Hey there copywriter,
What’s the first thing you do when you start working on a new writing project?
If you’re brand spanking new to the world of copywriting this one might trip you up…
That’s because the actual writing part of the job is one of the last things to get done.
Every project starts with loads of research about the product and the market you’re selling it to.
Product research is pretty straightforward. Your client will give you all the information you need about the product.
Customer research is more in-depth though. And honestly, it’s just as (if not more) important than product research. Let me be clear, you need to know the product you’re writing about inside and out.
But it’s essential to know the customer you’re writing to on a deep, intimate level. You need to know about her core desires, hopes and fears. That’s the first step to writing any successful piece of copy.
After you know everything there is to know about your prospect’s personality it’s time to take it a step further…
You need to find out how much your prospect knows about the product you’re selling. This crucial part of the research process can make or break your copy.
For example, as an O.R. R.N. Clinical Educator my main job is to train people. I train new nurses and scrub personnel and keep current staff up to date on surgery best practices.
Like my copywriting, I want to consistently get better at my day job. So, I’m always looking for ways to become a better teacher and improve my workflow.
Recently, I changed the way I train new nurses.
In the past I’d spend 5-6 full days in the O.R. teaching them everything they needed to know about surgery. By the end of the week we’d perform mock surgical cases to make sure the concepts sink in.
Training this way worked well enough and put out some really strong nurses. But after a while I realized something…
Most of the information I taught would go over the new nurses’ heads. While I viewed it as an intro to surgery, they were left feeling overwhelmed.
I wasn’t paying attention to how aware the nurses were to the topics I taught.
So, I decided to change things up. Instead of diving into the intricacies of circulating a surgical case, I keep it simple.
I spend a few hours with each nurse on day 1 and focus on really basic information. Things like touring the department, scheduling, clocking-in for work, you get it.
Then I pair them with another surgical nurse and they shadow them in surgical cases. They do this for 2-3 days and then we re-group, talk about what they learned and I build on that knowledge.
You would think training this way would take longer but surprisingly it doesn’t. I’ve found that nurses pick up skills MUCH faster this way.
I wasn’t sure why at first …
But then it hit me!
My training totally ignored the 5 levels of awareness. Or better yet, “levels of surgery awareness”.
If you aren’t sure what the levels of awareness are, they’re a guide for talking to your customers. You see, what works for a product aware prospect probably won’t work for an unaware one.
You have to tailor your message to how much your prospect knows about the thing you’re writing about.
That’s why it was easier for the nurses to understand what I was teaching after they were more surgery aware.
You should use the prospect awareness scale in all your copywriting. Ask yourself this question before writing any copy:
What does your prospect already know?
Answering this question will tell you what to say to the prospect and how to say it. Here’s a break down of the 5 levels of awareness:
Now that you know what each level means, let’s talk about what you should say to each type of prospect.
How do you sell a product to someone who doesn’t even know it exists?
Selling to unaware prospects is not easy but it’s necessary to grow your business.
Unaware prospects don’t know about the product you’re writing about or the business that sells it. They also don’t know they have a specific problem worth solving.
So if you pitch too soon you’ll risk chasing them away.
You need to break down their sales resistance before making the offer. Use an indirect approach in your copywriting to make this work.
Start by grabbing the prospect’s attention with an interesting story or fact. She shouldn’t be able to tell that you’re trying to sell her something at this point.
The story or fact you choose should highlight a need the prospect has. Once she realizes she has the need, she’s one step closer to understanding her problem.
And after she understands her problem your sales argument will be way more effective.
The Wall Street Journal letter is a classic example of this:
Notice how the lead into the sales letter doesn’t mention the journal at all.
Instead the copywriter grabs your attention with a story that hits home for a lot of people. Who doesn’t think about what might’ve been from time to time when looking back on their life?
It isn’t until much later in the letter that the offer is made and clearly it worked. The Wall Street Journal letter is one of the most successful sales letters of all time.
As you can see indirect leads work well when used on unaware prospects. But what if your prospect already knows they have a problem?
Let’s talk about problem-aware prospects. These prospects know they have a problem but they don’t know about your product. They haven’t even learned about the solution to their problem yet.
How do you start talking to a prospect like this?
Here’s 2 different ways to reach problem-aware prospects:
1. The Story lead
Open with a story about someone who faces the same problem your prospect has.
This is a great way to get her engaged with your copy.
Once she’s invested in the story she’s more likely to keep reading.
She’ll identify with the main character and see herself in his or her shoes.
Later you can show how your product solved the main character’s problem. This gives the prospect the push she needs to try the solution herself.
2. The problem-solution lead
Call your prospect out by focusing on the BIG problem she has. Then later on in your copy you can give her the ideal solution to the problem (your product).
Here’s an example of a problem solution headline:
Do You Do Any One Of These Ten Embarrassing Things?
Talking about the problem your prospect has will help her identify with your message.
But make sure not to focus on the problem for too long. You don’t want to depress her! Present the solution to the problem after you’ve hooked her attention.
Prospects only get more aware from here which means your job gets easier and easier. The next level of awareness we’ll talk about is the solution-aware prospect.
I’m going to let you in on a super simple way to talk to solution-aware prospects…
It will put more money in your client’s pocket and fast-track you to their list of go-to copywriters.
Because now you won’t need to convince your prospect she has a problem or that there’s a solution to it. Instead, you just need to prove that your product is THE solution to her problem.
Way easier, right?
There are a few different ways to talk to this prospect but my favorite is The Big Secret Lead
It’s when you lead your copy with a secret that piques the prospect’s curiosity…
You don’t mention your product name right away. Instead you tease the prospect by hinting at the perfect solution to her giant problem.
Build on her natural curiosity by giving clues to the secret throughout the copy.
By the time your prospect reaches the offer she’s begging to know the answer…
This lead type works well on “solution-aware” prospects. I mean, who doesn’t like hearing a juicy secret?
Here’s an example of the big secret headline:
HOW to turn a few square feet of any soil into: Your Most Bountiful Garden… Ever!
Do you see how using your prospect’s natural curiosity works here? Gardeners who want better gardens are instantly drawn into the copy.
Use the big secret lead to grab your prospect’s attention and keep it.
Next let’s talk about a prospect you can get straight to the point with: the product aware prospect.
Product aware prospects know about your solution but they aren’t sure if it’s the best.
You can make a direct promise in your headline to drive this prospect into your copy.
Here’s an example:
A hollywood smile in just 3 days
Making a direct promise like this will move product aware prospects into your copy. After that your job is to show her why the product you’re writing about is better than the competition.
There are plenty of ways to do this. Providing elements of proof like testimonials work well.
You can also talk about the high quality of your product or any unknown valuable facts about it.
Problem aware prospects are pretty easy to convince. The next prospect you’ll learn about is a breeze to write to. It’s the most aware prospect.
Most aware prospects know about your product or service and they’re ready to buy.
This type of prospect has probably bought from you before. So she doesn’t need much convincing to get her to buy again.
A strong offer lead works really well on prospects like these.
Here’s an example:
The easiest money you’ll ever make … is also the safest bet on Wall Street
Notice how up-front and direct this headline is. You can continue talking with your prospect in a direct way throughout your copy. Make sure to include any discounts or promotions in your headline when possible.
You can come up with great offer leads by following these steps:
Use offer leads to move most aware prospects to buy your product now.
Now, you know everything you need to start writing effective leads. Remember, you need to know who you’re writing to and how aware they are before you write anything.
In my next blog post we’ll dive into customer research. Doing this the right way will unlock a gold-mine of information about your prospect.
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Till next time,
Brandon Davis