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4 Underused Research Techniques that Can Set Your Writing Apart

21st July 2016 by Rob 2 Comments

copywriting research techniquesImagine you’re choosing between holiday parks for your summer break.

Is a flat surface important to you?

Turns out, it’s important to parents who want to keep their buggie wheels from rattling loose, and give their calves a rest, for once.

I never empathised with that until having kids. Actually stepping into the shoes of the customer for my client (nationwide holiday operator).

Still, I could have absorbed insight like that (without committing to parenthood), just by waking up to these simple research techniques:

One
Call the site managers and ask what their guests say about the park

Two
Pay for an online survey, in which the opening question is something like “Are you a parent who would holiday in the UK?” – followed by questions like “What is the ONE thing you wish holiday providers would pay more attention to?”

Three
Excavate the forums, where mums already share holidaying tips and nightmares

Four
Interview a mum who enjoys camping holidays

When it comes to empathy in copywriting, nothing beats that last one.

Tried it when I served jury duty. Struck up a conversation with a mother-of-two, who happened to own a static home at a holiday park in Somerset.

She mentioned the flat surfaces too.

That kind of truth ALWAYS trumps the desperate stuff, like “Our park comes with the most modern facilities”.

Seek it out, any way you can, and you’re a copywriter with an advantage.

It’s fun.

Each technique helps you to empathise with your reader on a level that not only resonates – but lets her know you truly understand what she’s looking for … or what she’s been putting up with.

Bonus: Find someone who fits your customer profile and ask/hire her to sense check your copy before publishing. Reduces the risk of blowing your cover when taking empathy shortcuts like the above.

 

 

Filed Under: Empathy, Research Tagged With: copywriting, empathy, research

About Rob

Rob is the VP of Earned Media for a UK marketing agency. He launched the Content Cavern with his dad, Paul, in 2015. Sometimes he has a beard. But only sometimes.

Comments

  1. John Espirian says

    6th August 2016 at 7:16 am

    Excellent post, Rob. The example you give shows that finding that one little hook could transform the way you write about a product or service.

    Really enjoyed this one – thanks.

    Reply
    • Rob says

      9th August 2016 at 10:39 pm

      Thanks for the kind words, John.

      Really appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment.

      Those little hooks are always worth the hours it can sometimes take to uncover ’em. 🙂

      Reply

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