By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved

“I feel like I’m in a rut.”  “I don’t know where to start.”

“I’ve written about everything there is to write about.”  If you can relate to these comments, you’re not alone.  Many company marketers and copywriters suffer from writer’s block when it comes to PPC ads.  Here are 25 great writing opportunities.

Ecommerce

1. Category Sales – Something like “all outdoor furniture 50% off until 1/31.”

2. Product Sales – Along the lines of “every monogrammed tote bag 25% off.”

3. Rebates – “$100 Rebate on Wireless Printers”

4. Coupons – Offer coupons for use on an immediate sale or use coupons as an incentive to get visitors to sign up for your mailing list.… Read the rest

By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved

We’ve heard it for years.  Heck, I’ve said it myself countless times before: “Click-throughs are great, but it’s conversions that really matter.”  However, consumer research over the last several years has shown a growing trend that most emarketers believed would have eased up by this date in time.  Still, one survey after another reports just the opposite: the trend is getting stronger.

What’s happening is that consumers – in increasing numbers – are researching online before buying offline (ROBO).  According to ecommerce software provider MarketLive (as reported in Internet Retailer magazine), “The picture emerging from the data shows many consumers using the web to search for deals, moving quickly from site to site, and often going into stores to buy after researching online.”… Read the rest

By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved

I shake my head every time I read one of these blanket statements. I’m amazed at how so many people still think that one size of copy still fits everyone. It’s just not true.

Here’s an example. A while back, I read, “Prospects hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages, especially on a home/landing page.” This is coming from Internet Marketing Report in relation to business-to-business (B2B) websites. I’m sorry, but I completely disagree.

Just because a website is B2B does not automatically mean every single one of its visitors will “hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages.”… Read the rest

By Karon Thackston © 2008, All Rights Reserved

It was a typical request: one I’ve gotten from many e-commerce site owners because the vast majority make the same mistake. An online business owner emailed me last week asking for help with his conversions. His search engine rankings were good, but his conversions were lacking. At his request, I spent some time on his site and compiled a list of my thoughts, a few suggestions and a quote for making it all happen. What I found on this home page was typical of many other e-commerce sites I’ve worked on.

There was a severe lack of benefits-oriented copy.… Read the rest

By Karon Thackston © 2008, All Rights Reserved

It’s funny how we, as website owners, don’t always think like our visitors. A course of action that might seem perfectly obvious to us may stop our visitors right in the middle of their buying process. Take, for instance, e-commerce–type copy. Do you realize that what happens after your customers read your copy could make or break your sale? I’m not talking about shopping cart abandonment. I’m talking about good communication that keeps the buying cycle moving forward. Let me give you a real-world example.

One website offered custom-designed gift bags. The photos on their site were gorgeous.… Read the rest

by Karon Thackston (c) 2007 http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword

In Part 1 of this series, I introduced you to Announce It!, an online candy-bar-wrapper manufacturer that was seeking professional help with their search engine copywriting. Facing an audience that consisted primarily of women who were purchasing favors for special occasions, Announce It!’s copy had to be spot-on with its communication. The primary problems were that the copy did not convey a sense of excitement or answer all the questions customers might have. It also focused too heavily on the company rather than communicating with the site visitor.

Let’s see how the changes were worked into the copy and what the results were.… Read the rest

by Karon Thackston (c) 2007 http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword

The old clich is wrong. All our lives we’ve heard, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” That may occasionally be true, but for the most part it’s what you say AND how you say it. Case in point: Announce It!, a custom candy-bar-wrapper manufacturer, had copy on their home page that was acceptable. It mentioned pretty much all the important things a site visitor would need to know about ordering candy wrappers. Yet the copy wasn’t pulling as well as it should have been.

The Problems

The target audience consists mostly of women.… Read the rest

by Karon Thackston … Read the rest

by Karon Thackston … Read the rest

by Karon Thackston … Read the rest