Copywriting Guidelines

# Copywriting Guidelines

Guidelines for writing landing page and marketing copy. These principles apply to headlines, subheads, CTAs, and any user-facing marketing content.

## Core Principles

### 1. Lead with the Trigger Moment, Not the Outcome

**Bad:** "Achieve your savings goals"
**Good:** "Income just hit. Know exactly where every dollar goes."

People are motivated by solving an immediate, felt problem — not achieving a distant outcome. Identify the specific moment when the user feels the pain, and speak directly to that moment.

**Framework:** Jobs to Be Done — people "hire" products to solve a problem at a specific moment. Describe that moment so clearly they think "yes, that's me."

### 2. Be Specific, Not Generic

**Bad:** "tells you what to save per goal"
**Good:** "know exactly where every dollar goes"

Specific, concrete language creates mental images. Vague language doesn't. Use numbers, tangible nouns, and precise verbs.

**Source:** Made to Stick (Chip & Dan Heath) — concreteness is one of the 6 principles that make ideas memorable.

### 3. Name the Audience Explicitly

**Bad:** "perfect for irregular income" (buried in body copy)
**Good:** "Built for freelancers, contractors, and anyone with irregular paychecks."

The target user should see themselves in the first 5 seconds. If they have to wonder "is this for me?", you've lost them. Be specific — the right people self-select in.

**Source:** Obviously Awesome (April Dunford), Positioning (Ries & Trout)

### 4. Use User Language, Not Feature Language

**Bad:** "percentage-driven buckets"
**Good:** "shows you the dollar amount to put in each category"

Headlines should speak to the problem or outcome in the user's language. Save feature descriptions for later in the page. When in doubt, use the exact words your users use to describe the problem.

### 5. Reduce Cognitive Load

**Bad:** Three concepts in one headline (savings goals + irregular income + percentage buckets)
**Good:** One clear idea (income arrives → you know what to do)

Simplicity wins. One clear idea beats three muddled ones. Each section of the page should communicate one thing well.

## Tone

- **Casual and friendly** — write like you're explaining to a smart friend
- **Clear above all else** — if there's tension between clever and clear, choose clear
- **Confident but not salesy** — state benefits directly without hype words
- **First person ("I built this") or second person ("You'll see...")** — both work, use what fits the context

## Checklist for Landing Page Copy

Before shipping, verify:

- [ ] Does the headline speak to a specific moment or problem (not just an outcome)?
- [ ] Would the target user see themselves in the first 5 seconds?
- [ ] Is the core value proposition in user language, not feature language?
- [ ] Is each section communicating one clear idea?
- [ ] Could you remove any words without losing meaning?

## Further Reading

- **Jobs to Be Done** — Clayton Christensen (framework for understanding what "job" users hire your product for)
- **Made to Stick** — Chip & Dan Heath (why some ideas stick and others don't)
- **Obviously Awesome** — April Dunford (positioning for products)
- **Positioning** — Al Ries & Jack Trout (the foundational text on positioning)