Welcome all you growth-loving founders and marketers!
Hello everyone! I just got back from my second anniversary trip where I stayed in a boat in the woods—here's a pic of the boat!
Without further ado, topics for today: S.C.A.R.F. your ads, viral content formula, and copywriting cheatsheet.
Let's dive in 🍄
– Neal
Red Violet
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## Neal
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Insense
Brought to you by Insense, one of the best platforms for UGC and influencer marketing.
Social media managers + influencer marketers... this is super useful! Insense has put together this Complete Guide to Q4 for eComm Brands (and it’s 100% FREE)!
It’s worth downloading a copy if you’re starting to feel the pressure of Black Friday and Christmas creeping up on us. You’ll learn; 7 tips to boost organic and paid social performance, how to find influencers who genuinely love your products, the checklist to crush sales this BFCM, and the ultimate timelines for successful campaigns.
airSlate
Brought to you by Segment—now free for startups!
If you're not tracking users you're operating blind.
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Sharpen your copywriting with this cheatsheet
Insight from me (Neal O'Grady).
Copywriting is one of the most important skills.
Whether you're writing:
- Ads,
- Landing pages,
- Fundraising pitch decks,
- Cold emails,
- Social posts,
- Negotiations, or
- Speeches
You need to write clear, compelling copy if you want the person on the other end to take the action you'd like them to.
We created this cheatsheet that covers Hooks, Literary Devices, Tips, Post Types, and Frameworks. High-res version.
The S.C.A.R.F. research process for better ads/content
Insight from Nigel Thomas.
You can't create the best ideas in a vacuum.
And everything you need to know about your customers and their needs, desires, and fears are on display somewhere online. Here's the S.C.A.R.F. method for finding them:
Social
Browse LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (wherever your audience is)
Search for posts about your niche, topic, competitors, industry, and products.
- Read comments and pull out benefits and objections
- Write down 10 words creators use to describe problems
Competitors
Find 3 competitors and go through their website and social media accounts.
- Write down 5 powerful pieces of copy they use
- Scan product pages for unique selling ppints
- Use SEMrush to see their Google Ads
- Find their ads and click through the funnels
Affiliates
Affiliates are incentivized to learn how to pitch products.
Use Goole and SEO tools like SEMrush and ahrefs to find affiliates in your niche (or that mention your product or a competitor's product)
- If they talk about your product, note how they pitch it or how they review it.
- If not, see how they talk about competitors.
Reviews
If you have reviews for your product, export them into two lists:
- List 1: 1-3 stars, find objections
- List 2: 4-5 stars, find benefits
Visit competitor's and do the same.
Forums
Find relevant subreddits and forums (find them with google).
- Track most popular topics. Note objections, pain points, benefits.
- Focus on their desired lifestyle/outcome, the stories they tell, and the words they use to describe things.
A simple content creation formula for viral content
Insight from Diandra Escobar.
There are 3 fundamental elements to a potential viral content idea.
Most people when they create content stop after the first two:
Topic + Format + Creative Concept = Viral Content Idea
Let's dive into each and how they fit together:
#1. Topic
What are you writing or talking about? A person, a concept, a framework, an observation?
And, what emotion or outcome are you trying to achieve?
- Entertain
- Educate
- Inspire
- Surprise
#2. Format
How will you present this topic. This includes whether it's a text-only post, a video, a carousel, a podcast, or an image.
This also includes how you structure it, such as:
- X vs Y (comparing ideas)
- Analytical (deep-dive or teardown of something)
- Actionable (step-by-step breakdown on something)
- Present / Future (how things will be different)
- Interview
- Story
#3. Creative concept
The sky's the limit here. This can take the form of gamification, concept mashups, hair-brained ideas, gamification, or absurdism.
This is the realm of MrBeast. $1 to $1B yachts. Being hunted by an assassin. And putting someone alone in a circle for 100 days.
Most people don't add the creative concept. "5 tips to increase sales" is a topic with a common format. Nothing creative about it; therefore, unlikely to go viral.
An example
Billie Eilish (Topic) + Interview (Format) + Ask questions while she eats insanely spicy wings (Creative Concept) = Billie Eilish Freaks Out While Eating Spicy Wings
And 50,000,000 views. Exponentially higher than other videos on Billie Eilish.
