Dear Copywriters, How Do You Carry Out Your Research?

by Grain
15 replies
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
#carry #copywriters #dear #research
  • Profile picture of the author 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
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    • Profile picture of the author 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
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      Kind Regards,
      Grain.

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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Gould
    There's some good info for you in this thread:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...is-method.html
    Signature

    Andrew Gould

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    • Profile picture of the author Grain
      Originally Posted by Andrew Gould View Post

      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
      Signature

      Kind Regards,
      Grain.

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      • Profile picture of the author Steve Hill
        Originally Posted by Grain View Post

        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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • 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.
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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    • Profile picture of the author Grain
      Wow, I never expected so much advice to be given
      out... You guys are awesome!


      Originally Posted by Steve Hill View Post

      ...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 View Post

      ...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 View Post

      ...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 View Post

      ...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 View Post

      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 View Post

      ...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 View Post

      ...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.
      Signature

      Kind Regards,
      Grain.

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      • Profile picture of the author Steve Hill
        Originally Posted by Grain View Post

        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 View Post



        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).
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      • Profile picture of the author 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 View Post

        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.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5600869].message }}

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