Pretty copy wins awards. Ugly copy drives sales.
Most marketing teams are still writing to impress their internal stakeholders. They obsess over brand voice, clever headlines, and “on-message” tone. But the customer doesn’t care about any of that – they just want a reason to buy.
Until your copy speaks to your customer’s wallet, not your creative director’s ego, your sales will stay flat.
You weren’t hired to win awards.
You were hired to sell product.
Somewhere along the way, you forgot.
If your copy needs to be “approved,” it’s already lost.
High-converting copy doesn’t go through 6 layers of review. It speaks directly to the customer’s pain and solves it fast.
But most marketing teams kill performance by editing out clarity in favor of “brand alignment.”
The more people you write for internally, the less your customer hears.
Your customer doesn’t care about your cleverness.
They’re not impressed by puns, poetic lines, or brand jargon. They’re skimming on mobile at a stoplight, trying to figure out what your product does for them.
If you make them think too hard, they bounce.
Clarity sells; clever dies in the cart. Joanna Wiebe, founder of Copyhackers and one of the best conversion copywriters in the game, says it best: “Copywriting is about clarity, not creativity.“
You’re writing for people who already said yes – your team.
But the only “yes” that matters is the one with a credit card behind it. Sure, internal validation feels good, but external validation pays the bills.
Great copy doesn’t get applause in Slack threads – it gets sales on Shopify. So write for buyers, not colleagues.
I’ve worked with various eCommerce brands, and every time their sales stall, I find the same issue: They’re writing to sound smart inside the building, instead of sounding persuasive to the people outside it.
High-performing copy breaks rules on purpose.
It uses short sentences. Sentence fragments. Even weird formatting.
Why? Because it mimics how people actually read online.
Most teams edit this out for polish – but polish is the enemy of urgency. Real conversion copy moves… even if it makes your brand guide cry.
Peep Laja, founder of CXL and one of the sharpest minds in CRO, puts it bluntly: “Most marketers still think like artists instead of salespeople.”
And that’s exactly why they lose to scrappy competitors with messier, but clearer, copy.
Alex Hormozi, known for breaking down high-converting offers that scale fast, echoes this: “Good marketing isn’t about looking good. It’s about being obvious.”
At the end of the day, the customer is the only one voting with their wallet. Your copy should serve them – not your internal Slack threads, not your CMO, not the brand police.
Sales-first copy is what keeps the business alive.
So stop writing to be liked. Start writing to get paid.
If this resonated, here’s what to do next:
→ If you’re tired of content that fills space instead of driving sales, let’s talk. Schedule a quick demo.
→ If you’re ready to turn product pages, email flows, landing copy, and more into silent salespeople for your brand, subscribe to either our Unlimited Standard Plan or Unlimited Professional Plan to get started.
Your story deserves better than generic copy.
We make it unforgettable.