Hello and welcome to the second lesson of the course “Copywriting from zero in 30 days”. In previous episode we talked about copywriting and copywriters in general. We also talked about varieties of copywriter’s text which is called copy. Today we answer the most important question in copywriting: “What is the audience?” In this lesson we will understand what the audience is, its needs, intentions, segments and groups. It is very important, because, as we remember, a good copywriter primarily works with people, not with text.
What is the audience in copywriting?
The audience — is a person or people who can see and read our copy. In other words, these are the people we write for. If they can perform required action (for example, place an order and pay for it), then they are called the target audience.
People, who read our copy, have their needs. These needs are generally in a wide range: from biological ones and safety to love, esteem and self actualization. All of them are sources of people’s motivation and actions.
A good copywriter always knows what needs are relevant for his audience in every specific task and knows how to satisfy them with the text.
Audience intentions and types of the needs
Usually all audience needs can be divided into two groups: conscious and subconscious. Conscious needs appear when a person knows what he or she is looking for and why. For example, a man wants to buy sunglasses. For himself. Or a woman wants to buy a lipstick. It is their clear intention. Both of them know how and why to use these products.
But… There are lots of sunglasses and lipsticks on the market. And for sure there are some hidden selection criteria, why a person chooses and buys a particular product, and not its competitor. That’s where subconscious needs come into play. Understanding these needs and сriteria, we can meet the audience expectations and make our copy more effective.
Subconscious needs are what the human brain wants. And they can differ from the conscious ones. Moreover, they are often not even recognized by the audience. So intentions in this case can be hidden behind a seemingly obvious search for a product.
Previously we talked about safety, love, esteem and so on. And you probably recognized Maslow’s hierarchy of needs here. But all of them can be classified into three main categories, according to one of three basic instincts. The theory of basic instincts was consistently formed in the works of the legendary scientists Sechenov and Pavlov. Let’s take a closer look at it.
1. Self-preservation instinct
This instinct is all about safety. Its derivatives are rationality, consistency and craving for certainty. People with strong self-preservation instinct tend to choose the optimal and safest option possible. Preferably with a guarantee. Therefore, they prioritize logical reasoning.
Let’s go back to the sunglasses example. A man under the influence of this instinct will take into account the following factors:
- the price and how reasonable it is,
- UV protection level,
- practicality and convenience,
- material safety and durability, etc.
The same way we can reveal the subconscious needs for lipstick. A woman with dominating self-preservation instinct pays attention to versatility, ease of applying, long term lip safety, price, etc.
2. Social instinct
The main task of the social instinct is to preserve society and help humans find their place in it. Generally its influence is very easy to indicate. When a person is concerned about what other people say or think about him — it’s the effect of social instinct. When a person imitates others and expects approval — it’s the effect of social instinct as well. Finally, when a person looks through reviews of other people before buying a product, — this is also effect of social instinct. Authority and social proof are key aspects here.
That’s why both man with sunglasses and woman with lipstick driven by social instinct will take into account the following factors:
- product popularity and conformity to fashion,
- side view (in order to look like or no worse than others)
- сonfidence in the absence of condemnation and shame,
- reviews of experts, other buyers, celebrities and so on.
3. Procreation instinct
This instinct makes people work on their attractiveness. Its main evolutionary task is to find a partner, procreate and pass on genes to the next generations. When it comes into play people tend to attract attention and stand out. It is the procreation instinct that leads the audience to consider our product as a means to achieve this goal. That’s why people driven by this instinct pay attention to the following aspects:
- own emotions and anticipation that the product evokes
- feeling of attraction and coolness
- appearance (how beautiful the product is)
- feeling of superiority over others
- ways to impress and get attention
When a person desires something very passionately, but cannot substantiate it logically and rationally – this is a clear sign of the influence of procreation instinct. By the way, it is the instinct that makes people make spontaneous and impulse purchases.
All three instincts are present in every person. But in varying degrees. Since we, as copywriters, work with a mass audience and don’t know what instincts are dominating in particular reader, we try to take into account all three types of needs. Covering them in parallel. That makes our copy more effective.
Target audience segments and groups
The same product can be sold to different segments of the audience. The segment — is a big category of readers with common interests and needs. The most prevalent segments in copywriting are B2B and B2C.
B2B or business to business is when one company sells goods or services to another. For example, wholesale deliveries of spare parts to service stations.
B2C or business to consumer is when a company sells products and services to end-user, a natural person. The man with sunglasses or woman with lipstick are good examples here.
Each segment may contain its own subcategories of readers. These subcategories are called target groups. For example we can sell office chairs to companies. This is a B2B segment. But in this segment there can be two different target groups:
- Companies that buy chairs for their own use. For staff.
- Companies that buy chairs for resale.
Similarly, target groups can be in B2C segment. Let’s say we sell cameras. Then, for example, we can divide the audience into two target groups: amateurs and professionals. Identification of such groups allows us to make a targeted offer for each of them and thereby increase sales.
Despite in segments and target groups human instincts are the same, the interests may be completely different. For example, the interests of the company often take precedence in B2B segment. The most common of them are:
- profit increase,
- cost reduction,
- image elements, etc.
In the next lessons, writing the copy, we will primarily proceed from the interests and needs of the audience in particular segment and target group.
That’s it for today. Take care of yourself and see you in the next lesson.
Best regards, Dan.
