A-list copywriter reveals her best research tips for writing long-running control ads
Published: Fri, 03/08/19
Nobody talks enough about research for copywriting.
So, I couldn’t help but ask her about how top writers like her do it.
Enjoy…
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elBENBO: Give us an overview — from start to finish — of how Kim Krause Schwalm researches and writes an ad to a brand-new market, for a brand-new product.
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: The research phase is crucial (and it’s my favorite part of the project). I used a researcher once or twice, and found I had to go back and do this myself. You WANT to do this yourself, but have a highly-organized approach to your research process.
I keep a “Copy Ideas” file open at all times as I’m googling and digging through studies (if it’s a supplement, which it often is, that I’m writing about) and articles. I find reading articles helps clarify a lot of the content in the studies, especially if it was one that got a lot of buzz…it helps you put things more in “layman’s terms” (and understand the science-y aspects).
As I’m going through this process, I’m finding golden nuggets and gems that spark potential “big ideas” and angles for my main headline and lead.
For example, for a VSL I wrote last year for New Market Health, I got this somewhat crazy idea/angle for an anti-aging supplement telling a story about real-life twin astronauts and how the one that spent time in space actually grew younger compared to his twin. I had to stretch a bit to tie this in with the supplement’s mechanism of action, but I found a way that was accurate and passed legal scrutiny.
This is why you really want to be doing the research yourself…it is probably the most valuable use of your time. Don’t sub this out to some so-called “researcher”. You’ll just get pages of useless links and junk…and you’ll end up using some cliché idea that won’t get attention and produce lackluster results.
Once I’ve gone through this research phase (which can also include interviewing the doctor or developer behind the product I’m writing for as well as talking to actual repeat customers), I sit down and write.
I often will just do a complete stream of consciousness without too much editing, as if I’m just talking to somebody and telling them about the product for the first time. I do this while incorporating my “big idea” and the findings from the research and claims about the product that stand out in my mind most.
If I feel stuck or just want to get some headwinds, I write out the offer or even just the order page or order form. Then the guarantee, giving it some fresh angle or name. If I’m writing a magalog and have a sudden inspiration for a sidebar, I write the sidebar.
I write everything in the order that I feel like, and then copy and paste and edit and pull it all together. On some occasions I use a rough outline, but 99% of the time if I even do that, I end up ignoring it. Sometimes I flush out the main headline and lead first, but I don’t stay married to it.
That’s because as I write the rest of the main running copy, often I end up getting a better idea or finding a buried lead later that needs to be moved up. Or I think of something I want to research further and then end up with something the I think is stronger to lead with.
This is why I absolutely refuse to work with a client that wants me to present a headline and lead for approval first before going to the next phase of writing a first draft. That just ain’t how Kimmy works.
It doesn’t work with my process. And if you don’t have enough confidence that I can deliver a full first draft of copy that’s going to be pretty darn close to very good or even great, then PLEASE do me a favor…and hire someone else.
elBENBO: Who’s on your Copywriting Mount Rushmore, and what is the one big lesson you learned from each?
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: Hmmm…this is a tough one. So many great copywriters have influenced me.
I’d have to say the following (I’m assuming “Mount Rushmore” is limited to four):
1. The late great Gene Schwartz—
How to step back and think super strategically about your copy approach to a particular promotion, i.e., the things he covers in his book Breakthrough Advertising…things like the prospect’s state of awareness, sophistication of your market, and other strategies.
I was actually in the room at Phillips Publishing as a marketing manager back in 1993 when Gene gave a full-day, in-house seminar and talked about his writing process (that famous 33:33 alarm clock setting) and how he found copy inspiration for his big ideas and fascinations that led to so many legendarily successful promotions.
It’s funny, I remember before I left my previous job as a Brand Manager for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, one of his direct mail promos landed on my desk at work (I was seeded on several “senior” lists for research). It was the “How to Burn Disease Out of Your Body” one.
Little did I know then what it portended.
2. Gary Bencivenga—
How to write silky-smooth copy that makes it impossible to stop reading. He “classes up the joint” for any promotion he’s ever written, respectful of the reader without talking over their heads. He provides unassailable proof and connects in a way that builds trust.
I was also lucky to be invited to his 2005 “Bencivenga 100” seminar. He even called on me during his seminar to stand up and talk about my Personal Finance control. Gary shared so much wisdom at that once-in-a-lifetime event that still influences my copywriting today.
And he and his wife are two of the finest and most generous humans you could ever hope to meet.
3. Clayton Makepeace—
How to hit all the emotional “hot buttons” in your copy and use really vivid words to paint powerful pictures the prospect can see (or can’t “un-see”). I had the chance to work on a promo many years ago with Clayton and learned tons from him.
I also attended his 2006 “Power Marketing Summit” in Washington, DC and still have that big red binder on my bookshelf.
True story:
when my son was 10 or 11, he stole some of Clayton’s promos that had “sex side benefit” sidebars and hid them under his bed.
That’s how good Clayton’s copy is—my pre-teen son used to read it like porn!
4. Parris Lampropoulus—
How to write clearly and convincingly using all the strategies and techniques I just mentioned from the other Mount Rushmore copywriters.
Ironically, my relationship with Parris started with me being the client at Phillips Publishing (as an associate group publisher/marketing director) and him being the copywriter…this was way back in the late 1990s…to going up against his control in my first project with Boardroom (and beating it)…to working with him as a copywriter as a copy chief since he oversees all promos written for Soundview/Advanced Bionutritionals, one of my biggest long-time clients.
Parris loves to teach, he’s really good at it (we should call him “Professor Parris”), and I’ve learned a lot from him and also began to understand more of the “instinctive” things I did as a copywriter already…he’s definitely been a huge influence.
There are three other top copywriters I greatly admire and/or who had an early impact on my copywriting career.
There’s also Don Hauptman, who was the copywriter behind many famous ads, such as one with the headline “Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat!” I met him early on in my freelance career at Newsletter Publishers conferences held in nearby Washington, DC.
He very generously critiqued some of my early financial copy and provided super-valuable input—and refused to let me pay him for it!
There’s David Deutsch, who’s written multiple huge controls for major companies and is also one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
Like Don, David also offered to review my copy and bullets when I was writing one of my first projects for Boardroom. While I’ve heard he can be brutal with his feedback, I found him very gracious—and incredibly helpful and brilliant.
And there’s my former Phillips Publishing colleague, A-list copywriter Carline Anglade-Cole.
I love how she’s so good at writing in a conversational way and using unusual images or really short headlines effectively, plus boiling down complex concepts into super-simple language
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And so ends part 2 of my 4-part interview with Kim Krause Schwalm.
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Ben Settle
P.S. If your shipping address is different than your billing address (Kim's shopping cart only asks for billing, since it's a digital product), let Kim know after you buy so she can get me the correct info to get the bonus books to you.
Simply reply to her "thank you" email what your shipping is.