After analyzing the pain points of 100 copywriting articles, we found that 99% of them are not really painful!

I have recently collected some articles about copywriting . There are many articles with the theme of "Insight into User Pain Points", and they seem to be of higher quality than other types of articles. They usually involve psychology and sociology, for example:

5 online copywritings that will “hurt you”, will you scream in pain?

How does new product copy evoke pain points?

How to understand user pain points when you can’t afford to hire a research agency?

Have you touched the "pain points" of your customers?

Tips for finding pain points: Think like a moron!

Therefore, practicing insight and identifying pain points have become essential techniques for copywriters. I hope to improve my ability to see pain points with the help of "How to Improve Your Insight" and "18 Ways to See into People's Hearts".

But after learning all the eighteen martial arts, despite practicing them with great concentration, unfortunately, he still could not hit the target with one strike.

Why?

Because touching upon pain points is an art form that requires experience and life experience. In the United States, senior copywriters usually have 7-25 years of experience, while in China, senior copywriters usually only have 3-5 years of experience. Age is secondary. The experience and thinking that age brings are the most powerful pen in the hands of the copywriter.

Nowadays, most copywriters know about pain points from books, articles, and reports rather than from personal experience or observation of life. Unfortunately, no matter how many books you read, articles you read, or reports you review, your understanding of pain points will only be superficial. At this point, applying the unique pain points observed by others to your own products will usually fail, and pseudo pain points will be created.

1. After the pain, there is no transformation

When judging a good copy, you often hear such adjectives.

Consumers are white-collar workers, and we call on them to relax their mind and body and enjoy life. So I wrote: [You have seen this city at 4 a.m., but have you seen the Meili Snow Mountain at 4 a.m.? ×× Travel Agency takes you to see the early morning of every city. 】

A code dog who returned home at 4 a.m. was moved to tears after seeing this sentence.

The consumers are housewives, and we call on them to love their families as well as themselves. So I wrote - [You were extremely stunning before you got married, but after you got married, you only needed food, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and ×× cosmetics. Love yourself well. 】

A housewife in her early 30s was called "Auntie" when she was buying vegetables at the market. She was overwhelmed with emotions when she saw this sentence.

The consumers are business men, and we call on them to put aside social engagements and return to their families. So I wrote: [My son asked my mother, "Is my father Batman? Why does he only come back when I fall asleep?" ×× Handicraft Workshop, make cookies with children. 】

A nearly 40-year-old entrepreneur burst into tears when he saw this sentence while leaning against the wall to spit out wine after entertaining clients.

Is this copy well written? Well written! It writes out the inner thoughts of each group and touches on the pain points of each group. I can relate to them and I am deeply moved.

But does this have anything to do with your product? When you are tired from overtime work, you can sleep or talk to friends, so why must you travel? If you want to love yourself, you can buy beautiful clothes and go on a honeymoon with your husband, so why do you have to buy cosmetics? Accompanying children can be telling your son a bedtime story or taking him to the amusement park, so why must it be making cookies?

The above pain points are actually pseudo pain points - the pain points have nothing to do with the product, and there is no conversion after the pain. These pseudo pain points have two important characteristics: 1. They cover a wide range of people, such as white-collar workers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, housewives, successful men around 35 years old, etc. The second is that the matching degree is high and it can be combined with different industries and different products. It seems to resonate, but in fact it is just for self-satisfaction.

Taking the pain points of a certain social group as the pain points of the product's consumer group is a mistake that many copywriters like to make. Without the resources, tone, appeal and other huge background conditions of a high-level brand, they try to imitate others without success, resulting in a disconnect between consumers and products. The image created by the promotional copy is too big to be filled by the product.

Before looking for pain points, the copywriter must first think: What is the relationship between this pain point and your product? What is the intersection between group pain points and products?

2. How to make the pain memorable

Many articles emphasize that when writing copy, one should not focus consumers’ attention on the product, but should step out of the “copywriter’s” perspective and stand from the user’s perspective. Unfortunately, they don't tell you how to dance.

Once the copywriting goes too far, jumps too far, and moves away from the product, false pain points will be created. False pain points usually have a misleading appearance, which makes the copywriter mistakenly believe that the pain points of the consumer group are the pain points of the product, and there is no next step after the pain.

So how can we make the pain points we touch more lasting and more memorable?

1. Refine the crowd

First, let’s popularize the difference between consumers and consumer groups. Consumers are real people who have personalities, emotions, and can communicate with businesses. Consumer group is a collective concept. Millions of consumers make up a consumer group, and they just have certain commonalities.

A post-95s office worker belongs to both the "post-95s population" and the "Chinese office population". He belongs to different groups and has different characteristics, but he is a consumer and his characteristics are complex.

Most people like to study consumer groups, sociology, and psychology, hoping to use human weaknesses and strengths to gain insight into a certain type of consumer group. However, most copywriters are unable to reach this high level of utilizing the pain points of consumer groups. The pain points of consumer groups are too broad and general, making it difficult to grasp their essence.

Segmenting consumer groups is the first step in finding the real pain points. Only by thoroughly understanding the characteristics of your consumers can you write targeted copy.

For example, if the product is Japanese high-end ceramic tableware, we will segment the population step by step.

Original group: female white-collar workers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Pain point: high work pressure, physical and mental exhaustion

Copywriting: Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and let porcelain accompany you to stop

The first step is to segment the population: female white-collar workers around 25 years old with consumption power in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Pain point: I hope to have a high quality of life

Copywriter: Occasionally being a petty capitalist is worth the hard work

Part 2: Segmented population: 25-year-old artistic female white-collar workers with spending power in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Pain point: I hope to release my unique temperament

Copywriting: Utensils are the art of life, giving you a natural and simple enjoyment

Obviously, every time the population is segmented, the pain points will change. The more consumers are segmented, the clearer the user portraits are. When writing copy, it is like having a conversation with real consumers, and the pain points are closer to the real hearts of consumers.

Finding the target group of a product and thoroughly understanding their characteristics is a laborious and time-consuming task. The user role model (Persona) is a common pattern for building user portraits (for articles on building user portraits, please refer to the historical article "Don't understand the user? 1 trick to help you understand him" by "Seven Bridges Hourglass"). Focus on 3-5 typical consumers, use labels to analyze their needs and preferences, and focus on the pain points.

2. Close contact with consumers

Close contact with consumers is the most direct and effective way to find real pain points. We are more concerned about how consumers view products, use products, evaluate products and how they interact with brands.

This requires knowing consumers better than they know themselves. Carefully observe the subtle relationship between products and consumers, and then analyze the consumers' deeper motivations based on the products.

For example, if your product is headphones, you need to understand their world like a headphone enthusiast, chat with them, become friends with them, and even integrate with them, instead of fantasizing about the psychology of this group of people all day long.

Focus on your own user type: Is it someone who is new to headphones, or someone who has a certain understanding of HIFI, or a mid-to-high-end audiophile?

Focus on their concerns: the cold, warm, soft, and strong style characteristics of sound reproduction, the restoration of details, the control of low frequencies, the performance of sound field/positioning, etc.

Focus on their weaknesses: whether they bought the headphones to enjoy music, are passionate about electronic products, or are they people in the music industry themselves.

The difference between false pain points and real pain points does not lie in whether one has sufficient life experience and insight into human nature, but in communicating with consumers in a down-to-earth manner, integrating with consumers, and truly understanding them. Many copywriting masters capture the real pain points through face-to-face, one-on-one communication with consumers.