thestylishcopywriter.com/blog

Posted by Amanda on October 23rd, 2009 in Wordsmithing

They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes…but what about Halloween costumes?

Every year, there are millions of girls out there looking for the perfect getup for a panoply of parties, dances, and spooky nights out. If you own an online store, this is something you need to get in on!

Even if you don’t think of yourself as carrying items that are “Halloweeny”, keep in mind that there are TONS of ways that accessories (and even things like tops and leggings) can be ghoul-ified by creative young ladies. Take a peek at Modcloth and their ingenius Halloween lookbook to see what I mean.

One supremely easy way to snare customers looking to complete their costumes is to add some targeted copy to your homepage. Sock Dreams is doing it right now! Check out the orange text in the screenshot below:

With a simple, text-only update to their homepage, Sock Dreams is assuring Halloween shoppers that yes, they still have time to order those fishnets for their 1920s flapper outfits! And that could be the difference between a customer buying from you - or heading out to the mall.

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Posted by Amanda on October 19th, 2009 in Good copy

If you’ve ever taken a good look at the footer area on your favourite websites, you may have noticed that lots of them link to their web hosts.

“Web hosting provided by Dreamhost“, they dully proclaim.

They install these links because they hope to earn commissions by referring customers to the web host (via an affiliate program). Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t work too well - because there’s absolutely nothing there to compel you to want to sign up with the web host. It’s almost like that link never happened.

But Copyblogger has taken a fresh approach. Here’s what I spotted in their sidebar today:

A lovely example of how an endorsement can be a heck of a lot more powerful when you take a unique approach to writing it.

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Posted by Amanda on September 15th, 2009 in Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Welcome to the first post in a new series that I’m pretty excited about. I’m calling it Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down, and it’s your chance to eavesdrop as I critique the retail websites we all know and love.

Here’s the deal. Once a week or so, I’ll choose an online boutique at random and grade their site from a user experience and marketing perspective. I’ll point out some things they’re doing wrong and some things they’re doing wonderfully, and if all goes according to plan, the end result will be lots of food for thought for you. I hope to give you ideas for small but powerful changes that you can implement in your online boutique to make shopping with you a happier experience for your customers - and to boost your sales.

Scary-fun idea: if you’d like me to critique YOUR site, leave a comment below, and I just might feature you on a future Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down post. Excellent!

So, who’s our first victim? I’ve chosen 80spurple.com, an edgy-trendy fashion site that’s based out of California. Specifically, we’re going to look at their homepage. Let’s get to it, shall we?

The 80s Purple Homepage:
(Click screenshot for full-sized version).

THUMBS UP (what’s good):
- 80s Purple has done a good job of putting all their “functional” links all in one place, above the search bar at the top right of the homepage. This is a typical location where shoppers look for these “quick links”, and it’s better than placing them in the page footer, because you don’t have to scroll down to access them.

- They’ve used a mix of photos that represent various trends (e.g. over the knee boots) and images that represent specific brands (e.g. Toms shoes). Combining both these methods means they’re targeting both “ego shoppers” and aesthetic shoppers. Ego shoppers is what I call people who love their brand names. Aesthetic shoppers are more interested in achieving a specific “look” with the clothes/accessories they buy. And 80s Purple is giving both of these types access to exactly what they want, directly from the homepage.

- You can choose the category you want to go to within either the men’s or women’s section without even needing to leave the homepage. Just mouse over “mens” or “womens” links, and your options instantly appear on the right of your screen:

- 80s Purple has included a “new items” link in their menu (see below). Yay! I’m a huge proponent of this, because this kind of link acts as a bullseye for your repeat visitors. A “new items” section lets your diehard fans quickly and easily locate your new stock, without having to weed through the stuff they’ve already seen. This translates to more sales for you!

- They link to their Facebook and Twitter pages in the footer of their homepage, giving visitors additional ways to connect with them.

- Ok, so you can’t see this on the homepage, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. 80s Purple offers different “boutiques” for different shopper types. Their staff will need to manually classify each new item to place it into the correct boutique, but the payoff will be huge as regular customers start to identify with a specific boutique, and come back to it again and again. A great way to give shoppers control of their shopping experience.

THUMBS DOWN (what’s bad):

- 80s Purple ships internationally, but they don’t announce this anywhere on their homepage. If you click through to the women’s “brands” page, they have a nice icon that announces their ability to ship internationally (shown below). They should put this on the homepage so that non-US visitors are instantly comforted upon arrival, and feel like they can proceed with shopping. (Take it from a Canadian girl who is often stabbed through the heart when attempting to shop on US sites that turn out not to accept international orders. This matters).

- 80s Purple is definitely an edgy brand, and their website (rightfully) reflects that. But some of the text on their graphics is written in such a “cool” way that it’s impossible to even understand what they’re trying to tell you! For example, this banner about their markdowns took me a good ten seconds to process. Why not spell out the percentage discounts you’re offering in a more straightforward way? You’ll alienate fewer customers that way.

- Finally, the markdowns banner doesn’t link to the 80s purple “sale” page. This (combined with the confusing text on the banner) made me think that they were only pretending to have a sale to put me in a buying frame of mind. If they linked the banner to their sale page, they wouldn’t give customers the impression that they were being duped.

Image credits: Tanner Glass on Etsy and 80spurple.com.

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Posted by Amanda on September 8th, 2009 in Anything goes

Perceptive person that you are, you may notice that things are looking a little different around here.

Basically, I moved the blog from thestylishcopywriter.com/blog/blog to plain old thestylishcopywriter.com/blog. This means that my fancy design with the purple gradients and all that is gone (tear), but I think this new one-URL setup will work well for all of us. :)

I’m hoping there won’t be any technical issues, but if you subscribe via the RSS feed and you’re having problems getting my posts delivered to your reader, please drop me a line to let me know!

Lots of juicy fall content coming your way shortly…

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Posted by Amanda on August 26th, 2009 in Good copy, Wordsmithing

Celebrities know a thing or two about getting people talking. You don’t have to see Perez Hilton’s traffic stats to know that we’re a nation obsessed – with Britney, with Lindsay, with the lovely Rihanna. So why not borrow a little bit of that star power and use it to boost sales in your online store? Here’s how.

A large part of a celebrity’s influence has to do with her name. Coincidentally, the things you’re selling on your site also need names. So, next time you’re stumped on what to call that hot new top that just came in, let the stars be your guide. Case in point: the “Angelina” skirt by Elizabeth and James, now on offer at Bloomingdales (sold out at ShopBop!).

(Side note: Isn’t it so Angelina? You almost expect to see Pax or Maddox walking hand in hand with the model.)

Anyways, you see what Elizabeth and James have done here. They’ve transferred the appeal of Angelina Jolie to their skirt. That includes the idea of being the world’s sexiest woman who dates the world’s sexiest man while doing important charity work. The association is still kind of subtle, because they didn’t use her last name (which was a good call; “the Angelina Jolie skirt” sounds pretty brutal), but it’s definitely there. Wear this skirt, be like Angelina. That’s the bottom line – and it’s going to get this skirt flying off the warehouse shelves.

So, how to decide which celeb to assign to your clothes? You shouldn’t have to turn to your celebrity rolodex to name a new style; it should come naturally. You want to unwrap the cloche hat and think “Kate Middleton!” or the tulip skirt and exclaim “Lauren Conrad!” It’s got to be a solid link, or the customer won’t make the connection either. Also, don’t do this too often, or it will lose its punch. Putting up “Madonna pants” next to the Angelina skirt will just make both of them seem sad and forced.

And one last thing. Before you start re-naming your suppliers’ products, make sure you’re allowed to do it. If you can negotiate about this with a supplier upfront, all the better. Then you have the freedom to come up with amazing product names (and even product colors!).

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Posted by Amanda on August 21st, 2009 in Stylish stuff, Wordsmithing

It’s always fun to see someone come up with new fashion vocab (“jegging” is a recent example that comes to mind). But sometimes the terminology is especially cunning, as in the case of TopShop’s “trophy jacket”. I spotted this in an email blast from them this morning, and it got my attention right away:

A trophy jacket is a statement jacket – often with brightly coloured, metallic or sequined elements and a distinctive shape. A lot of them look very nighttime, but they’re intended to be worn during the day as well. (Check out Mary-Kate Olsen doing it below).

A quick Googling reveals that Vogue UK is also writing about trophy jackets, so it seems that for now, it’s a UK kind of thing. (They’re always two steps ahead, aren’t they?).

So, what does this have to do with stylish copywriting? And as the owner of an online boutique, why should you care?
Short answer: because you can come up with this stuff, too! You better believe that somewhere out there, there was a real person who rolled up her sleeves, got out a pad and paper, and came up with the words “Trophy Jacket” over her morning danish. This mystery woman did a great job: “trophy jacket” has a very attractive connotation (who wouldn’t want to win a trophy?), and it’s memorable because it brings to mind “trophy wife”, an expression we’re all familiar with.

But back to you. Coining a new style term can give you credibility and authority in the eyes of your customers – especially the ones who are truly fashion-obsessed. When you debut a catchy, evocative term on your site, you come off as being a leader and an innovator. And if the term takes off, you can take the credit for starting it – an added ego bonus!

Thanks to the ever-changing nature of the retail landscape, people are conditioned to want the latest thing in their closets. Once you present a term as an emerging trend, your always-on-top-of-fashion customers will feel like they have to have it. This may sound a little evil and calculating, but let’s face it: you’re in the business of selling clothes. And coming up with a fun new name for them might help you do it!

Mary-Kate image credit: Coco’s Tea Party

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Posted by Amanda on August 6th, 2009 in Anything goes

I’m off to the Kennebunks in Maine, USA for some sea air, board games and whoopie pies. I’ll be back on the 15th, refreshed and ready to tackle new client work.

I’ll respond to all email once I’m back from the beach. Hope everyone has a great, summery week!

~ Amanda

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/technodad/2733211253/

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Posted by Amanda on August 3rd, 2009 in Good copy, Wordsmithing

We tend to think of the ‘50s as the era when unseemly things were left unsaid and when ladies lived a demure existence of pie-baking and powder puffs. That’s why this 1952 Revlon ad is kind of interesting:

This woman has attitude! She doesn’t want a “prissy pink” or a “sissy pink”! She’s a badass in a ballgown. With insane pointy nails.

In many ways, this ad is a lot more direct than the ones that you see nowadays. It’s also worth noting that it uses a semi-disdainful tone to tell you exactly what this shade of pink isn’t. This is a fun copywriting trick to try if you’re buying advertising space on another site and you need to create a banner to plug your products or boutique. The thing to keep in mind is that sometimes it’s a lot easier to make people understand your brand when you tell them what you’re NOT instead of what you ARE.

Here are a couple of modern-day examples of this technique that I’ve dreamed up:

For a store targeting fashion-forward 40-something women who also happen to have kids:
Clothes for anti-soccer moms

For any type of business that has strong aesthetic values:
Can’t bear the thought of _____? Neither can we.
(You fill in the blank with your businesses’ most-hated, overplayed thing. For example: Ugg boots).

People tend to connect strongly to negative statements (probably because complaining has become a national pastime), so give this method a go the next time you’re struggling to convey what your business is all about on a 125×125 banner.

Photo credit: My Vintage Vogue

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Posted by Amanda on July 24th, 2009 in Anything goes, Stylish stuff

My beloved ASOS has come up with a great mini-shop idea for mid-July: “Holiday Wardrobe SOS!”

They seem to be targeting those of us who planned to be conservative and economy-conscious and not book any sort of vacation this summer, but who have caved at the last minute (can you blame us?).

The use of a summery, peachy background colour makes the ad on the homepage stand out perfectly against the dark elements around it – especially to the summer-minded person who’s thinking bikinis and not jackets and boots.

P.S. ASOS is short for “as seen on screen”. They carry some of the most desirable “fast fashion” I’ve ever seen, but are most unfortunately located in the UK.

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Posted by Amanda on July 16th, 2009 in Anything goes

Sharing a photo by fashion and beauty photographer Tiffany Mumford today, just because I love it. It reminds me of a Hayao Miyazaki movie gone high fashion – probably because of the hair.

(Compare with the image below of the grandmother, Yubaba, from Spirited Away – one of my all-time favourite magical movies. You should see it, if you haven’t already!)

Photo credit: Tiffany Mumford via Sarah Klassen/Haute Design

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