What questions do you ask to your clients?

[Copyking]

Hey copywriters,
Please, I just want to pick up some advice from more experienced copywriters...

Before writing a copy for a client, what questions do you normally ask your clients?
Do you have a normal set of questions or you do your own research without involving the client?

[SARubin]

The first question is "what's the purpose of the copy" (is it lead generation, or direct sales, or just an informative article that needs to be SEO optimized, or something else?)

I deal primarily with direct response sales copy, so the next question would be "what are you selling", followed quickly by "who's your target audience", and "who's your competition".

Then I ask to see what they've used in the past (current promotions, past promotions) and what results they got from those pieces.

Any information they can give me helps cut down on my research. Of course I always do my own research too, but it makes no sense to waste time researching questions that have already been answered.


The more detailed questions I ask depend on the situation. But the above questions are the basic broad strokes to get things started.

[Rhonda]

After a client gives me general specifications I ask if they'd like a particular tonality, or should I bring my own unique voice to the conversation?

Sometimes a new writing style can attract new readers to a website, but if the client wishes to stay on brand then articles should match the tone already established.

[WordyWordpecker]

What is the article about, how long should it be, and what keywords are we targeting are good things to know.