HARPER WILDE’S VOC-LED EMAIL

We found this on Really Good Emails (shout out!) and although it's not the loudest or most obviously swipe-file-y bit of copy in the world, it went straight in because it's such a great example of using your customers' own words as copy.

We can't be sure, but we'd bet [insert something moderately valuable here] that this headline wasn't written by a copywriter, it was just lifted from some voice of customer research and put in this email.

The thing that gave it away? The word actually. That's one of the first words we look for when we're doing Voice of Customer research because it's the kind of word someone usually only types in a review when they've been let down by the category and are genuinely a bit surprised by your product. And in that tone of surprise, you get to tell a whole story of bad products, speak directly to the customers' frustrations and pain points and make the implication that you're better than your competitors without having to say so. It's magic dust.

If you want to find your version of this, go and read your reviews. Ctrl+F for the word "actually." You might already have your next headline sitting there.