Sharp copywriting

sharp-copywriting: Marketing & Product Copy Quality

Landing pages, product descriptions, ad copy, email subject lines, brand taglines. Not technical documentation, not legal disclaimers, not investor decks. Good copy makes the reader feel understood. AI copy makes them feel marketed at.

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0. AUDIENCE & CONTEXT INFERENCE

Before writing a single word:

1. Who is reading this? (Role + specific problem they have right now)
2. Where are they reading it? (Landing page scanning? Email inbox? Search results? Social feed?)
3. What is the ONE thing they should do after reading? (If you can't name it in one verb, the copy will drift.)
4. What is their skepticism level? (B2B procurement committee = high. Friend's recommendation = low. First-time visitor = medium.)

Output a one-line read: "Writing for: <who>, reading on <where>, to drive <action>, skepticism level <low/medium/high>."

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1. THE BUZZWORD BLACKLIST

These words are banned from all copy unless they appear in a direct customer quote:

English banned list

elevate, transform, unleash, empower, revolutionize, disrupt, next-gen, best-in-class, world-class, industry-leading, cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, seamless, holistic, synergy, robust, scalable (as a standalone claim), innovative (without naming the innovation), game-changer

Chinese banned list

赋能, 打通, 闭环, 抓手, 落地, 对齐, 拉通, 倒逼, 反哺, 深度绑定, 底层逻辑, 降本增效, 一站式, 全链路, 全域, 全场景, 极致, 匠心, 深耕

The Replacement Rule

Every time you delete a banned word, you MUST replace it with something specific. No placeholder. No rewording to avoid saying anything at all.

Banned	Replacement must answer
"Seamless integration"	Integrates with WHAT, in HOW MANY steps?
"极致体验"	比什么快/好/便宜了百分之多少？
"赋能业务增长"	帮哪个岗位的人，在什么场景下，省了多少时间或赚了多少钱？

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2. SPECIFICITY MANDATE

2.1 Every Claim Needs a Hook

A "hook" is one of: a number, a customer name, a concrete scenario, or a before/after contrast. No claim may appear without at least one hook.

Weak	Strong
"Our platform is fast."	"Cold start in 47ms. That's faster than a screen refresh."
"Trusted by leading companies."	"Trusted by the data teams at Stripe, Notion, and Vercel."
"帮助企业管理数据"	"光年之外用它在 3 天内完成了原需 2 个月的数据迁移。"

2.2 The "So What" Test

Every sentence must pass the "so what?" test. If a reader can read a sentence and reasonably ask "so what?", the sentence fails.

FAILS: "Our algorithm uses advanced machine learning techniques."
SO WHAT: "Our algorithm catches 94% of fraudulent transactions before they clear."

2.3 Banned Fake-Precise Numbers

Do not invent numbers. The following patterns are red flags:

• "500+ companies" (the + is a tell)
• "10x faster" (without a baseline)
• "99.9% uptime" (without saying how that's measured)

If you don't have the number, use a qualitative hook instead. A specific customer story without numbers beats a fake number every time.

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3. STRUCTURAL PATTERNS BY FORMAT

3.1 Landing Page Hero

Max 4 elements in exact order:

1. Eyebrow (optional): one-line category label or social proof ("Used by X, Y, Z")
2. Headline: max 8 words (EN) / 15 characters (CN), states the core value
3. Subhead: max 20 words (EN) / 40 characters (CN), adds the "how" or "for whom"
4. CTA: one primary button, max 3 words

Banned in hero:

• Feature bullet lists
• Pricing teasers
• "Trusted by" logo walls (those go below the hero)
• Multiple competing CTAs
• Taglines below the CTA

3.2 Product Description

Structure:

1. What it is — one sentence, plain language, no jargon
2. Who it's for — name the specific role or persona
3. What problem it solves — the before state, vividly described
4. How it works — max 3 steps, each a simple verb phrase
5. Why it's different — max 2 differentiators, each concrete

3.3 Email Subject Line

• Max 40 characters (mobile truncation at ~35-40)
• Must contain either a number, a question, or a proper noun
• Never start with "[Newsletter]" or "[Update]"
• Personalization ({{name}}) only when it feels natural, never in a cold outreach

3.4 Ad Headline (Search & Social)

• Max 30 characters for search ads (truncation risk)
• Must include the primary keyword naturally
• Must answer "what will I get?" in the first 3 words
• No exclamation marks (unless the offer is genuinely exciting)

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4. TONE CALIBRATION

4.1 The Tone Dial

Set a tone before writing. Do not default to "professional-casual."

Tone	When to use	Characteristics
Direct	B2B, developer tools, finance	Short sentences, no adjectives, numbers-first
Warm	Consumer, wellness, lifestyle	Conversational, "you"-forward, emotional benefit
Bold	Creative, gaming, DTC challenger	Opinionated, surprising, sometimes polarizing
Trust	Healthcare, legal, enterprise security	Precise, cited, risk-aware, no exaggeration
Playful	Social apps, entertainment, snacks	Puns allowed, emojis OK, short and punchy

4.2 "You" Density

In warm and direct tones: "you" should appear at least once every 3 sentences. The reader should feel the copy is about THEM, not about the product.

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5. THE ANTI-CORPORATE VOICE

5.1 Read It Aloud Test

Read the copy aloud. If you sound like a press release, rewrite it. If you sound like a human explaining something to a friend, you passed.

5.2 First-Person is Allowed

"I" and "we" are not unprofessional. "We built this because our own deploy pipeline kept breaking" is better than "This solution was designed to address deployment inefficiencies."

5.3 Negatives are Allowed

It is OK to say what the product is NOT for. "Not for teams that need real-time collaboration. For that, try X." This builds more trust than pretending to serve everyone.

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6. SOCIAL PROOF HIERARCHY

When including trust signals, use this priority order:

1. Named customer quotes with photo, name, title, company
2. Specific metric from a real deployment ("Processed 2.3M transactions/day")
3. Named customer logos (real SVGs, not placeholder boxes)
4. Review platform rating with review count ("4.8 on G2, 340 reviews")
5. Media mentions with publication name and date

Banned: "Trusted by thousands" — it means "trusted by zero."

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7. CTA RULES

• One primary CTA per viewport. Secondary CTA is optional and must use a visually weaker style.
• CTA text is a verb phrase, not a noun. "Start free trial" not "Free Trial." "Get the guide" not "Download."
• CTA answers "what happens next?" — "Start building" is better than "Get started" because it implies immediate action.
• No two CTAs with the same intent anywhere on the same page.

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8. LOCALIZATION AWARENESS (Chinese Market)

For copy targeting Chinese audiences:

• No direct translation of English slogans. Re-create from the value proposition.
• Four-character idioms (成语) are high-risk. Use only if you are certain of both meaning and tone.
• Humbleness sells. "我们做得还不够好" can be more effective than "我们是最好的."
• Numbers in Chinese copy: use Chinese numerals (一、两) for counts under 10, Arabic (1, 2) for data/metrics.

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9. PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

• Audience declared: who, where, what action, skepticism level?
• Buzzword audit: zero banned words from Section 1?
• Specificity audit: every claim has a hook (number/name/scenario/contrast)?
• "So what" test: every sentence passes?
• No fake-precise numbers invented?
• Hero discipline: max 4 elements, no feature lists, no logo wall inside hero?
• CTA: one primary, verb phrase, clear next step?
• Tone dial set and consistent throughout?
• Read-aloud test: doesn't sound like a press release?
• Social proof: real names and numbers, not "trusted by thousands"?
• Localization (if CN): not a direct translation, culturally appropriate?

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10. OUT OF SCOPE

This skill is NOT for:

• Technical documentation (use sharp-tech-writing)
• Legal disclaimers or terms of service
• Investor pitch decks (different structure entirely)
• Internal company communications
• Academic or scientific writing