One of the oldest secrets in copywriting is to join the conversation that’s already happening inside your potential customer’s head. An easy way to figure out what that conversation is about is to simply look at what people are talking about.
It’s staggering to see how much money is pouring into digital marketing. Companies are shifting massive chunks of their advertising budgets online, with social media ad spending growing by over 45% in a single year. By 2019, it was an $18.4 billion industry in the U.S. alone. Everyone’s in, especially on Facebook, which now commands a huge portion of all digital ad dollars.
Let’s be honest: trying to use social media for direct-response marketing often feels like trying to use Jell-O as cement. The two just don’t mix well. Social media has its own culture and expectations, while direct response is all about one thing—getting a specific, measurable action. It’s an arranged marriage between two strangers who don’t trust each other.
Zig Ziglar famously said, “You don’t build a business. You build people, and people build the business.” While he was likely talking about employees, that wisdom applies perfectly to modern marketing. Building relationships with influencers who become genuine advocates for your brand is one of the most powerful ways to scale through word-of-mouth.
In digital marketing, content is the currency we spend to get attention. But just like any currency, its real value comes from how smartly you use it. It takes a lot of effort to research keywords, understand an audience, and write a great article. The good news is that hitting “publish” on a blog post or video isn't the end—it's just the beginning. Think of your content as an asset, something that pays dividends long after you’ve created it. This is especially true for anyone and needing to maximize their efforts.
If you're running a business, you know the feeling: the social media content hamster wheel. It never stops spinning. You constantly need new material, which pulls you away from all the other things your business needs. It’s a common challenge, especially when you’re just or getting a off the ground.
I've often heard from small business owners and people running a side hustle, "If I could just get people to try my product, I know they'd stick around for life." If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. But what if you could get that "try-before-you-buy" effect without actually giving away your core product for free?
I still remember this old TV commercial for a shampoo where a woman tells two friends, who then tell two more friends, and so on. It was the original vision of viral, word-of-mouth marketing. That’s the promise of social media, but in reality, many of us have been led astray.