Recently, I was the editorial director for a startup called Peppy, which earlier this year launched an employee-benefit app in the US. 

 

I was the company’s second employee outside of the UK, where it’s based. I populated the app with hundreds of clinically approved articles and videos on specialized health topics like menopause, endometriosis, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer, HIV & PrEP, and more. 

One metric I often looked at in this role was user satisfaction, which we gauged with a simple poll at the bottom of articles. Seriously, it was simple. It looked like this: 🙂😐🙁

 

In this poll, 93% of users gave my content a positive review. (The remaining balance was largely neutral. The sad face captured just 1% of clicks.)  
 

Keep in mind that speed, volume, and clinical accuracy were my highest priorities. Peppy could always go back and sharpen the writing or tighten ideas up, but in order to hit our ambitious launch deadlines, we had to build a robust editorial product as quickly as possible. With that caveat, 93% approval feels pretty dang great. 

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Prior to working at Peppy, I was an executive editor at an agency that ran content marketing campaigns for healthcare clients. My accounts included a Medicare brokerage firm, an Rx discount program, and an initiative to teach people how to save money on medical costs (which was sponsored by a major healthcare company).

In this role, I launched websites, developed social media strategies, and oversaw a daily publishing blog that filled the top of the sales funnel. On the strength of a strong SEO game, I increased organic traffic by roughly 400% in one year. 

 

What really works in copy? 
Audiences are moving targets. Algorithms change and user behavior is fickle. But one thing you can always rely on is good copy. 

 

Surprising advice, thoughtful perspectives, and heartfelt stories will never lose relevance. And that's where my magazine background has been useful.  
 

Early in my career I wrote and edited nutrition content for "Eat This, Not That!," a series of books designed like magazines. Then I spent six years editing print articles at Men's Health, and I've since edited print for both Men's Journal and Entrepreneur magazines. These experiences have made me a disciple of brevity.

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See, unlike digital platforms, magazines have limited space. You might only get a few hundred words on a page. Every sentence has to work hard, and there's no room for useless modifiers or pointless asides. As an editor, you learn to cut as close to the bone as possible — and then cut a little more. 

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Doing this day after day teaches you an invaluable lesson: Whatever point you're making, you can probably do it in half as many words. Murder your darlings, as they say. Kill you babies. It hurts, but it demonstrates your brand's competence, saves the reader time, and increases the odds that they'll comb back.

 

While SEO can often bring people to your page, it's the execution that determines whether they become fans. 

I'm currently looking for my next big project, so if you'd like to learn more about me, follow the email link below or click through the tabs at the top of this site.  

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