11 Copywriting Tips That Improve Your Marketing Today

This is the full transcript for Episode 128. For the show notes and audio, see LNIM128 Show Notes.

A Customer Service Story Worth Studying

My wife rents camera lenses from ATS Camera Rentals before we commit to buying. Every time she rents something, it arrives with a personal handwritten note from the person who packed the box, sometimes with a piece of candy taped to it. They follow her on Twitter, noticed she has been photographing birds, and started drawing little bird pictures on their notes.

These are hand-crafted touches for a smalltime customer. The marketing result is that she will never rent a lens from anywhere else. The question for your business: what are you doing to make your readers, customers, or fans feel like you genuinely care about them?

11 Copywriting Tips You Can Use Today

1. Craft a Great Headline

More people will read your headline than anything else in your copy. If reading your own headline would not make you want to see what is below it, you are not done. Build a swipe file in Evernote or a note-taking app: save every headline that grabs your attention and use them for inspiration when you write your own.

2. Tell Stories

Stories are engaging and entertaining. They draw readers in and carry them through your copy. As Terry Dean emphasized in Episode 127, start every email with some kind of story to hook the reader.

3. Inject Your Personality

Let your real personality come through. It makes your copy feel authentic and trustworthy. Some people will not resonate with your personality, and that is actually a good thing. You are filtering your audience down to the people who know, like, and trust you, which is exactly who is most likely to buy.

4. Appeal to Emotions

Tap into whatever emotion your reader feels about the problem you are solving: fear, frustration, aspiration, relief. Logical arguments matter, but emotion is what drives people to take action. Sometimes we buy the car not because of its safety rating but because of how it makes us feel.

5. Make Your Copy Visually Appealing

Construct your copy so it pulls readers through visually. Use whitespace, readable fonts, bullet points, headings, and subheadings. If your copy is exhausting to look at, people will not read it no matter how good the content is.

6. Speak Your Customer's Language

Use the exact words your customers use when they talk about their problems and your products. This builds credibility and makes readers feel understood. Survey your customers, interview them, or read their reviews and comments to capture their language.

7. Focus on Benefits

Features describe what a product does. Benefits describe what the customer gets. A 17-point antilock braking system is the feature. Keeping your children alive when you cannot see a car running a red light is the benefit. Benefits sell. Features explain.

8. Deliver Value Inside Your Copy

Especially with long-form copy, give the reader something useful before you ask for anything. When readers feel like they are already getting value, they trust you more and are more willing to continue engaging with your offer.

9. Ask “Yes” Questions

Get readers nodding along by asking questions with obvious yes answers. This builds momentum. When someone has been saying yes to several things in a row, they are more inclined to say yes when it is time to act on your call to action.

10. Include a Strong Call to Action

Do not leave it to your reader's imagination what they should do next. Be direct and specific. Tell them exactly what action to take and what they will get by taking it. Many marketers, especially when starting out, are afraid to ask for the sale. If you are delivering genuine value, asking people to take the next step is a service, not an imposition.

11. Organize Your Writing with a Formula

Follow a proven structure every time you write. Terry Dean's formula is story, value, call to action. Dan Kennedy's classic approach is problem, agitate, solution (PAS). Ray Edwards' PASTOR method, which we cover in detail in Episode 129, provides an even more comprehensive framework.

Key Takeaways

Your headline determines whether anyone reads the rest of your copy
Stories and personality make copy engaging and trustworthy
Emotion drives action more than logic
Speak the customer's language, not your own jargon
Focus on benefits, not features
Deliver value before asking for anything
Always include a clear, direct call to action
Use a proven copywriting formula to organize your writing

What's Changed Since This Episode

Mark recorded this episode in February 2017. These 11 copywriting principles remain foundational. They are taught in essentially the same form by copywriting educators in 2026 because they are rooted in human psychology rather than any specific platform or technology.

AI writing tools have changed the copywriting workflow. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude can draft copy quickly, but the quality of the output depends entirely on the human directing it. Understanding these 11 principles allows you to evaluate and improve AI-generated copy rather than accepting mediocre output.

Short-form platforms have raised the stakes on headlines. With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and the dominance of social media feeds, the first few words of any piece of content matter more than ever. Mark's advice about headline craft applies to video titles, social posts, and email subject lines just as much as blog posts.

Resources Mentioned

Related Episodes

Listen and Subscribe

Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/. Have a question for Mark? Call the digital recorder at 214-444-8655 or drop a comment below.

11 Copywriting Tips That Improve Your Marketing Today [LNIM128 Transcript]