6 “Prep” Questions That Will Help You Write Better Marketing Copy, Faster

Quick question: Would you attempt a cookbook recipe without first getting all the ingredients together?

(Actually, I would. Which is why my wife doesn’t let me near the kitchen!)

When writing marketing copy, getting the “ingredients” together is just as important. You need to have a general idea of what you’re going the say — the key messages — before you start writing. Otherwise, the copy will take twice as long to write and end up being half as good.

So how do you do that?

Fortunately, this step is fairly easy. You just need to answer six questions — which I call “prep” questions. In the video above (appox. 9 minutes), I walk you through each one. I’ve also listed them below, but the video goes into more detail.

 

Prep Question #1: Who is the prospect, really?

  • What keeps them up at night?
  • What’s top-of-mind for them?
  • Why would they be interested in your product, service or offer, now?

Prep Question #2: What is the problem, need or desire?

  • How important is this to the prospect?
  • Do you need to bring the problem, need or desire to the prospect’s front burner?
  • How are they currently addressing this problem, need or desire? (And why should they do anything different?)

Prep Question #3: What are the features and benefits?

  • Which are likely to sway the prospect?
  • If the prospect choose three top features, what would those be?
  • Which features are better than the competition, or are rare/unique/exclusive?

Prep Question #4: What stories can you tell?

  • Examples?
  • Scenarios? (How can you paint a picture of the benefits?)
  • Customer stories?

Prep Question #5: What proofs can I use?

  • Testimonials, third-party endorsements?
  • Awards, accolades, track record?
  • Statistics, surveys, facts?

Prep Question #6: What is the call-to-action?

  • Why should they buy now?
  • What’s the urgency? (How can you create urgency?)
  • What are the consequences of doing nothing?​​​​​​​

Recent copywriting articles

Next steps

Ready to turn your sales team into top-performing sales writers! Get in touch today to discuss booking an initial 90-minute training session.