Dear Copywriters, How Do You Carry Out Your Research?

[Grain]

Dear Copywriter...

This question is probably near the likes of getting you,
as a copywriter, to part with your wallet... so I don't
really expect an amazing answer...

... *But* it doesn't hurt to try, does it?

Feel free to blow my mind though.

Okay, the question is...

What do you usually do to carry out market research
on competition, the USP/offer etc?

Logically, I'd guess that one of the ways of doing it is
by participating in forums of the niche and buying
books/products and self-educating yourself on it...

... However, I'm pretty sure I'm still missing something
else.

Any pennies of thought?

Respectfully,
Grain

[camkid]

Hey Grain,

I don't pretend to be a hotshot copy writer or anything (I outsource all my copywriting now TBH), but what I did when I started out (and still do) is create a 'swipe file'.

A swipe file is a collection of all the best copywriting you come across both offline and online.

If you see a great ad in the newspaper or magazine, cut it out and add it to your swipe file.

If you see a great piece of sales copy online, print it out and pop it in your swipe file.

So when you come to write your own sales letter, spend some time going through your swipe file for great ideas and inspiration. Obviously don't copy anything word for word, but it sure helped me write some decent copy.

And don't forget to test everything. That's crucial. Test, test and then test again. In fact, you should never stop testing.

Best of luck.

Pete

[Grain]

Hi camkid,

I understand where you're coming from...

Swipe Files are undoubtedly a huge resource of things
that worked in the past, and usually will convert just
as well in the future depending on the market climate.

But the question remains...

... How do you conduct market research for the
present? Let's say you had to start from scratch in
copy research...

For current trends, events, competitors...

How do the good copywriters usually grab this bull by
its horns?

Thanks,
Grain

[Andrew Gould]

There's some good info for you in this thread:

Copywriting Research--The Rick Duris Method

[Grain]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gould

There's some good info for you in this thread:

Thanks Andrew,

That thread's gold indeed!

How would you research to actually craft out a good
hook though?

-Grain

[Steve Hill]

There's some good tips in the Rick Duris Method post that Andrew mentioned - mastering the advanced Google search methods and options saves valuable time. A quick search at Google for "advanced google search tips" will give you a lot of useful information.

In addition to Rick's tips, checking Amazon by typing in keywords relating to your project can be quite useful. You'll want to find polarizing 1-star and 5-star reviews, because typically those writers are passionate. This is also good for finding the language that consumers in that niche are using.

For more technical subjects, the paid commercial databases (CANAHL, ERIC, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, PubMed, etc.) may be available at a local college, university, or well-funded public library. These are typically highly technical papers related to science, health, medicine, business, and advanced research, and are used in PhD-level graduate work. They can be invaluable if you need to completely understand your product at a professional (not consumer) level. This is where you'll often find the key differences in how one product is better or works differently than another similar competing product.

For checking the "buzz" about a product or niche, researching across several search engines (Yahoo and Bing, for example) is recommended, not just Google. Different engines emphasize different types of results, and also, Google may be biasing results based on what they "think" you want to see. Google blog search is informative for this, too.

Using keyword research tools such as SEOQuake, Market Samurai, or SEO Powersuite is useful. You can run programs like SEO Spyglass against a competitor's site for backlinks analysis, which sometimes yields some surprising results.

In general, the more in-depth you need to go on research, the more the tools will cost, but there is a lot that can be done with free tools and some time.

[Steve Hill]

Originally Posted by Grain

How would you research to actually craft out a good
hook though?

The specific approach I'd use would depend on the type of product, the target audience, the underlying theme for that particular marketing piece, the type of proof needed, the competition for that product or niche, whether going with a direct or indirect approach in the copy, and a few other things.

Looking at it another way, once the basic product, audience, and competition research has been done (as outlined in the previous post), the main presentation idea has been determined, the general approach has been decided (direct, indirect, or somewhere in between), and the proof, guarantee, and extras are known, then selecting the lead (hook) to lead the reader into the piece is considerably easier.

But that's just my approach learned from developing marketing materials over the years - I'm sure everyone has a different one. I tend to do a lot of research ahead of time, because it makes the writing infinitely easier. To me, the most important thing is to get completely into the mindset of the target audience, and thorough research is one way to do that.

[Raydal]

Research for sure is a very critical stage for any copywriting project
I take on.

First, I try and get as much information from the client as possible.
Never assume because you are the copywriter that you know more
about the product or the potential customer than the client. Doesn't
make sense except you are also an expert in that area.

Next I conduct my own research by looking at the products and
ads from the competition. What ads are they repeating? What
is their best seller? Where are they advertising?

Once I determine the USP for the product then I go on working
on a hook normally based on that USP.

For example, for a recent product I wrote for the hook was that
the product was already successfully used in the commercial
market and was now being introduced to the home market.
So I made the hook: Big companies secret to XXX now available
to home owners.

Also read popular forums dealing with your product subject to
see how prospects are talking about the product and try
and adapt their language--their way of talking so you sound
like a friend. Every field has its own jargon.

Study other successful ads in that field ans also OUTSIDE that
field where you may get a great idea. (Swipe files).

After you are saturated with all the benefits your product
can bring to the customer then you are ready to start
writing. If you are not excited then your readers will not
be either.

Keep a record of all the ideas you get as you brainstorm because
you can easily lose them. Even if you wake up in the middle
of the night with a hot idea WRITE IT DOWN. You may forget
by morning. (That's when I get my best ideas.)

All this takes time. Time is your greatest tool in order to do
proper research.

-Ray Edwards

[Jason Kanigan]

I either ask existing or prospective consumers of my clients myself, or I get the client to gather the information. I don't guess--I get them to tell me what the reality is.

Then I have my client fill out a questionnaire on what their experience with their market has been.

[AdwordsMogul]

This is easy: do all of the above and then try to sell the product face to face to a prospect.

The best research is not done online, even though you can get a ton of info. But if you want your copy to rock, the least you can do is to meet a few of the prospects.

[Joe Ditzel]

Grain-

Interview the client and record it. Also interview their top salesperson if she has time to talk to you.

If you are your own client, interview yourself. Do this out loud and keep going when people wander in the room. They will look at you funny.

[RickDuris]

My copywriting research is exhaustive (and exhausting.) I liken it to panning for gold. Hoping for that one nugget.

In a previous post, I shared my 7 major areas of research when writing copy.

Those who work with me know I've also documented 91 different online research strategies, and over 1000 specific ways to get the data. A significant number of these ways are proprietary, require major coin and give clients an extreme competitive advantage. For instance, access to the Twitter fire hose. Or being able to see every banner ad ever created and published by the competition for a specific market.

There are two things that will help you find that unique hook you've been searching for.

1. Being able to think laterally and non-linearly. (Resource: Edward de Bono.) Being able to import stories, metaphors, technologies, news and analogies where you can draw a connection. Sometimes they are not related--but you make them relate in an unconventional way.

2. Access to what people are saying RIGHT NOW about a specific topic. In other words, social media. You'll start to see patterns of shifting focus/attention. It's like a river of data and you're knee deep in it. It helps to use aggregators to pre-filter and combine the data.

I believe today in order for a copywriter to be successful, they must know more about their market than the Client. You can, when you have access to the data.

- Rick Duris


PS: Years ago, someone shared this research tool:

http://www.searchautomator.com/

It's like a Swiss army knife for search and works in conjunction your browser. Pretty handy.

[OliviaHoang]

A GREAT way to keep your fingers on the pulse of the conversation is setting up alerts using keywords that relate to your product.

Twilert is awesome for twitter alerts

Google Alerts is awesome for current stuff that google combs through.

[Grain]

Wow, I never expected so much advice to be given
out... You guys are awesome!

Originally Posted by Steve Hill

...Amazon...find polarizing 1-star and 5-star reviews...language in that niche...

...technical subjects...paid commercial databases (CANAHL, ERIC, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, PubMed, etc.)...completely understand your product at a professional (not consumer) level...how one product is better or works differently than another similar competing product.

...the "buzz"...across several search engines...emphasize different types of results...Google blog search...

...keyword research tools...competitor's site for backlinks analysis...

...depend on the type of product, the target audience, the underlying theme for that particular marketing piece, the type of proof needed, the competition for that product or niche...a direct or indirect approach in the copy...

after...then selecting the lead (hook) to lead the reader into the piece is considerably easier.

...get completely into the mindset of the target audience...

Thanks Steve, that is quite a lot of information right
there! I think finding polarized reviews on Amazon is
quite a brilliant idea for competitor research too...

... You get the benefits, the consumer likes as well
as their dissatisfaction with the value they were
provided. My only concern would be that some of
the testimonials might not be genuine. Guess I'd
have to take extra care in that!

I also like the backlink idea - it makes sense for
sites relevant to the keyword to link back to the site
but like the Amazon method, it might be artificial if
the site resorts to manipulative backlinking.

Originally Posted by Raydal

...get as much information from the client as possible.
Never assume you know more
about the product or the potential customer than the client...except you are also an expert in that area.

...looking at the products and ads from the competition... What ads are they repeating? What is their best seller? Where are they advertising?

...determine the USP for the product then I go on working on a hook normally based on that USP.

For example...hook...product was already successfully used in the commercial
market...now being introduced to the home market...hook: Big companies secret to XXX now available to home owners.

...popular forums dealing with your product subject...prospects are talking about the product and try and adapt...their way of talking so you sound
like a friend. Every field has its own jargon.

...other successful ads in that field...OUTSIDE that field where you may get a great idea. (Swipe files).

...saturated with all the benefits your product can bring to the customer then...start writing. If you are not excited then your readers will not be either.

...record of all the ideas you get as you brainstorm because you can easily lose them...hot idea WRITE IT DOWN. (immediately)
-Ray Edwards

Thanks Ray, I liked the part where you said to
saturate yourself with all of the possible benefits
before sitting down to write copy.

I liked how you phrased that hook to be more
impactful as well. The framing was great! Great to
learn from you.

Originally Posted by kaniganj

...ask existing or prospective consumers of my clients...get the client to gather the information...get them to tell me what the reality is.

...a questionnaire on...experience with their market...

Hi kaniganj, that makes sense, now that I think
about it. I wouldn't want to work with a client who
didn't know his own market too.

But I was wondering... that maybe as copywriters
we sometimes have to have our own style of copy
research so that we can draw in the relevant
things we need to build our copy.. Would you have
tips on how you do that too?

Originally Posted by AdwordsMogul

...sell the product face to face to a prospect.

The best research is not done online...meet a few of the prospects.

Thanks AdwordsMogul, I was a little stunned when
I read that comment because perhaps I have been
too absorbed in the Internet to have thought about
an offline solution! I think you made a lot of sense..
I guess meeting a few of these potential prospects
would be great - although I'm quite unsure about
the difference in cultures in where my client and I
would live.

Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel

Interview the client and record it... interview their top salesperson...

...interview yourself...out loud...

Hi Joe Ditzel, thanks for the advice! I didn't really
think of an interview, but I guess I should now
also include that in research...

Originally Posted by RickDuris

...I liken it to panning for gold...that one nugget.

...documented 91 different online research strategies, and over 1000 specific ways to get the data...proprietary, require major coin and give clients an extreme competitive advantage...access to the Twitter fire hose...see every banner ad ever created and published by the competition for a specific market.

...two things...find that unique hook you've been searching for.

1. think laterally and non-linearly. (Resource: Edward de Bono.)... stories, metaphors, technologies, news and analogies...draw a connection. Sometimes they are not related...make them relate in an unconventional way.

2. what people are saying RIGHT NOW about a specific topic... social media... patterns of shifting focus/attention...use aggregators to pre-filter and combine the data.

...know more about their market than the Client.

- Rick Duris


PS: Search Automator FORCE - Search The Web With FORCE!
It's like a Swiss army knife for search and works in conjunction your browser. Pretty handy.

Hi Rick Duris, thanks for that detailed breakdown!
I'll definitely check out that Search Automator
FORCE program... looks like an awesome
in-browser program.

Loved what you had to say about social media
trends and lateral thinking. I also believe stories
and logical fallacies (in form of metaphors) to be
amazingly powerful persuasive methods in any
form of persuasion material.

I think that's what Joel Bauer called a
transformation mechanism... Or something along
those lines. Great stuff!

Originally Posted by OliviaHoang

...setting up alerts using keywords that relate to your product.

Twilert...Google Alerts...

Hi Olivia, great idea too. I've seen that feature a
few times, but never really thought about
incorporating it inside research as well. I guess it
does take somewhat of a sample amount of time
to collect data.

Is it possible to add search modifiers to Google
Alerts as well? For example... inurl:forum to the
keyword so that only forum entries with that
keyword would appear?

----------------------------------------------

Thanks guys, I've gotten a huge amount of
feedback in a thread... and this is probably the
first time I've gotten such rapid and valuable
advice. Looks like I'll be visiting this forum a lot
to reciprocate in future!

-Grain.

[Steve Hill]

Originally Posted by Grain

But I was wondering... that maybe as copywriters
we sometimes have to have our own style of copy
research so that we can draw in the relevant
things we need to build our copy.. Would you have
tips on how you do that too?

Keep trying different things until you find research strategies that work best for you. The strategies will vary depending on the exact project needs, but the important thing is to know what options are available, where they are, and how to use them. Your own preferred strategies will become apparent.

I would suggest getting a copy of Bob Bly's "The Copywriter's Handbook" as it discusses how to do research (including a number of options not mentioned so far in this thread). Helpful hint: document your sources, so you can return to them later if needed.

You can assume that the vast majority of clients will not know how to research effectively, although they will usually know their customers.

One of the things an expert copywriter brings to the table is an ability to find out things that the client may never have thought of or realized.

Originally Posted by Grain

Is it possible to add search modifiers to Google
Alerts as well? For example... inurl:forum to the
keyword so that only forum entries with that
keyword would appear?

Yes. When an alert is set up, there is an option to specify the type of source (Everything, news, blogs, videos, discussions, books).

[OliviaHoang]

Grain,

I haven't tried it with search modifiers yet, but you can always test it.

Let us know what you find!

I suspect that those modifiers would be more likely to work in Google alerts rather than Twilert.

As for the amount of time...so far, it's given me way more information than I can even use...especially in Twilerts about hot subjects.

So for me at least, it hasn't taken very long to get a massive amount of information from it. And what's nice is that with Twilerts, you see what's trending and what people are tweeting/talking about. So it's very current.

HTH :-)

Originally Posted by Grain

Wow, I never expected so much advice to be given
out... You guys are awesome!



Thanks Steve, that is quite a lot of information right
there! I think finding polarized reviews on Amazon is
quite a brilliant idea for competitor research too...

... You get the benefits, the consumer likes as well
as their dissatisfaction with the value they were
provided. My only concern would be that some of
the testimonials might not be genuine. Guess I'd
have to take extra care in that!

I also like the backlink idea - it makes sense for
sites relevant to the keyword to link back to the site
but like the Amazon method, it might be artificial if
the site resorts to manipulative backlinking.



Thanks Ray, I liked the part where you said to
saturate yourself with all of the possible benefits
before sitting down to write copy.

I liked how you phrased that hook to be more
impactful as well. The framing was great! Great to
learn from you.


Hi kaniganj, that makes sense, now that I think
about it. I wouldn't want to work with a client who
didn't know his own market too.

But I was wondering... that maybe as copywriters
we sometimes have to have our own style of copy
research so that we can draw in the relevant
things we need to build our copy.. Would you have
tips on how you do that too?


Thanks AdwordsMogul, I was a little stunned when
I read that comment because perhaps I have been
too absorbed in the Internet to have thought about
an offline solution! I think you made a lot of sense..
I guess meeting a few of these potential prospects
would be great - although I'm quite unsure about
the difference in cultures in where my client and I
would live.


Hi Joe Ditzel, thanks for the advice! I didn't really
think of an interview, but I guess I should now
also include that in research...


Hi Rick Duris, thanks for that detailed breakdown!
I'll definitely check out that Search Automator
FORCE program... looks like an awesome
in-browser program.

Loved what you had to say about social media
trends and lateral thinking. I also believe stories
and logical fallacies (in form of metaphors) to be
amazingly powerful persuasive methods in any
form of persuasion material.

I think that's what Joel Bauer called a
transformation mechanism... Or something along
those lines. Great stuff!


Hi Olivia, great idea too. I've seen that feature a
few times, but never really thought about
incorporating it inside research as well. I guess it
does take somewhat of a sample amount of time
to collect data.

Is it possible to add search modifiers to Google
Alerts as well? For example... inurl:forum to the
keyword so that only forum entries with that
keyword would appear?

----------------------------------------------

Thanks guys, I've gotten a huge amount of
feedback in a thread... and this is probably the
first time I've gotten such rapid and valuable
advice. Looks like I'll be visiting this forum a lot
to reciprocate in future!

-Grain.