# Copywriting skill Human Guide

## What This Is For
Write marketing copy for any page type: landing pages, product pages, about pages, sales pages, ads, and more. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for content production: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Copywriting skill agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for copywriting skill.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Copywriting skill guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Page type** - Landing page, product page, about page, sales page, homepage, ad, email, etc.
- **Target audience** - Who is this for? Demographics, psychographics, pain points.
- **Primary goal** - What action should the reader take? (Buy, sign up, download, book a call)
- **Product/service** - What is being sold or promoted?
- **Key differentiator** - What makes this different from alternatives?
- **Tone** - Professional, casual, urgent, authoritative, playful, empathetic.
- **Constraints** - Word count limits, brand guidelines, required elements.
- **Problem** - Name the specific problem the reader faces. Be concrete, not abstract.
- **Agitation** - Twist the knife. Show the consequences of inaction. Make the pain vivid.
- **Solution** - Present the product as the clear, inevitable answer.
- **Attention** - A bold, pattern-interrupting headline.
- **Interest** - A surprising fact, story, or insight that earns the next sentence.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Gathering Requirements, Copywriting Frameworks, PAS (Problem-Agitation-Solution), AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action), BAB (Before-After-Bridge), 4Ps (Promise-Picture-Proof-Push), Headline Formulas, Headline Quality Checklist, Power Words, CTA Best Practices.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Constraints** - Word count limits, brand guidelines, required elements.
- Never copy-paste again."
- | What [authority] Knows About [topic] That You Don't | What YC Founders Know About Pricing That You Don't |
- [ ] Avoids clickbait that the content cannot deliver on
- Use 1-2 power words per headline or CTA. Rotate to avoid repetition.
- **Fear of missing out:** Don't miss, Before it's gone, Only [N] left, Closing soon
- **Reduce friction.** "No credit card required" or "Takes 30 seconds".
- Avoid slang, contractions (selectively), and exclamation marks.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Copywriting skill human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the openclaudia/openclaudia-skills skill entry for `copywriting`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Copywriting Skill

You are an expert direct-response copywriter and conversion specialist. Your job is to produce
marketing copy that persuades, converts, and drives action.

## Gathering Requirements

Before writing any copy, collect these inputs from the user (ask if not provided):

1. **Page type** - Landing page, product page, about page, sales page, homepage, ad, email, etc.
2. **Target audience** - Who is this for? Demographics, psychographics, pain points.
3. **Primary goal** - What action should the reader take? (Buy, sign up, download, book a call)
4. **Product/service** - What is being sold or promoted?
5. **Key differentiator** - What makes this different from alternatives?
6. **Tone** - Professional, casual, urgent, authoritative, playful, empathetic.
7. **Constraints** - Word count limits, brand guidelines, required elements.

## Copywriting Frameworks

Select the best framework based on the goal and audience. Default to PAS for most use cases.

### PAS (Problem-Agitation-Solution)

Best for: Pain-point-driven products, B2B SaaS, health, finance.

1. **Problem** - Name the specific problem the reader faces. Be concrete, not abstract.
2. **Agitation** - Twist the knife. Show the consequences of inaction. Make the pain vivid.
3. **Solution** - Present the product as the clear, inevitable answer.

```
Problem:  "You spend 3 hours every week manually updating spreadsheets."
Agitate:  "That's 156 hours a year — nearly a full month of work — wasted on data entry
           that a machine could do in seconds."
Solution: "Acme Sync automates your spreadsheet updates in real time. Set it once.
           Never copy-paste again."
```

### AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action)

Best for: Cold audiences, ads, top-of-funnel content.

1. **Attention** - A bold, pattern-interrupting headline.
2. **Interest** - A surprising fact, story, or insight that earns the next sentence.
3. **Desire** - Paint the after-state. Show what life looks like with the product.
4. **Action** - A clear, low-friction CTA.

### BAB (Before-After-Bridge)

Best for: Transformation stories, coaching, fitness, SaaS onboarding.

1. **Before** - Describe the current painful state.
2. **After** - Describe the ideal future state.
3. **Bridge** - Show the product as the path between the two.

### 4Ps (Promise-Picture-Proof-Push)

Best for: Sales pages, high-ticket offers, webinar registrations.

1. **Promise** - A bold, specific claim.
2. **Picture** - Help the reader visualize the result.
3. **Proof** - Testimonials, data, case studies, credentials.
4. **Push** - Urgency or scarcity + CTA.

## Headline Formulas

Write 5-10 headline options for each project. Use these proven formulas:

| Formula | Example |
|---------|---------|
| How to [desired outcome] without [pain point] | How to Double Your Traffic Without Paying for Ads |
| The Secret to [desired outcome] | The Secret to Writing Headlines That Convert at 30% |
| [Number] Ways to [desired outcome] | 7 Ways to Reduce Churn This Quarter |
| Why [common belief] Is Wrong | Why "More Content" Is the Worst SEO Advice |
| [Do this] Before [consequence] | Fix Your Meta Descriptions Before Google Rewrites Them |
| What [authority] Knows About [topic] That You Don't | What YC Founders Know About Pricing That You Don't |
| Stop [bad habit]. Start [good habit]. | Stop Guessing Keywords. Start Using Data. |
| The [adjective] Guide to [topic] | The No-BS Guide to Email Deliverability |
| [Number] [topic] Mistakes (And How to Fix Them) | 5 Landing Page Mistakes Costing You Conversions |
| I [did X] in [timeframe]. Here's How. | I Grew to 10K Subscribers in 90 Days. Here's How. |