How AI is Changing the Way We Write Copy – A TEST

Liam Atkins

>> I’m constantly being inundated with ads about AI copy tools that promise to produce easy content in just a few clicks. So, I tried one.

This very blog post…after this line… was written by one of these copywriting AI tools and, while it certainly isn’t perfect, it’s a pretty damn good start and makes it easy for anyone new to online marketing, who needs to produce content (albeit not 100% the best), at scale and for not a lot of money.

I’ll leave the post here untouched. What do you think?

—–

When you think of AI and writing, the first word that probably pops into your mind is probably not “good”. However, this is only because most people see AI as a replacement for humans, which is why most people think of it as a bad thing. AI is actually helping marketers write better copy. It’s speeding up the process and making it more accurate. It’s also making it easier for marketers to find the right words – rather than having to look them up separately. Let’s explore exactly how AI is changing the way we write copy and how it can help marketers write better content.

What is AI?

AI is the ability for technology to “think” for itself. This ability is called artificial intelligence, and it’s a hot topic in marketing. AI is used to help marketers write better copy by speeding up the process. This can be used for things like writing emails, creating content, and automating tasks. AI is also used to help with the accuracy of content. This can help with things like terms and definitions, which is important for legal reasons.

How AI is Changing the Way We Write Copy

AI is changing how we write content because it’s helping to automate the process and speed it up. This means you can write more and spend less time on it. It also means you’ll have more time for other aspects of your business. AI can also help with the accuracy of content. This means you’ll have a better understanding of your audience.

AI Helps with Speed

AI is used to speed up the writing process in a number of ways. One way we’ve seen AI used to increase speed is with voice recognition software. This means you can write faster by speaking your text instead of typing it out. It’s especially helpful for marketing emails since you don’t want to waste time typing out your message.

AI can also be used to help with research. This can be used to look up terms and definitions or to find information related to your product or service. It can also be used to find similar products or people who might have similar experiences. This helps with the accuracy of your content, which can help with your writing.

The Bottom Line

AI is changing how we write copy because it’s speeding up the process and making it more accurate. It’s also making it easier for marketers to find the right words – rather than having to look them up separately. AI can also be used to help with the accuracy of content. This means you’ll have a better understanding of your audience. It can also be used to look up terms and definitions or to find information related to your product or service. It can also be used to find similar products or people who might have similar experiences.

AI is changing how we write content because it helps with the accuracy of content. This means you’ll have a better understanding of your audience. It can also be used to look up terms and definitions or to find information related to your product or service. It can also be used to find similar products or people who might have similar experiences. AI is also changing how we write copy because it’s speeding up the process and making it more accurate. It’s also making it easier for marketers to find the right words – rather than having to look them up separately.

marketing consulting

Step Away from Your Marketing: Advice from a Sussex Copywriter

Liam Atkins

When was the last time you stepped away from your marketing?

When was the last time you tried to look at it from a different angle?

When was the last time you looked at your website without your business owner hat on and thought to yourself...

"What are my actual customers seeing when they read about me? What are my prospective customers seeing? What are those people who are just Googling me, who don't know me from Adam, who don't know why I'm fantastic, what do they think about me when they read my copy or when they look through my marketing or my website?"

Sometimes, it's tricky to see the wood from the trees and see ourselves as others see us exactly.

Helping this client see the wood from the trees

It's something that I've just had to do with an ongoing client of mine. We've been working on several products together, landing pages, pay-per-click stuff, and their website.

Their website's been an ongoing, evolving thing, but we're trying just to nail it, get it done, get it right. And while their website now is 100 times better than the original one they had before I came along, even I'm guilty of getting too engrossed in the nitty-gritty with them.

It took a Zoom call today to realise we were overcomplicating it. So we chose to step back. We decided to assess what we were actually saying, who we're trying to sell to, and why they would buy from us.

We did the exercise, it didn't take long, and it's like a firecracker for both of us. I've got work to do now. I've got to write their copy, but for them, they know exactly what they're doing now.

We know this is going to improve things.

So when was the last time you stepped away from your copy or stepped away from your marketing, with a new set of eyes, with a different hat on, and thought...

What DO other people think about me?

Because it's hard, and sometimes you need someone else's help to do that. If you need someone to help you with that, drop me a message.

blog copywriter

An Easy Guide to Writing a Blog Post for SEO

Liam Atkins

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have heard it said time and time again from gurus about the importance of publishing a blog post a couple of times a week to boost your websites SEO.

But, while that may be true, should you just write blog posts for search engines?
Yes...and of course...no.

While yes, they should be as optimised for SEO as possible, you have to remember who will be reading them *should* they get found and ranked well by Google. 

Your blog post should be geared towards people who read them; it should help answer a common question, help them address an issue in their lives, etc. In other words, it should add value, and when it does, that will establish you as an expert.

In this article, we’ll examine exactly how you can go about creating an SEO-friendly, highly readable, and hopefully authoritative blog post for your business website. 

Start with Topic and Keyword Research 

Keyword research should be tied to topic research. Your topic research should answer what you’re going to write about based on trends and information that’s not readily available. Ideally, you’ll want to write about something you have insight into within your industry so that the blog post adds value - making it worth reading by someone other than the big G. 

During the keyword research phase, you’ll want to find what keywords potential readers will use to find your article, naturally pepper them throughout the post.

Draft the Structure of the Post 

The structure of your blog post needs to be easy to understand and read. The best design, IMHO, is what already works, so stop trying to reinvent the wheel here. 

Here is how a typical blog post is structured: 

  • A short introduction to the topic 
  • A body for the main message 
  • A conclusion which should summarise everything 

Add Headlines

Headlines make it very easy for readers to scan through the text to determine if it’s something they want to read. Using appropriately placed headlines can instantly tell anyone who arrives on your page if the blog post will satisfy their query. 

Add Links To Supporting Existing Content 

If your website has other blog posts on a similar topic or ties into this one, make sure to link to them. It will help strengthen your new blog post; plus, it’s good for SEO and internal structuring. Or, if you find content online related to what you’ve written about, and you think it will add value to readers, don’t be afraid to link out to other websites and their posts. 

The idea is to ensure that your blog readers have an excellent experience, which answers their questions. Once you do that, getting ranked isn’t all that difficult. 

Use Transition Words

This is where a copywriter can often step in…while many of us can ‘build’ a blog post, e.g. collate the content into a logical order, it takes a writer to write the post. To take it from a bucket of information into a post that’s easy to read, flowing from one sentence to the next. 

But here’s a quick tip for you to ‘DIY’...

Use transition words. These words help your text flow and show readers the relationship between phrases and paragraphs. Turning your bucket into an easy to read article - just as you’d find in a newspaper or magazine. 

Finally, Don’t Forget a Call to Action

Most people assume that a call to action is only for landing pages, not true. Your blog post can also serve as a somewhat passive sales page.

A gentle nudge at the end, or in between the blog post to subscribe to your newsletter, or perhaps a link to where they can buy the products you’re talking about, can help drive up conversions without being intrusive. 

..plus, without a call to action, it’s a completely wasted opportunity. 

Hire a Freelance Blog Copywriter

And on that point, fancy some help writing your next blog post?

Drop me a message. 

email copy

Stop Saying Sorry in Your Emails

Liam Atkins

Stop saying, "Sorry" all the time. 

This is coming from someone like me and I'm pretty introverted. I'd happily send emails all day long instead of picking up the phone or chatting to someone in real life. I could never walk into a supermarket and talk to a stranger.

But yet, when I send an email to someone or do a LinkedIn request, pick up a cold call - whatever. I never just launch into the same phrase that you hear so often, "I'm sorry for disturbing you".

A couple of years back, I was involved in local politics. You'd hear exactly the same thing. You'd have someone knocking on someone's door, going out of their way to knock on someone's door. And the first thing they said was, "I'm sorry for disturbing you".

Now there's several things wrong with this. You're not sorry because you're repeatedly knocking on someone else's door. You're repeatedly sending emails out or picking up the phone. So you're not sorry because if you're sorry, you don't do it again.

Believing in what you do

You might be sorry for disturbing them, but you're doing it for a reason. You're doing it because you genuinely believe that what you have will improve their life. 

So in local politics, these people genuinely believe that their local candidate whoever it was, would make their lives better, would improve things in the local area.

And it's for this very reason why, when I send stuff out, I'm not apologizing. I'm not putting myself on the back foot immediately, because I genuinely believe that the things that I can do for you will make you money, or will save you on your ad spend, or it will make things easier for you because it's one less thing to worry about.

If you know that your offer will do this, you don't need to apologize. You just need to justify it. And then you'll have me, or the next person down the road, or the CEO of your dream company, happy to listen to you.

You don't need to apologize. You just need to know what you do works and that you have a good enough angle.  It needs to be able to hook them in. 

Need help writing sales emails or email marketing pieces that unapologetically do the selling for you? Drop me an email: [email protected].

Cold email copywriting

Cold Email Marketing: Pros and Cons

,
Liam Atkins
Cold email has been an appropriate outreach tool for B2B companies since the beginning of the Internet. 

Alongside channels such as direct mail it fell out of fashion with the rise of social media and other shiny marketing tools. 

Thankfully it’s now back in vogue as an undervalued marketing tool and hotter than ever. 

(Can cold email ever be hot?!) 

But before we delve into the benefits of using cold email marketing as an outreach tool, you need to understand the basics, so let’s get back to the brass tacks.

What is cold email marketing?

Open rates, bounce rates, conversion rates, segmentation…

These are all buzzwords you’ll come across when looking at email marketing.

But what is cold email marketing at its core?

Cold email marketing is an approach where emails are sent to prospects without any initial contact.

Cold email marketing for b2b companies

Cold email marketing can be a great way to generate more sales for your B2B business.

But that’s only if you do it right.

Aside from the increased sales that this approach can bring, what other benefits does it have?

How cold email marketing is useful for a B2B business

Cold email marketing is cheap and time-efficient

We all want to lower costs while maximizing profits, it’s why we’re in business. And that’s why cold emailing is a welcome approach for B2B businesses.

It is less expensive than cold calls and other forms of marketing, like paid advertising.

Practically, the time spent making a single call is enough to send a thousand emails. Ultimately, it’s more time-effective.

Cold emails are less frustrating 

One of the things that most people dislike about marketing is how frustrating it can get. They produce a piece of content, send it out into the ether and hope for the best. 

But that’s not the case when it comes to cold email marketing - at least not in equal measure with approaches like cold calling.

First, you can send the email whenever you like, and the recipient is allowed to open the email when they find it convenient for them. On their phone, on the toilet - whatever. This makes it less disruptive, which is a good thing for busy people. 

Secondly, even though cold emails often get a low response rate compared to say - cold calling, you can easily turn the ‘tap’ on and off with a cold email campaign. You’re only relying on you and your ability to send emails as and when you need them. 

Cold emails are easily trackable.

Unlike other marketing approaches, it is easy to track cold emails. Some of the metrics you can track include;

  • Open rate
  • Click-through rate
  • Bounce rate
  • Response rate

...all these are of value in customizing and improving your email marketing campaign.

Cold emails land where people spent most of their time

According to a Fortune report, people spend an average of 2.5 hours checking their email every day. For a B2B business that wants to get its message seen, cold email marketing is the way to go.

The cons of cold email marketing

While cold email marketing may seem like a near-perfect approach, it has its downsides, even for people like me who sell cold email copywriting as a service. 

Responses are not guaranteed

Cold emails are not as dynamic as making cold calls. With emails, the recipient can choose to reply immediately...or never. At least with a cold call you’ll get an immediate response. 

Cold emails may never get to your prospects

No matter how hard you try to get the right addresses for the right member of staff, some companies do have strict spam filter measures to ensure that they only receive emails from pre-approved or internal addresses. As a result, there is a high chance that your email will not get to their inbox. 

The competition is enormous for cold email marketing

According to Campaignmonitor, people sent more than 294 billion emails in 2019 per day! And since then, the numbers have continued to increase.

The numbers alone show how competitive this space can be.

As a B2B business that wants to stand out from the rest and be heard amidst the noise, getting your email strategy in line is crucial.

Final take…

Even with the downsides, it is evident that cold email marketing is a highly effective approach.

There is nothing that should stop your B2B business from going heavy on this marketing approach. 

Want to learn more about how your business can use cold email marketing as a tool in 2021? 

Speak to me about cold email copywriting and campaign management. 

How to Increase Your Response rates

Liam Atkins

This was a really quick video that I thought I'd put together. It's about your offer, not necessarily ‘an offer’ buy 1 get 1 free, but more of what you're offering when it comes to your marketing.

You often see companies sending out email newsletters for example,and you'll have multiple call to actions.

Often the company owner thinks - right, I've got a few moments of my prospects time, let's squeeze in as much as we can.

So we're going to include links to a product, links to our latest blog postsand maybe a call to action - contact us if you need any help.

Three things from one email, yet these are often the people who find themselves getting really really low response rates, because they're asking too much of someone.

If someone came to your door and said Liam, I need a favour and they said three things, asked you to do three things - the chances of you're doing them are quite slim.

One thing though, oh, can you help me grab this from the car? Can you help me hold this - you're far more likely to do, so when it comes to your offer and what you're saying in your marketing, don't overcrowd it, give one, singular action, tell them what you want to do, how to do it and repeat it to throughout your copy.

So if it's booking a free trial, have that at the very top of your landing page or your email, have it in the middle copy and at the end - have it repeated.

Alongside your offer try and have some kind of time based incentive - a reason to act now versus laterbecause like me, if someone sends you something and ‘it's get back to me when you can’ chances are you get back to them never? If it's get back to me NOW, and you're going to get 50% off if you act before the weekend, you're going to get someone to respond.

And lastly, can you give any other additional bonus? A give away, something extra, some added value to get them to act now?

A lot of people see these things as salesy, almost scammy tactics because you do see them populated across really spammy type websites, these get-rich-quick, buy now and you have the popups come up on your screen ‘Dave from Daventry recently bought this product’.

These are all shit. They don't work. They're not real.

If you genuinely have a time-sensitive limited offer, tell people and tell people why they should be buying it.

That alongside the single call to action asking people to do one thing.

Will hopefully see your response rates increase - and there we go.

If you can help your marketing if you need help with your copywriting get in touch.

Four Marketing Lessons from Only Fools and Horses

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Liam Atkins

It’s 22.41 as I write this. 

The house is as quiet as a mouse. 

Everyone’s asleep, and I’m downstairs, working on my laptop with old episodes of Only Fools and Horses on the box for company. 

Although most of them were filmed before I was born, Only Fools and Horses, or OFAH as us weirdo fans call it, remains my all-time, absolute favourite show. 

While it’s funny, there are a few things we as business owners and marketers could take from OFAH and the legendary Delboy. 

  1. Write as you speak. OFAH uses real words, that real people, in the real world use. You should be doing this in your marketing copy, writing so your audience sees themselves in you and can imagine themselves using your product, by writing as you speak, in both tone and language.  
  2. Jargon and phrases. Delboy’s famous for his crap French phrases. They’re always wrong and never have the desired impact. Again, avoid jargon and acronyms. Not everyone will get them, and your copy could end up falling as flat as Del’s French – bonnet de douche! 
  3. While Del’s a salesman, he also gets straight the point as quickly as he can. He doesn’t beat around the bush when he’s trying to flog something. It’s the same for your marketing, don’t waste peoples time, get straight to the point, as quickly as you can, using just enough copy to get the message across. 
  4. They’re triers, ‘this time next year, we’ll be millionaires’. When one enterprise fails, they pick themselves back up, dust themselves off and move on to the next one. For us, marketing is all about trying new things until it works. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s our job to try out new marketing methods while measuring and testing the results until we find the one that does. 

Want to try something new in your marketing? 

Ever worked with a copywriter? 

It’s my job to help you squeeze more sales potential from your marketing. 

Whether it’s on your website, sales pages, emails or offline stuff – if you’re using words to promote what you do, there’s a big chance it can be improved upon with the help of a copywriter. 

Drop me an email [email protected] to see if there’s a way I could help you out. 

Copywriter in Eastbourne

Copywriter in Eastbourne

Liam Atkins

Need help from a copywriter in Eastbourne?

Awesome, let’s see if we could work together.

You’re probably looking for a local copywriter because you’re either:

1 – Unable to find the time to produce your content and marketing, so want to outsource the job to a copywriter in Eastbourne.

2 – Or, you’re fed up of poorly performing marketing, and want to finally see a positive ROI on your marketing efforts.

In both cases, I can help.

If words aren’t your strong point, and you find yourself struggling to put pen to paper when it comes to writing about what you do, how you do it and why your prospects should buy from you – working with a copywriter in Eastbourne could be the solution.

Whether it’s leaflets, direct mail, blog posts, website content or emails, it’s the job of a sales copywriter to write marketing copy that converts your readers, into customers.

Eastbourne Copywriter

My name’s Liam Atkins, I’m a copywriter in Eastbourne, and I write things to help you sell more stuff.

I’ve been involved in marketing and sales for nearly a decade now, doing everything from website design, to running businesses, and even cold calling for online ads. Which means the copy I help Eastbourne businesses write is based on more than just book smarts, it’s based on years of tried, tested and honed marketing experience.

copywriting in east sussex reviews
Check out my reviews from other businesses.

Over the last year, my copy results for clients include:

🏆 Beating a control with new direct mail copy that increased sales by 46%.
🏆 Reworking a landing page which increased ticket sales by 64%.
🏆 Designing and writing for a brand new website, ranking them on page 1 of Google in 13 days.

My copywriting services include:

✅ Cold sales emails.
✅ Email newsletters/marketing campaigns.
✅ Direct mail campaigns.
✅ Website content
✅ Onsite SEO & copywriting
✅ Social media content

Free Copywriting Critique & Review

For local businesses across Eastbourne, why not take me up on my free copywriting critique?

Let me pour over some of your marketing material, whether it’s your website, sales pages or direct mail pieces, and I’ll send you a FREE video walkthrough highlighting its strengths and weaknesses – alongside a tonne of suggestions for things you can put in place straight away to make a difference.

There’s nothing to lose, but possibly a heap of new clients to gain.

So why not give this free offer a try?

Liam Atkins Copywriting in Eastbourne.

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copywriter in East Sussex

Copywriter in East Sussex

Liam Atkins

Looking for a copywriter in East Sussex?

Well, you’re in luck, you’ve just found one.

I guess you’re looking for copywriting help because you’re either:

1 – Taking on too much and want to outsource your content, marketing and sales jobs to a local copywriter in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

2 – Or, you’re looking for ways to squeeze more sales potential from your current or upcoming marketing plans.

Either way, you’re in the right place.

If you’re struggling to get the time, energy or headspace to pick the words that sell what you do, or find you’re not getting the results you want from your marketing efforts – working with a copywriter could be the solution.

Whether it’s leaflets, direct mail, blog posts, website content or emails, a good copywriter can turn dull, stale ad copy, into the sales-generating text that your business needs.

My name’s Liam Atkins, I’m a copywriter in East Sussex, and I write things to help you sell more stuff.

I’ve been helping businesses market themselves for over ten years, and I’ve sold everything from cryptocurrency websites to online advertising space with cold calls, which means the copy I help local businesses produce is based on tried and tested sales copy practices that I know work.

copywriting in east sussex reviews
Check out my reviews from other businesses.

Some quick client results over the last 12 months include:

🏆 Beating a control with new direct mail copy that increased sales by 46%.
🏆 Reworking a landing page which increased ticket sales by 64%.
🏆 Designing and writing for a brand new website, ranking them on page 1 of Google in 13 days.

So, what can I help you with?

✅ Cold sales emails.
✅ Email newsletters/marketing campaigns.
✅ Direct mail campaigns.
✅ Website content
✅ Onsite SEO & copywriting
✅ Social media content

Not sure? Reduce the risk with my free offer.

I’m offering a free copywriting critique for businesses across Eastbourne.

Let me pour over some of your marketing material, whether it’s your website, sales pages or direct mail pieces, and I’ll send you a FREE video walkthrough highlighting its strengths and weaknesses – alongside a tonne of suggestions for things you can put in place straight away to make a difference.

You’ve got nothing to lose, but potentially a truckload of new customers to gain.

So why not give this free offer a try?

Copywriting in East Sussex made easy, with Liam Atkins Copywriting.

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marketing in east sussex

Questions About Your Prospects

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Liam Atkins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDqYJtFMfu0

Your prospects.

Three quick questions you need to answer before you try to market to them:

1. Do the have the £££ to buy from you, and do they control the purse strings?

2. Have they expressed *any* interest yet (even if it’s just through social signals)?

3. Are they easily contactable?

Get these answers down before you start designing fancy graphics for your social media, before you buy anything, and before you invest too much time in anything else.