For best results I’ll need answers to the following in our Discovery call.
I know this looks like a lot, but when it comes to increasing conversions, facts and specificity matter. When copywriters don’t dig deep for this kind of information, they have to fall back on fancy phrases and puffed-up expressions to fill that blank page.
That puffery may sound nice, but it doesn’t sell because the copy doesn’t inform.
So, I hope you’ll understand that all of this is in your best interest.
Goal of this project:
- To generate inquiries
- To generate sales
- To answer inquiries
- To qualify prospects
- To transmit product information
- To build brand recognition and preference
- To build company image
Foundational Information:
- How did your business get started?
- What is your company philosophy?
- What is your current business or product position in the marketplace (e.g., low cost, innovative, unique, fun, “Cadillac,” etc.?)
- Does that match the perception you want to have among clients/prospects?
- Do you have a brand messaging style guide (or do you use the AP Style Guide the Oxford Style Manual?)
About your current marketing/sales:
- How do you generate leads and customers now?
- Which marketing/sales methods or channels do you use, including offline?
- Which has been the most successful?
- Which has been the least successful?
- Generally speaking, what sort of language/vibe do you feel best represents the voice you want to convey (e.g., casual, formal, authoritative, friendly, humorous, serious, other?
About your competition
- What are the alternatives to your product/service?
- How does your target audience feel about your product/service in relation to the alternatives available to them?
- Why would they choose you, instead of your competitors?
- Who are your top competitors?
- Do you like what they’re doing?
- What can we learn from them about what not to do?
- How are you different from your competitors?
- What’s your “special sauce” and why would someone choose your product/service over a similar one? (in other words: what’s your value proposition?)
- What are the differences between your competitors customers and yours (demographics/psychographics)?
About your audience
- Who is your target audience?
- Describe your ideal client
- What keeps your client (or prospect) awake at 2am worrying, relative to your offering? What problems are they trying to solve or desires are they trying to fulfill?
- What do you perceive is your website visitor’s general stage of awareness re: your offerings? Consider these stages of awareness…
- Very Aware – knows your company/product but hasn’t purchased yet
- Product Aware – knows solutions exist and they know your product is one of those solutions
- Solution Aware – knows solutions to their problem/desire exist
- Problem/Pain Aware – know they have a problem to be fixed or a desire to be fulfilled but aren’t aware of solutions to it
- Unaware – don’t know they have a pain or desire that needs to be solved
- What is the customer’s primary concern? (Price, performance, reliability, service level, quality, efficiency)
- What is your ideal client’s character?
- What motivates your ideal client to buy?
- What influences their buying decision?
- How does your target audience feel about your product/service in relation to the alternatives available to them?
- What makes it difficult for them to decide/buy?
- How do you make it less difficult?
- Describe your typical customer journey (buying process)
- How do you win over clients?
- Are there any clients/past clients I can talk with?
- What taboos, if any, need to be avoided?
About the product:
- What are the categories/subcategories of your product/service?
- What are its features? (Make a complete list.)
- Which features are exclusive to you?
- What are the benefits each feature provides?
- Which benefit would appeal most to your target audience? Why is it important to them?
- What key statement summarizes the main benefit of your product/service?
- 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?
- Are there any salient advantages regarding reliability, efficiency or economy?
- What problems/desires does the product solve in the marketplace?
- How is the product positioned in the marketplace?
- What will change for your ideal customer once they use your product/service?
- What will they think, know, feel and be able to do?
- Try and convey the emotions or feelings they might experience.
- What obstacles/objections need to overcome for success with this product/service?
- How does the product/service work?
- Who has bought the product and what do they say about it?
- What is the average selling price of the products/services?
- FOR PHYSICAL TRAVEL / HOSPITALITY PRODUCTS:
- 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?
- What technologies does the product compete against?
- What are the applications of the product?
About the offer:
- What is the offer? (Note: your offer is NOT your product or service)
- What are the terms?
- What is the CTA – in what ways can your audience respond (phone, email, etc.)
- What kind of guarantee (if any) do you offer?
About the website:
- What is the goal of this website: Informational, lead-generation, acquistion, compile an email list, etc.?
- If this is an upgrade/rebuild of a current site, which search terms do people use to find your site now?
- What are your most productive keywords/phrases?
- Are there specific keywords/phrases you want included in the meta tags and on the page, and for which pages?
- Will any payments be accepted on the website? What merchant company will be used? For what product/service?
- What is the target completion date for this project?
What is the target completion date for this project?
Finally, what haven’t I asked that I should have asked? Is there anything else you’d like to add?