These 8 STUPID Easy Copywriting & Content Writing Tools Will Make You A Better Writer

Summary

In this video, Alex from The Copy Posse shares eight essential tools that can elevate your writing skills as a copywriter or content creator. While avoiding over-reliance on templates or machine-generated content, Alex highlights tools like Sharethrough Headline Analyzer, Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and others that help optimize headlines, enhance grammar, and inspire creativity. The video also includes Alex's own Feature-to-Benefit Converter and promises future episodes tackling writer's block. Ideal for writers looking to improve engagement, streamline workflows, and find content ideas.

Takeaways

• ✍️ The speaker shares 8 useful tools for copywriters and content writers to improve their craft.
• 🔗 Tool #1: Sharethrough Headline Analyzer – This tool ranks headlines based on engagement potential, helping to optimize them.
• ✏️ Tool #2: Grammarly – A highly recommended tool for catching spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors while providing real-time suggestions.
• ✂️ Tool #3: Hemingway Editor – Helps writers create concise, bold, and relatable copy by flagging complex or overly wordy sentences.
• 💡 Tool #4: Feature-2-Benefit Converter – A custom tool by the speaker to convert product features into compelling benefits using simple questions.
• 🔍 Tool #5: Answer The Public – Provides insights into what people are searching for online, offering content ideas based on popular questions.
• 📝 Tool #6: BlogAbout by IMPACT – Assists in generating blog topic ideas and writing prompts for overcoming writer's block.
• 🚀 Tool #7: BuzzSumo – Identifies the most popular headlines and topics based on social shares to help keep content fresh and engaging.
• 🎙️ Tool #8: Speechnotes – A dictation tool that transcribes spoken words into text, useful for breaking through writer's block.
• 📅 The speaker also teases an upcoming episode on writing exercises to overcome writer's block, encouraging viewers to subscribe.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The video aims to share eight simple and effective tools that can help copywriters and content writers improve their writing.

Why does Alex emphasize that writing compelling copy is not about using templates or machine-generated words?

Alex believes that writing compelling copy involves understanding the customer's mind and solving their problems, rather than relying on pre-made templates or machine-generated content, which can dilute the essence of the craft.

What is the Sharethrough Headline Analyzer, and how can it help copywriters?

The Sharethrough Headline Analyzer is a tool that rates and scores headlines based on current internet trends. It helps copywriters assess the engagement potential of their headlines, although Alex warns to use it as a guide and not a definitive solution.

Why does Alex consider Grammarly an essential tool for writers?

Alex highlights Grammarly as an essential tool because it takes the burden of proofreading off writers by detecting and correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. It also provides real-time suggestions, which helps maintain the flow of creativity.

What does the Hemingway Editor do for writers?

The Hemingway Editor helps writers by highlighting complex and lengthy sentences. It encourages clear, concise writing by using color codes to identify areas where the copy can be simplified and made more relatable.

What is Alex's Feature-2-Benefit Converter, and why is it important?

Alex's Feature-2-Benefit Converter is a tool designed to help writers turn product features into benefits, which are more persuasive for customers. It answers the key question, 'What's in it for me?' by focusing on the outcomes a customer can expect.

How does Answer The Public assist content creators?

Answer The Public helps content creators by providing insights into actual questions and search queries people have on specific topics. It pulls data from search engines and helps writers tailor content to what customers want to know.

What is BlogAbout by IMPACT, and how does it help writers?

BlogAbout by IMPACT is a tool that provides topic ideas and fill-in-the-blank writing prompts to spark creativity. It helps writers who may struggle with finding relevant topics or are dealing with writer's block.

What makes BuzzSumo a valuable tool for content creators?

BuzzSumo is valuable because it shows trending headlines and popular topics based on social shares. This helps content creators focus on topics that are currently engaging audiences and creating buzz in their niche.

How does Speechnotes benefit writers who experience writer's block?

Speechnotes allows writers to dictate their thoughts, which are transcribed in real-time. This helps writers overcome creative blocks by offering an alternative to typing, enabling them to continue creating without interruption.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction and Tools Overview

The speaker, Alex, introduces the video by reflecting on how they wish they had known about the tools they are about to share when they started their copywriting business. The video will cover eight powerful tools that can help improve writing skills, whether you're a copywriter or content creator. Alex stresses the importance of understanding customers and solving their problems rather than relying on templates. The tools mentioned will assist in elevating marketing, optimizing writing, and offering insights into trending topics. Alex also hints at a future video about overcoming writer's block.

05:02

📝 Tool 1: Sharethrough Headline Analyzer

The first tool introduced is Sharethrough Headline Analyzer, a free tool that scores headlines based on their engagement potential. While primarily aimed at social media, it can still help with copywriting headlines. It uses scientific research and internet algorithms to provide feedback on headline quality. However, Alex advises that its results should be taken with caution as it's an automated tool. While it may suggest changes, personal judgment should always come first. Alex provides an example of scoring their own video headline.

📚 Tool 2: Grammarly – Your Personal Proofreader

Alex introduces Grammarly as a lifesaver for copywriters who often prioritize creative flow over spelling and grammar. This AI-powered tool helps writers catch errors in real-time, offering suggestions for improvements. Grammarly works across various platforms, including Chrome, and can even tailor its suggestions to specific genres, making it versatile for professional and creative writing alike.

✂️ Tool 3: Hemingway Editor – Clear and Concise Writing

Hemingway Editor is a tool that helps writers simplify their sentences, encouraging concise and bold writing. It highlights complex and lengthy sentences using different colors and flags overly academic or verbose language. Alex emphasizes that clear, relatable writing at a seventh-grade reading level is ideal, especially for general audiences. The tool ensures that copy remains powerful and to the point.

💡 Tool 4: Feature-2-Benefit Converter

Alex introduces their custom tool, the Feature-2-Benefit Converter, which helps turn product features into compelling benefits for customers. Features describe what a product is, but benefits explain what it does for the customer, answering the crucial question, 'What's in it for me?' Alex provides a link to this tool, which simplifies the process of creating benefit-focused copy by asking five key questions.

🔍 Tool 5: Answer The Public – Content Ideation Goldmine

Answer The Public is a research tool that taps into search engine auto-complete data to reveal what people are searching for. Alex explains that this tool provides valuable insights into customer queries, helping writers produce content that addresses specific questions and topics. It's particularly useful for generating ideas and keywords based on actual search behavior, going beyond standard keyword research.

📝 Tool 6: BlogAbout – Spark Blogging Inspiration

BlogAbout by IMPACT is designed to help bloggers overcome writer's block by offering fill-in-the-blank titles and writing prompts. Alex notes how useful this tool is for narrowing down broad topics into specific headline suggestions. The tool even includes a fun doodle pad feature for brainstorming when feeling stuck. Alex encourages viewers to try the tool to generate fresh content ideas.

📊 Tool 7: BuzzSumo – Trending Topic Tracker

BuzzSumo is introduced as a tool that tracks trending topics by showing the most shared headlines related to a specific keyword. It's particularly useful for writers focused on engagement and social shares. Alex shows how BuzzSumo can help identify popular topics, hashtags, and industry trends, helping content creators stay current and relevant.

🎙️ Tool 8: Speechnotes – Dictation for Writers

Speechnotes is a speech-enabled online notepad that helps writers turn spoken thoughts into written content via real-time transcription. Alex suggests this tool for times when typing feels daunting or when writers face creative blocks. It's free, easy to use, and offers accurate transcriptions without requiring downloads or sign-ups. Alex recommends using this tool as a way to keep writing while taking a break from the keyboard.

🎬 Conclusion and Future Content Teaser

Alex wraps up the video, expressing hope that the tools discussed will benefit viewers as much as they have helped the Copy Posse team. The video can be revisited whenever viewers need assistance with writing inspiration. Alex encourages viewers to check the description for links to the tools and stay tuned for an upcoming episode focusing on writing prompts to combat writer's block. A final reminder is given to check out another video on copywriting exercises.

Keywords

💡Copywriting

Copywriting is the art of writing text for marketing, advertising, or promotional purposes. In the video, the speaker focuses on tools and methods that help improve the quality of copywriting, emphasizing the importance of understanding the audience's needs and creating compelling content to meet those needs.

💡Content Writing

Content writing refers to producing written material for digital platforms, such as blog posts, articles, and social media content. The video highlights how certain tools can enhance content writing by offering insights and optimizing engagement, which is crucial for writers who need to create effective content that resonates with readers.

💡Headline Analyzer

A headline analyzer is a tool that helps writers evaluate the effectiveness of their headlines by scoring and critiquing them. In the video, Sharethrough Headline Analyzer is mentioned as a tool that scores headlines based on their engagement potential, offering suggestions on how to improve them for better performance.

💡Grammarly

Grammarly is an AI-powered tool that assists writers by correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The video recommends it as a vital resource for copywriters and content writers, emphasizing its ability to enhance writing accuracy and improve communication, especially when speed is a priority.

💡Hemingway Editor

The Hemingway Editor is a writing tool designed to simplify and clarify writing by highlighting complex or lengthy sentences. In the video, the speaker praises it for helping writers cut down on verbosity, making their writing more accessible to readers at a seventh-grade reading level, which is considered optimal for broader audiences.

💡Feature-to-Benefit Converter

A feature-to-benefit converter is a tool that helps writers translate product features into customer benefits, answering the question: 'What's in it for me?' The speaker mentions their own tool in the video, designed to help copywriters create persuasive copy by focusing on how a product improves the customer's experience.

💡Answer The Public

Answer The Public is a tool that provides insights into popular search queries by analyzing search engine autocomplete data. The speaker suggests it as an essential tool for writers looking to create content that addresses the specific questions and concerns of their audience, turning it into a 'goldmine' of customer insights.

💡BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a tool that tracks trending topics and top-performing content across the internet, particularly in terms of social media shares. The video references it as a valuable tool for identifying popular headlines, helping writers stay current with what resonates with readers in real-time, especially for content engagement.

💡Speechnotes

Speechnotes is a dictation tool that transcribes spoken words into text in real time. In the video, it’s recommended for writers who experience writer's block or prefer to speak their ideas rather than type them. This tool enables productivity by offering an alternative way to capture thoughts without being restricted to typing.

💡Writer's Block

Writer's block is a condition in which a writer is unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. In the video, the speaker acknowledges writer's block as a common issue for copywriters and promises to offer solutions for overcoming it in the next episode, using fill-in-the-blank exercises to spark creativity.

Highlights

Alex introduces the video, sharing that she wishes she had known about these tools when she started her copywriting business eight years ago.

Alex emphasizes that writing compelling copy isn't about using machine-generated words or templates, but rather about understanding the customer and solving their problem.

She presents a list of eight tools that will elevate your marketing, optimize writing, and provide insights into current trends.

Tool 1: Sharethrough Headline Analyzer helps you measure the engagement potential of your headlines, but Alex cautions to use it with judgment.

Tool 2: Grammarly is praised for its ability to detect spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, making it essential for copywriters in creative flow.

Tool 3: Hemingway Editor highlights complex sentences and suggests simpler, clearer alternatives for more concise writing.

Tool 4: Alex introduces her own Feature-2-Benefit Converter to transform product features into attractive benefits.

Tool 5: Answer The Public uses autocomplete data from search engines to reveal the most common questions and phrases customers are searching for.

Tool 6: BlogAbout by IMPACT helps overcome writer's block by providing fill-in-the-blank titles and writing prompts.

Tool 7: BuzzSumo reveals the most popular and shared blog topics for your niche, based on social media trends.

Tool 8: Speechnotes allows writers to dictate their thoughts, transcribing them instantly into text.

Alex mentions her next episode will cover her favorite fill-in-the-blank writing exercises to overcome writer's block.

She reminds viewers to subscribe and ring the bell for notifications of her upcoming videos.

Alex concludes by encouraging viewers to download her Feature-2-Benefit Converter and use the tools mentioned to improve their copywriting.

She signs off with a teaser for her next episode on writing prompts, leaving viewers with a link to watch her video on copywriting exercises.

Transcripts

I won't lie.

I wish I knew about these

when I started my copywriting business eight years ago.

Keep watching for my list

of eight crazy cool and insanely simple tools

that will make you a better writer.

Hey guys, it's Alex. What's up?

Now, I get a lot of questions from you guys asking me

what software and templates I use to write my copy.

Now, the truth is I am not a big fan

of plug and play software or swipeable templates

because these take the essence out of the craft.

Writing compelling copy or content

isn't about using machine-generated words

or just copying what anyone else is doing.

It's about getting inside the mind of your customer

and helping them solve a problem with a product or service

that you know can deliver them results.

Now, what I am a big fan of, though,

is tools that can elevate my marketing,

optimize my writing and provide useful insights

into what people are looking for right now.

So today, I am sharing The Copy Posse's go-to list

of tools that you should absolutely use

if you're a copywriter or content writer,

looking to take your writing to the next level.

Now trust me, you will wish you got your hands on these

so, so much sooner because I sure did.

And heads up, if you're like me and you often suffer

from writer's block, you do not want

to miss my episode next week because I'll be sharing

my favorite fill in the blank writing exercises

that will help you get those creative juices flowing.

So, if you haven't yet subscribed,

now's the time to join the Posse.

Hit that subscribe button below, and then ring that bell

to be notified when my next video goes live.

Now, here they are, what you came for,

eight copy and content writing tools

that will make you a better writer.

Number one, Sharethrough Headline Analyzer.

If you want your headlines ranked and scored

based on what's vibing on the Internet these days,

this tool provides a quick and easy critique.

This is a free headline analyzer that you can use

to measure your headline's engagement potential.

While Sharethrough is primarily for social media

and content marketing, it is still worth a spin

for your copywriting headlines, too.

Backed by scientific research and content algorithms

across the entirety of the Internet, all you have to do

is enter your headline, and this tool will hit you back

with a headline quality score.

It'll even tell you what your headline's strengths are

and how you can optimize it.

Now, like any automated tool,

this should be taken with a grain of salt

because, yes, it is a robot on the other end, after all.

So, for example, I scored a decent 70

for the headline of this video.

But, according to Sharethrough,

I would have had an 87 if my headline was actually,

"These 8 Stupid Easy Copywriting & Content Writing Tools

Will Make You A Better Writer Because Drake Is Awesome".

So, while Drake is awesome, these tools are not textbooks.

They are meant to tweak and optimize,

not write your headlines for you.

So always, always, always trust your own logic and judgment.

All right, tool number two, Grammarly.

Now I have said this a million times before,

but copywriters and content writers

are often the worst spellers ever,

and it's because we're far more concerned

with those big ideas, and then getting those big ideas

out of our brains and onto paper before they are gone.

Who has time for spelling and grammar

when you're in mad creative flow, right?

So, when a tool like Grammarly comes along and takes the job

of proofreading off our hands, it really saves the day.

Praised worldwide, not just by writers, but really anyone

who has to do any sort of writing to do their job,

even responding to important emails,

Grammarly is that AI assistant that helps you detect,

and correct, spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes.

It also provides real time suggestions

and guidelines on how to best correct them.

It's super simple.

You can even add it as an extension in your Chrome browser.

And what's even more cool about Grammarly now

is that it even knows how to edit for specific genres.

So, you can churn out high converting sales pages by day

and work on that secret romance novel by night (chuckles).

All right, tool number three, my favorite, Hemingway Editor.

So the Hemingway app is your no nonsense editor

who refuses to let you beat around the bush.

He wants you to cut to the chase and the goal, of course,

is copy and content that is clear and concise,

yet bold and relatable.

This tool uses different color codes

to highlight lengthy, complex and difficult sentences

so that you know what needs to be sliced,

simplified and optimized.

It'll also tell you if your vocabulary

is getting a little too academic, verbose or periphrastic,

um, make that wordy, for real folks to relate.

Remember, the average person reads most comfortably

at the seventh-grade level.

Besides, no one likes a long-winded narrative.

This is not "Lord of the Rings,"

so keep your wording powerful and precise.

All right, tool number four,

my very own Feature-2-Benefit Converter.

In sales copy, features are factual statements

about what your product or service has or is.

While useful, they are not

what entice your customers to buy.

Remember that.

Benefits, on the other hand, describe the outcome

that a user will hopefully experience by using your product

or service, therefore fulfilling the most important question

on everyone's mind when making a buying decision online:

What's in it for me?

So yes, one of my favorite copywriting tools

was one I created myself.

My Feature-To-Benefit Converter helps you

turn product features into juicy bennies

using five simple questions.

So you can grab your copy of this handy tool

in the description below.

All right, number five, Answer The Public.

So there are about 3 billion, with a B, searches

on Google alone, every single day,

on every topic and curiosity imaginable.

And many of these inquiries get asked over and over again,

so search engines can actually readily predict

and provide data based on what people

want to find out the most about, and more importantly,

what they want to know, specifically.

Answer The Public taps into the auto-complete data

from search engines like Google

and uses that database to pull up useful phrases

and actual questions that people are asking

around a certain topic or keyword.

As they so aptly put it themselves,

it's practically a goldmine of insights

directly from your customers, so you can produce content,

products and services they actually want.

For example, when I searched the copywriting topic,

take a look at all the super specific

and relatable questions that come up.

These are actual searches from my ideal customers.

That's pretty cool, right?

It even goes deeper into prepositions,

comparisons and more keywords.

Um what? This is amazing.

It is a goldmine that goes far, far

beyond typical keyword research.

And moving on to number six, BlogAbout by IMPACT.

Not sure what to blog about? Yeah, it's not just you.

This tool was born out of that very frustration,

when you've just run out of relevant topics

and unique angles because of writer's fatigue

or just the overwhelming amount of posts and articles

that are already out there.

BlogAbout helps spark inspiration

by providing fill-in-the-blank titles and writing prompts.

It helps you narrow down topic ideas

from those broad subjects to actual headline suggestions.

It's so easy and it's actually a lot of fun to use.

So, for example, if I'm looking for inspiration

on topics related to writing,

I simply pop that in and, voila, I have a bunch

of amazing fill-in-the-blank title ideas.

It even has a really cool little doodle pad for you to use

if you're experiencing any sort of writer's block.

I absolutely love it and I recommend you check it out

and play around with it.

All right, number seven, BuzzSumo.

So, while Sharethrough gives you a headline score,

BuzzSumo actually shows you a list

of the most popular headlines for that topic

that are trending right now,

based on the number of social shares.

This is great if your focus is engagement,

and you want to know what blog topics are getting people

to hit that share button and creating buzz.

BuzzSumo helps identify the most relevant topics

to keep your content fresh, and even identifies

top hashtags, trends and new content

from other players in your niche or industry.

So, for example, when I searched content writing,

these are the top shared blog articles

with that keyword.

BuzzSumo allows you to do a few free searches

before it asks you to upgrade, so use your searches wisely.

And lastly, number eight on my list, Speechnotes.

So this is for my fellow writers

who sometimes just find your fingers frozen on the keyboard

because your brain has just stopped

sending information down that line (chuckles).

So what's the alternative?

Mix it up and let your thoughts

write themselves via dictation.

Speechnotes is a fantastic, speech enabled online notepad

that helps you turn what you think into ink in a blink

by having your thoughts transcribed

on the spot in real time.

For a free software that doesn't even require downloading

or registration, this dictation tool

provides a pretty accurate transcription.

So take a break from typing, lie down on your couch,

have a coffee and let Speechnotes

be your personal transcriber as you create and write.

All right, that brings us to the end of this week's video.

I hope these tools will be as helpful to you

as they have been for me and my team,

for hook inspiration, content ideas and copy finessing.

You can save this video for anytime

you're writing copy or content, and don't forget

to grab your copy of My Feature-to-Benefit Converter below.

You'll also find links to all the other tools

I mentioned there as well.

Thank you so much for watching and subscribing,

and keep those comments coming.

I absolutely love to hear from you,

and I'll see you next week

where I'll be sharing my top writing prompts

to help you snap out of writer's block.

In the meantime, check out my video

on five copywriting exercises you can do

to turn your copy from good to great.

You can watch that right here. I will see you next week.

Until then, I'm Alex. Ciao for now.

(upbeat music)

So search engine, blurp.