The Scratch Post
Homepage structure 101: how to finally make sense of the most difficult page on your website
In this article, we’ll walk you through how to find the ideal structure for your homepage content – all illustrated with examples from 3 different industries: consumer products, B2B innovation and software as a service (SaaS). First, we’ll explain why homepage structure is so important – especially in e-commerce, and especially for mobile visitors. Next, you’ll learn to ask the key questions that will help you develop your homepage structure. Finally, you can sense-check how long your…
Creating Welcome Emails that Engage Subscribers for the Long Term: The Definitive Guide
You probably know about the power of email marketing to boost your sales, inspire people to take action, and build relationships. And yet, many businesses send Welcome emails that say little more than “thanks for signing up — please whitelist our email address”. With Welcome emails getting 86% higher open rates than other newsletter emails, that’s a tragic loss of a brilliant opportunity to leave a strong first impression and engage readers from the get-go. So in this definitive…
Your sales page is probably not long enough
Sales page not selling? Chances are it’s not long enough. Heres why – with detailed examples from high-end consumer products and online courses.…
How to convert on PDPs with copy & web design
By last count, there were 12 to 24 million ecommerce sites worldwide in 2022. And it’s fair to assume that number has risen since. Surprisingly, even many of the major online shops don’t use website design and copywriting best practices on their product pages. Find out how to build trust on Product Detail Pages (PDPs) with website design & copywriting. Includes actionable takeaways & plenty of ecommerce examples.…
SEO vs. Conversion Copywriting
The world of online marketing is a maze of jargon, buzzwords and abbreviations like “SEA”, “SEO”, “PPC”, “Conversion Rate Optimization”, “Growth Hacking” and “Copywriting”. In this article, we’ll help you cut through the buzzwords and make sense of the marketing muddle. Together, Laura, our German SEO strategist and copywriter, and Sabine, a conversion optimisation and copywriting specialist will answer questions like: What is SEO and how is it different from…
Unique Selling Points are dead
Long live the minimum viable audience! Like many industries, the hotel sector is defined by commodification. To compete with one another, most hotels advertise their unique selling points. Typically, these unique selling points are based on the understanding that hotels are in the overnight accommodation business. For example, some brands try to attract visitors with their interior design, eateries or (equally ubiquitous) spa options — all mere extensions of the overnight stay use case.…
Functional Integrity: the Product – Marketing – Sales Relationship
As a communications consultancy for brands with integrity, we connect multiple meanings with the word ‘integrity’. Embracing ethical marketing to treat your customers, the market, society and the planet with integrity is one example. But ethical marketing is impossible without one important meaning of ‘integrity’ that regularly gets overlooked: the relationship between Product, Marketing and Sales in the organisation. At From Scratch, we use the term ‘functional integrity’ to describe a…
Mission failed — a guaranteed way to not meet the needs of your audience
How does empathy relate to the size of your target group? Nadine offers arguments as to why it’s easy to create less empathetic copy with “universal” or “one-size-fits-all” writing. Of course, you’ll also find plenty of suggestions on how to write empathic copy that resonates with your audience.…
How to reply to a customer asking #WhoMadeMyClothes — clearly & convincingly
During #FashionRevolutionWeek, social media is full of important questions which are tricky to answer. Especially in 280 characters. Even if you work for a responsible brand and you already know how to reply to a customer query, these kinds of questions can seem really daunting. So here’s a step-by-step guide for handling #WhoMadeMyClothes well. …
“Can you hear yourself?”
Why does the perception of our own needs and emotions have an impact on our understanding of our audience? Nadine shows that self-empathy can be a superpower for all copywriters committed to ethical marketing.…
Why showing empathy to customers is so important
Few would disagree with the statement “empathy’s important.” But what does that mean in practice? Jeffrey Coleman draws on his experience working in UX and recruitment to share his best advice.…
How to decide which call to action is best?
In this web audit, we’re looking at which call to action is best suited to a home page that’s supposed to generate leads. Our example is from a business-to-business service context. You can apply the same principles to decide which call to action works best in your individual scenario.…
12 days to Christmas: survive & thrive during peak season
For many customer care teams and business owners, December is a month of overflowing inboxes, overtime and overwhelm. In this article, Sabine shares her 12 favourite quick ideas for coping with this busy time. Plus we’ve added the top 9 tips shared by fellow ethical business owners.…