The First Research Category: Your Product

The first part of the 4:20+Research Method is the four research categories. And your copy will be much better if you complete the research in all four areas: first, product or service; second, prospect or user; third, competitors or replacements; and fourth, the authority or brand. We’ll explain each one in more detail over the next few segments.

Research is a bit like a table. If you only have one or two legs, it will fall over. With three legs the table may keep standing, but it’s not as stable as it could be. When you add the fourth leg, it’s almost impossible to knock it over.

If you don’t like the table analogy, think of the four research areas as the Beatles. Ringo and George just aren’t enough. They simply can’t hold the group together on their own. Add in Paul and you’ve got a trio that isn’t too bad, but the magic happens with all four. Ringo, George, Paul and John are the combination that creates something truly original.

Your research is like that. You need all four categories to create something magical.

The first Research Category is the Product or Service you are selling. We start with the product because we need to understand what it is, what it does, and who we think it is for. Understanding the product isn’t enough on its own, but it’s the starting point for the other research we will do.

Included with this course are several research document templates for you to use. You can use them exactly as they are, or you can edit them to change up the questions to better fit your niche and clients.

We’re going to start with the Product Document which you can find with your course materials. You can either copy the Google doc version to your own drive, or download and print the PDF versions so you can add notes as you go along. We’ve included a few lines for notes in each document, but realistically, for many of the research questions, you’ll be gathering far more information than you can fit on the lines we’ve provided, so don’t limit yourself to the space on the forms. You may want to open up a spreadsheet or word processor to record all your research.

One way to begin your research is to use the documents included in the 4:20 Research Method as part of your onboarding or project initiation call. Ask your clients the questions (or as many of the questions as you can). If they have previous research, surveys, reviews, case studies or testimonials, you can use those to find answers to some of these questions as well. If needed, you could schedule additional calls with your client to get the data you need.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed here. And if you feel that happening, take a step back. Think about what you absolutely need to know to move forward and focus on those questions. You do not need to answer every question in each of the documents.

The first question we’re going to answer with our research isn’t a question at all, but rather a one or two line description of the thing we are selling: Describe your product or service. We want a general description of how clients or customers actually see the thing that we sell. 

When you sit down to write your copy, you’ll want to use the words that customers or clients are using to describe this product or service. Think back to what Eugene Schwartz said about copy being assembled, not written. That starts here. So ask your client and their customers for the three or four words that they use to describe it. Ask them to tell you how they would talk about your product or service with a neighbor or a friend. Then add that information here.

The second question is: What is the primary problem your product or service solves? We’re looking for the number one thing that the product does. 

A lot of products and services do more than one thing, but what we’re looking for here is the most important reason that people buy.

Let’s say the product is a medication that gets rid of headaches. That’s the primary problem it solves, even though the product might also reduce muscle aches. It might be easy on the stomach. It might be easy to swallow. Those things are secondary benefits. For this question, we want to focus on the number one primary problem your product or service solves.

The next question is: What secondary problems does the product or service solve? These are things in addition to that big main reason that people buy. There could be a lot of these, so add as many as you can come up with.

Going back to our example of the pain reliever that customers buy to get rid of headaches, secondary reasons they buy include the fact that it is easy on the stomach compared to other solutions. Or maybe it’s not addictive like some pain relievers. Or it’s easier to swallow. Or it tastes better than other options. These secondary problems are additional reasons to buy your product, but not the primary reason customers need it.

The next question is: What features and benefits does the perfect solution include? Here we are not asking about this particular product’s features and benefits, but rather the PERFECT solution. If your customer could get everything they want to solve this problem, what does that include? Just make a list.

Let’s use our headache remedy as an example again… obviously it cures the headache. But the perfect solution is also made of natural ingredients. It’s fast acting, non-addictive, inexpensive, widely available, easy to swallow, tastes like cherry limeade, and so on. Our product may not include all of these, but we want to be aware of what the market might be interested in. At some point it could be worthwhile for your client to add some of these features.

The next question is: Does your solution include all of that? What’s missing? Here you are trying to identify any potential holes or objections you might need to address. If clients expect your remedy to act fast, but it doesn’t, you need to be aware of this so you can address any objections in your copy by explaining why a slower acting formula is actually better.

The next question is: What else does your product include in addition to or instead of the perfect solution? Here we are looking for what’s different or unique about your product. The information you collect here may help you develop a unique mechanism, but for now we just want to note what’s different about what we’re selling?

The next question is: What is the mechanism that creates results for prospects? All products work through some process, method, or formula. We want to understand that method. How does it produce results? What steps deliver the outcome prospects desire? Of course, if it’s unique, all the better. But let’s start by understanding how it works.

The next question is: Is the process or method innovative and unique? How? We want to understand what exactly makes it different and superior? Describe what about the process, system, recipe, plan, formula, approach, framework, or method is different and makes this product or service better than any other solution?

The next question is: What is the outcome prospects want most from your product? Here we’re talking about results. We want to understand what life looks like after they’ve used the solution and seen the difference. They’ve used the product or service to get the thing they want, to solve the pain they have, what exactly does that look like? Get as much detail about the results as possible.

The next question is: How likely are they to get that result? What will increase the chances of success? This information is important because we don’t want to sell products or services that don’t actually deliver the outcomes our clients and customers want. But more importantly, this is an opportunity to think about how the mechanism works to deliver the outcome and what we can do to increase the odds of success. 

For example, let’s say we’re selling an investment service. The product is great, but it’s a bit difficult to set up the first time. That lowers the customer’s chances to get the result they want. If we understand that, we can recommend for our client to create a bonus that walks our customer, step-by-step, through setting up the product. Or, even better, we recommend they add a concierge service that sets up the product for the customer so they don’t have to do anything. That bonus increases their chances of success and makes it more likely that we ultimately solve the problem for the client. And it makes the offer much more valuable. That’s what we’re looking for with the information in this question.

The next question: Why solve the problem now? What’s agitating this pain in their life today? Most people put up with a lot of discomfort, a lot of pain, a lot of problems, for a long time without looking for a solution. Sometimes it’s out of ignorance—they simply don’t know there’s a solution out there. Sometimes it’s inertia—that is, it’s just easier to do nothing. But ultimately when the customer gets to the point where they can’t put up with the pain anymore, they start looking for a solution. We want to understand what trigger is making them look for a solution right now because we can use this information in our copy to agitate and empathize with our prospects. Or we can use it to help potential customers see their problem has a solution and they don’t need to suffer any more.

Next we’re going to ask: What other products have prospects tried that didn’t work? With this question you’re trying to find out what prospects think the competitive products are. Direct competitors should be relatively easy to identify, but not all of these will be direct competitors. For example, a customer who has lots of headaches might seek out a natural solution like neck massages. They might go for walks. They might drink more water or try essential oils. All of these are replacements but not exactly competitors. We’ll get into these specifics on the Product Research Document in a future segment.

Next question: Why didn’t those products work? What is slowing down their progress? You want to understand why competitive products are failing them so you can address those issues directly with our copy. If the product you are writing about is a better solution, this will help you tell that story.

Next question: What other major obstacles do prospects face in finding a solution? Here we want to understand why the solution isn’t obvious. Is it unavailable? Is it hard to find? Is it expensive? Is it difficult to implement? Have they tried something similar and it didn’t work? Lots of potential information to record here.

Next question: How will prospects know when they’ve succeeded? What does life look like after? Paint the picture of what the perfect outcome or result looks like. Better still, have your customers tell you what life looks like now that they’ve got the results they wanted.

Next question: What are all the deliverables included in your solution? Many products or services have more than one component or part that is delivered to the buyer. List them out so you can make note of them in your copy.

Next question: What price would make this an amazing value? Your client may already have a price for the product that you’re selling. Take a minute to think about how you might price this product— possibly higher or lower, to make it a complete no-brainer purchase decision. Write that price and any accompanying thoughts here.

Next question: What process makes it different from everything else? This sounds like the question you asked about the Unique Mechanism, but you’re looking for something different here. You’re looking for things like how your product is built or created, rather than how it delivers the solution. This is more about the creation of the product itself, not the mechanism. 

Next question: What is unique about the team behind your product? Sometimes the personalities of the management team, the inventor, or the expert behind the product or service provides an additional reason to trust and buy. Do they have experiences or credentials that set them apart? Make a note of those things here.

Next question: What’s the call to action? Pretty simple, but what do you want the reader to do after they’ve read your copy?

Next question: What objections do you need to overcome? This could be a long list. Make a note of all of the potential objections your buyer might have that will keep them from buying now. Maybe it costs too much. Maybe it’s hard to use. Maybe it’s new and unfamiliar. Maybe they don’t trust the brand. Maybe it’s too cheap. Maybe they’ve tried something similar and failed. Make a list of all the reasons why they won’t buy right now. We’ve included a bonus with this course that walks you through the most common objections and how to address them. Check that out when it’s time to answer this question.

Next question: What are the core emotions buyers need to feel about the solution? This is a deep question and often hard to answer. But everyone buys on emotion. Do your buyers need to be hopeful? Do they want revenge? Do they want to stop feeling shame? There are dozens of emotions they may feel… you need to understand them.

Next question: What buying belief do prospects need to have in order to buy? Yes, they need to believe that the product will deliver what it promises. But what else? Often these are self-limiting beliefs. For example, someone who wants to get into shape, may believe that they simply aren’t the kind of person who can put on muscle. They may believe they don’t have the will power required to exercise regularly. Or that they can’t find time for a workout. So think about your customers, what beliefs are keeping your buyers stuck? And how do they need to change?

The last two questions are simply spaces to start noting ideas for headlines and hooks. We’ll talk a lot more in depth about hooks and headlines in Copy Mastery. But for now, if you see an idea or a phrase in your research that jumps out at you, or makes you think, “That’s interesting.” make a note of it here. These may become headlines or a hook for your copy.

That’s it for your product brief.

Okay, quick recap… you want to answer as many of these questions as possible. But you may not need to answer them all. As a general rule, it’s usually better to have more than less. But with experience you’ll figure out the right amount of data for you.

You should probably schedule a call with your client (this could be one hour-long call or two half-hour calls depending on your process and clients) to discuss these questions. But don’t stop there. Clients often think they know their market better than they really do. Ask the people who will actually buy and use the product these questions too. With a survey or with interviews. Talk to people who saw the offer and didn’t buy. Talk to people who buy competitive products. That’s where you’ll find the most helpful insights.