To hook people, you need to tap into their emotions.

One of the best ways to do that is to eloquently put a voice to an unvoiced concern, frustration, or opinion.

You want people to say:

1. "Finally, someone said what I've been thinking!"
2. "That’s so damn true."

Finally, someone said it

Many of the comments on the following post were people saying: "Yes, finally somebody said this thing that I've been thinking."

Chris clearly hit an emotional nerve. People are tired of companies simply virtue signaling, rather than fixing a fundamental problem.

Because this post resonated, it got thousands of responses.

That’s so damn true

Here, Andrew tapped into a feeling that every entrepreneur has had:

We all know that dumb luck and great timing play a huge part in success. We just don’t always say it.

So when someone else does, we go, "That’s so damn true."

For eloquent hooks, you need to be able to:

• Identify a concern that people haven't adequately voiced, which means keeping a pulse on trends like shared frustrations
• Give voice to that concern in a way that rings true

If you can nail it, it really works.

You could be quoted for years to come as various accounts share your post. 

We recently launched a free email course on crafting un-ignorable hooks. Join 860 others learning how top creators hook our attention—with tons of examples. This was a sneak peek 👀

Many ecomm founders think of product images as a one-and-done investment.

They schedule professional photo shoots, then use the pics from them for years.

But product photos have a major impact on purchasing decisions, so it's worth experimenting with them. Here are five ideas. 

#1. Use something for size comparison (show your product in context).

Even if your product description includes dimensions, people will understand your product's size better if you show it near something familiar. For example, if you’re selling a picture frame, show it over a couch in the living room.

Don't make people think—uncertainty is a conversion killer.

#2. Test photos without smiling models.

Product images with smiling models are overdone. So test photos in a natural scenario. Consider how hotels show photos of rooms without anybody in them, making it easier for you to picture yourself in those rooms. 

#3. Try different image sizes.

Size can influence our perception of value. In one study, a dress shirt seemed more valuable when shown in a small image, whereas a hard drive's perceived value increased with a bigger image. It’s worth testing different image sizes and the amount of white space in your photos.

#4. Include complementary products.

If you plan to capture your product in a natural scenario, why not include other relevant products to show how they benefit each other? This is a major upsell opportunity—just remember to link those other products shown.

#5. Have fun with it—it's just a test.

Use Midjourney, Photoshop, and other AI and design tools to throw your product into strange scenarios. Like a watch on Honest Abe's wrist.

For that matter, if you can't afford actual product photos for initial or test images, play around with AI. If something does really well, consider staging an actual photo.

Although ChatGPT can already answer a lot of search queries, most people still don't use AI as their default search tool.

That's soon to change.  

Google is rolling out generative AI answers at the top of its regular search results, which could kill the need to click to a website for most queries.

Here are SEO expert Eli Schwartz's recommendations for a new strategic approach to SEO.‍

#1. Focus on mid- and bottom-funnel keywords 

AI will adequately answer basic and broad questions.

Examples: "What is a demand curve?" "How long are Instagram stories?"

Searches like "hotels Vegas Strip" will spit out lists of hotels. On the other hand, "Usher Las Vegas" is further down the funnel—the person searching for that is either looking for reviews of the show or interested in booking it. They're more likely to click on a result, rather than read an AI response.

#2. Focus on revenue from SEO, not volume

Because a lot of "tire kicker" searches will be handled by AI, traffic and clicks will go down. So revenue is a better metric to track SEO success.

#3. Use "People also ask" for content ideas rather than keywords

"People also ask" is a window into the types of queries people are trying to get answers to, and they're generally longer-tail (and more specific). It'll be useful for spotting mid- and bottom-funnel queries that can help generate content ideas.

#4. Prioritize "domain authority" less and relevance and topical authority more

Backlinks from sites with high domain authority were once useful for the most competitive search terms. That might not be the case anymore, since those competitive broad terms will be addressed by AI.

So instead of fighting (or paying) for backlinks from Forbes and TechCrunch, focus on backlinks from less popular sites that are highly relevant and specific to your niche.

Us marketers are nerds. We love judging the ads in our feeds.

Like this Facebook ad from Nood, the makers of hair removal products. Let’s break down what makes it so effective.

This stopped me (Joyce) in my tracks for a few reasons:

First, the creative is a black and white hand-drawn image—a far cry from every other sleekly designed ad on Facebook and a good example of a pattern interrupt. It also made me wonder, "What exactly is going on here?"

That brings us to the copy, which takes a “story first, product second” approach. Take a look:

“Well it happened… our designers went on vacation and now the marketing team is on their own creating ads.”

Nothing about the actual product until the next line.

“But we don’t need fancy graphic design to get our message across: The Flasher 2.0 provides Permanent Hair Reduction in the comfort of your home.”

This is a clever and entertaining way to sell your product, no flashy visuals needed.

And even though the ad copy is long, people actually read it all. You can tell because it ends with Nood inviting readers to draw a better ad for a chance to win a prize. And plenty of people actually shared their drawings in the comments!

Taking full advantage, Nood repurposed one for a retargeting campaign.

Ricky from Trailer Park Boys would say that’s "4 birds getting stoned at once." The ad:

• Sells Nood’s product
• Incentivizes people to engage
• Generates creative for future ad campaigns
• Personalizes the brand to make it more fun

Profitwell has collected over 10 million pricing data points for SaaS products.

One thing they've found is that companies that offer "add-ons" (aka upsell) can boost revenue by 12-22% relative to when they just include them into base tiers. And boost LTV by 18-54% by increasing average order value and retention rates. 

Ironically, this happens even when that feature was previously included for free in a tier.

But how do you choose which features to include and which to make add-ons?

Here Patrick recommends the Rule of 40%:

1. List each feature in a spreadsheet. 
2. Assign a % to each feature based on the % of users who use that feature monthly.
3. If it's used by less than 40% of users, consider turning it into an add-on.
4. Often this could be integrations, analytics, or priority support—supplemental things that aren't core to the experience for most users.

Just make sure you don't do this with a "core" feature that most people use—or else people will likely be upset or just not sign up in the first place.

There are a few reasons why this add-on strategy works;

1. It makes the initial price lower, making them more likely to continue down the funnel.
2. Once they've already said "yes" to the base plan, a quick add-on that increases the price by 10-20% is a quick "sure, why not." It's the equivalent of the grocery store impulse buy candy bar. 
3. It means they get the features they want without needing to upgrade to the higher tier and feeling like they're paying for a bunch of stuff they don't need.

Try this out; it could be a meaningful boost in revenue.

Mutiny, a website personalization tool, doubled their conversion rate on their homepage with a single word change.

Absurd, I know.

Normally we wouldn't even recommend an A/B test so small unless you have tons of traffic.

What did they do? They changed the button text on their homepage hero from "See it on your site" to "See it on your homepage." That's it.

The button links through to their live website demo. You enter your URL, and they let you play around with personalizing your website for different audience segments. 

This demo has two benefits: 

1. It lets you "try before you buy," alleviating a lot of objections or concerns, and
2. Nothing explains your product better than just seeing it in action. 

Now, you'd think the difference between "site" and "homepage" is minimal, but the word "homepage" is a lot more tangible and specific. Even our website has hundreds of pages. I can't clearly picture our "website" in my head. 

However, I do know what our homepage looks like. I know how valuable our homepage is.

And when I do hit the demo, I'm already primed to enter the URL of our homepage, rather than stopping to think which page would be best to test.

Uncertainty is a conversion killer. So remove as much of it as you can.

The lesson here? Words are powerful. Use ones that prime and remove uncertainty.

Imagine being served a fancy restaurant entrée within 23 seconds of ordering.

What would you think?

You'd likely question its quality and feel you overpaid for a precooked dish.

This is the Labor Illusion in action.

Customers perceive services as more valuable when they see the effort put into them, even if that labor doesn't necessarily improve the outcome.

This even applies to digital products and services.

For example, Kayak (a flight search tool) found users were more likely to convert if search results rolled in more slowly, giving the impression of a thorough, exhaustive search. 

Pretty counterintuitive since we'd typically think faster = better.

You can also leverage the labor illusion in your content

People will take your content more seriously and value it more when you lead with the amount of work it took to create it:

Naturally, this makes people think: 

"If this took 16 hours to make, it's worth 5 minutes of my time to read."

So it hooks them in. And then they value it more.

In short, experiment with showing users the amount of time and effort that goes into your content to increase its perceived value. 

If you'd like to dive deeper into this hook type (the Credibility one), and 11 other hook types, join our free 14-day email course, Un-ignorable Hooks. Learn how top creators grab your attention and keep it—without being clickbaity.

I spent dozens of hours studying hooks to make this course 😉

When we started the Growth Newsletter we didn't realize they'd become "the cool thing."

It seems like everyone’s got their own newsletter these days—and we get it! When you're building an audience, you want to get them off social and into a newsletter. It lets you have a direct relationship with them.

Anyway, if you’ve got a newsletter but are struggling to grow your subs, here’s a cool idea.

Newsletter referral programs can be tricky to incentivize correctly. Unless people love you, they probably don't want your swag. You also don't want to cannibalize your paid products. And some percentage of people will just try to game it.

One cool thing that Chenell does for her own newsletter, Growth in Reverse, is she regularly features folks in a Community Spotlight section (it was the inspiration for our own!).

In it, she highlights the newsletters of people who have referred at least 10 subscribers to her newsletter (and she makes sure they aren't all spam ones before she does).

It's a perfect win-win.

Her newsletter breaks down how creators grew to 50k subscribers. So her audience is made up of people with newsletters. They can easily plug her newsletter into theirs—and they are actively trying to find ways to grow their own.

This same tactic might be good to test on your own. OR you can use this as inspiration for a creative win-win way to incentivize people with a referral program.

Would you believe Tesla if they claimed they created the Car of the Year?

Definitely not. They're biased.

But if a reputable (or reputable-seeming) third party said it, maybe you would, right?

That's why Savannah created her own Facebook page called Savvy Finds. She's done a ton of tests where she runs her clients ads through their own page, and through Savvy Finds. 

The result? The ads that ran through Savvy Finds were nearly always the winner.

This technique is especially clever for agencies since it allows her to use client money to increase the reach of her page (which will naturally get likes/followers)—which builds an asset that becomes a competitive advantage for her agency.

If you spend a lot on social ads, consider testing this approach. Even minor improvements in conversion rates can make a significant difference—especially when you're paying for eyeballs.

Say you’re in the market for some biker shorts.  

You find the perfect ones: 

But drat, they’re sold out in the macadamia color! So you hurry up and order them in red, before those sell out too.

When you see sold-out options/models, you’re more likely to buy whatever’s left (assuming you weren’t looking for a super-specific version).

Why? The "sold out" label acts like social proof. It tells you that the product is desirable and high quality. 

And it adds time pressure. If you want it, you better buy it before it sells out too.

But there’s a caveat: Seeing too many sold-out products reduces the likelihood of a purchase. Shoppers expect a certain amount of freedom of choice. We’ll jump ship if we think that freedom is being threatened.

Two important takeaways:

1. Don’t immediately remove sold-out product options from display. Keeping them may make people perceive your product as being higher quality.
2. But don’t display sold-out products if they make up more than 30% of your inventory. Between 10-30% is a good range of sold-out products to feature.

The first number we see becomes our point of comparison for future numbers—known as the anchoring bias.

For example, if someone says their service costs $5,000 per month and up, you're anchored to the number $5,000. If they then give you a quote of $25,000 per month, you're gonna have sticker shock—even if you're being offered way more value than the $5k/mo package. 

Snickers grew sales by 38% simply by adding an anchor (the number 18) to their ad:

By including that number, Snickers suggested that 18 chocolate bars was a typical amount to have in your freezer. If you ordered fewer than that, you were being positively virtuous.

As in Tactic #1, the specificity here makes it easier to picture the items in your life. I know what 18 Snickers bars in my freezer look like. And now that I can picture them, I realize that that’s where they ought to be.

When I was fresh out of university, I worked at a coffee shop called Second Cup. This Canadian chain trained its staff in a simple but effective sales technique: 

"Make one specific, contextual cross-sell suggestion."

For example, if it was first thing in the morning and someone ordered a coffee to go, I might’ve asked them, "Would you like a blueberry muffin to go with your coffee?"

Or if it was 9pm and a couple ordered drinks, the barista might follow it up with, "How about a slice of cheesecake to go with that?"

Most of the time, people would say yes, effectively doubling the order value.

Specific suggestions were far more effective than generic ones like, "Would you like anything else?" To those, people automatically replied, "No, just gimme what I ordered." 

A specific suggestion, on the other hand, made them picture the item and start craving it.

This is what makes cross-sells on Amazon and other retail sites work so well.

Amazon’s "Featured items you may like" and "What do customers buy after viewing this item?" sections make you go, "Hmmm, maybe I do need that nice-looking bag for this camera I'm buying." You can picture using the two items together.

Cross-selling can bump up order values at checkout too: 

Try out specific suggestions in your sales funnels and conversations to boost average order values.

As a species, we crave belonging. That’s why we often look to others for cues on what to do when we’re in an unfamiliar situation. We follow the herd when it suits us.

This instinct to conform is what makes descriptive norms so powerful. They tell us how the majority of people act in that situation.

In one experiment, more hotel guests reused their towels after seeing a message with a descriptive norm (“75% of guests use their towels more than once”) than after seeing an environmental appeal (“Help save the environment by reusing your towels during your stay”).

Here's how to use descriptive norms in your emails, ads, landing pages, and so on:

• “Most clients reserve $1,500-2,000+ for their ad budget.” (ex: ads agency)
• “Over 2 million people have a 365+ day streak!” (ex: Duolingo)
• “63% of our customers bundle [product A] with [product B].” (ex: ecomm)
• “The majority of users complete this section in under 10 minutes.” (ex: onboarding)

Important: Descriptive norms work best when they show large numbers of people doing the behavior you want them to do. Descriptive norms backfire if you highlight the behavior you don't want them to do. Consider this sign about towel use:

Why it fails: It's telling you that the norm is to use multiple towels. Why would you defy the norm and only use one? It may seem unfair or that you're getting less by only using one.

But what if only a minority of people are doing the behavior you want?

Try using dynamic norms instead. These describe how a growing number of people are doing the behavior you want to increase. For an example, take a look at New York City’s GreeNYC campaign ("more and more New Yorkers"):

The most important factors in ad performance:

1. Great brand/product.
2. Kicka** creatives. 

It has less to do with targeting and optimization (and let's be honest, AI does most of that these days), and more to do with an intriguing product and creative and captivating ads.

Here are 7 ways to improve your ad creatives:

#1. Show the outcome

Start your ad with the desired end result of using your product; then in the second frame, introduce the product. This will increase video watch time as people will want to know how to get the result.

#2. Close-up‍

Start your ad with a very close-up shot of the product. 

Get people wondering... What is that? They'll stop because they want to figure it out.

#3. Lean into the Negativity Bias

Start the ad explaining why you are NEVER using the alternative to your product again.

It triggers an "Oh sh*t, am I doing it wrong?" and they'll want to know what they should be doing instead.

#4. Good lighting, good sound

The quality of the camera matters way less than a nice natural light source or a killer lighting setup.

Microphone quality and good music/sound effects are much more important than video quality.

#5. Leverage trends and seasons

People like it when content feels relevant and timely. If they're in the mindset of Christmas, or setting New Year's resolutions, or planning their Valentine's Day date, leverage that in your ads and content.

#6. Don't trigger "this is an ad"

Get creative to avoid setting off the alarm bells in people's heads that they're looking at an ad.

Make it look as natural as possible. Don't include music or pop-up captions for the first second or two—once they're hooked, you can bring them in.

Include a screenshare of someone texting a recommendation to their friend.

#7. Be different

You'll never stand out if you do the same thing that everyone else is doing. Be completely illogical.

Instead of focusing on your features, try including a photo of a cute bunny. It might just work.

The 6 tactics above may work today, but tomorrow they may not. The brands that win are the ones that can consistently come up with interesting and novel ideas.

A single ad campaign can be talked about for years. Think Budweiser's "wazzup" or Apple's "Think Different" or "Mac vs PC."

But that won't happen if you do what everyone else is doing.

Most people only use Twitter for a few minutes here and there per day, sometimes per week.

One way to ensure people see your tweets is just by tweeting A LOT. 

If you haven't heard of Dan Go, he goes by "@FitFounder."

His first tweet was April 10th, 2020. More than 84k tweets later and he has 500k followers (as well as 200k on LinkedIn, 450k on Instagram, and 80k newsletter subscribers).

On average, that's ~74 tweets every day. But he peaked at ~350 tweets per day. 

(Note: Twitter considers a comment/reply to be a tweet, not just original content.)

Chenell found that in the first several months, Dan's follower count was directly correlated to his total number of tweets:

Sure, not every tweet crushed.

But they didn't need to. Even if each one only got 100 impressions, that'd still add up to 35k impressions per day. And of course, many of them got way more than that.

Dan grew by outworking everyone else on Twitter.

It's honestly hard to find creators with more tweets than him. Sure there are accounts with a lot more, but they're mostly companies or automated.

Even Jack Dorsey (the founder and former CEO of Twitter), has a measly 29k, and he's been tweeting since day 0.

Dan is one of the most active Twitter users of the past 3 years.

Sometimes you can win just by being the most active.

I've always been skeptical that giving away free swag was an effective tactic.

But it definitely can be if you have the right strategy. 

Take it from InVision, which used swag to amplify its brand’s reputation. Customers loved to post their swag packages on social (creating a viral loop) and were also more likely to give feedback when asked—which is normally hard to get.

Get more from your swag by following these best practices:

• Gift swag at your "aha!" moment. For InVision, that was after users had completed simple onboarding activities like creating a project.
• Choose memorable items that relate to your product/service. Since it’s a design company, InVision’s free swag included custom stickers, pins, postcards, and envelopes. Users who upgraded to a paid subscription got even more—a sketchbook and gel pen. Other examples: A company in the music space could gift headphones, while a meditation/sleep app could gift eye masks.‍
• Use an attractive design. Don’t just default to your logo. Giving away logo-branded swag is like asking a consumer to be a walking billboard for your company. Instead, commission a design that ties back to your company. (Here’s InVision’s.) Your logo can still be included, but it should be secondary. Exception: If your merch doesn’t have much creative real estate, like headphones, just your logo is fine.‍
• Include a handwritten note. Early on, InVision’s swag packages included a handwritten message signed by the company’s CEO. This added a personal touch.‍
• Go over the top. Airtable gave branded Airpods to people at YC companies and key accounts. People would proudly sport them at the office and think fondly of Airtable every time they used them—I know because I've had a pair for 4 years.

Done well, swag can actually bring in new customers.

In fact, when InVision started a weekly Twitter contest giving away their shirts, it got messages from people wanting to buy the shirt without entering the contest. InVision’s team told them to sign up for the software’s professional plan and screenshot the invoice as proof.

Since users usually stuck around for a bit, that meant a few months of revenue for a shirt that only cost $15—not to mention they became walking billboards.

Justin's mention of Anaphora was a great example of the Frequency Bias: When you learn about something obscure, then immediately start seeing it everywhere, falsely thinking it's becoming more common.

I didn't hear about this phenomenon until I started researching my own post about literary devices, then BAM! There it was the next morning. Figured it would be a nice segue.

Here are five more literary devices you can use to make your writing more engaging.

For each, we'll modify the phrase: "The founder is stressed."

#1. Tricolon

A series of 3 parallel words, phrases, or clauses to enhance rhythm and create emphasis.

"The founder is stressed, strained, stretched."

Tip: This is also another literary device “Asyndeton” that leaves out conjunctions (and/or).

#2. Paradox

A statement that contradicts itself but still seems true.

"The founder is a calm storm."

The above can be interpreted as the founder being stressed (storm) yet maintaining composure (calm)—saying a lot in few words.

#3 Catachresis (don't ask me to pronounce this one)

Purposefully using a word incorrectly, for effect. 

"The founder drinks from the well of stress."

Works well to invoke a mental image.

#4 Paraprosdokian (nor this one)

The latter part causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.

"The founder is stressed—an understatement equivalent to calling the ocean a puddle."

Done right this can be fun and playful.

#5. Pleonasm

Use of more words than necessary to convey meaning and emphasis.

"The founder is stressed, full of stress, a picture of stress."

This is also a tricolon as it repeats the idea 3 times, and asyndeton as it lacks conjunctions.

–––

For a few more, and prettier design, here's the carousel version.

Justin Welsh's one-person business is pacing toward $2M+ in revenue in 2023.

He's one of the most impressive copywriters and systems thinkers I've seen.

He shared one of his copywriting formulas recently that he calls "VFCA." He used it in the following tweet:

The VFCA framework is: 

V: Visceral Opener

“I escaped the rat race…”

To stand out in a world of infinite content, use strong language to elicit a strong response.

Instead of:

1. "I left my job" say "I escaped the rat race."
2. "Most companies could onboard employees better" say "Most companies suck at onboarding." (credit: Wes Kao)
3. "A lot of Twitter users think LinkedIn is lame" say "Twitter hates LinkedIn."

F: Fresh Perspective

"My secret sauce is not playing status games"

People browse social media seeking dopamine hits and novelty. Anything but the same old, same old. A fresh perspective provides that.

In Justin's case, he's hoping to make people feel relieved, hopeful, and emotionally invested in his decision not to play "status games."

C: Challenge

"I don't:..."

Justin challenges the conventional definition of success. His goal was to connect with like-minded people who reject the common narrative and build affinity with them. 

He highlights his own personal values while attracting his community by slinging mud at a shared enemy.

A: Anaphora

Repetition of "I don't want" and "I want"

Lastly, Justin uses a literary device called Anaphora—repetition of the beginning part of successive sentences—to emphasize his message and create a sense of progression. 

The message—"I want X" or "I don't want Y"—gets stronger with each repetition.

With mobile commerce sales hitting $387 billion in the US last year, nailing the mobile buying experience is key.

So make your product-page CTAs sticky.

That way, it's easier for shoppers to add to cart—no scrolling back and forth to find what they’re looking for.

The luxury brand Baume & Mercier saw clicks on its “Add to Cart” button rise by 78% after making this change.

Consider the difference between these product pages from Sephora and Missha:

Let’s look at Missha first. Once someone has scrolled down to learn more about Missha’s product, they have to scroll back up to find the “Add to Cart” button again and make a purchase.

Meanwhile, someone shopping on Sephora’s mobile site has constant access to the “Add to Basket” button. They even have the option to adjust the quantity they want.

Once someone has decided that they're ready to buy, let them take action immediately. Every bit of thought and effort could make them change their mind.

This tactic can 2x the likelihood that someone says "yes" to your requests.

And it's hilariously simple. At the end of your request, just add:‍

"...but you are free to accept or refuse."‍

Studies have shown that adding those words can significantly increase the chances of a "yes."

For instance, in one study, strangers were asked to give someone money for bus fare. They gave twice the amount when those words were part of the request. 

Why do they matter so much?

We hate being told what to do. In contrast, we like to feel understood, respected, and in control.

Paradoxically, acknowledging a person's right to choose is enough of a nudge to increase the likelihood that they do what you want them to do.

Brains are weird.

So give people choice by using either the above phrase or a less-formal variation of it. Some places you can do that: 

• "But it's totally up to you"
• "It's your choice"
• "Take it or leave it"