Writing Copy without Knowing the Product

There are two approaches that work...

1. Product already created

Copywriter thoroughly familiarizes himself with the product before writing the copy.

2. Product not created

Copywriter writes what he'd like the product to be... then the product is created to match the copy.

Alex

In my experience, and it's only my experience - #2 on that list tends to produce the best results. I wish, as someone who writes some copy and manages launches, that more people took that approach.

It depends on the product. Some products are simply ripped off from other, successful ones. This was a very popular trend two - three years ago. If a product was #1 on ClickBank, then it was the natural consequence to find 10 new products, almost identical, overnight.

If the product is new and carries POD benefits, then it is a completely different business. You need to understand what makes it unique. Yes, I have developed sales letters without having the product first with the condition that I can influence the offer. However, I had at least 10 past experiences in the same niche and I understood the patterns in that market.

I don't consider it a good idea to create a sales copy without first reading the product / using it. In a recent project, I've spent half of the time allocated to it actually studying the product, page by page, word by word, even if I knew what it was about. I could have skipped this completely but I would have never truly understood the unique mechanism behind the benefit.

So no, it is not unethical, it is just not practical. You need to understand the market and you need to understand what you are selling to that market. You can create the first half of the copy without the product but from that point, you need to know exactly what you are selling.

Rule of thumb:

If you cannot explain the product to a 12 year old in english to the point where they understand the concept and steps they would need to take to get a result, you don't know enough to write the copy.

It's important to familiarize yourself with the product before telling others how they can use it to benefit them. But it's hard to give an exact point at which you can start writing the copy.

Yeah, I've always found it helpful to know as much as possible about the product I'm selling.

--- Ross

If the product is already created than I always try to get as much information as I can. I think it is the best way to write a product review and sales letter for a product. It will help you to provide the effectiveness of that product to client and you can write more effective product review and sales letter.