copywriting

The words on a web page, written section by section from the headline down to the button, in the language a customer would actually use rather than company-speak.

WHEN TO USE

SCOPE

USE FOR

Write a homepage, landing page, or pricing page's copy section by section.
Turn a weak call-to-action button like "Sign Up" into one that states what the visitor actually gets.
Get two or three headline or call-to-action alternatives for the same section, each with its rationale.
Rewrite a feature list into benefit-first language a customer would actually say.

NOT FOR

Does not do the line-by-line editing pass on a finished draft — that's copy-editing.
Does not restructure the page's strategy or layout — that's the cro skill.

This is a saved copy of the skill's SKILL.md instructions. It may differ from the upstream file or the version you install.

In this document (11)

You are an expert conversion copywriter. Your goal is to write marketing copy that is clear, compelling, and drives action.

Before Writing

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Page Purpose

What type of page? (homepage, landing page, pricing, feature, about)
What is the ONE primary action you want visitors to take?

2. Audience

Who is the ideal customer?
What problem are they trying to solve?
What objections or hesitations do they have?
What language do they use to describe their problem?

3. Product/Offer

What are you selling or offering?
What makes it different from alternatives?
What's the key transformation or outcome?
Any proof points (numbers, testimonials, case studies)?

4. Context

Where is traffic coming from? (ads, organic, email)
What do visitors already know before arriving?

Copywriting Principles

Clarity Over Cleverness

If you have to choose between clear and creative, choose clear. Clarity is not just tidier — it converts: clearer positioning and copy is associated with +81% conversions, a 38% shorter sales cycle, 28% lower CAC, and 175% more referrals. When a reader has to decode your line, you've lost them.

For message-market fit tools — the "Now you can" test, the Human Action Model (discomfort → vision → path), the Perception Gap, and the clarity metrics: See references/copy-frameworks.md

Benefits Over Features

Features: What it does. Benefits: What that means for the customer.

Specificity Over Vagueness

Vague: "Save time on your workflow"
Specific: "Cut your weekly reporting from 4 hours to 15 minutes"

Customer Language Over Company Language

Use words your customers use. Mirror voice-of-customer from reviews, interviews, support tickets.

One Idea Per Section

Each section should advance one argument. Build a logical flow down the page.

Writing Style Rules

Core Principles

Simple over complex — "Use" not "utilize," "help" not "facilitate"
Specific over vague — Avoid "streamline," "optimize," "innovative"
Active over passive — "We generate reports" not "Reports are generated"
Confident over qualified — Remove "almost," "very," "really"
Show over tell — Describe the outcome instead of using adverbs
Honest over sensational — Fabricated statistics or testimonials erode trust and create legal liability

Quick Quality Check

Jargon that could confuse outsiders?
Sentences trying to do too much?
Passive voice constructions?
Exclamation points? (remove them)
Marketing buzzwords without substance?

For thorough line-by-line review, use the copy-editing skill after your draft.

Best Practices

Be Direct

Get to the point. Don't bury the value in qualifications.

❌ Slack lets you share files instantly, from documents to images, directly in your conversations

✅ Need to share a screenshot? Send as many documents, images, and audio files as your heart desires.

Use Rhetorical Questions

Questions engage readers and make them think about their own situation.

"Hate returning stuff to Amazon?"
"Tired of chasing approvals?"

Use Analogies When Helpful

Analogies make abstract concepts concrete and memorable.

Pepper in Humor (When Appropriate)

Puns and wit make copy memorable—but only if it fits the brand and doesn't undermine clarity.

Page Structure Framework

Above the Fold

Headline

Your single most important message
Communicate core value proposition
Specific > generic

Example formulas:

"{Achieve outcome} without {pain point}"
"The {category} for {audience}"
"Never {unpleasant event} again"
"{Question highlighting main pain point}"

For comprehensive headline formulas: See references/copy-frameworks.md

Structure the hero as a transformation — current discomfort → better vision → path to action (the Human Action Model), then run every headline through the "Now you can" test. See references/copy-frameworks.md

For natural transition phrases: See references/natural-transitions.md

Subheadline

Expands on headline
Adds specificity
1-2 sentences max

Primary CTA

Action-oriented button text
Communicate what they get: "Start Free Trial" > "Sign Up"

Core Sections

Section	Purpose
Social Proof	Build credibility (logos, stats, testimonials)
Problem/Pain	Show you understand their situation
Solution/Benefits	Connect to outcomes (3-5 key benefits)
How It Works	Reduce perceived complexity (3-4 steps)
Objection Handling	FAQ, comparisons, guarantees
Final CTA	Recap value, repeat CTA, risk reversal

For detailed section types and page templates: See references/copy-frameworks.md

CTA Copy Guidelines

Weak CTAs (avoid):

Submit, Sign Up, Learn More, Click Here, Get Started

Strong CTAs (use):

Start Free Trial
Get [Specific Thing]
See [Product] in Action
Create Your First [Thing]
Download the Guide

Formula: [Action Verb] + [What They Get] + [Qualifier if needed]

Examples:

"Start My Free Trial"
"Get the Complete Checklist"
"See Pricing for My Team"

Page-Specific Guidance

Homepage

Serve multiple audiences without being generic
Lead with broadest value proposition
Provide clear paths for different visitor intents

Landing Page

Single message, single CTA
Match headline to ad/traffic source
Complete argument on one page

Pricing Page

Help visitors choose the right plan
Address "which is right for me?" anxiety
Make recommended plan obvious

Feature Page

Connect feature → benefit → outcome
Show use cases and examples
Clear path to try or buy

About Page

Tell the story of why you exist
Connect mission to customer benefit
Still include a CTA

Voice and Tone

Before writing, establish:

Formality level:

Casual/conversational
Professional but friendly
Formal/enterprise

Brand personality:

Playful or serious?
Bold or understated?
Technical or accessible?

Maintain consistency, but adjust intensity:

Headlines can be bolder
Body copy should be clearer
CTAs should be action-oriented

Output Format

When writing copy, provide:

Page Copy

Organized by section:

Headline, Subheadline, CTA
Section headers and body copy
Secondary CTAs

Annotations

For key elements, explain:

Why you made this choice
What principle it applies

Alternatives

For headlines and CTAs, provide 2-3 options:

Option A: [copy] — [rationale]
Option B: [copy] — [rationale]

Meta Content (if relevant)

Page title (for SEO)
Meta description

Related Skills

copy-editing: For polishing existing copy (use after your draft)
cro: If page structure/strategy needs work, not just copy
emails: For email copywriting
popups: For popup and modal copy
ab-testing: To test copy variations

This skill ships inside the Marketing Skills for AI Agents plugin.

Install just this skill

Run this outside your AI tool, using Node.js 22.20.0 or newer. Skills CLI 1.7.2 skips skill selection; prompts cancel installation without an interactive terminal. If choosing Project when asked about installation scope, open your project's folder before running this.

Install checklist

Check selected tools if a picker appears; Claude Code may be unchecked under Additional agents. ↑/↓ moves, Space toggles selections, Enter confirms.
Without a tool picker, check Installing to: for your intended tool. Stop if it names a different tool.
If asked, choose Symlink (Recommended) for shared files or Copy to all agents for separate copies; review the summary before confirming installation.
Install the find-skills skill? defaults to Yes, adding another skill for all projects. Choose No if you don't want that extra installation.

Skills CLI 1.7.2 sends install data to skills.sh by default, including the source, skill names, target tools and file details; GitHub sources are reported only when GitHub confirms the repository is public, while other remote sources can also be reported. Confirmed-public GitHub sources also trigger a security-audit request. Before installing, set the environment variable DO_NOT_TRACK=1 or DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 to disable both.

npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill "copywriting" --full-depth

After installing for Claude Code, open it in the installation project if you chose Project; Global makes the skill available across projects on this computer. Once Claude Code loads the skill, its description helps Claude decide when to use it.

If installation created a top-level skills folder that did not exist when your Claude Code session started, run /reload-skills in that session. Run it again after later changes in that folder.

Install the whole plugin

This route installs the Marketing Skills for AI Agents plugin package selected for your AI tool.

Add the marketplace, then install the plugin

Type both lines inside a Claude Code session, not at your shell prompt. They add Corey's marketplace, which is this repository, and the marketing-skills plugin, with all 50 skills.

/plugin marketplace add coreyhaines31/marketingskills

02
```
/plugin install marketing-skills
```

Installation and loading

The second line opens the plugin's details; Claude Code installs it once you pick one of the install options shown.

Good to know

/plugin does not work in Claude Code on the web, GitHub Actions or other non-interactive setups. For those, Corey gives a shell form: claude plugin marketplace add coreyhaines31/marketingskills, then claude plugin install marketing-skills@marketingskills.

Add the marketplace, then pick the plugin in Codex

Run the first line in your terminal to add Corey's marketplace, which is this repository. Then start a Codex session, type /plugins and select marketing-skills to install all 50 skills. To get new releases later, run codex plugin marketplace upgrade.

codex plugin marketplace add coreyhaines31/marketingskills

02
```
/plugins
```

Open plugin page ↗

What's inside

Files included with this skill.

View on GitHub

Same repository

ab-testing
When the user wants to plan, design, or implement an A/B test or experiment, or build a growth experimentation program. Also use when the user mentions "A/B test," "split test," "experiment," "test this change," "variant copy," "multivariate test," "hypothesis," "should I test this," "which version is better," "test two versions," "statistical significance," "how long should I run this test," "growth experiments," "experiment velocity," "experiment backlog," "ICE score," "experimentation program," or "experiment playbook." Use this whenever someone is comparing two approaches and wants to measure which performs better, or when they want to build a systematic experimentation practice. For tracking implementation, see analytics. For page-level conversion optimization, see cro.Read full description
ad-creative
When the user wants to generate, iterate, or scale ad creative — headlines, descriptions, primary text, or full ad variations — for any paid advertising platform. Also use when the user mentions 'ad copy variations,' 'ad creative,' 'generate headlines,' 'RSA headlines,' 'bulk ad copy,' 'ad iterations,' 'creative testing,' 'write me some ads,' 'Facebook ad copy,' 'Google ad headlines,' 'LinkedIn ad text,' 'static ads,' 'ad templates,' 'iMessage ad,' 'chat reveal ad,' 'ChatGPT ad,' 'Apple Notes ad,' 'AirDrop ad,' 'creative strategy,' 'creative roadmap,' 'creative retro,' 'hook writing,' 'creative review page,' 'present ad creative for approval,' 'motion video ad,' 'faceless video ad,' 'UGC ad,' 'greenscreen ad,' 'TikTok/Reels ad format,' 'which ad format to make,' 'Meta ad format tier list,' or 'creative format taxonomy.' Use this whenever someone needs to produce ad copy at scale or iterate on existing ads. For campaign strategy and targeting, see ads. For landing page copy, see copywriting.Read full description
ads
When the user wants help with paid advertising campaigns on Google Ads, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or other ad platforms. Also use when the user mentions 'PPC,' 'paid media,' 'ROAS,' 'CPA,' 'ad campaign,' 'retargeting,' 'audience targeting,' 'Google Ads,' 'Facebook ads,' 'LinkedIn ads,' 'ad budget,' 'cost per click,' 'ad spend,' 'should I run ads,' 'ABM,' 'account-based marketing,' 'B2B ads,' 'lead quality,' 'negative keywords,' 'Performance Max,' 'thought leader ads,' or 'when should I kill an ad.' Use this for campaign strategy, audience targeting, bidding, and optimization. For bulk ad creative generation and iteration, see ad-creative. For landing page optimization, see cro.Read full description
ai-seo
When the user wants to optimize content for AI search engines, get cited by LLMs, or appear in AI-generated answers. Also use when the user mentions 'AI SEO,' 'AEO,' 'GEO,' 'LLMO,' 'answer engine optimization,' 'generative engine optimization,' 'LLM optimization,' 'AI Overviews,' 'optimize for ChatGPT,' 'optimize for Perplexity,' 'AI citations,' 'AI visibility,' 'zero-click search,' 'how do I show up in AI answers,' 'LLM mentions,' 'optimize for Claude/Gemini,' 'llms.txt,' 'llms-full.txt,' 'OKF,' 'Open Knowledge Format,' 'knowledge bundle,' 'agent-readable site,' 'agent readiness,' 'is my site agent-ready,' 'WebMCP,' 'do listicles still work for AI,' 'ChatGPT stopped citing comparison pages,' or 'AI citation format shift.' Use this whenever someone wants their content to be cited or surfaced by AI assistants and AI search engines. For traditional technical and on-page SEO audits, see seo-audit. For structured data implementation, see schema.Read full description
analytics
When the user wants to set up, improve, or audit analytics tracking and measurement. Also use when the user mentions "set up tracking," "GA4," "Google Analytics," "conversion tracking," "event tracking," "UTM parameters," "tag manager," "GTM," "analytics implementation," "tracking plan," "how do I measure this," "track conversions," "Mixpanel," "Segment," "are my events firing," or "analytics isn't working." Use this whenever someone asks how to know if something is working or wants to measure marketing results. For choosing attribution models, comparing multi-touch/MMM/incrementality, or reconciling conflicting numbers across tools, see attribution. For A/B test measurement, see ab-testing.Read full description
aso
When the user wants to audit or optimize an App Store or Google Play listing. Also use when the user mentions 'ASO audit,' 'app store optimization,' 'optimize my app listing,' 'improve app visibility,' 'app store ranking,' 'audit my listing,' 'why aren't people downloading my app,' 'improve my app conversion,' 'keyword optimization for app,' or 'compare my app to competitors.' Use when the user shares an App Store or Google Play URL and wants to improve it.Read full description