Different Ways to Share your Product

Think Outside the Share Button

Idea: Get users to connect their activity on your platform to another platform, outside the share button.

Example: Airbnb offering showing a link to share user's listings on Craigslist.

For You: Look at your product and make a list of all the things users create on it — a listing, a photo, a comment, an account, a thought, a like, … Then do a little bit of research to see if a) there are other platform which feature these things and b) there are other platforms that use these things, or could use these things.

Meerkat + Airbnb: Host host-led live tours of listings.  Hosts can opt in and pick a time slot for when they can show off their space. Show the hosts’s Meerkat name and showing time slots on the listing.

Food Spotter + Foursquare: Do I really need to spell this one out?

Vessel + Magisto: Similar to the Facebook + Instagram relationship.

What Makes People Click vs Tick

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Sometimes I write to the customers' own language, ideas, likes — what makes them tick. But, if the main goal is to get them to click, I write to the customers' psyche and sub conscious.

Like great graphic design, the urge to click something should feel natural and go unnoticed. The moment a user of your digital experience has to think about what they are clicking, you’ve lost them to their thinking. There is a psychology behind what makes people click, and it’s not always the same as what makes them tick.

Tell Them Something They Didn’t Know

Nobody likes being told something they already know — it feels like a waste of time, and it’s boring. Don’t be that brand. Starting with an idea that tells something new or intrigues with new ideas will make people want to know more and reach your click. Starting with something that makes them tick by using phrases and ideas they already know, might seem like you’ve hit the jackpot, but it makes it harder to stand out, and to get people to click or want to see more. Sometimes it’s nice to tell them something new about what makes them tick, but it’s gotta be something great and really new.

Give Them Something to Grab Onto

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If I don’t grasp why you’re talking to me, then I’m not going to trust your content enough to read on or see more. Take a step back and ask, what you want your audience to grab onto, to click onto. Taking up someones time or attention with something that makes them tick, but doesn’t seem to have a purpose, makes your product or content easier to forget and less trustworthy. Use ingredients of what makes them tick (like a soccer ball for soccer fans) but make sure there’s a purpose there too. What you want them to grab onto could range from motivation to the need for a better, new soccer ball.

Complete the Story

Of course I’m going to click on “See More” if it completes, or is the next step in, the story I’ve been shown so far. Using CTA’s that fit within the story you are telling makes people click. Using a CTA that just makes people tick with words you think they’ll like and sound fun, might be exciting, but it creates a break in the flow.

Why I Won't Write for These Companies

They all have one thing in common that I cannot support: Animal Cruelty.

I won't even buy their $10 products to keep from supporting their methods, so how am I supposed to help increase their sales by the millions and feel good about it? Or continue to brainwash people that these companies and products are all-good?

It ain't easy passing up opportunities for some really cool, innovative projects. And the people who I connect with at these companies are so nice to boot. But, I'd rather not work as a copywriter than support something I strongly oppose.

Does that make me unattractive to some agencies? Probably. Does it limit who is willing to put their name next to mine? Most likely. Is it worth it? I believe, yes.

Well, I feel like Matt Diaz coming out and saying all of this. Here is my excess skin, people.

My hope is that it inspires you to also put morale above work so we can start putting some pressure on clients, together, to take more responsible paths toward profit. We all want them to do well, just do right, too.

---

I've started to make a database of good products that don't test on animals.

bettergoods.co

It's a design and info work in progress, but check it out if you're looking for good quality cruelty-free beauty and cosmetic products.

Instagram Carousel Ad Ideas + Tips

It's been five days since the announcement, so we all know that Instagram now offers "carousel ads" for advertisers. And the other BIG NEWS is that the new carousel ads also let brands give a link in the ad. Up until now, advertisers were no different from users when it came to links, and they too could only have clickable links in their profiles, not on their posts.

Ways to use Instagram's Carousel Ads, Beyond Stories

The obvious way to use the carousel is to tell a story, so I'll skip that one.

1. Entice to Swipe

Get people curious about what's next in the carousel by showing a snippet of the next image within the first one. Kind of like this:

2. Surprise

Something sticks with you if you have a bigger reaction to it. Get a bigger reaction with your instagram carousel ad and give users a surprising twist to your carousel story. Kind of like this:

3. Instructions
Everyone loves a good How-To. Get creative and think of ways to bring users in with a how-to they might be curious about, or need, and then tie it to your brand. Make sure it's valuable through humor or actually teaching something though. Otherwise it'll just be freakin annoying.

Well, those are the few off the top of my head. Get in touch if you're curious about more ideas.

Cheers.

UX Copywriting - The Best Tip for a Great Digital Experience

Recently I created a checklist of things to consider before pushing new pages for a client. We spent over a month discovering what could be improved with their site's copy and general user experience.

The result was a 106-slide deck... who the fuck is going to go through all of that as a regular reference? Nobody.

The checklist is a full page, but, I realized that it all whittles down to one question:

UX Copywriting Tip:

 Ask yourself a simple question... Are you helping the customer?

What they need help with varies, of course. But, at the very core of everything you do, it really comes down to making sure what you're doing is helping the customer. Whether it's completing a project, making a purchase, having fun, getting drunk, or even unsubscribing. Make it about helping them the best way you know how to.

It seems like an obvious thing to consider, but it's an important question that often gets skipped.

Native Advertising Ideas - Cadillac on Mashable

The Native Ad Concept

A series that consists of interesting people talk about interesting things while using a brand's product.

Props for: 

Not putting the brand name in the title of the series so it feels more real, and having a great shot of people having a good time in the header. People always want to get involved with people who (authentically) look like they're having fun.

Props for: 

Having people not talk about the product, but showing them using it and enjoying it. 

Props for: 

Making it a series! Seeing this promoted series a few times on Mashable makes it more of a regular Mashable thing, rather than a one-time soulless promoted post. You almost forget it sponsored.

Here's the link.

Digital Dumbo Holiday Bash Agency Showcase

Jonathan Santoro from Carrot Creative

Digital Dumbo hosted their "Holiday Bash + 2min Agency Showcase" last night. Carrot Creative, Free Association, Huge, HUSH, Prolific Interactive, Red Antler & Stinkdigital each had two minutes to present their work from the past year, and their predictions for the coming year.

All of the Dumbo-based creative agencies had interesting things and ideas to share. But, here are my awards:

Coolest 2014 Projects: Carrot Creative

Most Amicable Presentation: Prolific Interactive

Brains I'd Most Like to Pick: HUSH

Best Tag-Team: Free Association

Most Creative: Stink Digital

Best Overall Presentación: Red Antler

David Landa from Free Association

Takeaways
Start thinking about the space in between the internet of things and ways to hit two birds with one stone in a single update to a client's new site.