What Byron Sharp taught me about copywriting

The book that turned me from channel hacker to memory builder

In this week’s Copy THIS, we’re getting nerdy. Marketing science nerdy. I’m breaking down THE concept from How Brands Grow that rewired my brain - and with a couple of easy frameworks at the end, it might just rewire yours too.

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When I first picked up How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp, I wasn’t running my own business yet.

I’d just left my second digital marketing agency and was about to start at an above-the-line shop - the land of big TV ads, OOH, and media planners with dashboards that look like NASA flight decks.

Sexy.

My background?

• SEO

• Content

• Inbound

The “data-driven” stuff where the only question anyone ever asked was: “Which channel is delivering the most ROI?” 🥱

And quietly, I was desperate to shed the “just a writer” label.

I wanted to be taken seriously in a big-agency, big-budget world. To prove I could think strategically, not just wordsmith-y.

Maybe I’d even become a media planner.

(Note: I did not become a media planner 😅)

The line that broke my brain

Getting through the first half of How Brands Grow was like chewing chalk.

Charts. Stats. Formulas.

My little writer brain was not impressed. I’m a creative, thank you very much. All that data was slowly killing me.

Then I hit the section on market-based assets.

Like mental availability: Being remembered when a need arises.

And physical availability: Being easy to buy from once they act on their need.

Plus all the distinctive “stuff” that makes a brand instantly recognisable.

Assets you can literally sell because of the memory structures baked into people’s heads.

Now I was paying attention, especially once I got to the McDonald’s example:

The TL;DR version:

• McDonald’s growth in developed countries was slowing.

• Health criticism was high.

• Subway and Starbucks were expanding everywhere.

• It looked like McDonald’s marketers were asleep.

Eventually they looked outside their stores and noticed people were eating (a little) better.

So they introduced salads, sandwiches and McCafés with proper coffee.

Nothing radical. No category‑breaking innovations. Just “us too” catch‑up moves - the kind marketing texts usually frown upon.

But because McDonald’s already had enormous mental and physical availability, even those small improvements could be sold at scale.

They simply took away reasons not to buy and let their market‑based assets do the heavy lifting.

And then came the line that hit me so hard I had to close the book:

“Much of the marketing battle is getting into the very small consideration set.”

I read that line twice.

Then again.

And something shifted - not a tidy epiphany, but a wobble.

I see it now in hindsight: I’d been running from being “just a writer.”

Moving into an above-the-line agency felt like proof I’d finally escaped that box. I was heading toward media planning, big campaigns, Strategy with a capital S.

And yet here was this single sentence telling me the real battle wasn’t happening in dashboards.

It was happening in people’s memories.

In feelings.

In the associations built quietly over time.

I remember turning to my husband in bed - “Steve, listen to this!” - and watching his eyes glaze over as I launched into a marketing sermon seconds before he was about to fall asleep.

I didn’t realise it then, but that was the breadcrumb.

The moment I started down the path I’m on now.

The one where I eventually understood that writing isn’t the thing you do after the strategy.

Writing is how the strategy takes root.

Branding as “shared memory”

Picture this.

You’re scrolling through your phone, showing your friend photos from a trip.

You’re smiling:

“That was such a great time.”

You can feel the weather, the food, the people.

Your friend - who wasn’t there - smiles politely and is mostly wondering when you’ll be done so you can talk about something they were actually part of.

Those photos will always have that feeling for you because you had the experience.

To your friend, they’re just pixels.

Branding is how we cheat that.

The feeling you get when you see the Golden Arches or Coca‑Cola red?

That’s not the logo.

It’s years of engineered, repeated, shared experiences teaching your brain: “When I see this thing, I’m meant to feel this way.”

That’s a market-based asset.

So the real question is: How do you build that when you don’t have a Super Bowl ad or a fleet of trucks?

From channel hacker to strategist

After that line lodged itself in my brain, I stopped treating marketing as a neat series of funnels and started treating it as deliberate memory work.

LinkedIn stopped being a “content channel” and became the primary place where I intentionally build mental and physical availability.

Why LinkedIn? Because I’m in B2B and my audience hangs out there

Small business owners often say: “I know I should be on [insert all the platforms here], I just don’t have the time.”

Channel hackers love this. It’s easy money.

“Yes, absolutely - you should be on every channel. Here’s our five-figure retainer.”

But realistically? You should go where your audience is.

(And as a bonus point, you should pick one, maybe two channels at most as a small business. You can always expand later. But better to whole-ass one channel than half-ass all of them.)

From here, I’ll explain how I view LinkedIn, which should work for most other B2B copywriters. If you’re in B2C, you may want to consider another platform. These concepts can still apply elsewhere.

LinkedIn as a billboard

When I post on LinkedIn, I’m not asking: “Did I get a lead from this?”

Instead, I’m asking: “If someone scrolls past this, what association forms with my brand?”

I want to create micro-impressions like:

• Writer who actually understands strategy

• Obsessed with clear positioning

• Uses storytelling as a means for connection

These aren’t “tactics” - they’re memory taps. Because mental availability isn’t built through one viral post. It’s built through repetition - showing up with the same ideas, same voice, same truth.

Physical availability in an online business

In bricks-and-mortar marketing, physical availability is:

• Shelf space

• Store locations

• Distribution

Online, particularly service-based businesses, it becomes much simpler:

• Can people find you?

• Can they reach you?

• Do they know how to buy from you?

My version of physical availability looks like:

• Showing up consistently where my audience hangs out (LinkedIn)

• Responding to comments and DMs

• Clear, consistent CTAs

• Transparent offers

• Obvious paths to contact or hire me

Unsexy.

Wildly strategic.

How this changes your client work

The exact same principles apply when you write for clients. Ask:

1. What’s this brand’s real consideration set?
   When buyers are ready to make a purchase, who are the 2-3 names their brain offers up?

2. What memory structures are we reinforcing?
   • Distinctive language
   • Signature stories
   • Consistent point of view

3. Where are we killing memorability in the name of “performance”?
   Are we stripping out personality?
   Are we writing content that could belong to anyone?

Copywriters don’t just improve click-throughs and conversions. We build the stories and distinctive truths a brand stands on.

We build recognition.

We build preference.

And that becomes a market-based asset - something a client can actually sell.

A tiny exercise (for you and your clients)

For your own business, finish:

“People usually think of me when…”

Do the same for a client.

Then sanity-check their social media, website, emails with one question:

Does this make us easier to remember - and easier to choose - when the moment comes?

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P.S. How did I do? Did I explain these concepts clearly? Are you staring at this page with the same glazed-over expression my husband gave me? Let me know by shooting me an email or leaving a comment - I want to make this as useful and interesting as possible so your feedback truly helps 😄