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Date:
September 27, 2021

Author:
Ashlyn Carter

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Hey! Ashlyn here, OG copywriter for creatives—reporting for duty. 

Let's get you a message so tight you can bounce a quarter off of it. Around here, we serve up science-based storytelling strategies the creative set.  Even while raking in more than 1.26M in agency work since I've been at it, I firmly believe working from a place of rest (not hustle) IS possible—and I want the same for you. Words matter. Best be sure they work (and oui, with math) ... and know how to party while they're at it. 

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Reading time: 8 min.

When you can turn the most casual website, visitor or reader, into a customer—you know your website copy is doing something right. So how do we make sure that those casual website visitors, customers, are actually swept off their feet with your sales copy?

Well, today I’m spilling a secret because if your website copy, if your brand messaging, doesn’t include this one key ingredient, it’s DOA, baby. You can almost guarantee the potential sales will be out the door before you even knew it. 

Now, I’m not going to keep you on the edge of your seat for too long here. I’m just going to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag. I want you to understand how to incorporate this little piece of data and information all the way throughout your sales copy. And, I’m going to pull a landing page screenshot from one of the new landing pages on our new website, because I want to show you the overlap of exactly how much of the messaging includes this thing. 

“Okay, get to it, Ashlyn. What is it?”

How to write compelling copy | Ashlyn Writes

The BIG secret is >>> your sales copy has to be chock-full of things that your customers, or your clients, are actually saying—not what you think they’re saying. <<<

What they actually said to you. That’s it.

If your website doesn’t have multiple, what I call them, “get out of my head” moments, then we’re missing out.

I know this sounds super simple, and you may have even heard this said before, but it merits being said again, or at least studying and looking at it a little in depth and how you can do a better job going out there and getting it. 

Let’s break down how to get this key piece of messaging and positioning right. Make sure to read until the end, I’m breaking down our new website—exactly how much is stuff that was said by clients and customers versus how much came out of my own head. 

Okay, let’s go ahead and get into it!



No. 1| Always be filing

My step number one tip for you is to always be filing. It’s like that sales saying, “always be closing”. I want you to always be filing information.

In a recent video, I mentioned my copy banking strategy. It’s a template inside The Copy Bar. I am obsessed with categorizing and pulling different messages that I hear with the same level of obsession, probably, that I was consumed by when I made collages in, like, the 90’s and the 2000’s. 

Abc Cameron GIF by The Bachelorette - Find & Share on GIPHY

But what I want to show you here is a data spreadsheet that we’ve started using inside my business. We’re actually putting this inside the new Copywriting for Creatives curriculum because it was so very helpful and we’ve dubbed it, “the research rainbow”.

This is what I’m using to file pain-points, sticky messages, desires, everything. So I’m filing this information. Great. Now, I always got my ear to the ground, figuring out how I can get it. And when it comes to collecting this stuff, yes, absolutely surveys—you probably knew that.

One tip that was major helpful for me as we revamped the website, I re-read every single client, and even customer application, from 2019, it was? Through 2020, into 2020 when I pulled my data. I started writing the copy at the beginning of 2021. I pulled that timeframe and I read all of these. When I have little snippets in these messages that I knew would fit into the research rainbow, I would copy and paste them into that.

Related: 4 Ways to Easily Organize Your Market Research

client & customer voice hacking quick start guide-ashlyn writes

You have to get obsessed with doing this.

It does take some time but this is not only going to help you with sales copywriting and marketing in your business, but with product development and research too. Or, when I say product, your client services, the things that you provide to them, it’s going to help you better those as well. 

Like I said at the beginning, I want you to stop using the words and the phrases that you think that they’re saying, and I want you to use the words and the phrases, they actually are.

My Copywriting for Creative students know I call this your client-and-customer voice hacking– the process of gathering all of this. There is enough nuance of a difference in what you think they’re saying and what they’re actually saying, that it will make a difference in your copy. By and large. And I know I’ve said this in some videos, the best copy is never in your head— it is in their heads— it’s your job to go out there and get it from them.

Related:How to Write a Website that Converts


No. 2| Fold customer voice into your above-the-fold copy.

Tip number two for you. I want you to fold client and customer voice into your above-the-fold copy. This may get some tomatoes thrown at me, but this is why I’m not really that big of a fan of the whole headline on a website that says, “Hi, I’m ‘blank.’ And I do ‘blank’ for ‘blank.'” Come on. We can do better than that—and I know you’re up for the challenge.

I’ve also talked about heat maps, talked about that in last week’s video. But a point I made in that video is worth saying again—100% of your website, visitors are landing on this above-the-fold piece of your website. And like Ogilvy said, if we’re not spending the time on that, then that’s 80, 90% of the dollar that we spent, wasted. Because the percentage of people that read this and decide to keep reading or not is sky high. 

So my tip here: spend the MOST time writing the headlines for your website.

In the copy bar shop, I do have a headline template that you can use. It’s going to help you craft 35, at least, first-draft headlines you can use for your offers and the services that you provide. At the end of the day, the concepts I’m bringing up, the fact that you even go out there and get what people are saying and the fact that you need to fold them into these frameworks that are tried and true and work. It’s easy to say, it is hard as anything, to execute.

Related: How To Write Headlines That Sell on Your Homepage

I want to show you an example of the website copy on one landing page of my website. And I want to highlight for you exactly how much of it is voice-of-customer data, or is attributed to client and customer voice hackings. Copy that didn’t come out of my head, but stuff that I gleaned, and insights that I garnered from listening and putting my ear to the ground. 


No. 3| Work down the page with a framework & keep folding in client and customer voice into the copy.

I want you to work down the page with a framework that works and continue to fold in this client-and-customer voice hacking into the copy. We talked about the importance of always be filing and we talked about how to insert your client and customer voice hacking into your above-the-fold copy.

 Love this classic marketing quote. “People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, ally their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.” A copywriting formula, or framework: That’s going to help you have some sort of paint-by-number approach to the hierarchy of the messaging that you’re including.

client & customer voice hacking quick start guide-ashlyn writes

That will help you and support your message in 4 ways:

  • Formatting (we just talked about that)
  • Readability—it’s so much easier to read copy when it’s formatted like this
  • Ability to keep the audience’s attention—we talked a little about this in the heat mapping video.
  • Telling a Compelling Story

I have done videos before where I’ve talked, not just through storytelling, but about frameworks and why you should be using them on your website. I have the A-R-T-I-S-T framework for your “about” page. I’ve got my P-A-R-I-S sales copy framework. Love a good framework. 


All right, now you know your sales copy has to be chock-full of things that your customers, or your clients, are actually saying—not what you think they’re saying. If you are truly ready to double down on a client and customer voice hacking and writing sales copy that converts—do not miss your spot on the Copywriting for Creatives waitlist. This is my baby. I love this program so very much. Get yourself a spot on the early bird waitlist and you will know when seats open!

All right, now, you know all about how to pull your client and customer voice hacking data. I’ve hinted at it a couple of times, but I did a deep dive in why you need heat maps, what they are, and exactly how you can install them on your website—you can watch that here.


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How to write compelling copy | Ashlyn Writes

Reading Time: 7 Minutes Reading time: 8 min. When you can turn the most casual website, visitor or reader, into a customer—you know your website copy is doing something right. So how do we make sure that those casual website visitors, customers, are actually swept off their feet with your sales copy? Well, today I’m spilling a secret because […]

9/27/21

comments +

  1. Kate Frances says:

    This is a gold mine of info. The mix of written and video is really cool too. Ashlyn you’re 1 of my chosen mentors this year (just joined CfC) and I’ve added a quote from this article to my copy bank already! Thank you for everything you do x

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