Writing copy from scratch. Yikes!

How to go from a shrug to having solid data?

It’s difficult building a brand from the ground up (lookin’ at you entrepre-heroes!). When I started a foundation for people with limb difference back in 2017, I had NO clue what to do. The idea was there; the motivation was there, but how the heck was I going to put that on paper?

That’s why I want to guide you along the route I took through my brain when I was busy finding a voice for a brand nobody knew about. I eventually used the things I learned back then, in combination with the Copywriter Accelerator by Rob Marsh and Kira Hug, to establish www.danielgoene.com to serve the healthcare niche.

What is the voice of my audience like?

Step one to figuring out what to write is by doing extensive research into your audience, stakeholders, clients, whatever you want to call them. They are the people you work for. That’s right, you might be the richest, most powerful CEO out there, but without people using your product or service, nothing happens.

So I went on a quest (avid Dungeon & Dragons player here) to find out what the jobs-to-be-done were for visitors landing on my website.

Side note: No matter how ‘cool’ visual branding is - thinking of an awesome logo and name is truly a super fun experience, but first you’ll need to establish WHO is going to see your name and logo.

For me, the fun part is doing the research. It’s like a puzzle where you have all the pieces, but the images are blank. Your data makes them appear so you can place the pieces in the correct spots. I started out by doing some social media digging. 

What were people with a limb difference searching for, and how did they feel about their situation?

When I started putting the raw data into a chart, something peculiar happened… 

When talking about prosthetics and bionics, technology is the life-force of the industry. Without technological innovation, bionic limbs never improve. It’s the ingredient for restoring quality of life for patients with an amputated limb. Yet, this chart showed me that my audience gave little more than a hoot about technology.

They preferred engaging with light-hearted things such as comedy or watching movies, even debating politics was more interesting to my target group than the very bionic limbs they use. 

Does this mean my copy should be void of tech-talk? No! But I should focus on making it less boring - avoiding the stuffy technobabble that makes you want to emanate the sigh of apathy.

Creating a project dictionary

With these stats in hand, I had the beginnings of my voice-of-customer research - the fuel to set the tone of my copy. Now I needed the lingo. I rushed back to my desk after a victorious cup of tea and began scouring forums and blogs. 

Back in 2017, I didn’t have access to Jen Havice’s excellent VoC research guide yet, but I did do something similar. I made two columns in an excel sheet: one defined the problem people had when talking about prosthetics, the other column defined what they loved about their restored quality of life now that they could walk, run, and grab again.

As I peered through the digital bushes, spying on social media feeds like a virtual private eye, my vocabulary grew. I also combed through interviews from companies with bionic limb users extensively.

I didn’t want to focus on victimizing my audience, I wanted to empower them.

It turned into a long list that any linguistics professor could write an essay about. I now knew I had the ammunition to write the copy.

Deepening the job-to-be-done from general to emotional

Now that I drowned in data from surveys, interviews, and desk research, I started firing the ‘why’ questions at myself to identify why someone would visit my foundation. What would make them click that subscribe button or click my website URL?

They want to belong to a community.

Why do they want to belong to a community?

Because they want to share their stories and find solace in others.

Why do they want to share their stories and offer support?

Because they know how tough life can be when you suffer through an amputation and these stories help them feel happy and supported.

Why do they want to feel happy and supported?

So they no longer feel as if they’re alone and cast out of society.

The conclusion of the ‘why’ cycle gave me a surge of ideas for a brand name. I didn’t want to focus on victimizing my audience, I wanted to empower them. I would avoid usage of the words amputee and prosthetic and instead use lingo like ‘limb difference’. I also replaced prosthetics and bionics with ‘augmentation’.

It was a medical device no longer, it was an upgrade to your quality of life. And so the name “Liberty in Augmentation” was born. It carried the weight of looking into the future where access to prosthetics and bionics would be accessible to all who needed it and remove the stigma surrounding it. 

Because I wanted the foundation to have a political element, rather than focusing on donation campaigns for events and research, I used the word ‘liberty’ to evoke strong political thoughts.

The name came with a supportive slogan: “You can’t stop progress”, a statement which was both aware of the arduous process of using a bionic limb, and the ground artificial limbs continued to gain in the world.

What now?

We’ve completed the VoC research, we know our audience, and we know why the foundation exists - what its purpose is. We’ve even created a brand name!

“Awesome”, Daniel mused (10 points to Gryffindor if you caught that reference).

We’re moving onto part two in my next article about writing the web copy itself. Are you as excited as I am? 

SNEAK PEEK OF THINGS WE’LL DISCUSS:

• Creating a homepage that makes your visitors stay like flex-tape (YouTube it, you won’t be disappointed).
• Defining the core of the foundation
• Using language that drives people to action

If you’re interested in discussing VoC strategies, copywriting or simply want to have a chat about that latest sci-fi novel you’ve read, send me a connection request and I’m sure we’ll be the bestest of friends in no time!