Plan marketing copy (the nine reader questions)
plan_marketing_copyPlan any piece of marketing copy before you write it, whether it's an ad, a landing page, a sales page or sales letter, an email, a subject line, a social post, a headline or a video script. Give it the goal, the reader and the offer, and it tells you which of the nine questions every reader silently asks this piece has to answer, which ones deserve the most words for this reader, and a few ways to answer each one, drawn from real advertising and linked to the Persuasion Taxonomy. One option is always the established move and the rest are less expected, because left to itself a model answers every question with the move everyone else makes, and readers have learned to skim past it. So call it before you draft, even when you're sure you know how to write the piece, and when the draft is done, check it with diagnose_marketing_copy.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| goal | Yes | What the copy has to get the reader to do. Use purchase when they should buy now, signup for an opt-in, a trial, a demo or a lead form, click when the whole job is the click (most ads and links), and engagement for nurture emails, newsletters and social posts that should be read, answered or followed. | |
| offer | Yes | What you're selling or asking for, and the main promise. | |
| format | Yes | The kind of copy it is: ad, landing_page, sales_letter for long-form sales copy, email, email_subject, social_post, video_script or headline. | |
| audience | Yes | Who will read it, as specifically as you can put it: their role, their situation and what they already believe. | |
| category | No | The industry, if you want to compare against what brands in that category usually do. There is enough data for apparel, automotive, b2b_saas, beauty_skincare, business_coaching, consumer_tech, dtc_food_bev, dtc_health, fitness_health, home_goods, info_product, investing, marketing_education, otc_pharma, personal_care, personal_development, supplements, weight_loss. Any other category still works, just without the comparison. | |
| awareness_level | No | How much the reader already knows, on Eugene Schwartz's scale. Use unaware if they don't know they have the problem, problem_aware if they feel it, solution_aware if they know solutions exist, product_aware if they know you, and most_aware if they're ready and only need the offer. | |
| persuasion_mode | No | How hard the copy is allowed to push. Balanced is the default, persuasive and sustainable over time. Equity protects long-term trust, so it rules out fear, hype and hard-sell moves. Aggressive is for short-term direct response and allows fear, threat and hard scarcity. In every mode, the claims stay true. | balanced |
| options_per_question | No | How many ways to answer each question you want to see. The default is 4. |