Preparing for a Copywriting Assignment

by Karin Gottschalk (with gratitude to Bob Bly)

The aim of this article is to provide you with information that will help me do my best writing for you. Although it places emphasis on business-to-business writing, the same procedure applies to all forms of copywriting.

Writing Good Copy Requires Access to the Facts

Well-written copy, especially business-to-business copy and business-to-consumer copy, persuades your readers by providing them with useful information about your products and services. The more facts you include in your copy, the better.

When a writer has a file packed full of facts at her fingertips, writing good copy is easy. It’s a question of selecting the most relevant facts and then describing them in a clear and direct manner.

When copywriters don’t have access to the facts, they can fall back on cliches and fancy but empty phrases. Their writing fails to sell because their copy doesn’t inform their readers while engaging them emotionally.

Obtaining the facts is a four step procedure.

Step 1: Get all of the previously published material on your product.

For existing products, there’s often a mountain of literature that you can draw on and that you can send to me as essential background info. This material includes:

  • Brochures
  • Catalogs
  • Article reprints
  • Technical papers
  • Transcripts of speeches
  • Audio-visual scripts
  • Press kits
  • Tear-sheets of previous advertisements.
  • Swipe files of competitors’ ads and literature.

If you believe you can’t send me any printed material because the product is so new, then please reconsider. Mountains of paperwork usually accompany the creation of every new product. They include:

  • Internal memos
  • Letters of technical information
  • Product specifications
  • Engineering drawings
  • Business and marketing plans
  • Reports
  • Proposals

After studying this kind of material, I will have about 80 percent of all the info I need to write copy for you. I can obtain the other 20 percent by picking up the phone and asking questions.

Step 2: Asking questions about the product.

  • What are its features and benefits? – Make a complete list.
  • Which benefit is the most important?
  • How is the product different from the competition’s – Which features are exclusive? Which are better than the competition’s?
  • If the product isn’t different, what attributes can be stressed that haven’t been stressed by the competition?
  • What technologies does the product compete against?
  • What are the applications of the product?
  • What industries can use the product?
  • What problems does the product solve in the marketplace?
  • How is the product positioned in the marketplace?
  • How does the product work?
  • How reliable is the product?
  • How efficient?
  • How economical?
  • Who has bought the product and what do they say about it?
  • What materials, sizes and models is it available in?
  • How quickly does the manufacturer deliver the product?
  • What service and support does the manufacturer offer?
  • Is the product guaranteed?

Step 3: Asking questions about your audience.

  • Who will buy the product? – What markets is it sold to?
  • What is the customer’s main concern? – Price, delivery, performance, reliability, service maintenance, quality efficiency.
  • What is the character of the buyer?
  • What motivates the buyer?
  • How many different buying influences must the copy appeal to?

Here are two more ways I get to know your audience:

  • If I am writing an ad, I read issues of the magazine in which the ad will appear.
  • If I am writing direct mail, I find out what mailing lists will be used and study the list descriptions.

Step 4: What is the objective of the copy?

Your objective may be one or more of the following. To:

  • Generate inquiries.
  • Generate sales.
  • Answer inquiries.
  • Qualify prospects.
  • Transmit product information.
  • Build brand recognition and preference.
  • Build company image.

Before I even begin to write copy, I study the product in detail – its features, benefits, past performance, applications, and markets. If it is a consumer product, then I also study the product itself, to experience its nature and benefits firsthand.

Digging for the facts pays off, because in copywriting in general, and business-to-business communications in particular, specifics sell.

Downloadable versions of this article




You must be logged in to post a comment.