Conversion Copy: research, testing and voice

01

Research that finds the real reason

In simple words

If you want to know why a friend bought a bike, you ask about the day they bought it, not "would you like a bike?" People remember real days better than they guess about imaginary ones. Good research asks about real days.

Before this course: Copywriting Frameworks: offers, pages and emails (course 3.4.2). You can already write an offer, a landing page and a welcome sequence with AIDA, PAS and BAB, and you know the swipe file from Copywriting: Words That Sell (course 3.4). Here you go deeper: research first, test second, voice third.

Key facts

A swipe file of reviews and comments (course 3.4) is passive research. Active research adds interviews and surveys so you can ask "why."
The Nielsen Norman Group says interviews work best for exploring how people think about a problem, but they ask people to remember the past or predict the future, and both are unreliable.
Better questions ask about a specific, recent experience, especially a very hard or very good one. Weaker questions are hypotheticals ("Would you use this?") and "How do you usually do this?", which tends to give an ideal story that skips real shortcuts.
Leading questions put words in people's mouths. People will even invent opinions when pressed.
Do not change your product or page based on interviews alone. Pair interviews with other evidence (reviews, sales data, tests).
A simple structure many marketers use to understand a buying decision is the timeline: first thought, looking around, deciding, buying, first use. It is a framework from the "jobs to be done" school of thought, not a law.

Weak question	Better question
"Would you buy a meal planner?"	"Tell me about the last time you planned meals. What happened?"
"Why do you love our product?"	"What was happening the day you decided to look for something like this?"
"How do you usually decide?"	"What else did you try before this? What did you not like?"

A survey is good for counting what you already know and for open-text answers. Keep it short: one open question such as "What almost stopped you from buying?" is often the most useful.
Interview and survey data about named people is personal information (see the privacy box in lesson 5).

Step by step

Pick 5 people who recently bought, signed up or asked a question (your customers, or practice people).
Ask each for a 20-minute chat. Say how you will use their words and ask permission to take notes.
Start with: "Tell me about the day you decided to look for this."
Ask follow-ups about real moments: "What did you try first?", "What almost stopped you?", "What made you finally decide?"
Do not suggest answers. When they pause, wait a few seconds.
Write what they said word for word, not your summary.
After all five, highlight repeated phrases and sort them into four groups: push (what hurt), pull (what they hoped for), worry (what held them back) and habit (what they already do).
Check: each group has at least 3 real quotes, and no quote is your own words.

Watch on YouTube

How to find voice of customer data fastJoanna Wiebe · YouTube · youtube.com

5 tips for better, faster customer interviewsGame Thinking TV · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Research that finds the real reason

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:10

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "Guessing why people buy is the most expensive way to write copy."
[Text on screen: Ask about a real day] "Don't ask 'would you buy?' Ask about the last time it happened."
[Screen: notes with highlighted quotes] "Write their words exactly. Those words become your headlines."
[Text on screen: Push. Pull. Worry. Habit.] "Sort what you hear into four groups: push, pull, worry and habit."
[Host] "Five honest conversations beat fifty guesses."

Try it now

Interview five people about a real buying moment. Hand in the notes and a sheet with the four groups and at least 3 quotes in each.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Conversion Copy: research, testing and voice" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Research that finds the real reason".

What the lesson teaches:
- A swipe file of reviews and comments (course 3.4) is passive research. Active research adds interviews and surveys so you can ask "why."
- The Nielsen Norman Group says interviews work best for exploring how people think about a problem, but they ask people to remember the past or predict the future, and both are unreliable.
- Better questions ask about a specific, recent experience, especially a very hard or very good one. Weaker questions are hypotheticals ("Would you use this?") and "How do you usually do this?", which tends to give an ideal story that skips real shortcuts.
- Leading questions put words in people's mouths. People will even invent opinions when pressed.
- Do not change your product or page based on interviews alone. Pair interviews with other evidence (reviews, sales data, tests).
- A simple structure many marketers use to understand a buying decision is the timeline: first thought, looking around, deciding, buying, first use. It is a framework from the "jobs to be done" school of thought, not a law.
- Weak question - Better question

The exercise I'm working on:
Interview five people about a real buying moment. Hand in the notes and a sheet with the four groups and at least 3 quotes in each.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Research that finds the real reason" from the course "Conversion Copy: research, testing and voice".

Here's what the lesson says:
If you want to know why a friend bought a bike, you ask about the day they bought it, not "would you like a bike?" People remember real days better than they guess about imaginary ones. Good research asks about real days.

The activity:
Interview five people about a real buying moment. Hand in the notes and a sheet with the four groups and at least 3 quotes in each.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Nielsen Norman Group, Interviewing Users: www.nngroup.com/articles/interviewing-users/
Video lesson on voice of customer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgY9jcid7Fo

My notes

I learned this

02