87 ways to get unstuck
A deck of named copywriting techniques, each with a question to ask your brief and a way to try it on your own copy.
Made by ProCopywriters, the UK’s professional body for copywriters. Free, for anyone.
Persuasion
40 cardsPrinciples and rhetorical devices: why people believe, remember and act.
Absolutes are unbeatable
As Luke Sullivan writes: ”Go for an absolute; go for an ‘-est’.
Address objections
Addressing objections doesn’t need to be negative, though, because you can positively address customers’ concerns.
Appeal to authority
How can you demonstrate your authority?
Benefits first
Features are things your product does.
Brutal honesty
Address the obvious weakness with your product immediately and openly.
Call to action
How can every word contribute to guiding readers towards this action?
Commitment and consistency
Most people have a need to be consistent.
Community
Does your offer include an element of community or shared experience?
Curiosity
… curiosity.
Deliberately different
Is your copy too similar to that of your competitors?
Emotion
Readers are much more likely to remember your message if your words resonate with a powerful experience, emotion or memory.
Explain the process
Especially useful when appealing to first-time buyers, novices or B2B audiences.
Feature deep dive
When your readers are well-informed, try building your messaging around detailed discussions of specific elements of your products or services.
Focus on the reader
People aren’t selfish.
FOMO
It might be a new experience, a life of convenience, or membership to a desirable club.
Framing
People are intensely sensitive to the frame in which ideas are presented.
Get to 'yes'
Start with a small question that is 99% likely to get a ‘yes’ answer.
Liking
Sounds obvious, but this one runs deep.
Pratfall effect
Research shows that it’s possible to be too perfect.
Reciprocity
Most of us need to be fair and just.
Reward your reader
Reading is work.
Scarcity
Items that are in short supply or only available at certain times are seen as more valuable/desirable.
Sell the sizzle
Rather like those ‘serving suggestion’ photos on food packages, try to capture the context in which your product is consumed, or allude to a feeling that it forges, or a moment it creates.
Serial position effect
Choose the position of your messages carefully.
Show, don't tell
’Show, don’t tell’ is basic advice for writing fiction and it applies perfectly well to writing copy.
Singular focus
Trying to share too much information at once can overload your readers and detract from the primary message.
Social proof
Testimonials, reviews, likes, shares, sales figures and long queues are all popular forms of social proof that businesses routinely exploit.
Specificity
Instead of trying to appeal to a mass audience, and failing to interest everyone, focus on the readers who need your specific product.
Take a single step
You wouldn’t ask a stranger for their hand in marriage, so don’t rush into propositioning a reader who barely knows you.
Testimonials
Can you quote customers directly, or get inspired by their words?
Tone of voice
Your tone of voice is a major component of your brand’s identity.
Unique Selling Point (USP)
What do your sales reps always highlight to land a deal – or sink a competitor?
Urgency
If you can create a sense of urgency in your copy, you can reduce the likelihood that readers defer action.
Weirdness works wonders
A sprinkling of weirdness can help people remember important messages and set you apart from your ‘meh’ rivals.
Write the unwritten
Stating the obvious is a powerful trick when nobody else is telling the truth.
Zig when others zag
What if all your competitors are wrong?
Brand archetypes
Brand archetypes borrow from Jungian psychology to give your brand a recognisable character.
Verbal identity
Verbal identity goes deeper than tone of voice.
Naming principles
Names generally fall on a spectrum from descriptive (‘General Motors’) to evocative (‘Patagonia’) to abstract (‘Kodak’).
Brand story
A brand story isn’t the same as storytelling in your copy – it’s the foundational narrative from which all your copy flows.
Craft
30 cardsWriting technique: how the words are made to work.
Active voice
For example, writing ‘we save your life’ is more informative and powerful than ‘lives are saved’.
AIDA
First, you must get a reader’s attention, then capture their interest before arousing desire and, finally, encouraging action.
Alliteration
Starting multiple words with the same sound can lend texture to your writing and encourage people to pay attention.
Ask questions
Asking questions is a simple technique to make your copy more conversational.
Because
It’s one of the most powerful words you can use.
Bucket brigade
What do we mean?
Process
17 cardsWays of working: how to get unstuck, get started and get it done.
Bullets
* Don’t worry about the style or tone
Change the font
This visual shift can highlight weaknesses and errors in your copy.
Combine harvester
Rewrite a single headline using five different voices or copywriting techniques.
Cut-up technique
Try printing your working notes so you can cut them up and rearrange the physical sheets.
Dirty dozen
Instead of trying to write the perfect headline, try to write the very worst thing you possibly could.
Draw the thing
Sketching your ideas might help you imagine how the reader will flow through the ad, how the messaging will fit together, and which details you have room to include.
CopyDeck is the free part of Ideas. Studio is ProCopywriters’ tools for people who write copy, included in Pro membership.