Hey!
You may not know this, but in your quest to get your product to sell online or offline, it is a two-step process.
- Hire a great copywriter (one of the best, preferably)
- Brief your copywriter in such a way they understand what you want, and can proceed to hit the ball out of the park
- Get out of the way. 😉
Okay so I added a third point, but #2 is what I want to get across today.
Without going into detail, suffice it to say #2 a.k.a. briefing your copywriter is most product owners get it wrong.
Bad briefs tend to fall into the following categories:
- The hands-off guy (who in the end will decide he wanted something else instead, telepathy just wasn’t working that day)
- The micromanager who thinks he knows the copywriter’s job better
- The endless-notes guy who just won’t let the copywriter do their job without messing with it through it all, never satisfied
These are real personas but not derived from anyone particular so breathe easy. 🙂
Now then, what makes a marketing brief a GOOD one? What should you tell your copywriter in order to get good results?
- What you intend to achieve with the new copy – more sales, better conversion, more leads… so on.
- What is the history of your product, how it fits in with your overall business
- What kind of results have you had before, and what you attribute it to
- Your target market – have a ‘prototype customer‘ in mind, a.k.a. customer avatar
- How your product stands out in the marketplace: best pricing, unique features, easier to use?
- What can you NOT say in the copy, is there something that’s off-limits?
- Give ALL background information and customer experiences – your copywriter will find golden nuggets in there that you’ve been too close to see!
Well, that’s a good start anyway.
If you’re committed to generating more sales from the same customer base and the same online traffic, professional direct response copywriting is the best way to achieve that. Maybe the only way. But your success with it depends on not only choosing the copywriter, but your ability to communicate what you want them to do. It’s not collaboration, but it is conspiring for mutual benefit and profits. 🙂Â
People reacted to this story.
Show comments Hide commentsI like this. #2 has really hit me. I am not one of those 3 types of owner because I know my copywriter well and he does his job right. There are really good points in this post. Thanks for sharing them, Juho.
Marketing and advertising has always been the stepping stone for any business and copywriter has always played an prominent role in it. So obviously guiding of the copywriter is even more important as it directly shows in your results
Totally agree with the above post . Thank you for sharing this article.