Copy Love #5: Podia

Consolidate to accumulate.

Hey there copy lover,

I’m popping in to your inbox slightly later than usual this Friday. I’ve been in fire-fighting mode all week so haven’t had much time to spare. Such is freelance life *le sigh*.

Between client emergencies, I did manage to write a piece for my own blog about copywriting ROI.

Reframing copy as an investment rather than an expense in the minds of decision-makers is something I’ve been pondering a lot lately. To me, it’s the missing link in the struggle to get copywriting taken more seriously.

What do you think? I’d love to hear more perspectives on this.

And now, without further ado…

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What is Podia?

Podia is an online course platform offering an all-in-one digital storefront for creative entrepreneurs looking to turn their passion into income.

The love list

As always, I’ve chosen three things I love about Podia’s copy and one point for improvement. Here’s what I’m swiping right for this week:

• Making sense of a big platform

• Tactical testimonials

• Non-icky competitor comparisons

Making sense of a big platform

Podia’s platform is biiiig, so condensing and making sense of their offering must have been a gargantuan task for their copywriter. They’ve done a brilliant job, particularly on the homepage. 

The structure is simple and flows nicely. The hero and video testimonial warm you up before jumping into the meat of the matter—what Podia enables you to do:

Followed by the features that make this possible:

It’s easy to underestimate the skill required to get the density of information right on a homepage like this—too little and you miss out essential details, too much and your audience drowns. Podia makes it look effortless with a comprehensive, but easy to digest overview. 

Bonus points for accessible, approachable, no-nonsense language. 

Tactical testimonials

You’ll remember back in Copy Love #1 I admired Lunch Money’s tactical use of social proof, and Podia are equally as shrewd. Testimonials are strategically placed throughout their website to support whatever point is being made at that particular juncture. 

Take the digital downloads feature page as an example—every piece of social proof is linked to the benefits of the feature that is being explored.

This strategy is repeated on the comparison pages (more about them later) with real-life examples of course creators who have made the switch.

It’s easy for a brand to say “we’re the best in the business”, and many do without bothering to back up their claims. But they’re not fooling anyone—people don’t fall for that trick anymore. 

Social proof addresses this problem, strategic social proof knocks it out of the park.

Non-icky competitor comparisons

A few years back, when I first saw someone suggest using competitor comparisons on websites it made me feel icky. The thought of what those LinkedIn hustle bores would come up with turned my stomach. 

Surely it would degenerate into a mud-slinging match? And all for a little extra search traffic? It didn’t seem worth it to me.

I’ve since changed my mind thanks to companies like Podia setting the bar. Their focus is on helping users find their best fit, not bigging themselves up while trashing the competition. 

It’s balanced, factual, fair and ick-free. Four big ticks for Podia. Whenever I suggest this approach to a client, I send them to Podia’s website to show how it should be done.

Room for improvement?

I’m straying away from copy here to a pet hate of mine—overbearing chatbots. As I was browsing Podia’s website to put this piece together, it was continually pinging away in the bottom corner of my screen. 

I’m sure there’s data to show it improves conversions but I found it intrusive and a bit pushy. If I were Podia, I’d take it down a notch for a better browsing experience.

The final verdict 

A skilful example of communicating the need to know information without overwhelm. File under “consolidate to accumulate”.

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Up next Friday: Billie 💅