As a copywriter, one of the most important parts of my job is conducting research. And in fact, when my copy fails, aside from poor targeting or a poor offer, it’s almost always due to poor research.

As copywriters, the information we need may not be as readily available as we want it to be, particularly when we’re working with a new company or product. We have to dig. Or as my friend and top copywriter John Carlton says, “We have to put on our sales detective hats and dig deep.”

Sure, we can go through the product. We can go through the client’s collateral materials. We can conduct competitive research and perhaps even check out competitors’ products.

But the most important and salient research comes from…

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Copy has a much greater job online than offline.

Like a salesperson, a website must communicate emotions that empower people to buy. But then it must also direct visitors to take some kind of action. And in both cases, the responsibility boils down to the words.

Radio or TV may or may not use direct response. But online, there’s no choice.

Online, you must use words that drive your readers’ actions and compel some kind of response. Even if it’s to simply keep reading. However, dealing with this issue in greater depth requires an entire article on its own.

So for now, let’s stick with the biggest challenge we face with online copy, even before we elicit some kind of response from our readers. And that is: benefits.

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