How to Use AI for Copywriting in Startup Marketing

Using AI for copywriting is a powerful tool for startup founders and marketers to effectively communicate with their target audience and drive action. It drastically reduces the time it takes to create content and copy. But there’s a catch!

You may think, why should I learn more about copywriting best practices when I have Chat GPT, Bard, or other AIs who can do it for me?

Well, for starters, Chat GPT doesn’t always craft the best copy, especially with free versions.

It can be very good (if you’re using GPT 4 +), but adding some extra flair and a human touch will help your marketing efforts by making your copy less generic and more exciting – simultaneously enhancing your results.

And startups need every advantage they can get.

Sources say that AI-generated copy will not harm your search engine rankings on Google for as long as it’s relevant, helpful to your audience, trustworthy, and demonstrates your expertise.

This can be achieved by following the EEAT guidelines for SEO but also by going through an SEO checklist to ensure you’re covering all of your bases.

BUT, it needs to be authentic. And AI is not the best at showing authenticity and emotion in its copy.

“Now, more than ever, the value of content hinges on the authenticity of its creator and the underlying value, meaning, story, and perspective of the content they’re creating,” Josh Blyskal, Associate Marketing Technical Manager at HubSpot, said.

By using the right words, phrases, and techniques, copywriters can influence emotions, trigger curiosity, and create persuasive messages that lead to higher conversion rates.

We will show you how you can create the most compelling copy with or without AI or ChatGPT.

In this guide, we will:

• Explore the best practices for copywriting generally, and for creating copy with AI
• Provide a video to provide extra context
• Share a list of powerful words and phrases to incorporate into your marketing content

Understanding Your Audience

To create compelling copy, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your target audience. By knowing their needs, desires, pain points, and preferences, you can tailor your messaging to resonate with them effectively.

Conduct market research, analyze customer data, and create buyer personas to gain insights into your audience’s demographics, motivations, and behaviors. This understanding will inform your website copywriting strategy and help you craft messages that truly resonate with your audience.

Once you have the information about your target audience written down, you can tell Chat GPT what their persona is. Share that data with it so it can write better copy! The more specific you are with what the parameters of  your AI website copywriting requests are, the better the copy will be.

Average Attention Span of Visitors

The average attention span of people is 8.25 seconds. And if you don’t capture your website’s visitors quickly enough, then people are going to leave your website and they’ll be unlikely to come back.

That’s why you must use a combination of fantastic copy, images, or video so you can get your users attention and keep it. To do this you’ll need a hook.

Start with a Great Hook

Start with a catchy unique value proposition that gets your target audience excited and place an image of your product or a video beside it. This needs to be your hook.

Once you have their attention, in the following sections, tell a compelling story describing your startup with more detail. Share how you help your ideal users achieve a desired outcome in as few words as possible.

Do everything in your power to not write big and chunky paragraphs. You don’t want your visitor to feel overwhelmed and leave your site. We will tell you more about keeping it short in the next section.

However, do ensure you utilize white space to prevent your site from making it feel claustrophobic to visitors.

This leads us to our next big tip for you.

Keep it Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.)

Keep it Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.) is an acronym that you can use to remind yourself of the necessity for brevity and simplicity, especially with the first section visitors see on your website or landing page.

If you find yourself writing long paragraphs for your website copy, then there are a couple of things you can do.

Option 1:

You can ask Chat GPT to refine or summarize the content and tell it what length it should be. Tell it to be no more than two sentences or tell it that you need one sentence. You can also tell it to use copywriting best practices.

Option 2:

Try breaking more complex paragraphs into different subsections and augmenting them with images that are representative of the content you’re sharing. You can also ask AI to do this. Then you can use the Z-pattern of web page design to display your content.

Speaking of AI, let’s get to AI copywriting prompt directions now.

AI Website Copywriting Prompt Directions

Asking Chat GPT or AI Copywriting Questions

When asking an AI bot questions (there are lots of AIs out there), you want to be as specific as possible about what you want because if you don’t, it’ll create something overly generic. Therefore, providing it with background information will help educate it during your conversation and it will make it easier for it to write better copy for you.

What details to include:

• What type of marketing content is it? Examples:
  • Ad
  • Social media post
  • Email
  • Section of an email
  • SEO meta description
  • Intro to a blog post
  • Section of your website
  • Call to action
  • Popup
  • Viral giveaway
  • Update for your community
  • Story
• Who is it for? Describe your target customer to the AI.
• What type of message are you trying to share, topically?
• What’s your goal? (this may or may not be obvious based on the type of marketing content)
  • To sell
  • Persuade
  • Raise awareness
  • Promote
  • Generate leads
  • Review
• What’s your tone of voice? Is it excitement, fomo, scarcity, authoritative, motivational, inspirational?
• What benefits will the end-user receive, functionally, emotionally, & socially?
• Any other important details

Providing these details will make your life so much easier when communicating with Chat GPT for AI website copywriting. Though, we can’t speak for other marketing tools with AI that claim to be able to write copy for you because I don’t know their quality of work.

Chat GPT Prompts

You can ask Chat GPT for an example of good copy for a insert marketing medium (email/post/ad, etc) for type of audience to sell/promote/generate leads etc.

Example of how to ask AI to write content:

Craft me a section on my membership plans page with a call-to-action that encourages conversions and drives action. This will promote joining my company’s accelerator program. My target audience is startup founders and I’m selling memberships to my accelerator program.

The program provides in-depth course content that saves people time, money and provides a clear process for foundation building, development, and growth. It also provides them with a huge resource library, community, and they can get mentoring as an add-on.

Disclaimer: I have primed it with more information about StartupDevKit and the programs in the past, so the response it comes up with is not made up out of thin air.

Response 1 from Chat GPT (3.5)

It gave me a long winded result. So I told it that it was great but I need the copy to be much shorter. The following was so good I may actually use it for my homepage!

Response 2

Accelerator Program: Propel Your Startup to New Heights

Supercharge your startup’s growth with our Accelerator Program. Gain the essential tools, knowledge, and support needed to accelerate your business success.

Save Time, Money, and Build a Solid Foundation

Our in-depth course content guides you through every step of the startup journey. Save time and money with a clear and proven process for foundation building, development, and growth.

Access to a Vast Resource Library

Unlock our extensive resource library filled with templates, guides, case studies, and expert insights. Stay ahead of the competition and make informed decisions.

Thrive in a Supportive Community

Join a vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs. Engage, collaborate, and find inspiration from fellow founders who understand the startup challenges.

Optional Mentoring for Personalized Guidance

Add-on personalized mentoring from experienced mentors. Gain valuable insights, strategic advice, and support tailored to your specific needs.

Ready to Accelerate Your Startup’s Success?

Join our Accelerator Program today. Propel your business forward, save time and money, and gain access to invaluable resources and a supportive community.

Take the leap and join our Accelerator Program now!

Enhancements by a Person

Goals: Add fear of missing out (FOMO), social proof, experiential appeal, emotional appeal in the last section.

Don’t miss out on the transformative experience our program and mentoring can have on your startup so you can excel.

So join our Accelerator Program today so you can reap the benefits that other companies have had from our expert guidance.

Propel your business forward, save time and money, and a supportive community, and gain access to invaluable resources that will make your life so much easier.

Get in on the action and join our Accelerator Program now!

Incorporating Human Insight into AI Website Copywriting

While Chat GPT can generate copy, human input is crucial in AI website copywriting. Human marketers have a deep understanding of the target audience and can bring unique insights and creativity to the table.

By combining the capabilities of Chat GPT with human expertise, you can achieve the best results.

However, do note that Chat GPT 3.5 is less advanced in copywriting than version 4.0. So do take that into consideration when you’re doing website copywriting with AI.

Crafting Engaging Headlines

Headlines play a crucial role in capturing attention and driving engagement. You can use your creativity and knowledge of the target audience to craft headlines that resonate and stand out.

They can also conduct A/B testing to determine which headlines perform best and optimize for maximum impact.

Tailoring the Copy to Audience Needs

You can analyze customer feedback, conduct surveys, and engage in conversations to gain insights into the specific needs and pain points of the target audience – unlike AI (at the moment).

This understanding allows people to tailor the copy to address those needs directly, making the messaging more relatable and persuasive.

However, you can ask AI like Chat GPT about specific audiences and what their pain points and needs are. Though do remember that their accuracy may not be 100%. So, it’s important to back it up with real data you’ve obtained from actual people.

Ensuring Brand Voice and Values

You or your marketing team are responsible for maintaining consistency in brand voice and values throughout the copy. When doing AI website copywriting, they can infuse the messaging with the unique personality and tone of the brand, creating a cohesive and authentic experience for the audience.

Incorporating Emotional Appeal

Creative people are adept at understanding and tapping into emotions. By incorporating emotional appeal in the copy, marketers can create a deeper connection with the audience, evoking empathy, desire, or excitement.

You can choose the right emotional triggers and storytelling techniques to enhance the persuasive power of the copy when you understand your audience’s intrinsic motivations for using your product or service.

In the next section, we’ll talk about the outcomes that you need to share in your copy through product positioning.

And to help you craft your message, you can use the amazing AIDA copywriting model and craft it using power words and phrases, which you’ll see after the next section.

Marketing & Positioning Your Product

Just remember one thing when it comes to all of this. Don’t over-sell and under-deliver. This creates what’s called a “value gap.” A value gap is where the perceived value is greater than the actual value. Rather, it’s way better to under-sell and overdeliver.

According to Wes Bush’s book, Product-Led Growth, to effectively communicate the value of your product, your startup needs to know three reasons why people buy a product: Its functional outcome, its emotional outcome, and its social outcome.

Functional outcome: the core tasks that customers want to get done

Emotional outcome: how customers want to feel or avoid feeling as a result of executing the functional outcome

Social outcome: how customers want to be perceived by others by using your product

By following these guidelines, sharing specifically how your users can benefit through outcomes, you’ll experience greater conversion rates than if otherwise.

However, text isn’t the only way to deliver copy to your audience.

Images and Video

The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. 93% of communication is nonverbal. And 65% of the population are visual learners.

Images and video are the most preferred mediums of information. According to a HubSpot report:

• 43% say that branded video content is the preferred medium.
• 36% prefer branded image content.
• 18% prefer branded written content.
• Personalized CTAs convert 202% better than generic CTAs.

By delivering a combination of text, images, and video, your website visitors will be more likely to become customers.

Website Copywriting Stats

According to SEMRush‘s state of content marketing report:

• 41% of low-performing content has too many complex words.
• 43% of low-performing content has too many long sentences.
• Paragraphs longer than 90 words are too long.
• 44% of low-performing content did not have any keywords.

The result of this data shows that you should employ the K.I.S.S. acronym, which stands for “keep it simple, stupid.” Point being that you need to aim for concise copy with brevity but also with strong copy.

Landing Page Stats by Unbounce

• 76.8% of landing pages did not have social proof. The absence of social proof hurt their conversion rate.
• Pages with social proof converted at an average of 12.5%.
• Pages without social proof converted at an average rate of 11.8%.
• Email continues to convert the highest at a rate of 13%.
• Mobile landing pages are more likely to convert your audience than desktop landing pages.
• Word count affects conversion rates on a landing page.
• Landing pages with less than 100 words converted better than landing pages with 500 words by 50%.

Social proof will only help your website copy perform better. And continuing on the path of brevity with your copywriting will pay great dividends.

Utilizing the AIDA Copywriting Model

The AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is a proven framework for structuring persuasive copy. It helps marketers guide their audience through the buying process by capturing attention, generating interest, creating desire, and prompting action. Each stage of the AIDA model can be supported by specific copywriting techniques.

Attention:

Start with a compelling headline that grabs attention.

Use power words, questions, or intriguing statements to pique curiosity and make the audience want to read further. For example, “Discover the Secrets to…” or “Are You Making These Costly Mistakes in Your Business?”.

Interest:

Once you have their attention, focus on creating interest.

Highlight the unique features and benefits of your product or service. Use storytelling, customer testimonials, and captivating descriptions to engage the audience and keep them interested.

Explain how your offering solves their problems or fulfills their desires. For example, “Transform Your Home with Our Innovative Interior Design Solutions” or “Join Thousands of Satisfied Customers Who Have Experienced Our Award-Winning Customer Service.”

Desire:

Build desire by emphasizing the value and positive outcomes customers can achieve by using your offering.

Address their pain points and showcase how your product or service can solve their problems. Incorporate persuasive language and emotional triggers to evoke desire and create a sense of urgency. Use phrases like “Imagine a Life Without…” or “Unlock Your Full Potential With Our Revolutionary Approach.”

Action:

Finally, provide a clear and compelling call to action.

Use actionable language and specific instructions to encourage the audience to take the desired action. Incorporate words and phrases that imply scarcity or exclusivity to prompt immediate action. For example, “Limited Time Offer: Act Now!” or “Join our VIP Membership to Get Exclusive Access.”

Even a simple change in a CTA (or call to action) can provide meaningful and huge results.

For instance, Unbounce changed “Start your free 30 day trial” to “Start my free 30 day trial”, and increased their CTR by 90%. (Unbounce)

Copywriting Power Words and Phrases

In addition to the AIDA model, certain words and phrases have been proven to be highly persuasive. They’re called power words and phrases.

Power words invoke emotion and trigger curiosity, making your content more shareable and engaging. Strategic use of power words in headlines and content can significantly increase click-through rates on your website and social sharing.

Don’t stuff your website copy with too many power words or it will lose its effectiveness, though.

First, here are some examples and then we’ll go into greater detail:

• You/Your: Using these pronouns personalizes the message and makes it more relatable to the audience.
• Free: This word implies value and can attract attention and interest.
• New: People are often drawn to new and innovative offerings.
• Proven: This word instills confidence and assures customers that the product or service has a track record of success.
• Easy: Highlighting simplicity and ease of use can remove barriers and encourage action.
• Guarantee: Offering a guarantee reduces perceived risk and increases trust.
• Limited: Implying scarcity can create a sense of urgency and prompt immediate action.
• Exclusive: This word suggests exclusivity and makes the offer more enticing.
• Save: People are motivated by saving money or time.
• Unlock: This word implies hidden or valuable information or benefits.

More examples of power words that elicit high arousal emotions and curiosity include:

Instantly, mistakes, hilarious, reveals, proves, ridiculous, astonishing, uncovered, mind-blowing, insider secrets.

Incorporating these persuasive words and phrases strategically throughout your copy can enhance its impact and generate better results from your marketing and sales.

Persuasive Power Words and Phrases

Incorporate these “magic marketing words” into your website copy to boost response and conversion rates.

Examples Include:

You, because, free, value, guaranteed, amazing, easy, discover, act now, everything included, never, new, save, proven, safe and effective, powerful, real results/guaranteed results, secret, the, instant, how to, elite, premium, caused by, more, bargain, no obligation, 100% money-back guarantee, huge, wealth, suddenly, now, announcing, introducing, improvement, amazing, sensational, remarkable, revolutionary, startling, miracle, magic, offer, quick, easy, wanted, challenge, compare, bargain, hurry, limited time, exclusive, bonus, discount, special offer, save, unlock.

These phrases emphasize value, scarcity, exclusivity, and immediate action.

Encourage Community

Use community-building phrases to foster a sense of belonging and engagement. But remember that people don’t want to be a part of a dead community either, so do everything you can to foster consistent engagement and drive people into your community.

You can use a freebie to incentivize people joining, as well.

The value in a community increases with more people in it (and who are active in it), as long as they’re all part of the same or similar demographic.

Examples Include:

Join, become a member, and come along.

Phrase examples:

“Join our community of 4,000 founders!”, “Become a member of 12,000 member community of marketers”, “Join our private event of 250 creatives. Come along and geek out on design with other creative pros.”

These phrases can be effective in email signups, trial offers, and in-app messaging.

To foster a sense of safety and confidence

Trusted, secure, guaranteed, proven, certified, reliable, risk-free, satisfaction guaranteed, money-back guarantee.

Additional Aspects of Copywriting to Integrate

1. Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful tool in copywriting that allows startup founders to engage and captivate their audience. By incorporating narratives and anecdotes, you can create an emotional connection and make your message more memorable.

Use storytelling techniques such as creating relatable characters, setting up a problem or conflict, and providing a resolution that showcases the benefits of your product or service.

This approach helps startup founders effectively communicate their brand story, build trust, and differentiate themselves from competitors.

2. Clear and Concise Language

Clear and concise language is essential in copywriting for startup founders. Avoid using jargon or complex terminology that might confuse your audience, especially if you’re targeting a non-technical or broader audience.

Use simple and straightforward language to ensure your message is easily understood. Focus on communicating the key benefits and value propositions of your offering in a concise and compelling manner.

We talked about this earlier with K.I.S.S. and it applies everywhere else, too – not just AI website copywriting.

This approach helps startup founders communicate their value proposition effectively, increase readability, and engage a wider audience.

3. Targeted Messaging

Tailoring your copy to specific segments of your audience is crucial for startup founders. Understand the unique needs, interests, and pain points of your target audience, and create messaging that directly addresses them.

Develop buyer personas and conduct market research for primary and alternate audiences to gain insights into your audience’s demographics, motivations, and behaviors. This approach allows startup founders to create personalized and relevant copy that resonates with their target audience, increasing engagement and conversions.

4. Call-to-Action Optimization

Optimizing your call-to-action (CTA) is vital for startup founders to drive desired actions from their audience. A well-crafted CTA should be clear, compelling, and action-oriented. Use action verbs that create a sense of urgency and specify the desired action you want your audience to take.

For example, “Sign up now,” “Get started today,” or “Claim your free trial.” By optimizing your CTA, startup founders can guide their audience towards the desired conversion, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or scheduling a demo.

5. Testimonials and Social Proof

Incorporating testimonials and social proof into your copy is a powerful way for startup founders to build trust and credibility. Testimonials from satisfied customers, case studies, and endorsements from industry experts or influencers can provide social proof of the value and quality of your product or service.

Use real-life examples that highlight positive experiences and success stories. This approach helps startup founders establish credibility, alleviate doubts, and convince potential customers of the value and benefits they can expect.

6. Emotional Appeal

Understanding and leveraging emotional triggers is essential for startup founders in copywriting. By tapping into the desires, fears, aspirations, or frustrations of your audience, you can create a deeper emotional connection. Use storytelling, vivid language, and imagery to evoke emotions that align with your brand and offering. Emotional appeal helps startup founders create a memorable and relatable brand experience, cultivate brand loyalty, and motivate their audience to take action.

7. SEO Optimization

Optimizing your copy for search engines is crucial for startup founders to improve their online visibility and organic rankings. Incorporate relevant keywords and phrases strategically throughout your copy, including headings, subheadings, and meta descriptions. Conduct keyword research to identify high-value keywords with reasonable search volumes and integrate them naturally into your content. By optimizing your copy for SEO, startup founders can attract organic traffic, increase their website’s visibility, and reach a wider audience.

8. Formatting and Readability

The formatting and readability of your copy play a significant role in engaging your audience. Use subheadings to structure your contentand break it into scannable sections. Incorporate bullet points, numbered lists, and white space to make your copy visually appealing and easy to read. Keep paragraphs concise and focused to maintain reader interest. Consider using bold or italicized text to highlight key points or important information. By enhancing the formatting and readability of your copy, startup founders can improve comprehension, encourage longer engagement, and increase the likelihood of readers taking the desired action.

9. A/B Testing

A/B testing is a valuable technique that allows startup founders to continuously improve the effectiveness of their copy. Test different variations of your messaging, headlines, CTAs, and other elements to determine what resonates best with your audience. Split your audience into two groups and expose each group to a different version of your copy. Measure and compare the performance of each variant based on predetermined metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, or engagement. A/B testing enables startup founders to make data-driven decisions, optimize their copy, and maximize its impact on their target audience.

10. Ethical Considerations

Ethical considerations in AI website copywriting are crucial for startup founders. Ensure that your copy is honest, transparent, and respects the privacy of your audience. Avoid making misleading claims or using manipulative tactics that may erode trust. Clearly communicate the benefits and limitations of your product or service, provide accurate information, and honor any commitments or guarantees you make. Startup founders should prioritize building long-term relationships with their customers based on trust and integrity.

By incorporating these additional aspects of copywriting into your strategy, startup founders like yourself can refine your messaging, connect with your target audience on a deeper level, and drive meaningful engagement and conversions.

Conclusion

Copywriting is a critical skill for startup founders and marketers, and the AIDA model, along with persuasive words, phrases, and techniques, can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your marketing content. And you want a website that converts well, so make the best of it with the combination of AI and human creativity.

Remember, while ChatGPT can provide valuable suggestions, human marketers bring essential insights and expertise to the AI website copywriting process. By combining the strengths of both humans and AI, you can create compelling and persuasive copy that resonates with your target audience and drives the desired action.