good Place. One cab, two planes, half a Xanax and 9 episodes of Parts Unknown after leaving Barcelona I had finally arrived at my {second} to last destinationthe Seattle airport. You might be thinkingugh, the Seattle airportbut as I wandered around aimlessly searching for any food item resembling *natural* it appeared like a beacon of light before me.... >>>> It was the SubPop store. Mecca for a 90s kid like myself. SubPop is a label that represents a generation who never *quite* fit in. Misfits. Plus, they fill their shop with hard to score records, cozy sweaters emblazoned in their classic black & white logo and play all the Seattle classics I could ask for. Like I said, The Good Place. >>>> This ^^^ is how you want your readers to feel when they discover your brandlike they’ve found their home. That means making a space for yourself. Look for what’s missing and then beautifully fill in those gaps. If you can do thatyou’ll always be in demand. I know it’s hard. We all have a tendency to look at what others are doing first { thanks IG}, and then create, but we have a *minimum* obligation to sound like ourselves first. When you’re building out your brand focus on finding *your* truth first and as you gain confidence in yourself, focus on growing towards your audience, not away from them. farrah.aviva (unedited)

Making a lasting impression could be the difference between getting on your dream customers' radar and blending into an overcrowded sea of businesses AKA being the *best-kept-secret.* BUT HOW?? 1. Tell your story. Weave your personal stories into your website, emails, blogs, and social media posts. Only YOU have access to their idiosyncrasies, guaranteeing no one else has thought of anything close. 100% original... 2. Use personality. Find a tone, cadence and brand voice that’s authentic to you. Don’t use one you *wish* you had because your fave e-comm brand uses it, or it’s trendy right now. Use the one you were born with. Believe me, you’ll get super sick of impersonating you *hero* pretty quick, plus it’s not easy to stay in character without letting the mask slip. 3. Know your audience. Sounds obvious, yeah? Well, it might be, but even if you *know* them, how much of their actual language are you using in your copy? Verbatim? Find it and use it. That’s how you get the *oh my gosh, how’d you get inside my head* reaction you’re looking for. Got questions? Drop ‘em below and I’d love to help you out. @farrah.aviva (unedited)

Are you giving your customers abandonment issues? Here are the facts: >>> 70% of customers bounce before they hit that *charge it now* button. Translation: Mega loss of potential revenue. ... Here are three ways to lure your customers back in { without sounding like a car salesman} Appeal to the *commitment phobe* in your CTA. Rather than going all in with a *buy now* button. Lean in with a *visit your cart* or *take me to my cart* CTA instead. Then pad your copy with a bit of reassurance *you’ve got great taste, BTW* or *pssst ...this is going to look great on you!* Talk like a HUMAN. Write your email like you’re speaking to a friend. Make it personal and check to see if they had trouble checking out or have questions about shipping. BACK IT UP with reviews/testimonials. The key here is to use testimonials addressing your customers key concerns { for example: price, quality, fit} And a quick side note think about how many times you’ve been mid-purchase when the shit hits the fan. Your kid decides now’s the time to punch his brother in the face, someone on the bus sneezes WITHOUT A MASK ON or at the very moment you’re about to hit *PURCHASE* a notification pops up reminding you a huge bill is overdue. What I’m saying is think beyond: Did you forget something? Know your audience. And connect like a human.

Our mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It’s addicted to meaning. Why thank you Jonathan Gottschall. Wondering why you should care about that? Think about it this way.... Your audience is full of customers whose conversational language is storytelling. That part of their minds is active and looking for meaningful patterns in the world around themit’s YOUR JOB to create those patterns. You need to create emails with stories that are: clear, concise & compelling emotional weave in adventure have personality incorporate *real-life* details { dialogue, pop culture references, colorful description} Using this story strategy you’ll have emails that engage your customers, build trust, establish connectionsultimately leading to an increase in sales. That’s the goal right? @farrah.aviva (unedited)

Everything is fine.

[Be the guide, not the hero.] If you want to skyrocket your sales, increase conversions, and have fans that rival Beyonce's you need to let your customers be the hero of the story, with you {the brand} as their guide.... It’s your job to help them discover what they’ve been all along, to guide them on their journey. How can you use a combination of your products, storytelling, and personality to put your customers into your brand narrative? Ask yourself: What do your customers really care about? How do you want them to see themselves? What do they aspire to be like? How does your product do this for them? Once you’ve answered these questions you can start writing emails with your customer as the hero putting them front and center in an epic story they can’t stop reading. What brand makes you feel like the hero of your own story?

[The power of story] There’s no bigger mindf&*k than a deceitful narrator. When we become absorbed into a story, our guard is down we become trusting, emotional defenseless. So, when the writer punishes us by exploiting thatit lingers. Why am I telling you this? Well, there’s an important lesson here about understanding the power of story for increasing your email sales {AKA nonfiction writing}.... When your audience (and you) reads nonfiction, they already have their back up. They’re on the prowl for any inconsistencies, *too-good-to-be-trues* and are critical overall { they can smell a sales pitch from 7 football fields away}. But, you can draw them in through storytelling. If you connect your launch, upcoming promotion, or new service to an interesting story your audience becomes emotionally investedblinding the skeptical eye they were using before. You need to use this with an email that’s: Written to one person Valuable Focused on one objective Not to mention, it has a great segue, CTA, and subject line. What are your struggles with adding story to your emails? Let me know in the comments

[What's your stand-out strategy?] If you're looking at your competition to figure it out... it might be time to rethink your approach. Taking bits and pieces from successful businesses that came before you seems like a killer ideaat first.... The reason many of the brands you can name off the top of your head have risen to the top is that they initially went *all in* on ONE BIG IDEA. An idea that aligned with their mission, core values, and offer. Once they found it they built a strategy around it using story, brand personality {tone, voice, image, topics}, along with imagery and presence to stand alone. What's your stand-out strategy?

[WARNING:] By now you’ve heard that your customers respond, connect, and engage more enthusiastically when you share stories. It’s a no-brainer. If you’re sending out weekly emails and they’re nothing more than a *mix* of product releases, discounts, and policy updates--how would your customers develop a sense of ownership over your survival?... >>> But there’s a catch. { isn’t there always} Our mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It’s addicted to meaning. What does that mean for you when you’re sitting down to write an email about how your brand came to be let me tell you. If your audience can’t find meaningful patterns in the world, they’ll try to impose them. The storytelling part of our mind is a factory that churns out the true stories when it can, but will manufacture lies when it can’t. Oof. You need to write stories that {while clear, concise & compelling} are emotional, weave in adventure, have personality and *real-life* details { dialogue, pop culture references, colorful description}. Are you telling stories that connect with your customers? Post inspired by the info found in *The Storytelling Animal* by Jonathan Gottschall.