Do you want to know how to write better copy for your business, but don’t know where to start? Do you want to find a quick and easy way to generate high-quality leads for your business? If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will teach you how to do copywriting research. We’ll cover everything from identifying your audience to structuring your survey to finding what works and what doesn’t. So, let’s get started.
Step One: Set Up A Plan
The first step in any research project is to set up a plan. You’ll want to do this a few days before you start your research so that you have time to think of innovative ways to approach your research. You can also update your plan as you progress through the research process. For example, if you find that your original plan wasn’t suitable for what you learned during the process, you can change it!
Your plan should include things like:
- A summary of the research you plan to do
- An outline of the materials you’ll need (e.g., research instruments, notebooks, etc.)
- A description of the research population (e.g., their gender, age, socio-economic background, etc.)
- A description of the methods you’ll use to collect your data (e.g., surveys, interviews, etc.)
- A description of the analysis you’ll do (e.g., content analysis, cluster analysis, etc.)
- A description of the presentation you’ll make (e.g., posters, reports, etc.)
- Whether you’ll publish the results of your research (e.g., in a scientific journal, book, or conference presentation)
- Any other information that might be useful to those who read your plan (e.g., conflicts of interest, funding sources, etc.)
Step Two: Identify Your Audience
The second step in any research project is to identify your audience. This is a critical step because you’ll want to write copy that will speak to them. You can do this by considering things like:
- The demographic (e.g., gender, age, socio-economic background, etc.)
- The psychographic (e.g., personality, attitudes, values, etc.)
- The structural (e.g., location, platform, etc.)
- The situation (e.g., pain point, motivation, etc.)
- The persona (i.e., this is the character you’ll create for the purpose of your marketing. Think of him or her as the person you’ll be talking to. Consider what they want, how they want to be treated, etc.)
Once you have a clear picture in mind of who you’re writing to, you can determine which copywriting approach to take. Bear in mind that different approaches will connect with different groups of people. For example, consider:
- Emotional appeal
- Lingual appeal
- Logo appeal
- Product appeal
- Price appeal
- Social media appeal
- Short-attention span (Juggernauting)
- Word of mouth (Reichholfer Effect)
Step Three: Structure Your Survey
The third step in any research project is to structure your survey. The ideal survey will contain a combination of closed- and open-ended questions that will help you identify what you need to know. Consider the following:
- The subject
- The goal of the survey
- The format (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, or a mix.)
- The timeframe (e.g., now, today, or tomorrow.)
- The respondent (e.g., you, your team, or a sample of your audience.)
- The survey instrument (e.g., Likert scale, survey funnel, etc.)
- The questionnaire (e.g., the list of questions, the instruction manual, etc.)
- The payment method
- The data collection period
- The deadline for responding
- What you’ll do with the data (e.g., analyze it, add it to a spreadsheet, etc.)
- Any additional information that might be useful to respondents (e.g., the contact person’s details, whether you’ll follow up with them, etc.)
You should also include information about whether you’ll use a review website to check for customer reviews, or if you’ll just look for reviews on social media.
Step Four: Analyze Your Data
The fourth step in any research project is to analyze your data. Once you have the necessary materials from your survey (e.g., your raw data, questionnaires, etc.) you can set aside some time to analyze it. Depending on the nature of your research, this could take several days, weeks, or even months. Consider the following:
- The number of respondents (e.g., how many people did you interview?)
- The proportion of respondents (e.g., how many people agreed, strongly agreed, or disagreed with your hypotheses?)
- The pattern of responses (e.g., is there a trend that you should follow?)
- The variability of responses (e.g., was one respondent’s opinion more or less influential than another’s?)
- The mean (or the average) of your measurements (e.g., for a quantitative research, the average score for a Likert scale, the average number of words per minute for a telephonic survey, etc.)
- The standard deviation (e.g., for a quantitative research, the standard deviation for a Likert scale, the range for a telephonic survey, etc.)
- The correlation coefficient (e.g., for a quantitative research, the correlation coefficient between two Likert scale items, etc.)
- The t-test (e.g., for a quantitative research, the result of a t-test for two groups comparing an average score, etc.)
- The analysis of variance (e.g., for a quantitative research, the comparison of several groups, using an analysis of variance. This should include an examination of the differences between and among the groups)
When you finally compile all your analysis, you’ll have a clear idea of what you found and why you found it. This will greatly increase the quality of your report, as well as the credibility of your research.
Writing copy for your business doesn’t need to be difficult. With a little planning, research, and follow-up, you can have successful marketing material at your fingertips.