Whether you’re a business owner or a copywriter, I have a document that has helped a lot of people “get their arms around the octopus” when it comes to defining your target audience and your USPs (Unique Selling Proposition, what makes YOU the most reasonable/compelling provider in your niche). I usually have new clients fill it out.
Some balk. Others thank me to the moon and back because it helps them clarify (in their own minds) what their 10-second intro and 30-second commercial/elevator speech should be. It also helps them get into the heads and hearts of their target audiences to see things from their perspective so they know how to identify their pain points and offer the solutions they have to solve them.
The questionnaire takes anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours to complete. Some people are so in touch with their target audiences and their USPs that filling it out is a breeze. Others have to ponder, do a little research, and ask people in their offices some questions before they can finish it.
Because of this CQ I am able (often) to identify additional target audiences (or discern better initial target audiences for a lot of start-ups) so the money comes in faster and more reliably.
Example: One gentleman wanted me to write a 60-second explainer video that was energetic, up, and positive about an app he had developed. He said the app would appeal to “everybody” (a four-letter word in the copywriting business) and that he wanted the explainer video to do just that!
Right away I knew we were in trouble…
The app was a way for parents and grandparents to pre-record (in letter form, on video, and other ways) messages that their young children were too young to presently understand: why dad and mom got divorced; why a beloved grandma that the child adored went away (died), etc. The app would allow the sender to pick a date in the future when the message would be delivered even though they might no longer be alive to deliver it.
Great app, right? But this fellow wanted an up, positive, universal message that would appeal to everyone who ever thinks about leaving important things unsaid that they would want their loved ones to know later on when they were mature enough to understand. And I agree that the product has universal appeal. BUT you don’t use a shotgun where a laser is required! You weaken your message when you try to reach EVERYBODY who will possibly ever consider using your product.
I told the gentleman that his first explainer video should target the people who know every day, when they walk out the door, that they might not come home that night: police officers, military officers, firemen and other first responders (linemen and more)… the list goes on.
I explained to the gentleman that the video in this case shouldn’t have an up, positive, lively, let’s dance-type feel to it. The video had to hit this niche, concerned target audience where they live–in their hearts and minds, not in their dance shoes. I suggested this one as his first explainer video because this was the target audience most likely to quickly whip out their credit cards and spend the $15 per year (a pittance) to gain access to this wonderful way of leaving legacy messages to their loved ones.
My goal, as your copywriter, is always to get money pouring into your coffers as fast as I can. Then you’ll be able to afford to target additional but less-motivated audiences. But the first audience you want to target is the one most likely to feel an urgent need for your product, service or cause. It is the motivated, “I’m sold, let’s go!” buyers who will fund the rest of your marketing campaigns while filling your coffers.
Make sense?
Alas, this fellow and I parted company when we couldn’t come to an agreement on what his first video should look like. He just couldn’t visualize how a compassionate, caring, thoughtful, more restrained explainer video would skyrocket his start-up business and kick start his fortune.
He simply wasn’t thinking it through. In essence, he wanted to target the other people, the ones who were far less motivated to buy his product. Upbeat, happy people rarely think “What if I get hit by a Mack Truck today? Have I left anything unsaid that I haven’t already said because the time isn’t right?”
I love guiding business owners in the right direction, but sometimes they just can’t be blasted from their calcified opinions. When that happens, we agree to disagree and I move on. Because when you hire me, I’m on your team. I’m the expert in my field. I want you to win, because when you win, I win. This isn’t my first rodeo. I know what moves people. I get into each target audience’s head so they know that you know their pain points and how to solve them.
But back to the main gist of this post. Here’s what I think.
I think you should go to my Contact page right now, copy and paste the Content Questionnaire from the link you’ll find there, and fill it out. When you do, I believe you’ll discover things about your target audience and about your own USPs that will give you a lot more to think about every time you interact with them.
Doing this has worked for a lot of people. I hope it works for you, too.
