“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask.”

 

Smart fella, that Einstein.  After all, questions are the key to quality.  That’s why I tend to ask a lot of questions before projects, especially with first-time clients.  If I don’t understand how you help people, how can I possibly help you?

 

I’ll use my webpage brief as an example.  Much like my previously-discussed case study brief, it contains high-level questions that serve as a starting point for deeper Q&A that brings me up to speed quickly.

 

 

Your Offer

 

What offer is being promoted?

Let’s assume this is for a product/service page (I’ll tailor the brief for different types of pages).  What are we talking about and why?

 

Is it pre-existing, updated, or brand new?

Redoing a page requires an entirely different approach than creating one from scratch.

 

What are its features?

There’s no such thing as too much info here.  It’s up to me to pick out the most important details to focus on.

 

What’s the value proposition?

Why should people care about this, what’s in it for them?  Features are great, but benefits are greater.  Remember, it’s not about your drill as much as it’s about their hole.

 

Who are your main competitors for this offer?

Reviewing the other guys is part of my due diligence.  We have to differentiate you clearly, plus it helps me get an even better sense of your industry.

 

What makes your offer different than theirs?

I.e., your USP.  Why should people buy from you rather than them?

 

 

Target Audience

 

What’s your audience?

Hopefully this is obvious, but I need to understand who’s buying your stuff so I can put myself in their shoes.

 

If you have multiple offers, is it the same audience for all?

This is key, and the same thing applies to competitors if you hawk several products or services.  For example, if you target B2B and B2C audiences separately, go ahead and can the blanket approach.

 

What are their pain points?

In order to properly present your solution, I need to know what problem you’re solving.

 

What are your prospects’ biggest hesitations about your offer?

Maybe you’re pricey, maybe your gadget’s perceived as too complex, maybe your offer’s so new that people don’t see the need for it yet, yada yada.  The nature of their concerns will dictate how proactive we need to be in overcoming them.

 

Why did your customers choose you?

Knowing why existing customers said “yes” (and why they keep coming back) should influence messaging for similar audiences.

 

 

Main Objective

 

Where are prospects in the sales funnel when they get here?

How much do people already know about your business and/or solution?  Websites are usually the first place prospects go to learn about you, but that doesn’t mean we need to spend a lot of time in the weeds.

 

What’s the page’s main objective?

Are we teasing a launch, hoping to book a session, straight up trying to close a sale, or what?

 

What’s the primary message you want to convey?

This is pretty much the most important question of all since it impacts every single piece of content from top to bottom.  If people remember one thing, what should it be?

 

What’s the CTA?

What do you want people to do after reading?  Hint:  the answer is not “nothing.”

 

 

Content

 

What kind of language have customers responded to in the past?

Is there something you say in meetings that triggers the coveted “A-ha!” moment?

 

Is there any must-have copy for the page?

It may not be exact wording, but sometimes clients want to ensure very specific points are integrated.

 

Are there certain keywords you want to use?

SEO, folks.

 

Is there a particular format this needs to fit?

If there’s an existing template, it’s easier to build around that (even if there’s flexibility) than it is to rework things later.

 

Are there testimonials we can use?

Social proof is always great.  Even if it’s not appropriate to feature these on the page, they still help me understand your solution and why people like it, which is super valuable.

 

Do you have a brand and/or content style guide?

Consistency with the rest of your sales and marketing platforms is critical.  If you have one, great.  If you don’t, I’ll match your other materials.  If you’re looking for one, we can do that, too.

 

 

Again, this is a starting point.  I’ll ask for more detail, you’ll clarify some stuff, and there are a bunch of other things I may ask depending on how this first batch is answered (no point in wasting time with irrelevant lines of inquiry).  For, as Einstein’s quote concludes, “Once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

 

Guess that genius didn’t charge by the hour.

 

 

Upstart web writers, feel free to use any or all of this to help with your projects.  Prospective clients, feel free to start pulling together this info whenever you’re ready to light things up.