News
 How
to Prepare For a Copywriting Assignment
By Robert W. Bly
Business-to-business copy persuades readers by
giving them useful information about the products
being advertised. The more facts you include in your
copy, the better. When you have a file full of facts
at your fingertips, writing good copy is easy.
Here’s how.
Here’s a four-step procedure I use to get the
information I need to write persuasive, fact-filled
copy for my clients. This technique should be
helpful to copywriters, account executives, and ad
managers alike.
Step #1: Get all previously published material on
the product.
For an existing product, there’s a mountain of
literature you can send to the copywriter as
background information. This material includes:
• Tear-sheets of previous ads
• Brochures
• Catalogs
• Article reprints
• Technical papers
• Copies of speeches
• Audio-visual scripts
• Press kits
• Swipe files of competitors’ ads and literature
Did I hear someone say they can’t send me printed
material because their product is new? Nonsense. The
birth of every new product is accompanied by mounds
of paperwork you can give the copywriter. These
papers include:
• Internal memos
• Letters of technical information
• Product specifications
• Engineering drawings
• Business and marketing plans
• Reports
• Proposals
By studying this material, the copywriter should
have 80 percent of the information he needs to write
the copy. And he can get the other 20 percent by
picking up the phone and asking questions. Steps
#2-4 outline the questions he should ask about the
product, the audience, and the objective of the
copy.
Step #2: Ask questions about the product.
• What are its features and benefits? (Make a
complete list.)
• Which benefit is the most important?
• How is the product different from the
competition’s? (Which features are exclusive? Which
are better than the competition’s?)
• If the product isn’t different, what attributes
can be stressed that haven’t been stressed by the
competition?
• What technologies does the product compete
against?
• What are the applications of the product?
• What industries can use the product?
• What problems does the product solve in the
marketplace?
• How is the product positioned in the marketplace?
• How does the product work?
• How reliable is the product?
• How efficient?
• How economical?
• Who has bought the product and what do they say
about it?
• What materials, sizes and models is it available
in?
• How quickly does the manufacturer deliver the
product?
• What service and support does the manufacturer
offer?
• Is the product guaranteed?
Step #3: Ask questions about your audience.
• Who will buy the product? (What markets is it sold
to?)
• What is the customer’s main concern? (Price,
delivery, performance, reliability, service
maintenance, quality efficiency)
• What is the character of the buyer?
• What motivates the buyer?
• How many different buying influences must the copy
appeal to? Two tips on getting to know your
audience:
If you are writing an ad, read issues of the
magazine in which the ad will appear.
If you are writing direct mail, find out what
mailing lists will be used and study the list
descriptions.
Step #4: Determine the objective of your copy.
This objective may be one or more of the following:
• To generate inquiries
• To generate sales
• To answer inquiries
• To qualify prospects
• To transmit product information
• To build brand recognition and preference
• To build company image
Before you write copy, study the product—its
features, benefits, past performance, applications,
and markets. Digging for the facts will pay off,
because in business-to-business advertising,
specifics sell.
--- Robert W. Bly is a noted copywriter, consultant
and seminar leader. Contact him at rwbly@bly.com.
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