If you’re a service provider who has ever thought, “I don’t know how to talk to my ideal client about my business and services,” my first question to you will be—have you done your Voice of the Customer research?

This is a struggle I hear business owners share all the time. And I get it. We pour so much hard work and passion into what we do that it can feel confusing to figure out where to start.

But the thing is—if your copy is mostly about you and your business, you will have a hard time getting your ideal clients excited about what you do. If you want your audience to see your services as a solution to their problems and hire you to address them, you have to talk more about their struggles and what’s in it for them.

Effective copy that converts shows your ideal clients that you understand what’s going on. Reminds them of what they want. And helps them see that your solution is what will help them get it.

And to understand what people are struggling with, what they desire, and what kind of solution they are searching for, you need to research.

It’s not enough to have a general idea of what your target audience wants and needs. The best marketers go directly to the source to find out. And that’s exactly where Voice of the Customer research comes in.

What is Voice of the Customer research?

Voice of the Customer research is the action or activity of gathering information about your ideal client’s struggles, desires, limiting beliefs, objections, and purchasing habits.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve already done some form of this. Because you have a business with offers to solve a problem. You likely have an ideal client avatar (ICA). And you’ve developed messaging to market your business to your ICA.

The truth is, we are always doing Voice of the Customer, whether we’re fully aware of it or not.

Every interaction you have with your ideal client is research. Taking a peek at your competitors is research. Participating in a program with other entrepreneurs is research.

When we are exposed to what people in the business world are doing, thinking, trying, and succeeding in, failing in…we’re collecting valuable data that can help us run our businesses and write our copy.

Why is Voice of the Customer research important?

Voice of the Customer research is important because it helps you

Understand what your ideal client struggles with and desires

Because if you aren’t aware of what your people are struggling with and what they really want, you wouldn’t have a solution, and therefore, a business!

Position yourself in your market

Knowing how your target audience’s needs are already being met (or unmet) allows you to discover how you can use your own unique skills and experience to solve their problems differently from others in your industry.

Optimize your offers

allows you to create an offer that you know is useful and solves a problem instead of taking a shot in the dark and hoping what you’re selling is something your target audience actually wants

Where do I do Voice of the Customer research?

Before you start conducting your research, you need to find where your ideal client is hanging out online. That might be your own audience. Or it might be somewhere else on the internet.

Here are some of my favorite places to eavesdrop on my clients’ ideal clients outside of their own audience:

1. Facebook groups
2. Instagram comments
3. Online message boards
4. Product or service reviews (Amazon, Yelp)
5. Networking calls
6. Competitor testimonials
7. Webinar and workshop chats

You can also conduct Voice of the Customer research by surveying your own audience and optimizing your onboarding and offboarding processes.

Hop on Instagram stories or make a post in your Facebook group and ask your audience what they’re currently struggling with, what they want, and what solutions they’ve tried already.

You can also ask the same questions in a survey to your email list.

And make sure that in your onboarding and offboarding forms, you’re asking your clients to reflect on where they are in business, what they want out of working with you, and what they can now do as a result of your services.

What should I look for?

The goal of your Voice of the Customer research is to learn more about your ideal client’s struggles, desires, limiting beliefs, objections, and purchasing habits.

What is your ideal client saying is hard? What is this person really wanting that they can’t achieve on their own—and what limitations prevent them from achieving it? Why might they be hesitant to invest in a solution? What types of solutions do they buy—and how did they get to a place where they felt comfortable purchasing?

These are all questions you want to find answers to. And don’t worry if you don’t find all of the answers you’re looking for in one research session. This is a process that takes time and consistency. You may find some answers in some places and other answers elsewhere. As long as you’re open to the process and consistently do it, you’ll find the data you need.

How can I turn Voice of the Customer research into copy?

You’ve done the investigating. You’ve got the data. So how do you turn it into copy that will resonate with your target audience?

Firstly, we have to analyze our data. Search for common themes regarding struggles, desires, objections, and limiting beliefs. When you see similar experiences shared over and over again, you’ll be able to pick out ideas that will resonate most deeply with your audience.

Then, take those common themes and use them as a starting point for your copy.

Let’s look at an example:

You’re a certified gut and hormone nutritionist running a group program to help women make lifestyle and dietary changes to improve their gut health. Your ideal client is a woman who is suffering with uncomfortable GI symptoms unable to find relief and ready to take a holistic approach to healing.

You might find in your data that your ideal client has expressed multiple times that she suffers from specific symptoms, has had poor experiences with her doctors, and has trouble enjoying activities she once enjoyed.

Take those common themes and examples and use them to describe who your program is for and what someone can expect to achieve during and after. You’ll end up with something like this:

Do you ever feel like…

No one is taking you or your GI symptoms seriously?

You’ve tried every miracle supplement or diet and nothing has helped ease your discomfort?

You fear activities you once loved like wearing your favorite dress, going out to eat, and even dating?

Food and bloat are taking over your life?

In this course, you’ll learn…

What’s going on in your body with functional lab testing

The kind of support your body really needs to help treat your uncomfortable symptoms

What changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle to find joy in your favorite activities again

How to manage GI symptoms including bloating, constipation, trouble sleeping, and more

Weaving in common themes from your research will help you speak to the specific struggles and desires your ideal client has and will help them understand they are in the right place if this is what they are looking for.

Your homework

Now that you’ve learned all about Voice of the Customer Research and its benefits, it’s time to get to work! Here’s what I want you to do to get started:

1. Think intentionally about where your ideal client is hanging out and having conversations.
2. Get in and hang out in those spaces! Take a look at what people are saying and capture data that is useful to you.
3. Search for common themes in your data and brainstorm on how you can use them to talk about your offer and show your ideal client you know what’s going on and what s/he wants.
4. Draft some new copy and take it for a spin!

And if you’re looking for some more guidance with your Voice of the Customer research, check out my free Voice of the Customer Research Guide. It includes a list of different places to eavesdrop on your ideal clients, questions to survey your own community, and a free databank for you to keep track of and record your own findings!

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

If this is the first time we’re meeting—hello! My name is Val Casola and I’m a website copywriter and brand storyteller for creative and lifestyle brands who want to articulate their value and grow their business.

Come say hi over on Instagram or send me an email at valcasolawrites@gmail.com! Thanks for reading!

Blog photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash