The best copywriting trick to hook your target market
Connecting with your target market is the basis of everything you do with your brand and marketing strategy. You not only do this through the visuals of your brand but also in your copy.
Whether it’s an Instagram post or the copy on your landing page, learning how to speak your target audience’s language is the best copywriting trick to not only attract your audience to your offer but also increase your conversion rate.
The best way to do this is by conducting some informal market research.
What is market research?
Market research is often thought of as determining the viability of a business idea, concept, product, services, or other offering. It gives you a clear picture on whether or not there is a demand for your ideas. This is often done through getting opinions and feedback from the identified target market through surveys and focus groups.
What does market research have to do with copywriting?
While it’s true market research is great for identifying the viability for a business concept, you can also use it to get to know your target market on a deeper level. When you ask the right questions to those in your target market, you get to hear directly from them in their own words how they describe your offering, their needs/struggles, and/or any other language they use around the concept.
These responses become invaluable for you because it means you can use the language your target market uses themselves in your copywriting so you know it will resonate with them and attract them to your brand and offering.
Knowing this information helps shape your copy throughout all your marketing efforts.
How do you execute market research on a budget?
I know when most of us hear market research we think elaborate focus groups and while focus groups are really helpful, you don’t have to do your market research that way, especially if you’re on a limited budget.
When doing market research for myself or for clients, I’ll utilize a couple of methods:
A short survey
Polls, quiz, and questions feature on Instagram stories
Intimate conversations with a couple people that are 100% in the target audience
And not necessarily market research but I think it’s worth mentioning — Paying attention to what your customers/clients say after purchasing from you (A feedback form is a great way to collect this info!)
This combination typically gives me enough to work with to both vet the concept and get an idea of how they talk about it so I can integrate that verbiage into the marketing for it. No more guessing on what to write on a sales pages or in the marketing… I can use their exact words and phrases in my own brand voice to speak directly to them. This creates a stronger connection with my audience and allows me to have much more meaningful conversations with them about whatever marketing and business challenges they are facing. And that’s also how I know my marketing and copy is effective. It brings people in the door so we can further the conversation and eventually work together.
Example of using market research for my copywriting:
Prior to launching my Strategy Intensives, I wanted to learn what small business owners struggle with the most so I could provide as much value in the program as possible. To get this feedback, I posted on my Instagram stories asking if any business owners would be willing to answer a few questions about marketing for me… and luckily I got a couple of bites.
Here are the questions I asked them:
Do you feel like you have a good grasp on your overall marketing? Do you feel like it's cohesive and working for you? Is there anything you'd want to change/integrate?
Are you able to quickly identify opportunities to grow your brand? If no, is this something you'd like to be able to do?
What is the most frustrating part of growing your brand on social media?
Are you confident in your ability to understand your analytics (social, web, email marketing, etc.) so you can make changes to move the needle forward for your brand?
What do you currently feel like you need the most support with for your brand?
I left them pretty open ended with a note telling them to feel free to elaborate as much as they wanted.
Here are the phrases I now use in my sales copy based on their answer:
A scrappy DIY marketing approach
A higher level, birds-eye-view
How to map out the next 3, 6, 12 months
Throwing good money after bad
Put the cart before the horse
Pairing this with my buyer’s journey and the other market analysis I’ve done has helped me not only successfully pitch my Strategy Intensives but also has attracted ideal clients to me with ease.
And that’s the real goal if you ask me!
Want even more help with your marketing?
My Strategy Intensives provide you with a complete brand and marketing strategy based on market research and analysis and your own business metrics.
My 60-minute sessions are great if you need help brainstorming or working through a specific challenge.
Not sure what you need but know you could use some support? Reach out and I’ll help guide you in the right direction (whether that’s working with me or not!)
