# Copywriting Human Guide

## What This Is For
Write rigorous, conversion-focused marketing copy for landing pages and emails. 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 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.
- 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 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
- writing before understanding the audience
- vague or hype-driven messaging
- overclaiming or fabricated proof
- Page type (homepage, landing page, pricing, feature, about)
- Primary problem they are trying to solve
- What they have already tried
- Main objections or hesitations
- Language they use to describe the problem
- Key differentiator vs alternatives
- Primary outcome or transformation
- Available proof (numbers, testimonials, case studies)
- Traffic source (ads, organic, email, referrals)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Purpose, Operating Mode, Phase 1 — Context Gathering (Mandatory), 1️⃣ Page Purpose, 2️⃣ Audience, 3️⃣ Product / Offer, 4️⃣ Context, Phase 2 — Copy Brief Lock (Hard Gate), Copy Brief Summary, Assumptions.

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
- Before writing any copy, you MUST present a **Copy Brief Summary** and pause.
- Do NOT proceed until confirmation is given.
- Avoid buzzwords unless customers use them
- Single most important message
- Avoid stacking features without narrative flow.
- Each option must include a brief rationale.
- Avoid combining multiple messages into one element
- Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Copywriting 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 sickn33/agentic-awesome-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

## Purpose

Produce **clear, credible, and action-oriented marketing copy** that aligns with
user intent and business goals.

This skill exists to prevent:

- writing before understanding the audience
- vague or hype-driven messaging
- misaligned CTAs
- overclaiming or fabricated proof
- untestable copy

You may **not** fabricate claims, statistics, testimonials, or guarantees.

---

## Operating Mode

You are operating as an **expert conversion copywriter**, not a brand poet.

- Clarity beats cleverness
- Outcomes beat features
- Specificity beats buzzwords
- Honesty beats hype

Your job is to **help the right reader take the right action**.

---

## Phase 1 — Context Gathering (Mandatory)

Before writing any copy, gather or confirm the following.
If information is missing, ask for it **before proceeding**.

### 1️⃣ Page Purpose

- Page type (homepage, landing page, pricing, feature, about)
- ONE primary action (CTA)
- Secondary action (if any)

### 2️⃣ Audience

- Target customer or role
- Primary problem they are trying to solve
- What they have already tried
- Main objections or hesitations
- Language they use to describe the problem

### 3️⃣ Product / Offer

- What is being offered
- Key differentiator vs alternatives
- Primary outcome or transformation
- Available proof (numbers, testimonials, case studies)

### 4️⃣ Context

- Traffic source (ads, organic, email, referrals)
- Awareness level (unaware, problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware)
- What visitors already know or expect

---

## Phase 2 — Copy Brief Lock (Hard Gate)

Before writing any copy, you MUST present a **Copy Brief Summary** and pause.

### Copy Brief Summary

Summarize in 4–6 bullets:

- Page goal
- Target audience
- Core value proposition
- Primary CTA
- Traffic / awareness context