How to write copy

Know your product

You are not selling a product*. Smart writers know they’re selling results. Copywriters know they are not writing, they are selling. We sell results. Nobody cares about a degree or experience or qualifications. They want results.

But to sell results, you need to understand your product*. What you are doing is the first step of copywriting. Research. There are many questions you should ask of any product. Wisdom will tell you which are most important. A parent might care a lot about what type of plastic goes into a baby product. Almost nobody cares about the type of plastic in their office chair.

What is your product? What is it made of? What are its strengths and weaknesses? What makes it unique? Who is the primary audience? Who else might buy it? Are there other version of your product? Questions are infinite.

Make notes. These notes will help guide you when you start to write. Why is this chain made of 316 stainless steel rather than 304 stainless steel? You need to know why. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe that is the unique feature that allows you to outsell a competitor.

Weight might be important for a camping tent but almost irrelevant for an office desk. Knowing your product can’t be separated from understanding your customer. And that moves us to our next section on knowing your customer.

* Your product could be a physical or digital, a service or literally anything that sells.

Extra tips: Research skills

There are too many good ways to research products.

  1. Read competitor’s websites. They may have already done the hard work for you.
  2. Find authoritative blogs. You may have to sift through thinly veiled sales blogs.
  3. Books or articles. I have delved into research papers to find if the medical claims of a particular product are feasible. (Hint: They rarely are.)
  4. Keywords. Start your SEO research early. Keywords are helpful as they give you an idea of what people may value in your product.
  5. Online communities. Facebook. Reddit. Instagram. Find where people talk about your type of product and see how they use it and their pain points.