Hello and welcome to the seventh lesson of the course “Copywriting from zero in 30 days”. In the previous episode we talked about AIDA model and how to write a full-fledged copy in just 15 minutes. And you probably noticed that writing a commercial text is quite easy when you have all the necessary initial data: about the product or service, about the audience and its needs, about how the product covers these needs, etc. But what if there is no such information? What to write about then? In this case, we cannot write the text at once and must first conduct a market analysis. But there is one important nuance here.
Market analysis
Market analysis is a comprehensive study of a niche, product and audience in order to sell goods, services or ideas more effectively. This is usually a fairly large piece of work. And it’s great if we have such data. But the reality is that quite often, when we write a sales copy, these data, alas, are not available to us. As well as there is no time and resources for such a full-fledged analysis.
That is why in copywriting in such situations it is advisable to conduct an express research of the market. It takes much less time and effort, about 10 or 20 minutes, but allows us to write a fairly effective text for launch and testing.
Illustrative example
Let’s assume that we are a distributor and wholesale spare parts for home appliance repair services in Italy. We need to write the text of a commercial offer for potential clients. To do this correctly, we conduct an express market analysis. It consists of six sections. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Section A: product and seller
First of all, we need to study our product and the seller in detail. For this, we can create two blocks. In the first block we describe the product, its features and characteristics. In the second one – the seller and its properties. We already know how to write features and specs from the third lesson of this course.
By the way, if you want to read the text in the table more carefully or use this template in your own projects, I’ll leave the link to the file in the description below. Just copy and use.
Section B: target audience and its needs
The second section is about the audience. And it contains two blocks as well. In the first block we write the segment we are working in. In the second block we describe target audience, its interests and needs. If necessary, dividing it into target groups. You already know what it is from the second lesson of this course.
Please note: if we work with different audiences in different segments, for example, B2B wholesale and B2C retail, then we need to do a separate analysis for each segment. Also, different analyzes need to be done if we have completely different target groups in terms of needs and interests.
In our example, we work in B2B segment and have two target groups whose interests overlap, complement and affect each other. Therefore, we consider them in one analysis.
Section C: benefits
The third section of our express market analysis is all about benefits. The easiest way to present them is in the two columns of a table. In the left column, we write the interests and needs of the audience from the previous section. In the right column – we write how we can cover these interests and needs through the features and specs of the product and the seller. The ones from the section A. As a result, we have a complete set of benefits for a full-fledged sales copy. You already know how to form benefits from the third lesson.
Section D: questions and objections in market analysis
In this section, we also use two columns. In the first column we write relevant questions that potential buyers ask or may ask. We have to answer them in the text later. In the second column we write possible objections of the audience. These objections will be processed in the copy in order to increase the probability of a target action.
Section E: differences from competitors
Differences from competitors is one of the key test sections in marketing analysis that is closely related to section A, but in a different, comparative context. This is a kind of marker, which consists of two parts: strengths and weaknesses.
Everything that is an advantage over competitors or that is just a neutral but positive attribute, we write down as strengths. Everything in which we lose to competitors and other obvious shortcomings – as weaknesses.
Strengths can provide additional information on benefits. Weaknesses help to identify new questions and objections. In general, if you look closely, you will see that almost all sections of the analysis are connected and complement each other.
Section F: target action, clients sources and other notes
The final section of the marketing analysis contains information that completes the big picture and allows us to develop a final concept for the copy. This section contains several blocks. The first block is the target action, or what we want our audience to do after reading the text. The second block is the sources of clients. It allows us to determine the quality of the audience and its condition to perform the target action. Finally, the third block is additional information and details that are relevant to the case. For example, these can be clarification on target groups, the degree of audience loyalty, seasonality, and other factors.
All six sections of the express market analysis form the necessary data set, which is more than enough to write an effective commercial text.
Information sources for market analysis
Ok, now we have the structure of the future research. But one important question remains open: where to get all this information? And there are several sources here.
- The client or sales managers who communicate with customers. This is one of the highest priority sources of information when we work on order. A good copywriter always asks a lot of questions.
- The target audience itself, provided that we have the opportunity to communicate with it.
- Open sources of information such as social networks, forums, blogs, etc.
- Common sense and the theory of three basic instincts. We talked about it in the second lesson of the course.
Practical task
Now it’s time to practice. Use the information and template from this lesson to create your own express market analysis. Choose a niche, segment, product and audience at your discretion. You will succeed! Take care of yourself and see you in the next lesson.
<< Back to lesson 6 | Forward to lesson 8 >>