How to become a copywriting-psychic-genius.
Research.
Not the kind of word that sends tingles down your spine.
But, you won’t write anything good without doing some research first.
I mean it. If you sit down to write and you haven’t done some form of research beforehand, your copy won’t connect and it won’t convert either.
Last week I spoke about the three things you need to know about your customer before you write for them.
This week I want to share how to get into your customer’s head (I’m going to use ‘customer’ to cover clients too). And then how to put their thoughts into your copy.
Behold: ‘Voice of Customer’ research.
Find the words or phrases your customers use to describe what you do and the problem you solve. Then use these EXACT words and phrases in your copy.
Seeing the words in their head reflected in your copy will make your audience sit up, listen and think you’re a psychic genius.
Let me share an example
I recently received a brief to rewrite webcopy for a company which automates a process that humans would normally do. The brief was littered with references to ‘human error’.
The marketing team referred to their product eliminating ‘human error’. The problem they solved was to stop ‘human error’. Let’s just say ‘human error’ was a big deal.
But upon further digging, it turned out their audience would never use the words ‘human error’ in a bazillion years, They would never want to admit that they (god forbid) had a ‘human error’ issue.
And so, by doing Voice of Customer research I knew not to use these two forbidden words in my webcopy, despite the business using them internally to describe the problem they solve, allllll the time.
How do you find your ‘Voice of Customer’?
Firstly, good ol’ fashioned listening carefully when you talk to customers does wonders. When you’re talking to your customers, frame questions so you get a ‘story’ answer. Such as: Tell me about a time when….. Or What was going on in your business when…
Keep a google doc of all the interesting words and phrases they use to come back to when you write copy for your business.
2. Facebook is your Voice of Customer friend
Go to Facebook and click the search icon; top left. Now type in a problem your business solves from your customer’s perspective and click ‘posts’ from the drop down, so it only shows you results from people’s posts:
A website copywriter might type in “My website is not bringing in any leads”
A photographer might type in “I need good headshots but I’m awkward in front of the camera
A life coach might type in “How do I know what my life’s purpose is?”
Example
I recently wrote webcopy for a clinical hypnotherapist who client’s suffer from burnout at work. So I typed into the search bar “struggling with burnout at work”. “Feel like I’m burning out at work. “Advice about burnout” All different derivatives.
From reading those posts you’ll hear right from your customers’ mouths the words they use to describe what you do.
Copy and paste all the words and phrases that jump out and keep them in a google doc.
And repeat.
You can literally type in anything your customers might think, say or feel about your industry or specific product or service category. Even switch it round to find words and phrases they use to describe the positive outcomes, or the transformation you provide. For the clinical hypnotherapist I typed in “I found freedom from work anxiety’ “How I overcame burnout”
If you’re writing a short-form piece of copy, spending 15 minutes on Facebook conducting Voice of Customer research will powerhouse your copy.
For longer copy like websites there is a whole world of Voice of Customer data sources which your copywriter should be privy to. Sometimes I spend days collecting Voice of Customer data from all over the virtual land.
And that’s how you become a copywriting psychic genius.
Remember friends, there’s no such thing as writer’s block, just not enough research.
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If you’re up for it, Here are some ways we can work together (it’ll be so much fun!)
😍 Let me write high-converting, psychology-backed words for your website. Book a time to chat
😍 Let me write your launch copy, from ad to sales page to email sequence. Book a time to chat
😍 Come to my FREE Copy Clinic and I'll help you get unstuck with your words. Find out more
