Strategic audience and competitor research to demystify your messaging
“As a copywriter, voice-of-customer research takes up a TREMENDOUS amount of my time and energy. From the time it takes to survey, mine data, and run interviews (plus emotionally decompress afterward…) to the hours I spend organising all the insights, having it all done for me — with the VOC research gloriously packaged to impress my client — would be a godsend.”
“My client has audience personas… but I secretly suspect they’re a Frankenstein creation, cobbled together from patchwork demographic data (which tells us next to nothing) and Mad Libs-style guessing. I need actionable research that helps me write powerful copy.”
“Yep, officially exhausted. I want VOC research taken off my plate for good!”
A godsend for busy online businesses and copywriters
Yes, the Audience Atlas is for you if you want powerful clarity into your positioning and messaging.
If you want to…
- Get clarity into the deep emotional benefits that matter to your (or your client’s) best-fit customers
- Fine-tune your marketing messages for your business or a copy project.
- Uncover meaningful insights into your customers’ journey, the transformation you offer, and the bold conversations your audience is ready to have now.
And…
- You want the calming confidence and clarity that comes from working with an expert who will do the research for you thoughtfully and sensitively, distill meaningful insights and provide strategic guidance on your messaging.
“The Audience Atlas means I can provide EVEN BETTER customer service to my hard working clients.“
Here’s how Melissa’s voice-of-customer (VOC) research has allowed conversion copywriter and launch strategist Jackie Sunga to feel super confident with every launch “because the quality of work has been taken to the next level.”
Meet your audience researcher
Hi, I’m Melissa Payne.
I’m a copywriter and voice-of-customer research expert who helps online businesses and copywriters unlock insights into their audience’s psyche and soul.
To craft the right marketing strategy and write the most compelling copy, you need to intimately understand your pocket-of-people’s challenges, desires, beliefs and actual, real behaviour.
Let’s become fluent in your audience’s language, together.
“I love Love LOVE my Audience Atlas!!
“Before I reached out to Melissa, I felt a little messy. I had a plethora of little copy bits that weren’t synced up in any kind of unified messaging. And I had a dozen different folders of customer research scattered around on my Google Drive.
I’m in love with my Audience Atlas. It is an absolute wealth of knowledge about my audience.
Working with Melissa is like watching a fairy godmother bippity-boppity-boo my raggedy dress and animal friends into a magic horse-drawn carriage and couture dress — but it lasts forever!I’m excited to blend more voice of customer into my copy and build better offers more aligned with what my audience truly wants and needs.
Melissa’s well worth the money. Hire her.”— Bree Weber, Ethical Cold Pitch Strategist & Conversion Copywriter
Here’s how we’ll wizard up those insights
If you don’t speak your customer’s language, what you say will get lost in translation.
I bring a wealth of experience, a signature framework, and attention to detail to every voice-of-customer research and brand positioning project, so you can have clarity on the right messages to attract and convert your client’s audience.
Here’s my signature research process for uncovering meaningful, useful and actionable audience insights.
Introducing…
The Atlas Framework™
Let’s explore the steps we’ll take to uncover the powerful messages that’ll turn even a fickle audience into adoring fans.
Step one
Asking intelligent questions
We’ll start by laying the strategic foundations for our research and the goals and objectives that will fortify it. I’ll schedule interviews, start the message mining and competitor research.
Step two
Testing hypotheses
It’s time to test our research hypotheses. Depending on the package you choose, I’ll whip up a custom survey for you to send to your email list OR jump on a call to chat with them and ask open-ended, strategic questions to glean meaningful insights.
Step three
Listening
I’ll listen to your audience with empathy, emotional intelligence and objectivity, uncovering blind spots, identifying opportunities and connecting the dots to provide you with a fuller picture of your audience.
Step four
Analysing
Poring through the interview notes, mined messages and survey results, I’ll organise the mass of voice-of-customer intel so it becomes understandable, useful and actionable, and pull out key themes.
Step five
Synthesising insights
I’ll identify specific opportunities and prepare messaging recommendations. In just 3 days, I’ll hand over your new Audience Atlas and messaging strategy, and we’ll walk through what we discovered during the VIP research project.
“Working with Melissa is a dream. Truly a dream. The perfect combination of sensitive (which is exactly what I needed) and a strategic researcher.
“I absolutely love how her Audience Atlases are organized and how much thoughtful, loving detail Melissa puts into them.
As a result of working with Melissa, I now have another deliverable to EXCITE clients about because we are so THOROUGH in our work. (Both clients have shared how AMAZING the Atlas is!)”
— Jackie Sunga, Conversion Copywriter
Voice-of-customer insights that’ll make your like, know, and trust factor soar
voice-of-customer research
Audience Atlas
For the copywriter or marketing strategist who needs competitor or audience insights, whipped up in a week.
Perfect for conversion copywriters, launch strategists, and brand strategists.
Here’s what’s included:
- 30-Minute Research Strategy Call
- Audience Research
- Your Choice of:
- 5 Customer Interviews (must be scheduled across one week)
OR
Custom Survey (sent at least one week before the VIP Experience) - PLUS Message Mining and Competitor Research
- 5 Customer Interviews (must be scheduled across one week)
- Your Choice of:
- Audience Atlas Report
- Key Insights for Pain Points, Dreams & Wants, Myths & Beliefs To Dismantle, Beliefs to Reinforce, Hesitations, Outcomes, and Client Affinity
- Competitor Analysis
- Messaging Strategy Recommendations
- Offer Optimisation Recommendations
- Organised Research Spreadsheets
- Loom or Zoom Presentation of Research Insights
Timeline: 3 weeks
Perfect if you want voice-of-customer and competitor research done for you, fast. Each Audience Atlas project investigates a max of 1 offer.
How can I use my Audience Atlas?
Oh, let me count the ways…
1.
Optimise your sales page.
More happy-dance-inducing sales for your client. And more kudos to you.
2.
Optimise your email sequence (or several!)
Swipe your Atlas for sticky email subject lines. Or use it to scaffold your entire email strategy.
3.
Optimise any or all parts of your sales funnel.
For a feel-good, sold-out launch sans headache.
4.
Transform your website copy.
We’re talking messaging hierarchy, attention-grabbing headlines and fascinations to tease your audience’s curiosity.
5.
Optimise your existing offer.
Double down on what’s working and move on from what’s not.
6.
Develop new offer ideas.
Swoop in like a hero and point out exciting new opportunities your client hasn’t seen.
7.
Uncover how your audience perceives your offer.
Validate the core beliefs and values driving your client’s audience’s behaviour & purchase decisions.
8.
Validate your offer’s value proposition.
Because a genuinely magnificent offer is e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.
9.
Validate and make your lead magnet extra irresistible.
Make that first impression count!
10.
Gather testimonials.
I mentioned the Audience Atlas delves into #clientaffinity, right? We’ll excavate precisely what makes your client super special. Straight from their audience’s lovely brains.
11.
Create case studies.
Your Audience Atlas is a treasure trove of social proof. And the starting point for some amazing success stories.
12.
Know exactly which messages to prioritise and lead with.
The messaging hierarchy in your copy, all taken care of.
13.
Craft a data-informed social media strategy.
Validate the stories and social media angles that’ll truly resonate with your audience.
14.
Improve the customer experience… and lift your retention rate.
Get real, nuanced insights into how your client can better serve their pocket of people.
15.
Train your sales team and discover how to have better sales conversations.
Yep, it can help your client with sales conversations, too.
16.
Impress each of your clients with an incredible resource they can use again and again.
And become a freaking superstar in their eyes.
A little birdie told me…
Here are just a few of my clients’ favourite things about my work.
And…
“My Audience Atlas is mind-blowing.
“I used it for so many different things and I don’t think I even touched the surface.
Melissa has a special way with people, which makes her the perfect person to dig into peoples’ brains and emotions to get VOC.I recommend Melissa to everyone I know! I tell them she’s my go-to VOC and messaging person.
She lives and breathes it.”
— Eman Ismail, Email Conversion Copywriter
“A dream addition to my big copy projects.
The Audience Atlas is so highly detailed. So beautifully organized. I was able to present it directly to the client, which made my life so much easier and simpler.
I’ve worked with other researchers whose final product wasn’t organized enough for me to show the client (so I spent hours fixing it) and made it difficult to complete the copy.Working with Melissa is like rolling up to a red carpet like a VIP.
I’ve already written the copy for our client’s website using the Audience Atlas – and the copy truly did go faster.“— Rebecca Vigelius, Conversion Copywriter
Craving actionable audience insights?
Audience Atlas packages are by application only to make sure we’re the perfect fit.
I love working with online businesses and fellow copywriters to finesse their messaging with voice-of-customer and competitor research.
Start the process (with a tiny form).
Hopping with questions?
What does an Audience Atlas look like?
Your Audience Atlas is your go-to resource any time you need validated messaging to connect with your audience.
With a quick scroll through your Atlas, you’ll know exactly what to say and who to say it to through every step of your customer’s journey.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a (obviously fictional to protect my client’s confidentiality!) sample I’ve whipped up for you, so you can see what an Audience Atlas looks like in action. I hope you enjoy LOTR jokes!
The Audience Atlas includes:
- Specific messaging research recommendations for how to approach your messaging and copy
- A voice-of-customer research messaging document
- Slide deck and presentation of research insights
- Raw transcripts from the interviews
I’m a copywriter and I’d love to work with you to deliver a client project. How would this work?
We are partners in delivering your project. Feel free to introduce me to your client as a team member. Of course, I’m happy to sign an NDA to protect your client’s confidentiality.
I understand — giving a part of your project to someone else can feel like handing over “your baby”. To begin, we can start with co-running interviews until you feel comfortable handing over the whole research project.
After we complete the project together, you’ll have a professionally designed Audience Atlas, white-labelled and designed to match your brand colors and logo. You can share these messaging research recommendations with your client as a value-add to your service.
How much does an Audience Atlas cost?
The investment for the Audience Atlas starts at $2550 USD. Pretty affordable, huh? My clients have been able to raise their prices dramatically as a result of all mind-blowing value they offer their client through our collaboration (plus, they just so happen to be super amazing at what they do).
I recommend calculating this $2550 USD into your project fee before you quote your client.
Trust me, you and your client are gonna get a LOT more value than your $2550 USD investment. An Audience Atlas is an easy way to upgrade your service to premium level and charge much more for it. Why? The Atlas is an evolving document with a massive ROI that will serve your client waaaay into the future.
Note: The Audience Atlas is a a streamlined Research VIP Experience over 7 days.
What kind of information will you need from me to get started?
It depends on what you choose. Will you choose the survey option or have me run a day of interviews?
Before I can begin the day of interviews, I’ll need a list of leads and customers your client is happy for me to interview. I want to talk to the star customers, a couple of the average customers, people who are open and willing to share feedback, and maybe someone who left and was not happy with your client’s product. Then, we’ll confirm a single day to complete all 5 interviews.
I recommend getting your client to email a few of their past and current customers before our project begins to explain what we’re doing and ask who would be willing to be interviewed. I’ll open up my calendar for the entire day to get the interviews done efficiently.
If you opt for the survey option instead, we’ll need a segmented email list. We will send this survey out one to two weeks before the VIP Research Experience.
Ideally, your email list should include customers or clients who have bought or worked with your client in the last three to six months. Their purchases and your client’s business will still be fresh in their minds and they’ll be more likely to remember their experience with your client, their product or service, and their website.
It’s important to me that the interviewee feels safe and comfortable. What are your interview techniques?
My priority when interviewing clients is to help them feel at ease and validated, listening with empathy while retaining objectivity. I’ve been told my interviews feel like a ‘conversation over tea’.
I use many techniques to ensure my interviews are psychologically valid:
- Framing the context and purpose of the interview to make the participant feel at ease
- Building trust and seeking buy-in from the interviewee before we begin
- Asking open-ended, behavior-based questions
- Reflecting answers back for confirmation
- Careful exclusion of leading questions