Questions to Ask Copywriting Clients
Questions to ask copywriting clients before a price is named or a headline drafted, for freelancers and agency writers who run their own briefings. The six groups go in the order the conversation tends to: what is being sold, who reads it, how it should sound, what it has to achieve, which claims can be backed up, and then the deliverables, dates, sign-off and fee. Anything the client can look up, such as prices, links and past results, can go in a form beforehand, which leaves the call for the answers that need a second question.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The offer
What exactly are you selling here, and what does the customer get for the money?
Why ask it
Clients tend to answer with a description of the company. Keep going until you have the thing itself: what arrives, in what form, how soon and at what price. If two people on the call describe it differently, that gap is the first item to settle, because no draft can fix an offer nobody has agreed on.
What made you decide this copy needed writing now?
Why ask it
A launch, a falling conversion rate and a new marketing manager who dislikes the old page are three different jobs. The trigger tells you what the client will judge the draft against. Ask what happens if nothing is rewritten, which shows how much the work is worth to them.
What problem does it solve, and what is different for a customer once they have it?
Why ask it
You will hear features first: the modules, the materials, the hours of support. For each one ask 'so the customer can do what?' until the answer is something a person would notice on an ordinary Tuesday. That last answer is usually closer to a headline than the feature was.
Who else is the buyer comparing you with, and what do they do if they pick none of you?
Why ask it
Get the two or three names a buyer has open in other tabs, then the option nobody lists: a spreadsheet, a cheaper habit or putting the decision off. The copy often has to argue against that one before it argues against a rival brand. If the client is unsure, ask what their last three lost sales ended up doing.
What can you say about this that no competitor could honestly say?
Why ask it
Most first answers are quality, service and care, which every rival claims too. Push for something checkable: a method, a material, a number, a restriction the others do not have. When nothing surfaces, the difference may sit in who it is for, so ask which customers they suit better than anyone.
How is it priced, and how does that sit against the alternatives?
Why ask it
Price decides how much the copy has to do. A cheap impulse buy can be sold in a short page, while something the reader must justify to a boss or a partner needs the reasoning laid out. Find out whether the price will be shown, since copy that hides it reads differently from copy that defends it.
Is there a trial, a returns policy or a promise of results, and what are the exact terms?
Why ask it
Get the wording in writing, including time limits and exclusions, before it goes anywhere near a headline. A risk reversal is strong copy only when the terms are as generous as the sentence sounds. If the terms are still being discussed, mark the line in the brief as pending.
What happens in the first hour after someone says yes?
Why ask it
The button text, the confirmation line and half the reassurance near the call to action come from this answer. A buyer who expects instant access and gets a sales call will feel misled by copy that was technically accurate. Walk through the checkout or sign-up yourself if they will let you.
How did the business come to sell this, and who was it first made for?
Why ask it
The origin is often the About page and sometimes the opening of the sales page, and the first customers show who the product suits best. A client who calls the story dull can be asked what annoyed them enough to start. Check which parts they are happy to see published, since founders tell a writer more than they want printed.
Is anything about the product, the price or the launch date still undecided?
Why ask it
Copy written around a moving offer gets rewritten for free unless you have said otherwise. List what is unsettled, ask who decides each item and by when, and either start later or quote the rework separately.
The reader
Who is the one person this copy has to persuade?
Why ask it
Ask for a real customer described by name, job and situation, since a segment such as 'small business owners' gives you nobody to write to. If there are several kinds of buyer, ask which one this piece is for and leave the others to another page. A client who says 'everyone' needs the question again with last month's orders in front of them.
What has usually just happened when someone starts looking for this?
Why ask it
The event that sends a person searching is where the copy can open: a failed audit, a bad night's sleep, a quote that came in too high. Sales and support staff know these stories better than the marketing team, so ask who on their side takes the first calls.
What does the reader already believe about products like yours, true or not?
Why ask it
Copy that ignores a belief loses to it. If buyers assume everything in the category is overpriced or all providers are alike, the page has to meet that head on before any benefit lands. Write the beliefs down as the reader would say them, then ask which ones the client can honestly overturn.
What have they already tried, and why did it let them down?
Why ask it
A reader who has been disappointed twice reads every promise with suspicion. Knowing the earlier attempts lets you say why this one differs without naming rivals. If the client does not know, finding out is a research task to put in the quote.
What words do customers use for the problem in their own emails, reviews and calls?
Why ask it
Ask for the raw material and not a summary of it: support tickets, review pages, call recordings, survey answers. Phrases lifted from buyers tend to beat anything invented at a desk, and they also show which internal terms customers never use.
What stops an interested person from going through with it?
Why ask it
Each objection needs an answer somewhere on the page, so collect them all and ask which one ends the most sales. Price is the reply you will hear first. Ask what people say right after they call it too expensive, because the reason underneath is usually trust, timing or effort.
Where will the reader be coming from, and what will they have seen just before this?
Why ask it
A visitor who searched for the product by name needs less explaining than one who tapped an ad in the middle of something else, and an existing customer needs less again. Whatever came before your page, an ad, an email or a link, has already made a promise, and your opening has to pick it up. Ask to see that piece, or offer to write it.
Who else has to agree before the reader can buy?
Why ask it
In business sales the reader often has to forward the page to a finance lead or a director, and at home there may be a partner to convince. That second reader wants different facts, usually cost and risk. It may call for a short section of its own, or a separate document the first reader can pass along.
Can I speak to two or three customers, or listen to recorded sales calls?
Why ask it
This is the request most worth pressing, and the one clients most often forget to offer. Twenty minutes with a recent buyer gives you their reasons in their own words. If access is refused, ask why, and settle for reviews, tickets and a conversation with whoever sells.
Who should not buy this?
Why ask it
Clients resist the question, then answer it well. Saying who the product is wrong for makes the rest of the page more believable, and it can head off refunds and complaints. Check whether they are willing to see that said in print.
Voice
Do you have a voice or style guide in writing, and who decides when a draft has strayed from it?
Why ask it
The guide states the intention, and the person who polices it shows what gets approved in practice. Where the two differ, go with the person and ask for a piece they passed without changes. If there is no guide, offer to note the choices you make so the next writer inherits them.
Which piece of your existing copy sounds most like you, and which one makes you wince?
Why ask it
Two samples do more than a paragraph of adjectives. Ask the client to point at the exact sentences they like or dislike, then say back what you think the pattern is. Their correction of your summary is the most useful voice note you will get.
Which brand's writing do you wish yours sounded like, and what is it you like about it?
Why ask it
What they like is often the confidence or the brevity and not the jokes, so get them to point at a line. A company that wants to sound like a playful consumer brand while selling to cautious buyers has a tension to talk through before the first draft, not after it.
Is the voice meant to stay as it is, only sharper, or to change?
Why ask it
A refresh and a repositioning are priced and approved differently. If the voice is changing, ask who inside the company wants the change and who will resist it, because the draft will be read by both.
Which words and phrases are off limits, and which have to appear?
Why ask it
Collect the banned list, the required legal lines and the pet hates of whoever approves. Ask the reason behind each ban. A word avoided on a lawyer's advice stays out; one avoided because a former manager disliked it may be open to discussion.
How does your best salesperson explain this out loud?
Why ask it
Spoken pitches are usually clearer than anything on the website, because a confused listener interrupts. Ask to sit in on a call, or have the founder talk you through it and record it if they agree. Note the order they put things in as well as the phrases.
What existing material can you send me before I start?
Why ask it
Name what you want: past campaigns, the sales deck, customer research, the competitor pages they watch, results from earlier tests. Set a date for it to arrive, and make clear that your own deadline counts from that day.
What would make you reject a first draft on sight?
Why ask it
People know their dislikes better than their preferences. The answer may be length, humor, exclamation marks, hype or anything that sounds like a named competitor. Put these in the brief so the first round of feedback can be about the argument.
The goal
What should the reader do when they reach the end?
Why ask it
One piece, one action. If the client lists three, ask them to rank the three and move the others to another page or a later email. The chosen action also sets the length: a free download asks less of the reader than a booked call.
Which number is this copy meant to move, and where does it stand today?
Why ask it
Without a starting figure nobody can say later whether the copy worked. Ask for the current conversion rate, open rate, reply rate or sales count, over a stated period. A client with no figures can still set up tracking before launch, and that is worth suggesting.
How will the result be tracked, and who will send me the figures?
Why ask it
Writers are often left out once the copy is delivered. Agree a date for the first set of numbers and a named person to send them. You need them to improve the work, and to show the next client what happened.
Is this replacing something, and how has that version performed?
Why ask it
Ask to see the old page or email with its results, and find out what the client thinks was wrong with it. Sometimes the old version did well and someone is simply tired of it. If so, say that, and suggest running the new one against it instead of replacing it outright.
Will this be tested against another version, and do you want alternative headlines or subject lines from me?
Why ask it
Variants are extra writing, so the answer belongs in the quote as well as the plan. Ask who sets the test up, how long it will run and what counts as a win. Where a page gets few visitors a test may take months to show anything, and one carefully argued version can be the better use of the fee.
Is search traffic part of the goal, and has anyone already picked the terms?
Why ask it
If there is a keyword list, ask who made it and whether it is fixed. Find out too whether headings, page titles and descriptions are yours to write or belong to someone else. When search is the main aim, the page structure may need agreeing with that person before you draft.
Three months from now, what would make you say this was worth the fee?
Why ask it
This catches the measure that is not a number: a page the sales team finally uses, a founder who stops rewriting it, fewer confused support requests. Write the answer into the brief in their words and return to it when the job ends.
Proof
What evidence do you have that the product does what you say it does?
Why ask it
Sort what they offer into kinds: measured results, tests, customer accounts, their own experience. Each supports a different strength of claim. Where the evidence is thin the copy has to say less, and it is better to agree that now than in the second revision.
Which customers have agreed to be quoted, named or shown with their results?
Why ask it
A testimonial in a folder is not the same as permission to publish it. Ask who holds the consent and in what form, and whether it covers the customer's name, photo and numbers or the words alone. What an endorsement has to disclose is set differently from one country and one industry to the next, so have the client tell you what applies to them.
For each figure you want in the copy, where does it come from and how recent is it?
Why ask it
Ask for the source document, the date and the sample behind every number. A figure passed down through three slide decks may no longer be true, or may never have meant what the headline wants it to. Keep a list of sources with the draft so whoever checks it can follow you.
Is the deadline, the limited number or the discount real, and what happens the day after it ends?
Why ask it
Urgency you can write with a straight face needs a real cutoff: a course that starts, stock that runs out, a price that does go up. If the timer resets for every visitor or the sale never ends, say you would sooner write a plain reason to act now. Get the end date and the time zone in writing, because they will be in the subject line.
Who checks claims before publication, and what have they turned down before?
Why ask it
Health, finance, legal services and children's products often face rules on what may be promised, and those vary by place and by advertising platform. Do not guess at them. Ask who on the client's side reviews copy, collect their past objections, and build their review time into the schedule.
What do the complaints and the worst reviews say?
Why ask it
Complaints show where the current copy overpromises and which doubts a new reader will bring. A client who shares them freely is easier to write for. If a complaint describes a real fault, ask whether it has been fixed before you write anything that touches it.
Which logos, awards, press mentions and certifications are you cleared to show?
Why ask it
Ask whether each company has agreed to its logo appearing, and for the year of every award and certification, since those lapse. Press quotes should be checked against the original article. Leave out anything nobody on the client's side can vouch for.
Can I use the product, or watch someone use it, before I write?
Why ask it
First-hand detail is the cheapest way to make copy specific: the sound, the screen, the step that surprises people. If a trial is not possible, ask for a demo and for permission to record it. Note what confused you, since new buyers are likely to stumble in the same place.
Scope
What exactly do you need written: which pages, emails or ads, and roughly how long is each?
Why ask it
Turn the answer into a countable list before you quote. 'The website' can mean five pages or fifty, and 'a few emails' has a way of becoming a sequence of twelve. Ask whether headlines, button text, page titles and image captions are included.
When does the copy go live, and what has to happen between my final draft and that day?
Why ask it
Design, development, legal review and translation all sit after you and all take time. Work back from the launch to find your real deadline, and ask how fixed the date is. A date tied to an event will not move; one picked in a meeting might.
What budget has been set aside for the writing, and has it been approved?
Why ask it
Ask before you quote, not after. Writing is often a leftover line in a budget made for design or ads, so find out whether this figure was set for the copy or is whatever remained. With a range in hand you can shape the list of pieces to fit it. A figure still waiting on someone else's yes can vanish, so ask when that yes is due.
Have you worked with a copywriter before, and what would you want done differently?
Why ask it
The previous job tells you what this client fears: missed deadlines, a voice that was wrong, a writer who vanished or one who would not take notes. Listen for whether the trouble was the writer or the brief. If every past writer was a disappointment, ask to see one of the briefs.
Who reads the draft before it is approved, and whose word is final?
Why ask it
Get the names and what each one reads for: the founder for voice, sales for accuracy, legal for claims. The person with the last word is often absent from the briefing call, and a draft written for the people who were there can fail with the one who was not. Ask for ten minutes with them, or have them approve the written brief.
How will feedback reach me: one collected set of notes, or comments from each reader separately?
Why ask it
Four readers editing one document will rewrite each other's lines and leave you to pick a winner. Ask for one person to settle the disagreements before the notes reach you, and for comments that name the problem, such as 'this sounds pushy', in place of a rewritten sentence. A problem you can fix in the voice of the piece; a pasted-in sentence usually breaks it.
How many rounds of changes should the quote cover?
Why ask it
Say your usual number, then separate two kinds of change. Wording, order and emphasis are revisions. A new audience, a new offer or a new approver after the brief was signed is a second job, and should be quoted as one. Agree both definitions in writing while nobody has a draft to defend.
Who is designing this, and will I write to a layout or will the layout follow the words?
Why ask it
Writing into a finished template means fixed character counts and sections you did not choose. Ask to see the wireframe, or to talk to the designer for ten minutes. Whichever comes first, ask to read the copy in the layout before launch, since lines get cut to fit and nobody tells the writer.
Where else will this copy be used: ads, print, other markets, translation?
Why ask it
Wider use changes both the writing and the fee. Copy bound for translation needs fewer idioms, and copy cut into ads needs lines that stand alone. Who may reuse the words, and where, comes down to what your agreement says and the law in each of your countries, so write the uses into the contract and take advice if any of it is unclear.
May I show the finished work in my portfolio and name you as the client?
Why ask it
Ask now, while goodwill is high. Some clients want a delay until after launch, some allow the work but not the results, and ghostwritten pieces may be off the table entirely. Get the answer in writing with the rest of the terms.
Do you have a policy on AI tools in the writing, for or against?
Why ask it
Some clients forbid them, some expect them, and some need to know for their own disclosure rules. Say how you work and ask what they require, including whether their confidential material may go into any outside tool. Record the answer with the terms.
How to brief a copywriting job with these questions
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the briefing
Read as a buyer would
Go through the client's site, join the email list, read a page of reviews and look at one competitor before the call, then cross off whatever that already answered. Opening with 'your pricing page says this, is it still right?' gets further than asking what they charge. Keep a note of the places where you got lost, because the client has stopped seeing them.
Decide what goes in the form
Anything the client can look up belongs in a questionnaire sent a few days ahead: product names and prices, links to existing copy, current figures, the style guide, who approves. About a dozen items is as much as most people will finish in one sitting. What the reader believes, what stops a sale, where the evidence is thin and what would get a draft rejected come back as marketing language when they are written down, so hold most of The reader and the harder half of Proof for the call.
Weight the groups by the job
A sales page leans on The offer and Proof, since every claim on it will be read by someone looking for a reason to say no. An email sequence needs the reader's situation and the piece that sent them there. A website rewrite or an About page spends longest on Voice, and articles written for search start with the search question under The goal and the list of deliverables under Scope. Ask the other groups briefly, but ask them.
A small job still needs six of them
For a single email or a short ad, take one question from each group: what is being sold, who reads it, a sample of the voice, the one action wanted, the proof available and who approves. That can be done in fifteen minutes, and skipping it is how a one-hour job turns into four rounds.
On the discovery call
Record it, with their agreement
Ask at the start whether you may record. The client's spoken phrasing is raw material, and you cannot take notes and listen for a follow-up at the same moment. If they prefer not to be recorded, bring a second person or leave yourself gaps to write.
Stay with the offer until it is clear
It is tempting to hurry on to voice and deadlines, which feel like the writer's territory. Weak drafts often trace back to a first group that was rushed: an offer described three ways, a price nobody would confirm. If the hour runs out there, book a second call before you start writing.
Mark the sentences worth keeping
Clients say their best lines by accident, usually when explaining something to you as an outsider. Note the time on the recording or put a star in the margin. Read two or three of them back at the end and ask if they would be happy to see them in print.
Say the pitch back before you hang up
In the last five minutes, give the offer back in two sentences as you would write it: who it is for, what they get and why they should believe it. The client's correction is worth more than their agreement. A long pause, or 'well, it is more than that', means The offer is not finished and the draft should wait.
When nobody knows the answer
Blank answers about customers, results or proof are findings in their own right. Each one becomes a line in your proposal: an interview to run, a figure to track down, a claim to leave out. Say so on the call so the quote does not come as a surprise.
From the answers to a brief and a quote
Write the brief on one page
Within a day or two, write up what you heard: what is being sold, the one reader, what that reader believes now and should believe by the end, the single action, the voice shown in three or four sample sentences, the deliverables and the dates. Ask the person with the final say to approve it in writing. Later feedback is then measured against the page and not against memory.
Attach a claims list
Under the brief, list every figure, testimonial, award and promise you expect to use, each with its source file and the name of whoever confirmed it. Send it for approval with the brief, before any drafting. A claim struck from a list costs a minute, and the same claim struck from a finished headline can take the page's argument with it.
Quote what can be counted
List each piece with its rough length, the number of rounds, and what the client supplies and by when, with a line saying your delivery date moves if theirs do. Research, customer interviews and extra versions for testing go in as separate lines so they can be accepted or declined one at a time. Contracts, deposits and tax work differently from place to place, so check how they apply to you before you send terms.
Where copy briefings go wrong
Briefing with someone who cannot approve
A marketing coordinator may give you a full and careful brief that the founder overturns on reading the first draft. Find out early whose opinion is final and get that person to read the written brief, even if they never join a call.
Accepting adjectives as a voice
'Friendly but professional' describes nearly every company. Swap the adjectives for samples: a paragraph they like, one they do not, and a sentence you write on the spot for them to react to.
Writing claims nobody has checked
A number from the sales deck, a 'best in the region' and a customer result with no source can each cause the client trouble once published. Ask for the source and for who reviews claims. What is allowed depends on the industry and the place, and that judgment belongs to the client and their advisers.
Starting while the offer is still moving
A changed price or a dropped feature after the first draft means new copy, not a revision. If the answers show the offer is unsettled, wait, or agree in advance how changes of that kind are charged.