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The Creative Marketer

Learn how to brainstorm brilliant ads and copy | You’ll get one practical recipe every two weeks | Free bonus: get 25 creative marketing cheatsheets when you sign up.

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Brainstorming creative headlines

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Dan Nelken once said, "Great headlines aren't great sentences – they're great ideas expressed in words." So today, I'll show you how a classic ideation method, Osborn’s Checklist, can be used to write headlines. tl;dr Save and print the PDF version here. Now, let's break it down: 1. Adapt 🤔 Ask: • What could I adapt or copy? • Emulate another ad or brand?• Borrow from other industries? • Can I take from the past?• Borrow from pop culture?• Try something else like...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Usually, I try to focus my ads on a single product, feature, or benefit. But The Advertising Concept Book made me realize that sometimes, showing the full range of a brand's offerings can really pay off. Here are some great examples: Small captions: Diving Clubs / French Restaurants. Yellow Pages. Let’s try this technique with Salesforce. Step 1: Choose the Range 🧠 Decide: What do you want to highlight? I go to Salesforce’s website and see that they provide CRM...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! "Pull Back and Reveal” is a classic cinematic technique. An example of "Pull Back and Reveal” from What About Bob. Now, let’s use this technique to make some ads for ExpressVPN. I’ll base them on the “Fake Plane Challenge” trend. Step 1: Close-Up Limit the view to make the audience assume what’s happening. Step 2: Reveal Zoom out and surprise them. Step 3: Brand Message Bonus: Static Pull Back and Reveal works for static ads too.We just need the right visual...

Hey! Here are 230+ tools that have made my job as a creative marketer a bit easier this year. Most are free, and the rest are freemium. Oh, and click 'View entire message' in your email app or simply read this email in your browser —it’s a long one! Enjoy :) ✍️ Copywriting OneLook Dictionary The dictionary of all dictionaries. Look for a word and see for yourself. Word unscrambler & Werd Merge Tools that combine words. r/oneliners Funny one-liners by Reddit users. Just One Liners Funny...

If the GIFs aren’t playing properly, read this email in your browser. Hey! I’m not a big fan of Adobe software, but Photoshop has three incredible AI features that I use all the time. Let me show you :) I. Generative Fill Remove anything from your image – like Ringo Starr, for example. Flow: Select an object -> Press "Generative Fill" -> Type prompt: "Remove this man from the picture." Result: Ad #1 Now that I have a clean background, I can also play around with Ringo a little bit. Flow:...

Hey! A great creative director once told me: “If you wanna learn copywriting, don’t read ads – watch stand-up comedy.” And he was right. I can literally go to just-one-liners.com, pick a random line, add a logo, and voilà! I’ve got an ad. Let me show you 👇 “Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.”– Jerry Seinfeld “If camping is so great, why are the bugs always trying to get in your house?”– Jim Gaffigan “Swimming is good for you, especially if you’re drowning.”– Jimmy...

Read in your browser Hey! Today, instead of our usual creative techniques, I'm taking you behind the scenes of my new course. I’ll share my: 👷♂️ Process and mistakes 🧰 Tools and frameworks 💰 Expenses and revenue Let’s dive in. Leaving my job Until February, I had the perfect part-time job at a VC firm. I worked with awesome people, made good money, and still had plenty of free time to create content.The problem? I was deep in my comfort zone. Paul Graham says there are two forms of...

Hey! I wanted to convince you to take my new course, so I wrote this email using the QUEST copywriting formula. Let’s break it down: 🎯 Step 1: Qualify The course is for marketers who are into writing, storytelling, and psychology. So, I say it right away to make sure you keep reading. It’s frustrating. People get into marketing because they love writing, storytelling, and psychology. 🫂 Step 2: Understand Next, I show that I understand your pain. But then reality sets in. Another ad. Another...

Hey! Usually, fun ads don’t die because they underperform. They die because the CMO won’t even agree to test them. So I use this presentation framework to convince executives to run my weird ads: 1. Cover (1 slide) Campaign name, client logo, and date. 2. User’s Pain Point (3 slides) I like to start with: “You know, it’s just not fair.” Then, I explain what our persona is going through: Persona (Name, photo, and basic facts) Their Problem (The product should be the solution) Supporting Facts...

Hey! Is it possible to create a fun ad in five minutes? Sure, if you’re using the Side-by-Side recipe. Let’s try it with G2, the software review platform: 1. Pain Point First, I find a pain point that’ll make my readers feel seen. Demo disappointment sounds familiar. 🤖 Prompt: "List 10 common pain points [target audience] deal with." 2. Pick a Comparison Framework I analyzed dozens of side-by-side ads. Most follow the same 12 frameworks: Here are a few examples of these frameworks in action:...