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22 Questions to Ask Before You Write a Single Word
To write successful copy, you need to know as much as you can.It goes beyond reading background materials, reviewing oldmarketing pieces and doing some cursory research on the Web.
You need to get inside peoples' heads.
Start with your clients. They know their business and theircustomers better than you do. (If they don't, they should. Youcan help them learn more.)
How? Use a marketing/creative brief to get the information youneed to ace the copywriting (and marketing) assignment. (Amarketing/creative brief is a tool used by ad agencies andcorporate marketing and creative departments.)
Following is a marketing/creative brief adapted from one I usedduring my stint at a Seattle ad agency. Even though I now worksolo, I still use it today.
(Begin form)
Marketing/Creative Brief
(Note: Designed for B2B; much of this brief is also applicableto B2C.)
Good input is key to a successful project, campaign, ormarketing program. This marketing/creative brief is designed toelicit good input. But it takes thorough and thoughtful answerson your part. Please answer the following questionscarefully.
1. What is the description of the piece(s)? (Ad, Web site,brochure, radio script, direct mail, etc.)
2. What is the marketing focus? (What products or services arewe telling about?)
3. What is the communications problem that the piece(s) mustsolve? (Awareness, positioning or repositioning, productintroduction, category introduction, etc.)
4. Who is the audience? (Demographics, title, function,responsibility, etc.)
5. What is their point of view about the product, service,category?
6. Who is the secondary audience(s), if any?
7. What business problems or issues does theproduct(s)/service(s) solve for the audience(s)? (Efficiencyissues, profitability issues, operations issues, technologyissues, etc.)
8. What effect do we want the piece(s) to have on the targetaudience(s)? (Purchase, phone call, visit Web site, request moreinformation, increase their awareness, etc.)
9. What can we offer to achieve the desired response? (Demos,situation evaluation, sales collateral, personal
visit, whitepaper, etc.)
10. What is the single essential message we must tell the targetaudience(s) to achieve the desired effect? (Be as concise aspossible.)
11. What evidence is there to support our claims? (Features andbenefits, testimonials, case studies, etc.)
12. Can anyone else make a similar promise?
13. Are there any technology issues to address? (Compatibility,operating systems, hardware requirements, etc.)
14. What specific industry issues must be addressed? (Trends,etc.)
15. Are there any industry, product or competitive issues to beavoided?
16. What tone should the piece employ? (Hardhitting/serious,educational/informative, humorous, etc.)
17. What do you like about your current piece(s)? (Look andfeel, tone, messaging, functionality, etc.)
18. What don't you like about your current piece(s)? (Look andfeel, tone, messaging, functionality, etc.)
19. What overall impressions (look and feel, etc.) would youlike the piece(s) to make?
20. Will this piece(s) be used with any other pieces?(proposals, collateral, letters, etc.)
21. How will the piece(s) be used (online, leave behind, tradeshows, mailed, etc.) and at what point in the sales cycle?
22. Any other comments?
(End form)
Admittedly, getting clients to answer these questions isn'talways easy.
That's why it's best to be flexible with the use of amarketing/creative brief. You can ask the client to fill it out.You can use it to interview the client. You can fill it outyourself for the client's review. Any sort of collaborativeapproach works well.
In the end, stress to your clients that if they want moreclicks, more leads and more sales, they need to activelyparticipate in the input process.
One you have all the information you need, you're ready to writea winner.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
About the author:
Neil Sagebiel is a veteran copywriter who has served clientssuch as Microsoft, The Seattle Times, Lucent Technologies, Marchof Dimes, Airborne Express and Unisys. To sign up for his FREEexpert tips to help you write better and sell more, visithttp://www.neilsagebiel.com.
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