MVR – Research 

In the next four segments, we’ll introduce you to the four categories of research that you need to explore in order to write great compelling copy. We’ve included a research document for each category for you to use in your own work. But to be completely honest, all that research is a lot of work. You may be thinking… four categories? Just tell me the basics so I can get on with it.

Okay. Fair enough. Sometimes you don’t have several days (or weeks) to research everything that you might need to know in order to get started writing. Of course, the more research you do, the better your ideas and copy will be. We highly encourage you to go deep. But sometimes you just need the minimal viable amount of research to get started. So that’s what we’ll cover first. 

We’re calling it your MVR —minimum viable research— that will get you started on your project. The segments after this one will go in-depth into each of the four research areas. So check those out when you’re ready to go all in on your research.

But for the moment, let’s talk: bare minimum research. This is what you need to know:

First, What are you trying to accomplish? What do you want readers to do once they’re finished reading your copy? It’s important to know this up front because it will determine what you write and also what deliverable you recommend. If you want them to buy, you’ll need sales copy. If you want them to learn something, you might create a blog post or white paper. It should be crystal clear what the next step is for your reader. So what exactly do you need to accomplish with this project?

Next, you need to know as much as possible about the product or service. What does it do? What’s the big promise or outcome users can expect? What does life look like when they get it? What pain does it solve? What gains come along with it? If you can demo the product and/or talk to people who use it, even better. What results does it produce?

Most importantly, we need to understand the user or prospective customer we are writing to. Why do they need this product? What problem or pain does it solve for them? What does their life look like before and after? Why do they need it now as opposed to next month? Why didn’t they need it last week? What keeps them up at night that our product helps fix? What big promise will get them to buy? 

Fourth, it also helps to understand what competitors are doing in their marketing. What promises do they make? What benefits do they promise? How and why is your product better than theirs? What strategies are they using to go to market? You want to understand what competitors are doing so you don’t create “me too” copy.

Finally, we want to know about the brand or person you are writing for. Why are they the right person to offer this? What experiences or credentials do they have that make them the trusted expert? What is their brand voice? 

With those minimal details you probably have enough to start writing. You know who you are writing to and what you are writing about. You know why this brand or expert is the person qualified to make this offer. And you know what others are saying about similar products so you can say something different that stands out. That’s the minimum. But in most cases it’s not enough. 

So, now to go deeper on each of these areas, check out the rest of the segments in this module.