Marketing Copy Strategies: Game of Thrones Edition

When it comes to marketing copy strategies, you’ll find useful techniques in unlikely places. Even in an awesome television series where beloved characters bite the dust every week.

(For the non-fans out there, I’m talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones.)

To explain how this series applies to your overall marketing copy strategy, we’ll begin with a quote: “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.”

Cersei Lannister utters these words—and what a good point she has…

About content marketing.

No, it’s not as black and white / do or die in the content marketing realm. But your marketing copy either nets you new leads or it doesn’t.

The obvious aside, what else can the televised world of George RR Martin teach us about writing high-converting marketing copy? More than you might expect.

Here are 5 pieces of advice to keep in mind when it comes to the dos and don’ts of effective marketing copy:

Translation: play to your strengths, which might not be copywriting.

DIY marketing copy is rarely successful. When you are too close to your company, the content doesn’t always do what it should. Stick to your strengths, and leave the marketing copy to the members of your team most suited for the task.

Translation: find opportunity in marketing copy that doesn’t perform.

Writing marketing copy that converts is about persistence, learning from your mistakes, closely watching analytics, and adapting to current trends. Remember that good marketing copy evolves.

Translation: When you test or track the success of your marketing copy, make sure you actually use the data to improve your messaging. If you’re ignoring the results or not making changes based on your findings, you’re wasting resources—and the opportunity to increase conversions.

Testing different headlines, subject lines, and calls to action is the key to higher conversions. Likewise, understanding where visitors spend their time—or where they’re not—will highlight the areas that require further emphasis or improvement.

Test, track, and measure your marketing copy to make it convert. Don’t ignore the data!

Translation: Whether it’s earned or not, singing your own praise does nothing to convince prospects that you’re worth their business. Saying it won’t make it true, but showing it might.

Customer testimonials, awards, and referrals–those make you worth someone’s money, so put them to use. When you’re working on content, avoid tooting your own horn and let the people who’ve reaped the benefits of your service speak for you.

Translation: When it comes to nurture emails and promotional email copy, remember your customers. Put the needs of your brand-loyal audience first, and remember what’s important to them. This fact is especially pertinent to email marketing, because your audience will read what’s valuable to them.

Without a takeaway in your email, your message hits the recycle bin.

For more tips to keep you from Jon Snow, check out our 25 Traffic and Conversion Tips today.

Oh, and winter is coming.