Nick Staab

Copy Chief & Creative Strategist for Ecomm Brands

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@Pessi14Yrs @HappyPunch lmao this is the best take I've seen so far. Amazing

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@ChampRDS @IratiPratSC He's leaving for another celebratory dinner for the next fight yet to be scheduled

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@durchoke6 @Justin_Gaethje lol

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@SpiritofourLord @rayb778 @HappyPunch lol

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

So many Ilia Topuria fans eating humble pie. It's amazing to see.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

Copy Tip:

One irrefutable proof element is more persuasive than 10 proof elements the prospect knows can be spun or faked. The harder it is to fake, the more persuasive it is.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

If you have a unique product with a built-in delivery mechanism that's truly differentiated, you don't need to educate the prospect about the "real problem." Leverage what the market already knows/believes and position your solution as the breakthrough.

Supplement brands have to always invent new "problems" because the products are identical. But if your delivery mechanism is completely new, you don't have to invent new problems to win customers.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

If you have a unique product with a built-in delivery mechanism that's truly differentiated, you don't need to educate the prospect about the "real problem." Leverage what the market already knows/believes and position your solution as the breakthrough.

Supplement brands have to always invent new "problems" because the products are identical. But if your delivery mechanism is completely new, you don't have to invent new problems to win customers.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

I'm really surprised the type of claims that get through on Facebook these days.

Just a few years ago you couldn't even talk about inflammation without getting flagged.

I remember in 2021 - 2022, you couldn't even say "you" in ads. There was a whole reframe to saying "anybody" and keeping it plural.

Now I see guys doing this more aggressive copy in the most FTC watched markets -- Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Failure / High Blood Pressure, Memory Loss / Cognitive Decline, etc.

So idk if Facebook loosened up a lot or guys are just figuring out clever ways to run this copy.

It used to be that you'd run compliant FB ads and send the traffic to more aggressive VSLs on landing pages.

Now the aggressive stuff lives in-feed. Pretty wild.

My guess is FB loosened the policies due to platform competition from TikTok and YouTube. And probably shrinking numbers in new FB accounts and losing market share.

Personal example:

I was hanging out with my Dad a few months ago and he was scrolling FB on his phone with the speaker on. This super aggressive ad came on and we all heard it at the kitchen table and he swiped away and started laughing because he was embarrassed lol

I remember thinking “jeez…the FB experience for 55+ people is a total dumpster fire.”

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@ecom_cork @jforjacob Indeed. He executes precisely when he means to

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@HenryCrochemore nativecopy

[Henry @HenryCrochemore]

freshly updated native long ad copy swipe file

300+ ads across beauty, health, and pet brands

not polished brand awareness stuff

actual direct response image ads with long copy, ugly layouts, strong claims, and angles that clearly sell

the kind of ads you look at and think:

“why is this still running?”

then realize it probably prints because the copy does all the work

inside you’ll find hooks, product angles, advertorial-style images, proof sections, problem callouts, and full native ad layouts you can model

use it to write better ads faster

or just steal the structure and plug in your own offer

rt + comment "nativecopy" and i’ll send it
(follow for dm)

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@Camsiyonna1 Brother....these are actors who memorized a script and are pretending to have emotions lol nothing natural about this

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

Just thinking about this further. I think one of the main issues for ecomm specifically is fulfilling this execution in a tighter space (3-5 VSLs) that go to PDP or advert. I come from longform VSLs and in that format I always had ample space to flesh out everything you listed above. When you have shorter formats, you have think how to execute across the sales funnel, rather than in one long VSL vacuum. Sometimes I'm able to pull it all off in one 5 min VSL. I've considered doing 15min - 20min but I get a lot of pushback from ecomm guys not familiar of longer formats. Curious on your thoughts if you have any.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@iblamejulius Fucking great post. Also, Force of nature...Wow. First time I've heard that term used outside of financial copy.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

It’s predicted that by 2030 data centers across the U.S. will contain 50 million specialized AI agents with genius-level knowledge and capabilities. Equal intelligence levels as Nobel prize winners.

As a marketer, copywriter, and generally someone who spends a lot of time thinking about selling products online, I always think about the impact this will have on the DTC industry at large.

With that level of technological speed and compute coming in the near future, it’s reasonable to assume that AI will reach parity with the skills of even the most experienced marketers and copywriters and creatives out there.

It’s a little freaky to think about.

However, there’s a few things that keep me relatively grounded during this time of much uncertainty and rapid change.

First, selling products online has never been the domain of intelligent “geniuses.” In fact, success demands the exact opposite. It comes from understanding regular, everyday people. The masses. It’s about human psychology, not engineering or physics or advanced mathematics.

Successful marketers and entrepreneurs have their own kind of genius. At least when it comes to ideas, timing, filling unmet needs in unique ways, etc. But I don’t believe that’s the type of “genius” AI is optimizing for (I could be wrong but that’s my guess).

Second, I believe we will continue to see guard rails placed on AI when it comes to its use cases in advertising and marketing products. Especially direct response. We are not the ideal users for these tools. And LLMs will continue to be trained to prioritize transparency, honesty, regulatory compliance, factual reporting, etc. It’ll be trained to snuff out anything it deems morally gray (or what tech companies believe, which is probably worse for us).

Again, this is just my guess. But you can already see the user agreements getting updated across all of these tools to ward off those who use it for manipulative content. As copywriters and salespeople, that’s exactly what we do. We manipulate emotions, thoughts, perspectives, shift existing beliefs, etc.

In other words, I think the “Wild West” days of using AI to generate hard-hitting DR copy and video is coming to an end sooner than later. It’ll continue to be neutered down. Which means the outputs will be less effective.

For me, I think the real disruption in our space will come from a different angle entirely. My guess is mass adoption of agents who make buying decisions for humans. When the masses across the U.S. and other major markets decide to outsource their buying decisions to AI, that’s when marketing and copy will truly see a reckoning. But I don’t think the adoption curve will be as quick as many assume.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

@iblamejulius My win percentage went back up once I stopped leaning on AI so much. It fools us into believing it has good ideas. And if you lean on it too much, you can't tell the difference anymore. Writing every day and working your brain to find new angles is essential.

[Nick Staab @nkstaab]

It always amazes me how much easier writing copy becomes when you have a full 8 hours of sleep.

Script was driving me crazy last night. Couldn't figure out the structure or how to transition to the product.

Came back today and every fix was obvious. Big lesson there.