Know-How Exchange : Copywriting

Hi Mariam - I am a copywriter and designer. If you let me know more about the project I will give you some suggested copy and design.

Peter

The place to start your project is by talking to some of the people in your target audience and beginning to understand what makes them tick, and what words they use to describe their pain-points.

You already understand marcom basics. What you need is a great creative brief that explains the target audience, what they need and value, what they're doing today (that you hope to replace), and generally how they make decisions.

Any approach that presumes to know this without direct input from the target audience is likely to be flawed and will lead you down the wrong path. Don't assume too much.

And if there's no budget for "real" market research, do your own. Pay a professional for a few hours of his or her time to lay out a game plan with you, then execute on your own. Need a referral? Let me know via off-line email from my profile.

Mariam - first thing is, as you say, is to find out how to approach banks for your product. Start with taking a look at what your main competitors do. Get someone to request their brochures and product descriptions. That will give you the design and approach you need to take.

Then you will need to 'research the market' and this means talking to a typical prospect. That will give you the language and tone to use.

That way you will know if you, or whoever you get to help you with this, are on the right path.

There are key things a prospect will be looking for and those are the vital ingredients. All this takes a while, as you know, but the answers should all arrive as you proceed with the above.

Peter