Understanding Your Client’s Pain Points
What are pain points? They’re the specific ways in which your buyer’s problem is showing up in their day-to-day life. You can think of pain points as the symptoms of the problem that you solve. While your individual offers should each solve one, very specific problem, you can have many pain points.
For example, let’s say that I’m working 12 hours a day on my business. In this situation, the PROBLEM is that I’m overworking myself. The pain points exist where the problem hurts. These could be a lack of sleep, neglecting my family, neglecting my personal health, not making time for myself, and so on. These are the ways that the problem is impacting the reader.
The Importance of Addressing Pain Points in Sales Copywriting
Whenever I see a coach or copywriter suggest that you should skip over pain points in your copy, I die a little inside.
Not only is there an ethical and responsible way to use pain points in your copy, you absolutely need to include them if you want your copy to convert.
Glossing over pain points and skipping straight to your reader’s dreams and desires prevents you from connecting with their current reality.
Understanding and acknowledging pain points in our sales page copywriting allows us to say to our reader, “I see how that problem is impacting you. I recognize how frustrating that is.” Framing it this way comes from a place of understanding and empathy, which is the cornerstone of connection-driven copy.
Plus, when we see that someone understands our problem, we’re automatically more likely to think that same person has a solution for us.
Finding the Right Balance With Pain Points in Copywriting
A good way to think of the pain points in your copy is by comparing it to the amount of salt you need to use when cooking. It’s really easy to overdo it when adding salt to a recipe as you cook. This will totally ruin the dish. However, if you fail to add any salt at all, the dish will be too bland.
This same metaphor applies to your copy. You could easily overdo it when addressing pain points in your copy, making it unappealing. However, if they’re completely left out, it will fall flat and not appeal to a large number of potential buyers.
Remember that the goal of addressing pain points in copy is not to make the reader actually feel pain. Instead, it’s to acknowledge the pain they experience and empathize with them over it.
How to Effectively Highlight Pain Points in Your Copywriting
The best pain points use relatable language. When describing your reader’s pain points, talk like a human, not a robot!
Ask yourself:
- Is this something they’d actually say?
- What are their exact words for this pain point?
- Is this how they’d phrase it in an everyday conversation?
When describing the pain points, tell a story, and lean on real-life examples where you can. The goal is to paint a picture of what their current reality is like so you can build empathy with them.
Tips for When You’re Feeling Stuck
- Ask your audience. The best way to know what their pain points are is to ask them. By conducting surveys, interviews or polls you can get a list of relatable pain points in their words.
- Use existing data. Lean on existing customer feedback from reviews, case studies, or testimonials you have.
- Search social media. FB groups are a great place to search your topic and see what kind of questions people are asking or saying about your area of expertise. You can also look at other business owners who have similar audiences to you to see the kind of content that is resonating for them. Because the best pain points are relatable, it helps to actually ask your audience how the problem is showing up in their day to day life.
The Messaging Clarity Journal
The messaging clarity journal helps you brew more clarity into your messaging strategy with this in-depth journal, offering the ideal blend of introspection and strategic visioning.
Looking for more copy tips?
If you’re wanting to refine your messaging and improve your copy, check out the below
The Best Customer Pain Point Questions to Nail Your Messaging >
Case Study Template: The Secret to Effective Client Testimonials >
Top 6 Tips for Writing Conversational Copy that Sells >
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