Copywriting and Design Trends: 2024 Edition
What’s in, what’s out, what we’re predicting, and what we wanna see more of!
2024 may forever be remembered as the year that everyone did “In” and “Out” lists, but Leoni of D’Arcy Design Co. and I joined forces for 2024 Predictions: Copywriting and Design!
In January, we debriefed on design trends that are out and copy that we’d like to see more of in an Instagram Live. Click on over there if you want to tune in!
And if you’re more of a reader than a viewer, this is the transcript of that conversation for you to dig into!
2024 COPY X DESIGN PREDICTIONS
Theresa: Hey, everyone! We are psyched to be here. It's a really fun topic because, as we know, copy and design are obviously connected, yet often we're talking about our own worlds to our own audience. It's fun to remix it, bring it together, and see what we're expecting for 2024.
Leoni: Definitely. I'm very excited for this chat. It's one of those topics that doesn't often come together, or even founders who have a team and offer both options don't generally hop onto Instagram and talk about both. So it's nice that we can come together today and chat about both of them.
Theresa: We'll see how long this goes because I know we both have a lot to say. But let's get started. My name is Theresa, and I'm the copywriter behind Little Flame Creative. I primarily write websites and love working with solopreneurs and creative small businesses. Leoni and I have had the opportunity to collaborate on a few projects and hopefully some more, so I'm really excited to be with her today.
Leoni: That's a good introduction. Yeah, I'm Leoni, and I am the face behind D’Arcy Design Co., a brand and web design studio. Similarly, working with solopreneurs, visionaries, big picture thinkers, those who have big dreams for their brand, helping them bring their brand identities to life and their space on the internet. Helping them set the standard in their market, leave a legacy in their industry, and just really do cool things with their brand. Pretty much. That's me!
Theresa: Cool things are what we're all about. So today, we are talking about predictions, things we're noticing, things we hope to see more of, and things we hope to see less of in 2024. So why don't you get us started with something that's on your mind in the design world?
PREDICTION 1: SINGLE-PAGE WEBSITES ARE OUT
Leoni: Okay, this one I'm going to kick us off with a bang because it might be a bit controversial. I have a strong opinion about a new wave of advice and thoughts out there over the Stan Store kind of pages, the single page sales systems for businesses where it is very much a link in bio, full list of products, end of cycle kind of situation. And the advice that that's all you need to grow a business.
My hot take at the moment is something that I think actually will die out as this year unfolds.
We never know what's going to happen, but I do think people are coming around to truly understanding that to grow a successful business and to reach a higher target market, you have to have a website, not just a single page, to do the work for you.
So, your thoughts on that? It's a bugbear of mine when I see these posts that say you don't need a website to grow a business. While partly I agree with it in the early stages when you are very much in the beginning stages of figuring things out and developing your product suite, if you want to be serious about your business, you need a website. That's the top and bottom of it.
Theresa: I mean, that's the quotable moment right there. Obviously, as someone who writes these websites, I agree. There is a case for someone who has yet to even have a client, just getting started, ready to be imperfect and get out in the world. Sure, make one page, but at any point when you need to grow your know, like, and trust factor—for people to know who you are, to be seen as credible—you need words and a website that really fleshes out who you are, what you do, why it matters, how people can work with you.
It's kind of interesting. We've sort of come full circle back to the idea that you don't really need a website. And why do you think that is? Why is this advice still out there?
Leoni: Good question. I think there's a huge wave of action, action, action. Don't think about it. Just do it. And that's where it stems from. A majority of people get stuck in the cycle of fear, so they don't do it at all. A lot of coaches notice that gap and then spin it into, "Don't think about it, just do it," and roll with it. While I'm an advocate for that, there's a boundary to be careful with, not giving people a false sense of security when setting up a business. In the very early stages, it works, but it's not something to always rely on and think, "Oh, I never have to invest in a website when I can just have a single page and people will buy from me."
There are also two very different types of buyers. There's the impulse buyers who might land on a links page and purchase then and there. And then there's people like me who like to mull things over, go back, read over the about page five times before actually investing. I'm not spending my money on a Stan Store page unless I know the service provider or product brand very well. They don't get my money. So, you have to really consider both sides of buyers as well.
Theresa: I'm a thoughtful buyer as well. So, we've got two of those here. But actually, it's interesting because often, we have conversations with newer business owners, and we're not necessarily always recommending investing in fully custom copywriting and design from the start. That's not even what we're saying here.
There are so many ways now to use templates and frameworks from copywriters for website copy, to get semi-custom brands from web designers, or website templates. It really doesn't require that much financial investment to build something more complete right off the bat. Especially for people doing vulnerable work like coaching, or asking someone to invest thousands of dollars in whatever their offer is, you just can't create that credibility and make people feel safe about that purchase with a one-page site. So, I said what I said.
Leoni: There we go. I completely agree, and it's about giving the buyer that opportunity to learn a lot more about you before they make that decision. And you're really cutting out that kind of middle step if you are a Stan Store, Milkshake, whatever kind of space it is. Those kinds of pages serve really well as a direction tool to point people in the right direction and therefore push them in the right direction of where you want them to go, but you still have to then allow them that decision-making process of, okay, who is the person behind this brand? Do I connect with them?
I mean, I'm a huge advocate for not just investing in any designer or any copywriter. Like, I'm not going to be for everyone as a designer and that's perfectly okay. I have to then make that clear to my customer so that they make the right decision for their brand and they then get the best results out of it. So although in an ideal world it's, yeah, someone's bought my product, but realistically you have to be a bit more consciously minded if you want those people to get results out of that product as well. And in order to do that, you have to build that like, know, trust factor, which is kind of the base of any business really.
Theresa: Totally. I mean, your website has to communicate why you particularly, why that offer, product, service, specifically, and that just takes words. It takes pages, it takes presence. And for all those reasons, one-page websites? Not feeling it.
Leoni: But we could talk about that one for days, weeks probably. So hit me with your first prediction.
PREDICTION 2: HONESTY > INFLATION
Theresa: Okay, in terms of the copy world, this is one that I have started to feel more and more strongly about. I think that honesty—true, sincere, detailed honesty—is really the direction we're moving over exaggeration and inflation.
For a long time we've seen “stress-free,” “it's easy,” “do it with ease.” We've seen “do this instantly,” we've seen “you'll never worry about this again,” or “you'll kick this problem to the curb once and for all.” And I think people are starting to really kind of glaze over those overstated and generic messages.
I see it a lot around freebies, which I think makes even less sense because communicating the value of something that you have decided to not charge for is actually kind of complicated, right? If this freebie actually was instantly going to make something stress-free and make sure that someone never has to worry about this thing again, why would you be giving it away for free?
I think the way to be honest can be entertaining! It can be informative, you can make it surprising, you can make it memorable. So that's not to say you still can't have fun with your copy, personality with your copy. But like I said, I think people are just kind of over the idea that, “With all these bonuses, this course is worth $10,000, but I'm giving it to you for $247!”
You're like, really? Do people actually believe that? Or if you are a realtor and you sell houses, and you're promising people a “stress-free home buying experience”—do people really believe that buying a home, especially in today's economy, is a completely stress-free process? When people see that, I think their brains just immediately kind of go to, “There's really no way that could be true. So I'm not really paying attention. I'm not really reading anymore. I'm not really connected with this message.”
But just for example, if that realtor said, “Working with me will be a more chill experience than the first time you have to host Christmas dinner for all of your in-laws and their relatives at your new place,” that's a little more believable. That's a little more memorable. That's a little more engaging and still gets the point across, right?
So I think being really specific and clear in an interesting way about your offers, the value of your offers, what it is and isn't, who it's for and who it's not—much more of that language is really going to be needed in order to get people to click that inquire button or click that buy now button.
Leoni: Yeah, I think it all stems back to relatability and how much someone can actually picture themselves in what you're saying about the service or the experience with you. They can picture what it feels like to host Christmas dinner for their entire family when they've never done it before. If you're a first-time buyer, you don't really understand the stress that comes with buying a house. (I've been lucky to buy a house, not lucky enough to go through that process because it is horrendous!)
You can claim to make it a stress-free process, but you can't predict what will happen every day of that process. No one can predict the roadblocks that can come up. That's when credibility gets knocked down because this person's thinking, "Oh, well, I go with this person, and I'm going to have a breeze. It's all going to feel great." But that service provider cannot predict that the bank is going to crash at some point and your money's going to be on hold for some reason or other.
It all stems back to credibility and relatability in the sense of "I can actually picture myself in that space and recognize how I felt and now I know what it's not going to feel like if I go with this person, and that's what I want for myself."
Radical honesty, I think, is definitely going to come into even the design space as well. And just the online space in general. I think everyone is fed up with the age-old "three steps to success" or "how I made 10k in 10 minutes." I put up a reel last week, and it was "while everyone else is posting about their 10k in 10 minutes, I'm just adding something to my to-do list just so I can tick it off." The engagement on that has been one of the best engaged posts in so long because people are just so fed up of hearing all of this BS in the online space. They just want someone to sit down and say, "you know what, it's hard, but I'm going to help you get through it." And that's more relatable than anything else, I think.
Theresa: Yes, and I love the way you just said that. "It's hard, but I'm going to help you get through it." Because that type of message actually says something about you as the professional and the experience that it'll offer to your clients. Saying, "Oh, you'll have a stress-free home buying process" doesn't actually say anything about you. But saying something like, "Look, I know it's hard out there, but I will do everything I can to alleviate your stress because I always text you back even when you have those questions at night, and I come with you to meetings to translate all the confusing stuff that the bank said," paints a picture for your clients of how you actually can support them and bring your expertise as opposed to just those general statements.
So I'm totally with you in the design world as well. And no one wants to see the "three steps to making my first million dollars" anymore. Like, it took a lot longer than three steps. Who are we kidding? I love that reel you created!
Leoni: Yeah, it was one of those that just kind of blew up because so many people were like, "Wait! She does that, I do that. I love that. I'm not the only one in this space who does that. Like, we're all adding things to to-do lists after we've already done them so we can feel accomplished. I'm not ashamed to admit that."
Theresa: Yeah, that's really the ten steps in ten minutes—the ten things I crossed off my to-do list!
PREDICTION 3: BASIC EDUCATIONAL CONTENT IS MEH
Leoni: Yeah, exactly. This leads me to my next point about educational content. It's a big topic, and I think people are a bit done with it.
Instagram itself is a funny place, and I think people are reassessing their own content a lot. We all need to reassess educational content, and as the year progresses, I believe we'll see less of that kind of content because people are realizing that people are becoming desensitized to it. They're scrolling and not really stopping for any of that stuff anymore, and that's why we're seeing lower engagement.
People are just seeing the same stuff regurgitated over and over again on their feeds, and it's not useful. So, I think we'll see more intentional educational content as time goes on, rather than just ticking off an educational piece on the content pillar for the week.
Theresa: Totally. When I talk to my clients about marketing, I often remind them, and myself sometimes, to really think about if creating educational content makes sense. For example, if you're a service provider offering one-to-one bespoke services, creating a bunch of how-to content isn't actually aligned with your audience. Your business isn't about teaching people how to do it themselves, it's about doing it for them. I always remind people to bring their focus back to whether this makes sense for the people they're trying to reach and for the type of work they do. For many of us, basic educational how-tos or oversimplified steps aren't playing an effective role in our business.
Leoni: Yeah, and that kind of content is so vague it puts us all in the same category, yet we are all entirely different as business owners. For example, I have a membership, and I teach my members that I will give you a framework, but let's find out how to tailor that to your business. Let's find out how we can change it and tweak it based on how you interact with your clients or how you want to interact with them. Everyone follows the same steps in the agile process system, but realistically, how can we change that to be more tailored to you as a person? I'm very much a casual, collaborative, very chatty person, let's work together. Other people have a different approach, and therefore, their process is going to be entirely different.
You can't nail down a process system and say you have to follow these six steps to have a successful client process. While the initial framework works, you have to tailor it to your own business. That's the danger of just giving vague information. Information that people can follow and then ask, "Why doesn't that work for me?" Well, it doesn't work for you because you're an entirely different business owner and person behind that business. So, it's about taking it to the next level of, "Here's the framework, but here's how you can actually use it in your business."
Theresa: I love the way you said that, the idea that we have that social responsibility to not make generic, one-size-fits-all, or vague statements, and then put people in a position where they're feeling like, "Why didn't that work for me?" Especially if then the answer is, "Oh, it didn't work for you? Just hire me, and I'll make it work for you." But that's a really important point you made. We all have influence in our own businesses and in our own ways, even if we're not influencers, and it's important to use that influence in a way that we really feel has integrity and is genuinely helpful to other people.
Leoni: I think in any other instance, as a consumer of many different types of influence in the social space, I wouldn't necessarily see an influencer using a skincare product and immediately think, "Oh, well, because she's using it, I have to use it on my skin." Because my skin is different from that person, so I would dig into it and think, "What skin type does that person have? Am I allergic to any of those ingredients?"
It's the same with business lessons, business principles. We have to tailor them to who we are as people to make it work for us. You can't just take it and expect it to work for the client on the other end because we're not all working with the same people either. It comes down to, similarly to that first point of, do you work with impulse buyers? Maybe the links page works for you. But if you don't work with impulse buyers and you work with more strategic thinkers who have to read over it 10 times before they press the button, then that's not going to work for you. So it's about being more conscious about what you consume and what you then take forward as advice and education.
Theresa: Yeah, and this actually takes us really nicely into another one of my ideas about being conscious, being intentional, thinking through, "Is that really going to work for me?"
PREDICTION 4: PROOF (AND SOCIAL PROOF) ARE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT
Theresa: One of the things we're going to need to see more of, which I think is great and I'm totally here for, is more proof—actual proof of how something works and the results it gets. More proof of a particular specific process. For sure more social proof, like testimonials or results from real people.
For people like you and me, designers and copywriters, we don't always have testimonials where someone says, "I doubled my income because you made me a beautiful website," or "because you wrote these words." In fact, our testimonials aren't usually like that. But that does not mean there is no proof or social proof still involved in that process.
Really, gone are the days when you could make vague claims and have a fancy-looking website and have someone think, "Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to invest my money with you," especially in this economy where a lot of people are feeling pinched. Also, a lot of us are just learning to be savvier buyers!
I think most of us know there's more than one brand designer, more than one copywriter, more than one wedding photographer, business coach, whoever. So bringing in more proof about what does this do, why does this matter, how does it work, what changes in someone's life, how did they feel before you worked together, how did they feel after you worked together—all of that information is really important. Not only to just be honest and transparent and help people figure out for themselves if that's something they need, but it’s super important for that authentic persuasion, showing people why you, why your product or service, you know?
Leoni: Yeah, definitely. And it's that relatability aspect, isn't it? That potential buyers can see themselves in the proof that you're sharing. It's not necessarily the "I 10xd my income after working with said service provider." It's the stuff like, for me, I get it quite a lot from my clients when we do the strategy workshop at the start, and I hear it quite a lot where they say, "Oh, it was like therapy. I just feel like a refreshed person after that one call," and that is the thing that sells that side of things to future clients because they know how it feels to be at the start of that call and how it feels to be at the end of that call, and they want that for themselves.
It's those kinds of testimonials that are more powerful than the numbers. The numbers are obviously going to be powerful too, but more on the emotional side of things and the actual physical transformations in that person, not just in the business as well. I completely agree with that. More social proof, definitely. And I think that has to happen because of how much the online space is saturated with vague content and with the “six steps.” We have to take it to the next level to say that actually we can do things differently. And this is, we've got the proof because our clients have been there and done it.
Theresa: And I'll just say one more thing because I'm a copywriter—for anyone who wants to implement this for themselves, look at your own testimonials and actually see in your client's words how they felt, what they experienced. All of that is information you want to reflect in your own copy. You want to take those words and ideas and build them into your copy because who better to hear it from than the people you're working with.
And a pro tip: the best sentence of a testimonial, the one that should be in bold, is never "Theresa was so great to work with" or "Leoni was so professional." Because if a testimonial is on someone's website, we already expect it to say good things! The sentences to highlight are like "Before I worked with Leoni, I just felt completely lost and my website was a mess. And then after, I felt this way." That's the important, juicy stuff.
Leoni: I always call it the golden nugget. But I love what you've just said about if you're struggling with your own business and thinking, "What makes me different?" I hate that question because it makes us feel like we're not different enough, not special enough, not unique enough. One of the biggest tips I've always given is to go back to your testimonials. The people who've experienced working with you are telling you what's inspirational about working with you, that you bring a fresh perspective they've never experienced before. And it's those things that sell your services to other people because they've come directly from those who've been through it. There's no better proof than that. So, if you're struggling or don't know what makes you different, read your testimonials.
Theresa: One more thing about that—I recently released a new free resource called "Finding Your Perspective," which is all about this. The question doesn't have to be “What makes you the only one who does this?” or “the best one” who does this. The question can be “What makes you the right fit for these people?” That takes a lot of the pressure off. If you’re thinking, "Yeah, I need to figure that out for myself," go download that free resource. It involves all of the questions I use in that section of the brand strategy work I do with clients, which often feels like therapy for them, leading to many lightbulb moments.
PREDICTION 5: EDITORIAL, MODERN, MINIMAL IS GETTING BLAND
Leoni: My next point relates well to this discussion—the rise of more personality-packed design. Although I want to say modern and minimal designs work for certain brands for specific reasons, as an overview, we're all a bit done with the basic looking brands. I do design them if they work for the brand, but I think we're going to see a lot more personality coming through in brands and more personal brands on the rise in 2024.
People really want to express more of their personality and, as they come to understand their own perspective, bring that out through their branding as well. So, I feel like we're going to see a lot more bold colors and more daring approaches to branding, along with more personality-driven content.
PREDICTION 6: MORE HUMANNESS, WEIRDNESS, AND CREATIVITY IN COPY, PLEASE
Theresa: Yeah, I’m absolutely with you there. And honestly, this would probably be my third big prediction for 2024 on the copy side—more personality, more weirdness, more daring, more anecdotes, more of those weird expressions that your friends kind of make fun of you for. All of this stuff that AI can't make for you because AI doesn't have your stories, your perspectives, and your weirdness. And I'm not going to take us down a rabbit hole of AI, good or bad, etc., because that could be a whole other conversation.
But I mean, both for design and copy, it's never been easier than now to create a lot of content. You can use tools like Canva or ChatGPT to crank out social posts, make websites from templates, and create brands.
While there are some pros to democratizing design and copy a bit, the side effect is that now, to actually stand out, it takes that much more creativity, skill, and intention. So, for brands that we're really going to notice and remember, and also feel really connected to, we humans want to see that human personality coming through in the words and in the design.
Leoni: Yeah, definitely. Everything we've talked about today links really well to each other. It's all about bringing it back to a sense of realness, a sense of reality, a sense of relatability. Like you say, that human aspect of we are business owners, but we are people, and we have our quirks. Realistically, it's those quirks that make us different, and it's those quirks that we need to bring through in our content to stand out and have the most impact, rather than the vague.
I think there's a huge wave of these faceless accounts, these text-based reels that go viral, and all of those kinds of things. While that's a big thing right now, I think that will slowly die out, and we'll see more and more people realizing that, to create longevity for their brand, they have to show up as themselves. Whether that means showing your face on camera or not, I don't believe you have to show your face, but I do think you have to show a level of personality and connection to actually have longevity for your brand and for people to make that loyal connection to you.
And it's the same with products. Products with a story sell far better than a product that is just any old product that you can pick up off the shelf. It's that question of why this one and not another one, and that comes from that story aspect, that personality aspect, the fact that customers can see themselves in the product, or they see the product sitting on the shelf in their house because it fits the narrative they have of the person they want to be and the house they want to have.
Theresa: Totally. And I think while we're having this conversation, it is important for us to acknowledge that when we tell people or work with clients to "Be more you, embrace your weirdness," doing that takes some vulnerability, right? It takes some bravery because being more 'you' on the internet where everyone has an opinion, and seeing, “Well, everyone is doing the minimal branding with the swoopy font and then the serif font, and they look really rich, and they look like they're making money and being successful,” you might wonder, “Is anyone going to take me seriously if I have hot pink branding? Or, “Is anyone going to take me seriously if I don't have perfectly “professional”-sounding copy?"
So, I want to say that it does take some bravery, and there is kind of a feeling of risk sometimes involved in being more who you are. But I will say, for every single client I have worked with, being more themselves has always paid off. It's always been the right strategy. Anytime a client has ever come to me and kind of wanted to dial themselves down in the name of being more professional or being more minimal, I'm always like, "Oh no, we're going the other way, man. We are absolutely going full send into who you are," embracing all of that. And it always ends up being the decision that really connects them to the right people and helps them feel super comfy in their business because then they don't have to pretend to be this “elevated,” faceless personality that they're not.
Leoni: No, exactly. And I think that's where the success factor comes in because you can only fake a false sense of reality for so long before you crack and show the real you. And I truly believe that.
I have clients come to me, and they'll send me a Pinterest mood board in the initial stages, not so I can create a brand that looks like their Pinterest board, but so I can see what's going on in their head in a visual aspect. I've had instances where, after speaking and concluding the strategy, the client realizes they don't actually feel aligned with their initial ideas.
They might have thought that's what they needed or how their competitors look, but after our conversation, they feel comfortable being themselves and can share where they really want their brand to go and what it should stand for. I love that people feel comfortable enough in my company to reveal their true selves. Ultimately, that's my mission: to allow people to feel comfortable enough to be themselves in their brand and tell their story.
One of my clients is bringing out a range of inclusive mannequin heads, and she's been a raging Barbie fan her entire life. She now speaks about that online on her blog. Initially, she questioned whether to share that because she thought some people might find it weird. I told her that's the golden nugget—that's what she needs to share. Not everyone will love that piece of information, but it will attract people who see themselves in her, and they will buy her product because of that. It's amazing when people realize they can be themselves and still be a professional business owner or have a successful business. This perception of professionalism doesn't have to be the reality for everyone.
Theresa: We've seen time and time again that clients think they have to sound or look a certain way to be successful.
A myth I'm always battling as a copywriter is that elevated means minimal copy. We need to do away with this myth because it takes words to sell anything! The perception that to be successful or to sell high-ticket items involves minimal copy or branding is false. People who like high-ticket products still enjoy color, laughter, and engaging, entertaining words!
Minimal does not necessarily mean successful, and rich neon colors and funny jokes don't confine you to low-ticket products or services. Professional, elevated, minimal, and modern don't all mean the same thing. Personality, humor, and uniqueness don't equate to cheapness! You can be you and still be elevated, high-ticket, and the best in the world, while also being funny and real. It's about combining words with design to create something truly yours.
Leoni: Definitely. There's this idea that professional, elevated, minimal, modern all come under the same category. You can be you and you can be elevated. You can be high ticket. You can be the best in the world, but you can also be funny. You can be a real human and you can be as bold and as daring as you want to be.
Do you agree? Want to fight us on something? Have your own prediction to share? Tell us on IG!
You can find me at @littleflamecreative and Leoni at @darcydesign.co.
And if you’re starting to think, “Hey, I wanna get in on non-boring design and copy!!!”, we’re ready for you. 😉
Meet Theresa, your Copywriter
I’m Theresa Sullivan, the Founder and Copywriter behind Little Flame Creative. I specialize in brand messaging and website copy for creative and purpose-full businesses because I believe that every entrepreneur deserves thoughtful copy that truly fits–not words they have to fit into.
We can team up on Brand Messaging + Custom Web Copy projects, as well as my signature Done-With-You Copy process—and you can find out more about working together right here!
Meet Leoni, your Designer
Leoni is the studio founder & designer behind D'Arcy Design Co., a collaborative brand & web studio working with visionaries to build brands that captivate attention, set the standard and leave a legacy in their market. From brand strategy & identity development through to website design and everything in between, D'Arcy Design Co. offers a full service experience to help you build a brand from the ground up, with strong strategic foundations and a visual identity that leaves customers knocking your door down to buy.
To find out more about our signature brand building framework, you can download our free resource 'The Brand Matter Manual' and uncover how to build a brand that's backed by strategy and substance - an insight into the initial stages of working with us at D'Arcy Design Co.