Here's what you need to know about copywriting and marketing this year. Yes, that's right. We are going back to the basics with this one. So whether you are a total beginner, you're an experienced copywriter, or you're a business owner who writes your own copy, in this mini crash course, you're going to learn how to create a simple and effective messaging and marketing strategy that works right now. So keep watching. Hey Posse, what's up? It's Alex. Today we are getting right down to business and talking about what you really need to know about copywriting and marketing in 2024. I mean, there is no shortage of information online these days. One quick search of the Google and you can literally find hundreds, thousands, millions of videos, blogs, and social posts telling you about the latest marketing trend, tool or hack that is sure to double your conversions and like quadruple duple your income. And yes, living in the age of information is amazing because let's be honest, it has never been easier or more accessible to start an online business. It also comes with a downside, like how can you cut through all the noise that's out there and figure out what the things are that you should actually be putting your time, attention and focus on. When it comes to marketing, what is worth your time? Well, my friend, you are in the right place. Right here on my channel, you will learn copywriting and marketing strategies that work today. Just the good stuff, none of the fluff, just how we like it. So if that sounds like something you need more of in your life and business and you're not already part of the crew here on YouTube, then you know what to do. Go ahead and subscribe to my channel below, and don't forget to ring that bell to be notified when my next video goes live. Now the good thing about copywriting and marketing in 2024 is that when you zoom out, it's really not as complex or overwhelming as you might be led to believe the truth is good copywriting and therefore good marketing can be broken down into five very simple steps that anyone can follow to improve their messaging and metrics this year. And this is actually the exact strategy that I followed to launch the Copy Posse with my very first video here on YouTube back on February 13th, 2019, and then turned it into a multiple seven figure brand just three years later. And I'm telling you, I started simple. But before we get to those steps, you know we have to talk about the big old elephant in the room. Yes, I am talking about AI. I feel like that is all I talk about these days. And listen, I am not here to villainize AI. Am I obsessed with it? No. Do I hate it? Of course not. Also, no. Right? I think it's a tool that can be so, so useful to save us copywriters, marketers, and business owners that precious time that we all need. But at the end of the day, AI is just that. It is a tool and it can really incredibly useful when used in the right context and with the right prompts. But I'm just going to say it, writing all of your copy, copy and paste, using AI is not the best way to do it. The fact is that when AI is used to actually write copy from scratch, what you get kind of sucks. And I'm not just saying that because I'm biased and I'm a copywriter. It really isn't that good, guys. Although at first glance it is pretty impressive. According to a research by HubSpot, a massive 95% of marketers who use AI to write copy end up editing the text with 44% of them making significant changes, like significant changes. So if almost a hundred percent of experienced marketers who know what sells and what doesn't sell are not using AI word for word, then that's probably your sign that you shouldn't be using it word for word either. So then what can, and what should you use AI for? Don't worry, we will cover more of that in depth later. But my two favorite ways to use AI is for research and ideation. And I am not the only one. According to that same research by HubSpot, 45% of marketers love to use AI to get their juices flowing. So instead of relying on AI to crank out mediocre copy, crappy copy, focus on the six steps in this video instead, and then use AI to help get you started, give you ideas, and help you with the most time consuming part of copywriting and marketing. Yes, I am talking about research. And that leads me to the first thing that you need to know about copywriting and marketing in 2024, your message matters more than ever. Whether you are a business owner writing your own copy or you're a copywriter writing for someone else, the very first thing you need to get right has nothing to do with what you are writing. And it has everything to do with what you are saying. Yes, understanding your message will make all the difference in your messaging. Fancy that, right? With a million options out there in the marketplace, your audience is bombarded every single day with alternatives left, right, and center for pretty much everything in their life, on every screen, on every device. In order to stand out, you have to get clear on who you are, what you stand for, what you care about, and then how you're going to communicate all of that in your own unique way. So to do that, ask yourself... What do I want to be known for? What are my non-negotiables? What is the change that I want to see in my industry? How do I want to serve my audience? What is my brand promise? All of this will become the foundation of your voice, your messaging, and your marketing, and it's what makes you different than anyone else out there. Nobody wants more and more of the same. Trust me on that. And hey, if you're a copywriter working with clients, ask your clients these questions before you start writing to help guide your copywriting and better understand their brand voice. Honestly, that will go such a long way. And that leads me to number two on this list, your customers come first. Now I'm - no, I know you have heard the saying that if you try to sell to everyone, you'll end up selling to no one. And this is true, no matter what type of awesome, universal or revolutionary product or service you offer, even if it really can help everybody, right? If you want to sell anything to anyone, you need to first show them that you understand them, that you really get your customers. The desires and drives that motivate them to take action and the fears and doubts that hold them back. When you get crystal clear on what your customers need and the challenges that they're experiencing and navigating, you can create offers that they actually want to buy. I know, fancy that, right? So for example, I have multiple programs and all of them appeal to the same customer avatar, business owners and copywriters who want to start and grow their businesses with great copywriting and messaging. But every single course that I offer targets a different core need or challenge of this avatar. For example, my Write and Ignite Challenge teaches you how to write a high converting sales page. The Look Legit Website Toolkit gives you all of my copywriting formulas for the five most important pages on your website. Own The Inbox helps you create an entire marketing campaign for your next launch or promotion. The Posse Eye walks you step by step through my branding framework as you craft a beautiful and memorable brand voice and brand voice guide. And the Launch Pad is my once a year copywriting coaching program that teaches you everything you need to write an entire sales funnel and build your copywriter portfolio from scratch. Listen, I can't tell you how easy it is to create offers that people don't actually want. It really is, and yes, I have done this myself. It is really easy to create simply what you know, I think people want, or the product that I'm excited about talking about, rather than just asking my customers what solution they would happily pay for, right? And an offer market mismatch is the number one reason why launches and promotions fail no matter how amazing the copywriting is, right? No words will do it justice. So no matter what, your customers always need to come first, and it's easy to put them first when you can just ask them questions like, what is the biggest challenge you need help with right now? What is your biggest dream or desire when it comes to, you know, whatever it is that you help your customers with? What is something that you would pay money for right now? The more specific answers you get to these questions, the better your marketing will be, period. When you know who you're selling to first, so much of the hard work is already done. All right, now we're ready to move on to the next very important step. Number three, don't skip real research. Market research is something that I find a lot of new copywriters and business owners tend to completely skip when they are writing copy today. And it's mostly because they think tools like ChatGPT will give them all of the insights they could ever possibly need to write copy. But that is a big mistake because market research is more important now in 2024 than ever before. And that's because there's just like so much information, right? So when we do market research, we're often looking for two things. First, we research what the market is actively searching for right now in our industry, and then second, we research what similar people, brands, and businesses are doing to serve that same market. So we can do it in a way that is different or offer a new perspective. And yes, while we definitely do use ChatGPT to do some customer research, especially on like pain points and challenges and other key messaging concepts, there are a ton of other places and really cool AI tools that we use to research industry trends, topics and keyword search volumes so that we know what our audience is actually looking for. And when you know what they're looking for and you deliver it, I mean that's just amazing, right? I'm talking about tools like TubeBuddy, VidIQ, Answer the public Google Ads Keyword Planner, 1of10.com, BuzzSumo.com, and ExplodingTopics.com. And once you have a good idea of what your market is actively searching for, you can then start researching your competitors or other people who are out there offering similar things. So go onto Google, YouTube, Instagram, even TikTok, and search those common keywords and phrases to see what and who is trending and ranking. And then ask yourself what are they doing differently? What kind of content do they share? What offers do they have? And what can I do better, faster, easier, or just different from what they are doing? Now, this is going to give you so much great intel on the best place to start for our next step, which is number four, create relevant content. Listen, the biggest thing that you need to know about copywriting and marketing in 2024 is that you cannot just show up and make an offer and expect that that is enough for people to buy your stuff right away. Unfortunately that is just not the way it works anymore. I miss those good old days of just like buying an ad and then someone buys right away, right? But people are taking so much longer to buy than they ever did. In fact, in 2019, people took nine days on average, longer to make a purchase decision compared with 2015. And you know that number is even longer now. And what is happening during that longer buying window? You might be asking yourself, I mean, I ask myself that all the time. Well, according to Google, in their recent report, Decoding Decisions, this is known as the messy middle, which is defined as the space of abundant information and unlimited choice between the first trigger or touchpoint and the final purchase decision or the sale, AKA, your customers actually buying from you. So in this messy middle, customers are engaging with a complicated web of touchpoints and that makes it harder and harder to actually track your marketing initiatives, which isn't so great. It's, it sucks when you don't know what people are doing. But what we do know is that during this longer window of, you know, touchpoints, people are turning to social media to look for and evaluate options. And this means that in 2024, social media is going to play an even bigger role in your marketing. In fact, 87% of marketers say that social selling is effective. And that's really no surprise when you actually look at where people prefer to discover new products and services. Social media is the number one channel for Gen Z and millennials, but it looks like Gen X and boomers aren't far behind, which means they're going to social to find solutions as well. And what this means is that in order to build your brand awareness and stay front and center when your customers are in that messy middle, right, exploring all the different options, you definitely want to be present on social media. You want your face or your business or your brand showing up, no matter how new or how small your audience is, start posting across your social platforms on a regular basis. Whether it's once a day, three times a week, or even just once a week, pick a schedule and stick to it. Create content that is interesting and relevant to your audience. And listen, of course you want to share advice and tips to help them solve problems. You know, videos like this. But don't get caught in the trap of thinking that that is all you should be posting about. Educational, how to type of videos or content are only one type of content. And people don't only want to know what you do and how you can help them, of course, but they want to know who you are. People buy from people who they know, like, and trust. So come up with some topics and subtopics that you'd be interested in talking about that includes both educational topics and interesting topics, right? And you are interesting my friends, and make sure you're posting on your Instagram stories too. Make sure you watch my video from last week on that. And listen, I know the idea of posting on social media can feel kind of overwhelming at times. Like I have thought to myself, I'm a marketer, not an influencer. Do I really have to do this? And trust me, I really struggle with it too. Sometimes it's hard for me to show up on social media regularly when all I want to do is like put up my hoodie and like write. That's all I want to do. But it is such a crucial part of marketing today and it really cannot be skipped. All right, now that we've got all that very important groundwork covered, we can now zoom in, right? And focus on your copywriting and marketing strategy, which brings me to step number five, build a marketing funnel. So up until this point, we've been talking about your front end marketing efforts, right? And while this might not generate leads like directly and instantly, it's going to make your copywriting and marketing efforts so much more effective. And even though people aren't buying linearly anymore, it's still important to have a funnel. And when you're mapping out your funnel, there are a lot of different things you can do and ways you can go about it. But if you are just getting started, I'm just going to share with you the basic funnel and funnel assets that I recommend you have in your business or in your portfolio if you're a copywriter. Ads, right? The first step of any brand's marketing plan should be to get traffic, AKA eyeballs that then hopefully turn into leads and then turn into paying customers. Now, we've already talked about content and social media, and yes, this can be a great source of organic traffic for you. In fact, 80% of my sales come from organic content like creating videos like this on YouTube. But let's also talk about ads because ads are a great way to get eyeballs. If you don't have a following or do content marketing yet right now, typically your ads will do one of two things, get a new lead or make a sale, or at least you hope, right? And if you're promoting something free, like a free guide or a free masterclass, then of course your purpose is to get them to click to get that free thing and then sign up, which then means you have a new lead on your email list. If your ad is promoting a product or service directly that you know costs money and you're asking for the sale, then of course the goal here is to make an immediate sale, which sounds pretty simple, right? But no matter what the end goal of your ad is, all of your ads really follow the same format. They should have an eye-catching visual hook that really captures the reader's attention and stops the scroll. They should start with a strong headline or an opening line or hook to get them to keep reading or watching more. Then of course, it needs compelling copy that inspires your reader to take action with a clear CTA. That is a call to action to tell them what to do next. And if you want to dive deeper into my formula of crafting ads, I will link to another video below this where I talk all about writing Facebook ads. And you can go ahead and watch that after this video. Okay, the next part of your funnel, right? You've got traffic, you're getting eyeballs, you want to send them to a landing page. So if your ad or your content does the job it's meant to, the user will click a link and they will go to your sales page or to a landing page. Now of course, if the purpose of your ad was to generate new leads, that means you're sending people to some form of opt-in page or a registration page. Most of the time you simply are just asking them to sign up for something for free. Like in this example where I am giving people a free guide on 101 ways to find your next client. And you can see that opt-in pages are usually pretty short and to the point. You start with a strong headline, offer a few juicy benefits or juicy bennies as I like to call them, and then tell them where to get the free thing. They sign up, they join your list, and boom, that is when you can actually begin the process of nurturing and marketing to them. But now let's talk about the other option. If your ad is actually selling something, in this case, you're probably linking people directly to a sales page or maybe a storefront. But in this case, let's talk about a long form sales page. Your sales page should include a compelling headline followed by an intro that really helps the reader identify with what you're offering. Then you want to share the problem solution, like I know what you're going through and I can help. And then you present them with an offer, which is usually something that solves the problem and gives them the solution. You can share benefits, social proof, and authority scarcity. In other words, why should they buy right now. Some risk reversal. And of course a call to action. Now, if you want a more thorough breakdown of that sales page process, I have another entire video for you that you can watch next. And I will also link to that one below. But don't leave this video just yet because we still need to talk about the most important part of your marketing strategy, and that is emails. Now, this is a big one because email continues to be the largest revenue generator for my brand by far, and it is for most marketers too. And if that's not the case in your marketing, then trust me, you are leaving a ton of money on the table from the very first day that a new lead joins your list. So for starters, I always recommend sending a series of at least three automated emails to someone after they join your list. Where email number one can really welcome them and gets them excited to be part of your community, share who you are, give them next steps, email number two, here I like to share more about your mission, and most importantly, get this new reader to really feel like they are part of something, right? They are a part of that mission with you. And then email number three, this is where I tell them exactly how I can help them, and this is a great time to make them an offer. And of course, send them to your sales page. Now, again, if you want to dive deeper into this, I have another whole video explaining just these three emails, and I'll also link to that in the description box below. You guys have a lot of homework, but listen, your job here isn't done. The thing I really want to drive home about email marketing is that it is a long game. So while those emails, you know, those three emails are great, it is pretty rare that a brand new lead will see an ad, you know, click to your landing page, sign up, get on your list, and then immediately become a customer. It does happen. We love those people, of course, but it is pretty rare. More often than not, a new lead will sign up to your email list and then they will watch and they will wait until they are ready to buy from you. And listen, this could take days, weeks, months, even years. I have people on my Posse list for years before they buy. The average Copy Posse customer takes 46 days to buy from us after their first major interaction with our brand. So it can be a long process to nurture a new lead and then turn them into a customer. And during that time, you really want to make sure that you're staying top of mind and top of the inbox. And this means sending regular content emails to keep your list warm. That way when it does come time to promote something, you're going to have so much great trust already established with your list and your promotion will go so much better. And if you're wondering how often you should promote an offer, honestly, like anything in marketing, it really depends on how quickly you're building your list. But in general, let's say you're just starting out, you're just building your list. I would stick to no more than three to four larger promotions or launches for one product or one offer for the year. So to recap, here's what you need to do when it comes to email. At the very least, set up three email autoresponders that welcome new leads to your list. Then email valuable content on a consistent and regular basis, just like you're posting to social media. Send a promotional email campaign, you know, at least three to four times a year for the same offer. And listen, I know this can feel really overwhelming to try to plan all of these emails and stick to actually sending them consistently, especially when you're already busy doing all of the other marketing things on this list. So I've actually been thinking about creating a free resource to help you make planning your email marketing calendar super easy. So if that is something you'd be interested in, comment below and let me know. And remember, guys, at the end of the day, marketing should be fun. Don't let it be big and scary. It actually is quite simple. Rewatch this video as much as you need to, take notes, rewind, pause, take notes, whatever you got to do, right? And then make sure to watch the supporting videos that I link to below. You can do this. Give me a thumbs up below if this video was helpful for you. And I will see you next week with a brand new video. Until then, I'm Alex, ciao for now. All right guys, if you enjoyed that video, make sure to check out the next one for me right here, and you can click right here to get a free gift. How do you communicate with brand new leads to increase engagement, deliverability and long-term sales? Keep watching to learn my personal and proven three step indoctrination sequence for turning those fresh leads into forever fans.