Should I fire my copywriter?

An 8-figure CEO asked me, “Should I fire my copywriter? Claude can do a pretty good job for $30/month.”

“It depends…” I responded. (Of course it does. 😏)

I told him the real problem isn’t “AI vs. copywriters”  – it’s that most writers crank out mediocre work:

• SEO pages that never rank

• Social posts nobody reads

• Emails nobody opens

“If that’s what you’re paying for, then for sure, switch to AI. Or better yet, just stop. Stop pumping out crap!”

Good writing is one of the most leveraged skills in growth. It brings: profitable ads, social followers, and higher conversion, activation, and retention.

But it’s also vanishingly rare. Most content quietly fails, from ads that get a few clicks and run at breakeven to landing pages that convert at <2%.

And AI can’t fix that (yet)

AI can generate words, but it can’t tell which ones matter. Good writing depends on good taste, which means knowing how your customers think and what will engage them. 

Who in your org has the taste to know what's worth publishing? That’s your cheat code. They don’t need to be a copywriter, but they need to write good briefs, make impactful edits, and learn from every test. Think of them as the product manager for copy.

If your copywriter is that person, pay them well and get them involved. If not…go find them!

Simple next step

How do you stop your team from cranking out crap?

1. Measure results: Set goals around results (e.g. conversion, ROAS) rather than effort (number of pages / campaigns / emails)

2. Turn failures into lessons: Most pieces still won’t perform, but every one must teach you something.

3. Speak your customer’s language: We win when we talk like our customers. If you haven’t mapped your customers’ Jobs to be Done, stop guessing and start there.

Want help discovering your customers’ Jobs to be Done? We run Jobs to be Done workshops where teams learn how to interview customers and turn those insights into messaging and product decisions. If you’ve got budget for it, reply and let’s chat.