Hey {{first_name|bro}},
Not too long ago I was in the reviewing trenches.
I mean, it was crazy—I would practically review every single piece of copy in the copy review channel.
Don’t get me wrong, it was fun but I saw A LOT of dumb stuff.
And today, I’m sharing one of those dumb mistakes that could kill an AMAZING piece of copy.
A dumb mistake that looks fine on the outside but is the reason AI can’t replace you.
A dumb mistake I admittedly used to make.
Ready? Great, let’s go…
The mistake isn’t about words, techniques, or even if your copy is persuasive enough.
In fact, your copy could get ruined before you even wrote it because of…
Bad research.
“great, another email about research.”
Look, I get it, but hear me out on this one because it’s important.
Proof.
You need to ask for proof anytime you’re doing research.
Especially when you don’t know anything about the product you’re writing about.
Because the chances are if you don’t know anything, you’re going to over-exaggerate or get things wrong about their problems or what the product can do.
Like for example, I just reviewed someone’s copy about life insurance…
They were talking about how if the reader died, their family wouldn’t be able to continue living the life they were living now.
Buttt that’s simply not true alot of the time (an over-exaggeration.)
It’s usually just that they can’t pay off the debts or have to deal with paperwork when they should be grieving.
No hate to the guy—I make that mistake when writing for insurance…
But the only reason he got that part wrong is because he didn’t ask for proof when he was doing research.
Moral of the story: ask for proof.
—John
S: 128
T: Go test it now