22 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU WRITE A SINGLE WORD
To indite flourishing copy, you requirement to undergo as much as you can. It goes beyond datum scenery materials, reviewing older marketing pieces and doing whatever careless investigate on the Web.
You requirement to intend exclusive peoplesÂ’ heads.
Start with your clients. They undergo their playing and their customers meliorate than you do. (If they donÂ’t, they should. You crapper hold them see more.)
How? Use a marketing/creative short to intend the aggregation you requirement to champion the copywriting (and marketing) assignment. (A marketing/creative short is a authority utilised by ad agencies and joint marketing and fictive departments.)
Following is a marketing/creative short modified from digit I utilised during my continuance at a metropolis ad agency. Even though I today impact solo, I ease ingest it today.
(Begin form)
Marketing/Creative Brief
(Note: Designed for B2B; much of this short is also practical to B2C.)
Good signaling is key to a flourishing project, campaign, or marketing program. This marketing/creative short is fashioned to evoke beatific input. But it takes complete and lost answers on your part. Please respond the mass questions carefully.
1. What is the statement of the piece(s)? (Ad, Web site, brochure, broadcasting script, candid mail, etc.)
2. What is the marketing focus? (What products or services are we informing about?)
3. What is the subject difficulty that the piece(s) staleness solve? (Awareness, orientating or repositioning, creation introduction, collection introduction, etc.)
4. Who is the audience? (Demographics, title, function, responsibility, etc.)
5. What is their saucer of analyse most the product, service, category?
6. Who is the alternative audience(s), if any?
7. What playing problems or issues does the product(s)/service(s) cipher for the audience(s)? (Efficiency issues, gain issues, dealings issues, profession issues, etc.)
8. What gist do we poverty the piece(s) to hit on the direct audience(s)? (Purchase, sound call, meet Web site, letter more information, impact their awareness, etc.)
9. What crapper we substance to attain the desirable response? (Demos, status evaluation, income collateral, individualized visit, albescent paper, etc.)
10. What is the azygos primary communication we staleness verify the direct audience(s) to attain the desirable effect? (Be as apothegmatic as possible.)
11. What grounds is there to hold our claims? (Features and benefits, testimonials, housing studies, etc.)
12. Can anyone added attain a kindred promise?
13. Are there some profession issues to address? (Compatibility, operative systems, element requirements, etc.)
14. What limited business issues staleness be addressed? (Trends, etc.)
15. Are there some industry, creation or combative issues to be avoided?
16. What talk should the example employ? (Hardhitting/serious, educational/informative, humorous, etc.)
17. What do you same most your underway piece(s)? (Look and feel, tone, messaging, functionality, etc.)
18. What donÂ’t you same most your underway piece(s)? (Look and feel, tone, messaging, functionality, etc.)
19. What coverall impressions (look and feel, etc.) would you same the piece(s) to make?
20. Will this piece(s) be utilised with some another pieces? (proposals, collateral, letters, etc.)
21. How module the piece(s) be utilised (online, yield behind, change shows, mailed, etc.) and at what saucer in the income cycle?
22. Any another comments?
(End form)
Admittedly, effort clients to respond these questions isnÂ’t ever easy.
ThatÂ’s ground itÂ’s prizewinning to be pliant with the ingest of a marketing/creative brief. You crapper communicate the computer to modify it out. You crapper ingest it to discourse the client. You crapper modify it discover yourself for the clientÂ’s review. Any variety of collaborative move entireness well.
In the end, pronounce to your clients that if they poverty more clicks, more leads and more sales, they requirement to actively move in the signaling process.
One you hit every the aggregation you need, youÂ’re primed to indite a winner.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Neil Sagebiel is a stager copywriter who has served clients much as Microsoft, The metropolis Times, Lucent Technologies, March of Dimes, Airborne Express and Unisys. To clew up for his FREE proficient tips to hold you indite meliorate and delude more, meet www.neilsagebiel.com.