6 builders who never spoke to each other

Interview buyers and write the page in their sentences

Start a rewrite with discovery rather than a brainstorm, asking existing customers what pushed them to buy, what was hard beforehand and what they were unsure about. Then use their phrasing untranslated, since the lines that convert are already being spoken by prospects and are not sitting in your head. Reading the finished page should feel like hearing a customer describe the product, and publishing their unedited words back out finds the people who think the same way but never got interviewed.

The method

1. 01

   Start every messaging project with discovery rather than a brainstorm, on the basis that the strongest lines are already being spoken by prospects and are not sitting in your head or the client's.

2. 02

   Build your sales copy out of phrases lifted from customer interviews and reviews rather than sentences you invented.

3. 03

   Spend the first three days of a copy rewrite interviewing prospects and existing customers about their problems, asking what pushed them to buy, what their biggest challenge was beforehand and what they were unsure about.

4. 04

   Lift the customers' own phrasing word for word out of those interviews and use it in the copy instead of translating it into your own language.

5. 05

   Stop waiting for the perfect line: ask customers questions and assemble the copy from their answers.

What it returned

• Joanna Wiebe of Copyhackers says she always starts with research because the strongest messages are not in her head or the client's, they are already being spoken by prospects.

• Witherill lays this out as a seven day plan, with interviews on days one to three.

• Etsy's feature page carries its sellers' independence and creativity where Amazon Handmade's reads like a finance department

• Brennan Dunn told Justin that the headlines he runs for Planscope, and for the Double Your Freelancing Rate product, were all lifted from real emails in which freelancers spelled out their own problems.

Sources

• Unlock the Power of Customer Insights with Clarity CallsJoanna Wiebe · customercamp.co · undated
• Mimicry - Why We Buy 🧠Joanna Wiebe · customercamp.co · Sell Using Your Customers’ Words · undated
• Why do people love Indy Hall? We asked. They told.Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · 2011-07-01
• The 80/20 of Copywriting: How Copy Can Elevate Your Freelance Game In Just 7 Days - Double Your FreelancingListon Witherill · doubleyourfreelancing.com · Improve Your Copy In Just 7 Days · 2015-08-28
• Start your marketing with other people in mindJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Start your marketing with other people in mind · undated
• Send your users this welcome emailJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Uncover the underlying Job to be Done · undated
• My guide to conversational copywritingHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 2/ Use your customers' words · undated
• 7 practical ways to write copy that convertsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 7) Use your customers' voice · undated
• Let your customers write your copy for youHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · undated
• From knowledge-management to knowledge-creation with RemNoteMartin Schneider · nesslabs.com · From knowledge-management to knowledge-creation with the founders of RemNote · 2022-01-20
• Year in Review: My Fifth Year of ConsultingGreg Kogan · gkogan.co · What went well · 2018-12-19