This is the part you’re probably most excited about! No?
Look, I know research may sound unnecessary to you, but it is truly the most essential part of building copy that will work for you and your business.
Here’s why:
A copywriter needs to understand your business, your prospects, your competitive landscape, and your product/service like we know the back of our own hands.
I can guarantee you that when you read copy where the copywriter hasn’t done their research, you’ll notice. It will frustrate you. And it won’t do anything to help your business. You’ll end up questioning why you even hired a copywriter in the first place.
Here’s something you need to know about copywriting…
The words we use to write about your business don’t come from our heads or from thin air. It just doesn’t work that way. And you don’t want it to.
We need to learn about all the pieces I listed above like your prospects, competitors etc. And it’s not enough to just learn about them. You can understand that your product or service will help your prospect in some way, but simply telling them it will help won’t cut it. You need to show them in a way they’ll understand, and you can only do that with deep understanding.
I mean do you really want messaging and copy the copywriter just writes about without understanding why what you offer is different and better than the millions of other choices out there?
So even if you’ve already done the research and can hand all of that over to a copywriter, we still need to dig into all of that information, to analyze it and to draw conclusions. It’s the conclusions and connections that will make your copy sing (or sell in this case).
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.”– Steve Jobs
But for those “somethings” to happen I need to see everything clearly, from 30,000 feet and face-to-face. And that can only happen once I’ve done our research and discovery.
After the research and discovery phase comes the strategy and brief development. This is where I get super clear on who I’m writing for, what the objectives are, the offer, and the “plan of attack.” And once all of that is done, then it’s writing and editing time…
But don’t worry, research and brief development doesn’t need to take a long time.
Especially if you’re working with an experienced DTC and ecommerce copywriter and marketer.
We’re “in the trenches” and pay attention to what’s going on in the industry, what’s working now, what isn’t, and what will best resonate with your specific customers.
Online shoppers are savvy today. Their choices are infinite. They need to feel something for your brand and they need to see how your products will transform them in some way.
This is something I can help you with. Send me an email, and we can get started. lisa AT theconversioncopywriter DOT com