---
name: mkt-copywriting
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "write copy", "create a headline", "write a tagline", "improve my copy", "write landing page copy", "create ad copy", "write email subject lines", "write product description", "write newsletter intro", "write pricing page copy", "write homepage copy", or mentions copywriting, persuasive writing, marketing copy, or conversion copy. Uses Harry Dry's Marketing Examples framework for clear, memorable, high-conversion copy.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: hungv47
  version: "2.0.0"
  sources:
    - https://marketingexamples.com
    - https://www.harrydry.com
---

# Copywriting Skill

*A **horizontal skill** in the Problem → Solution → Communicate framework — applied wherever persuasive writing is needed across the Communicate phase.*

Framework for writing copy that sticks, based on Harry Dry's Marketing Examples methodology.

## Before Writing

1. **Check for context:** Look for `.agents/product-marketing-context.md` or similar product context files. If found, use as foundation.
2. **Gather what's missing:**
   - **Page purpose** — What is this page trying to achieve? (signups, demos, purchases, awareness)
   - **Audience** — Who lands here? What do they already know/believe?
   - **Product/offer** — What specific thing are we selling or promoting?
   - **Traffic context** — Where are visitors coming from? (ads, organic, referral, email)

## The Three-Question Test

Run every sentence through these filters:

1. **Can I visualize it?** Close your eyes. Can you see it? If not, it's abstract wallpaper.
2. **Can I falsify it?** Is it provably true or false? If not, you're just talking.
3. **Can nobody else say it?** Could a competitor sign this? If yes, dig deeper.

Three nos = rubbish. Three yeses = you're onto something.

## Rule 1: Make It Visual

Abstract words evaporate. Concrete words stick.

**The memory test:** "Seamless transition, charging pitbull, muscly Irishman, better way, leg of lamb." You'll remember pitbull, Irishman, lamb. You forgot the abstract ones.

**The zoom-in technique:**
1. Write the abstract word at the top of the page
2. Ask "what do I actually mean?"
3. Keep zooming until you hit something you can drop on your foot

Example:
- Abstract: "Regain fitness"
- Zoomed: "Getting off the couch to running"
- Concrete: "Couch to 5K" (most downloaded fitness program ever)

Example:
- Abstract: "Worn by pretty people and old people"
- Concrete: "Worn by supermodels in London and dads in Ohio" (New Balance)

## Rule 2: Make It Falsifiable

**Why it works:** When you write true-or-false statements, you put your head on the chopping block. Ears prick up.

Galileo got house arrest for "the earth spins around the sun" (falsifiable). If he said "the earth has a harmonious connection with celestial objects" they'd have sent him to the pub.

**The "don't talk, only point" technique:**

Imagine setting up a friend on a blind date:
- Talking: "He's funny, smart, good values" (means nothing)
- Pointing: "6'2", reads on the tube, looks like Ryan Gosling" (falsifiable)

**For products:** Don't describe. Point at the graph. Point at the statistic. Point at the specific feature.

Volvo: "Your car has five numbers on the speedometer. Volvo has six." Nobody else can say that. It's falsifiable. It's visual.

## Rule 3: Make It Yours Alone

> "Never write an ad a competitor can sign." — Jim Durfee

Bad: "Don't just get a job. Change an entire industry." (Any recruiter could say this)

Good: "They don't write songs about Volvos." (Only Corvette can say this)

Good: "The dating app designed to be deleted." (Only Hinge can say this)

The test: Swap in your competitor's name. Does it still work? Rewrite.

## The Writing Process

### Piece 1: Who You're Talking To

Snapchat spent $7M on a Super Bowl ad. Average Super Bowl viewer: 39 years old. If you use Snapchat at 39, something's wrong. They forgot who they were talking to.

**Coffee shop example:** One cafe has a huge menu with 17 croissant options. The other says "Coffee and pastry = £5." Everyone queues at the second one. Tourists walking by don't need the full menu. They need instant clarity.

### Piece 2: Something to Say (The Why)

What can you do that no one else is doing that people care about?

Dave Kitson (mediocre footballer) outsold Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, and Owen combined. How? He couldn't write about his brilliant career. So he wrote as "The Secret Footballer" and exposed Premier League gossip. Something to say that only he could say.

### Piece 3: Saying It Well

The Hinge brief was probably: "An app for people who want long-term relationships and are fed up with dating apps."

The copy: "The dating app designed to be deleted."

Techniques used:
- Alliteration (Dating, Designed, Deleted)
- Juxtaposition (who makes an app designed to be deleted?)
- Can't be copied (Hinge owns this forever)

## Speed Test

**One Mississippi, Two Mississippi.** Show someone your copy. If they don't get it in 2 seconds, rewrite.

## The Conflict Framework

Stories need conflict. Copy needs conflict.

**Three types of enemies:**
- A: Different approaches (how they solve it vs how we solve it)
- B: Beliefs (I believe this, you believe that)
- C: Competitors (Apple vs PC)

**Practical application:** Draw a line down the page. Write opposites.

Example ad structure:
- Left side: "Throw money and pray" (raise cash, hire staff, spend on ads, cross fingers)
- Right side: "Learn copywriting" (increase conversions 1% to 2% = 100% more growth)

The contrast makes both sides sharper.

## Facts Over Adjectives

> "When you say a fact, it guarantees you say something. Most people open their mouths and say nothing—wallpaper, word-shaped air."

**Bad sports commentary:** "Tiger Woods just didn't want it bad enough today."

**Good sports commentary:** "Tiger usually hits 11 fairways. Today he hit 7. He compensated with 30% more greens in regulation."

**The Heinz example:** Employees pour factory ketchup into Heinz bottles. Fact. Now write the ad: "Even when it's not Heinz, it's Heinz."

Start with a fact. Build from there.

## Writing Simply

You can't write simply. You can only rewrite simply.

### Kaplan's Law of Words

> "Any words that aren't working for you are working against you."

Harry's corollary: You aren't taking Kaplan's law seriously enough.

This applies to words AND ideas. The word "and" on a landing page is usually bad. "We sell jeans and t-shirts and socks" < "We make jeans."

### The Burrito Test

A good paragraph is like a burrito. Throw it and it shouldn't fall apart in the air. Pull one sentence out—if it still works, that sentence shouldn't have been there.

### Line Length

If a paragraph is 3 lines, it's probably 2 lines. Keep cutting.

### Version Everything

Copy-paste. Rewrite. Copy-paste. Rewrite. Show someone 3 versions. They can mix and match. "That sentence from version 2, but in version 1's structure."

## First Line, Second Line

The only job of the first line is to get you to the second line.

"It takes 3.1 seconds to read this ad" → Wait what? → "The same time it takes a Model S to go from 0 to 60."

Hook. Payoff.

## Page Copy Guide

### Above the Fold

Every page needs these three elements visible without scrolling:

- **Headline** — Use a formula from `references/copy-frameworks.md`, then run through the 3-question test
- **Subheadline** — One sentence expanding on the headline. Clarify what, who, or how.
- **Primary CTA** — See CTA guidelines below

### CTA Copy

**Weak CTAs:** Submit, Learn More, Click Here, Get Started

**Strong CTAs:** Start Free Trial, Get the Complete Checklist, See It in Action, Book My Demo

**Formula:** `[Action Verb] + [What They Get] + [Qualifier if needed]`

Examples:
- "Start your free trial" (action + what + qualifier)
- "Download the 2024 playbook" (action + specific thing)
- "See pricing for your team" (action + personalized)

### Page-Specific Guidance

**Homepage**
- Communicate what you do in one clear sentence
- Lead with the primary use case, not every feature
- Social proof near the top (logos, stats, testimonial snippet)
- Multiple CTAs but one primary action

**Landing Page**
- One goal, one CTA (repeated)
- Match the headline to the ad/link that brought them here
- Remove navigation — reduce exits
- See compact and varied templates in `references/copy-frameworks.md`

**Pricing Page**
- Lead with the value, not the price
- Anchor with the most popular plan
- Use plan names that signal who it's for ("Starter", "Team", "Enterprise")
- FAQ section to handle objections

**Feature Page**
- Lead with the outcome, not the feature name
- "Track time in one click" not "Time tracking feature"
- Show the product — screenshots, GIFs, short videos
- End with a CTA related to that feature

**About Page**
- Tell your founding story — what frustrated you enough to build this?
- Show the team — photos and real context
- State what you believe (conviction sells)
- This is where brand personality shows most

## Newsletter Intros

Start with time, place, what's going on.

> "Hey, it's Harry. It's 3:47 a.m. I'm in the big smoke alone. Laptop, green tea, looking at the whiteboard like a dozy dog."

You can't get that from Twitter. It's fresh bread, warm to touch. The specificity of lived experience.

## What AI Can't Do

AI lacks three things:
1. **Taste** — Ogilvy pulled "At 60 mph, the loudest noise is the electric clock" from a car magazine. That's taste.
2. **Conviction** — AI doesn't believe anything. Good writing comes from believing something.
3. **Experience** — Bukowski was a postman for 20 years before writing Post Office. Kerouac lived on the road for 7 years before writing On The Road in 3 weeks.

AI predicts the next word from everything already written. Good copy arranges words in ways they haven't been laid out before.

## Quick Reference Examples

| Bad Copy | Good Copy | Why |
|----------|-----------|-----|
| Great investment opportunity | Gold prices: [show 50-year graph] | Point, don't talk |
| Our product is innovative | 1,000 songs in your pocket | Concrete visual |
| Premium quality sedan | Inherited brains instead of wealth | Flatters the buyer, only they can say it |
| Leading recruitment platform | Don't just get a job, change... wait no, this is still bad | Competitor could sign it |
| Management trainee, age 42 | I've never read The Economist. Management trainee, age 42. | Story in two lines, falsifiable |

## Output Format

When writing copy, deliver:

1. **Page copy organized by section** — Hero, social proof, problem, solution/benefits, how it works, testimonials, final CTA (adapt to page type)
2. **Annotations** — Brief notes explaining why you made specific choices, tied to the principles above
3. **Alternatives** — 2-3 headline options and 2-3 CTA options so the user can mix and match
4. **Meta content** — Page title and meta description if relevant

## Process Checklist

1. Check for product context files
2. What's the current attitude? What's the desired attitude?
3. Who am I talking to? (Get specific)
4. What can I say that nobody else can?
5. Write 3-5 versions of key lines
6. Run each through the 3-question test
7. One Mississippi, Two Mississippi test
8. Cut everything that isn't working for you
9. Refer to `references/copy-frameworks.md` for headline formulas and page templates

## Related Skills

Copywriting is a horizontal skill — these frameworks apply across the Communicate phase:
- **`mkt-content-briefs`** — Apply these copywriting principles when writing production-ready content briefs
- **`mkt-lp-optimization`** — Use these frameworks for landing page headlines, CTAs, and persuasive body copy
- **`mkt-imc`** — Sharpen pillar messaging and angle descriptions with copywriting techniques