The Conversational Blog

In these posts we explore conversational writing as
a powerful way to communicate and sell online.

The links between drama, improv and conversational copywriting, with Nancy Gettridge.

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Improv, drama and conversations

In this post I get to interview Nancy Gettridge, founder and principal of Phenomenal Image.

Nancy took my course on conversational copywriting. While going through the course every student is invited to submit some homework assignments. And Nancy’s writing caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, it’s really good. Secondly, there’s something very visual about it.

It was the visual, picture-painting aspect of her writing that prompted me to reach out and ask here about her process.

And what started as a simple email exchange quickly grew into a full-blown interview.

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If you want to engage your readers, start by writing an open-ended headline.

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Conversational headlines about peanut butter
I’m trying to think of a reason why you might want to write a headline that doesn’t attempt to engage your readers in some meaningful way.

I guess if you’re just making a product launch announcement, you might simply want to get the message out and be done.

You could write something like:

NEW! Nick’s Peanut Butter available in stores today!

But most of the time we’re trying to do more with our headlines.

We want to hold the reader’s interest and attention beyond just the headline itself. We want people to keep reading.

How do you keep them reading?

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A deep dive into conversational copywriting, with Giovanni Ciampaglia.

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Two swimmers underwater

In this post I get to interview Giovanni Ciampaglia, Global Marketing Director for Arena Water Instinct.

Giovanni and I first worked together several years ago when he asked me to write some web pages for the fitness equipment company he was working for.

Recently he reached out to me and said, “I’m looking into ways to improve our marketing efforts through better (conversational) copywriting…”

He wanted to hire a freelancer who was trained in conversational copywriting, and I was happy to introduce him to several of our course alumni.

And then I got to thinking… of all the industries that might latch onto the power and promise of conversational copywriting… swimwear??

Hence this interview.

Let’s get started…

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Why I’m trying to create my own conversational chatbot.

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Conversational chatbot

Yes, I really am working on the creation of my own chatbot.

And it’s a fascinating process.

Chatbots are driven by AI, or Machine Learning.

But this doesn’t mean a chatbot thinks like a human. It doesn’t. It doesn’t make up stuff on the fly either.

As the creator of the chatbot you have to anticipate and set up a whole bunch of possible interactions and “if/then” decision trees.

For example, imagine you’re trying to buy some hiking boots on a wilderness sports website.

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Without the trust of your readers, not even the best marketing ideas can save you.

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Scribbled marketing ideas
It’s getting harder and harder to figure out who can be trusted online.

Those friends or followers of yours on social media… are they real people or are they bots?

That news item you just read on Facebook… is it true or is it an out-and-out lie?

According to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer:

“Globally, nearly seven in 10 respondents among the general population worry about fake news or false information being used as a weapon, and 59 percent say that it is getting harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organization.”

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Do you remember your last really BAD conversation?

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A bad conversation

You think you’re having an open conversation with someone.

There’s some back and forth.

You have your say, and then he has his.

And then – dangit – you suddenly realize it’s one of THOSE conversations.

The other person isn’t really listening to you at all. He’s just waiting for the right moment to jump back in to push his own opinion.

While you’re talking, he’s essentially tuned out, marking time, and waiting for you to stop talking. He’s completely deaf to your side of the “conversation”.

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