Copywriting research: the three C's done properly

Executive overview

Most copywriters know the three C's — clients, customers, competitors — but stop at surface-level research. The gap between average and high-performing copy is depth, not knowledge of the framework.

Go deep enough that you can close your eyes and know exactly what to say. The fastest path to that depth is starting with businesses you've already bought from.

Clients: know the product inside out

• Learn benefits, mechanics, and what makes the offer unique
• Understand the customer experience of the product
• If the client has a personal brand, learn their values, beliefs, and stories

Customers: go beyond the surface

• Study dreams, fears, and language — not just demographics
• Listen to full sales calls; read every testimonial on the client's site
• Read competitor sales pages to extract real customer language
• A competitor doing $10M/year has already spent heavily to understand that customer — use it

Competitors: find the gaps

• Study what competitors say and what they don't say
• What's missing from their messaging is your advantage in ads, emails, and offers

Starting out: target businesses you've bought from

• Being a customer means you already know the client, the customer, and the competition
• You've compared alternatives — that's research already done
• Even buying a similar product in the same industry gives you a usable head start