How To Prepare To Write Great Copy

Few copywriters would discuss the research that’s necessary to write great copy. But a persuasive sales letter doesn’t just jump into a copywriter’s head at will. It takes planning and a lot of research. In fact, I spend over 80% of my time in crafting a sales letter in this research stage and less than 20% doing the actual writing and editing.
Below are the steps a copywriter should take in preparing to write sales letters.
1. Research the market. There are many questions the copywriter has to answer at this step: What are the market needs? What other products have been selling well? Who make up the target market (demographics)? Are there any noticeable trends? The copywriter has to know more about the market than the market knows about itself. Surveys, marketing reports, buying trends and popular forums can all give very telling information about your target market.
2. Research the competition. How well are your competitors doing? What products are selling well for them? What marketing message and media is bringing in most of the profit? Where are they investing most of their advertising dollars? Before the advent of the internet you would have to pay a lot of money for this type of information. But with tools such as ClickBank Marketplace which do rankings of hundreds of websites you can quickly spy on your competition. The use of Google AdWords can also provide you with the marketing intelligence that will guide you in your letter writing.
3. Research your product. If you are selling a product or service then you should know more about this product than the average user. What are the benefits to the end user? How is this product superior to other products in the market? How is it made, distributed, and used? Is the product based on a new idea or old and improved idea? What have the beta users being saying about the product?
4. Plan your letter appeals and structure. Once all the research has been done then it’s now time to plan how all the new information you’ve gathered can best be used to communicate the strongest benefits of this product to the prospect. How would you get their attention? What is the best headline type to use? How should you structure the sales letter? Should you start with a story? How much do you need to educate the prospect within the letter itself? Which are your strongest testimonials?
What is the best appeal or hook to use? Like writing an essay in school, the copywriter should have a rough draft of the letter outline before he starts pounding away at the keyboard. The structure of the letter should depend on your market, the newness of your product and the demographics you are trying to appeal to. Are they very skeptical, accepting, frustrated, and burnt? The answer to these questions will help you choice an appropriate letter structure to use.
Needless to say, a lot of brainstorming goes into crafting the perfect sales letter. As you read and do your research be sure to write down every idea that comes to mind. Don’t depend on your memory to keep those flashes of inspiration; you would lose them just when you need them most.
Along with the preparation of the research materials the copywriter must also prepare himself mentally and emotionally to perform at his peak. A healthy body and outlook on life will tell on your writing style. Writing copy is a tedious job and need a body prepared physically and mentally in order to excel.
To fail to plan is to plan to fail.