Copywriting Basics – What Do Your Customers Want?

Research – research – research.

That is the only way to discover what your customers really want.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But how would you go about conducting your research?

If you have the budget for it, you could turn to a market research agency that could come up with all sorts of data for you on customer habits and buying behaviours. But there is one drawback with this method – it can be very expensive and beyond the marketing budget of many companies.

The answer is right under your nose

Often the most obvious source of excellent market research is over looked – your customers.

Who else is better qualified to tell you what your customers want?

Ask them in person, by email or over the phone. Set up a free survey online (e.g. like www.surveymonkey.com) or maybe enter them into a prize draw for completing the survey. By going to them direct you can find out:

• What they like about your product?
• What they don’t like?
• What benefits/features were most important?
• How do they use the product?
• What improvements would they make?
• Would they buy again? If not, why not?
• Do they have any suggestions to improve it?
• Would they recommend it to a friend? If not, why not?

There is a wealth of information just waiting to be tapped.

You can always try the salesman

Another way of gathering important information is by actually asking the people tasked with selling the product.

Your salesman is on the front line every day making him the ideal person to speak to. Through him you’ll be able to discover:

• What closed the sale?
• What features/benefits do clients find the most attractive?
• What are the biggest obstacles to buying?
• What do customers say about the competition?
• When they don’t buy, why don’t they buy?

Sitting in your office with your eyes raised to the ceiling trying to guess what your customers want will never work.

If your copywriting is to be compelling and persuasive you have to know what makes your customers tick – otherwise you’ll be heading for a disaster.

Sally Ormond

Freelance Copywriter