Trends: How to Write Newsletter Ads That Convert
Special Guest: Bobby Durben
Copywriter @ Truly Seltzer, The Hustle, and Yelp
3 Lessons From a Copywriting Pro
@TheHustle
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Newsletters have taken off recently...
Subscriptions are exploding at companies like NYT, The Atlantic, and Substack.
They’re an increasingly effective way to reach new audiences.
Whether you advertise in other newsletters, or sell ads in your own, you need to know how to write ads that get attention.
@damn_ethan
Trends.co
Bobby Durben is a professional attention grabber
@TheHustle
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His ads have made millions for brands like...
@TheHustle
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He sat down with us to review ads from different newsletters - calling out what works and what he’d change.
@TheHustle
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Lesson #1: Your ads have 1 job… To turn attention into action.
@TheHustle
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Your headline and lead-in should be either useful or intriguing.
One way to spark intrigue is to talk about missed opportunities.
The “Missed Opportunity” headline can be very effective if you don’t over-use it.
Click “play” for tactics Bobby uses to create killer headlines
Grab Attention With
Interesting or Useful Leads
@TheHustle
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Grab Attention With
Your Offer/Benefit In The Headline
When you have a choice between being clever and being clear, choose clarity.
Make the ad’s value-prop clear in your headline to grab the attention of high-intent readers looking for your product.
Click “play” to hear Bobby talk through the strategy behind this ad’s headline.
Don’t bury the lead. Make the benefit clear and add specificity to headlines to capture high-intent readers.
@TheHustle
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Lesson #2: Use Strategic Formatting to Keep Readers Reading
@TheHustle
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Formatting Tip #1
Vary The Pace
Don’t hit readers with a wall of text.
Break the ad up into sentences of varying lengths in order to keep the eye moving easily.
Sentences of different lengths keep your eye moving more easily
Click “play” for Bobby’s insights on formatting and pacing.
@TheHustle
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“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
-Gary Provost
@TheHustle
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Formatting Tip #2
Tell A Bold Story
Most people are going to skim your ad.
You can use strategic bolding to make sure they still get the gist.
Remember to use it sparingly. When everything is bold, nothing is.
Notice how you still get the point even if all you read is the bolded parts.
@TheHustle
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Formatting Tip #3
Use Links Strategically
If all you have is 1 call-to-action, you’re leaving money on the table.
Include 2-5 links and make sure their text either highlights specific benefits or prompts an emotional response.
All of these link to the same landing page. Note how they prompt action, describe specific benefits, or evoke an emotion.
Click “play” for Bobby’s insights on using links strategically.
@TheHustle
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Lesson #3: Keys to Successful Client Work
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Client Tip #1
Set the Right Expectations
Your job is to share the client’s message in your voice.
Doing that requires that you build trust and set the right expectations with advertisers.
Life insurance isn’t the most fun or fascinating thing to write about. It’s crucial clients trust you to use your voice.
Click “play” for Bobby’s insights on how to set expectations with clients.
@TheHustle
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Client Tip #2
Keys To Customer Research
Many clients won’t know what their real value-prop is.
Seek out user conversations online to find out why people really buy.
Communities like Reddit are full of real customers talking about their experience with a product. Go see what they say.
Click “play” for Bobby’s insights on how to do research for an ad.
@TheHustle
www. Trends.co
Client Tip #3
Handling Competing Clients
You can run ads for competing clients.
But you need to be purposeful in the way you position them to maintain your authority as a trusted resource.
Try to avoid saying something is “the best” unless you’ve used it and love it.
Click “play” for Bobby’s insights on how to write ads for competing clients
@TheHustle
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Case Studies: Ads in the Wild
@TheHustle
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Click “play” to hear Bobby’s thoughts on this ad and how it could be improved.
Case Study #1
Good Linking / Bad Formatting
This ad does a good job including multiple links and bolding the text.
But the lead-in isn’t very compelling, and it’s hard to read.
Notice the wall of text too? Be honest... Did you read this ad or just skim over it?
@TheHustle
www. Trends.co
Case Study #2
Good Strategic Formatting
This ad does a good job using strategic bolding to tell a story quickly, even for a reader who’s skimming.
They also use bulletting, and varied sentence lengths to keep your eye moving.
Click “play” to hear Bobby’s thoughts on this ad.
Check this out… 2 Calls to action
@TheHustle
www. Trends.co
Case Study #3
Breaking All the Rules
Click “play” to hear Bobby’s thoughts on this ad.
Can you spot how many of the rules we discussed are broken by this ad?
Hint: It’s pretty much all of them.
This ad inverts the typical “pyramid” structure most copywriters use.
@TheHustle
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For more insights on building successful companies, check out Trends.co
@TheHustle
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