There is a romantic version of copywriting that I find very entertaining.
The brilliant copywriter sits alone in a dimly lit room, perhaps wearing an unnecessarily expensive sweater, waiting for inspiration. Suddenly, the perfect idea arrives, brilliant words pour onto the screen, and a few hours later an irresistible sales campaign exists.
I have been in marketing for a long time, and I have some disappointing news. Most great copy involves considerably less divine inspiration and considerably more digging around.
You study the product, investigate the competition, listen to customers, examine previous campaigns, look for proof, and find out what prospects want, fear, question, and have already tried. If you do enough of that work, something wonderful happens when you finally sit down to write: you actually know what to say.
Gary Bencivenga, one of the most respected direct-response copywriters of his generation, understood this exceptionally well. Great copy was not simply the result of great writing. It was the result of great preparation.
The Blank Page Is Not the Beginning
When someone says, “We need a new sales page,” the natural instinct is to open a document and start writing.
I would rather start asking questions.
Who will read this? What do they want? What frustrates them? What have they already tried? Why haven’t they solved the problem? What would make them skeptical of us? What does our competition promise? Most importantly, what can we actually prove?
Those answers are the raw material of persuasive copy.
Without them, perfectly competent businesses end up with perfectly forgettable marketing. The company is passionate, the service is personalized, the solutions are innovative, and everyone is committed to exceeding expectations.
Nothing is technically wrong with any of it. There simply isn’t much worth remembering.
Research Is Where the Interesting Stuff Lives
Imagine I ask you to market a family-owned manufacturing company. The owner tells you the business has been around for 40 years, provides excellent service, and makes high-quality products.
Fine, but so far we don’t have much to sell.
Then we start digging.
We discover that one of the company’s machines was originally designed because a customer had a production problem nobody else could solve. The modern version reduces a six-hour process to 90 minutes. Several customers are still using machines the company built more than 20 years ago, and when equipment goes down, customers can reach an actual technician who knows the machine instead of disappearing into a general support queue.
Now we have marketing.
The copywriter did not invent those selling points. The research uncovered them.
That distinction is important because some of the strongest reasons to choose your company may be hiding inside details your team considers completely ordinary.
Your Customer Is Part of the Research
Understanding the product is only half the job because businesses often know considerably more about what they sell than about what their customers are actually thinking.
You know your software has 47 features. Your customer wants to know whether anyone on the team will be able to figure it out.
You know your advisor has impressive credentials. Your prospect wants to know whether she can trust this person with the retirement savings it took 30 years to accumulate.
You know every technical detail about your service. Your customer may simply be wondering whether hiring you is going to become a nightmare.
That is why great research includes customer reviews, sales conversations, complaints, questions, objections, and interviews. When the same concerns or desires appear repeatedly, pay attention because your customers may be handing you the next campaign.
Proof Beats Enthusiasm
Research also gives you something every persuasive message needs: proof.
It is easy to say your company provides exceptional service, produces superior results, or has tremendous experience. Your competitors are probably saying exactly the same things.
Research allows you to turn those claims into evidence.
If customers stay with you for years, find out how many. If your process is faster, determine how much faster. If your product lasts longer, prove it. If clients achieve impressive results, document those results.
Enthusiasm asks the prospect to trust you. Proof gives the prospect a reason to believe you.
That is considerably more persuasive.
Sometimes Research Ruins a Perfectly Good Idea
Good research can also be annoying because sometimes it proves that the marketing idea you loved was wrong.
You may believe customers choose you because of Feature A and discover they barely care about it. You may think price is the biggest objection when customers are actually worried about implementation. You may promote your technology while customers repeatedly tell you they chose the company because they could reach a knowledgeable human when something went wrong.
That is valuable information, even when it sends your beautiful campaign directly into the trash.
The purpose of research is not to prove what we already believe. It is to replace assumptions with understanding.
Earn the Right to Write
Gary Bencivenga’s lesson is one every marketer should remember. Great copy does not begin when your fingers touch the keyboard.
Learn the product well enough to find what others overlook. Understand the customer well enough to know what matters. Study the competition, uncover the objections, and find the proof that makes your promises believable.
Then write.
If your marketing feels generic, repetitive, or suspiciously similar to everyone else in your industry, another round of wordsmithing may not solve the problem.
Visit www.meetparthiv.com to schedule a complimentary Strategic Growth Session. We’ll dig deeper into your customers, your offer, and the competitive advantages that deserve a bigger role in your marketing.
Because great copy rarely begins with a brilliant sentence.
It begins with discovering something worth saying.
To your unstoppable success,
President
eLaunchers.Com