I posted my first newsletter last week and immediately got feedback. So thatâs a good start - thanks people. I was asked to write a follow up post about what questions we should be asking our audiences, so that we can truly understand their jobs to be done (JTBD).Â
Let me TLDR my last post:Â
Once you have a clear idea of what someone is trying to achieve â their JTBD â youâre in a much better position to write copy that converts.Â
Now weâll briefly look at the limitations of writing for buyer personas. Then weâll run through a number of questions that you can ask to make your copy hit like a frosty beer on Friday.Â
JTBD versus buyer personas
You might already be familiar with buyer personas. All the best ones are data-driven profiles of the audience segments brands try to sell to. So are all the worst ones.
Copywriters and content writers are told to write for these personas, which are usually organised by demographics, objectives, challenges, etc. But they have their limitations, as the meme below suggests:
Buyer personas oversimplify your audiences and tend to ignore diversity. You could be a 23-year old, non-binary person of colour and a VC. You could also be white, male and 55 years old and a VCâŠand have the same goal and priorities. I challenge any buyer persona to be that flexible.
*Crickets*
On to JTBD then.Â
JTBD helps you understand what your target audiences are trying to do. In fact, when youâre thinking of your audiences and writing for different segments, itâs better to group them by âjob to doâ rather than by demographics.Â
And just as a job might be the same for two superficially different people, the job your product/service does might also differ quite significantly among your target segments.
For example, imagine you sell a High Stakes English test:
Client Aâs job: I need to prove my level of English for a new job.
Client Bâs job: I need to get a working visa in an English-speaking country.Â
Client Câs job: I need a high stakes English test to screen my candidates.
Same product, different jobs and various messages.
As I quoted last time:Â
âThe customer rarely buys what the company thinks it's selling him.â â
 â Peter Drucker
Takeaway: Understanding what the customer is actually buying, is a ton more useful for you as a writer. And you can only find this out by asking the right questions.Â
The questions
If you are a marketer, copywriter or content writer, you might be asked to help craft a campaign message across all parts of the marketing funnel (Awareness, Consideration, Conversion - and all the stages in-between).Â
The following basic framework asks questions at each stage of the funnel. These will help you get under the skin of the customer and create copy that resonates.
Bear in mind, youâll want to modify these based on the type of product or service youâre helping to sell and also whether youâre selling to business clients or âregularâ customers, whatever they are. You also donât have to ask them all.Â
Awareness: Something needs to changeÂ
Awareness is the top part of the funnel. When someone is floating around here, they are coming to the realisation that they have a goal or problem to solve. They just donât know how yet. If you can get into their heads, you can mine their brain for juicy doubts, questions and motivations.Â
When and how did you realise you needed to solve a problem?
What made you think about this?
Did you have one big goal? If so, what was it?
What were you worried about and why?
How did you start to research your options?Â
Consideration: Comparing options
Consideration is the part of the funnel where people have found potential solutions. They are now milling around trying to work out which suits them (or their company) best.
Did you seek out recommendations? Why or why not?
Where did you go or who did you ask first?
Did you use search or social media to look for solutions?
Which solutions, other than ours, did you find?
Which was the best alternative to our product and why?
Conversion: After purchasing
Conversion is when you finally cave. You take those white ankle socks to the counter and slam your credit card down.
What was the deal-sealer for you?
Were there any nice-to-haves we are missing?
Were there any nice-to-haves we have and you love?
What would have stopped you buying our product/service?
Would you recommend it? If so, who would you recommend it to and why?Â
Were there any unexpected problems?
Were there any unexpected benefits?
Visionary questions:Â
What would life be like without our product?
If you gave it up tomorrow, what would you do instead?
What do you wish youâd asked us before purchasing?
How would you describe our product to a friend or colleague?Â
Questions that feel wrong
These questions will help you get a better idea of the positioning of your message. Theyâre strategic questions that will help guide your messaging and copy further. Ask these of your team and colleagues NOT your customers:
How is this product or service fundamentally different to the competition? (Apple has design, Amazon has supply-chain, Levis has durability)
What do we do more of?Â
What do we do less of?
What do we create in the market space?
What donât we do that our competitors do do?
Top tip: Note that thereâs nothing negative here. Not doing something, or doing less of something, can be a differentiator. Apple doesnât do ports any more. Okay, bad example. I hate that.Â
Cheers,
George
Super useful article. Thank you George.