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Satabdi

Resending: Ed #4: Stuck Writing Copy? One VOC Method to Rule it All

Published 6 months ago • 3 min read
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Hello Reader

I've been AWOL because - life - but I'll try to be better now.
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If you're looking to develop a more outside-in approach to your writing, you're in luck. I'm going to talk about my learnings from Joanna Wiebe's course - Conversion Copywriting - on LinkedIn Learning. :)
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​[This email is a brief introduction to the key points of what Wiebe covered in her course. I'll be offering detailed, practical tips in subsequent editions.]

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Let's start with VOC.

When most people sit down to write copy, they start with what they want to say. That's the first mistake.

The most persuasive copy doesn't come from inside your head. It comes from the mouth of customers. This is the principle behind Voice of Customer (VOC).
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VOC is the raw language customers use when they talk about their problems, hopes, and decisions. It is not polished. Neither is it "brand voice." And that's exactly why it works.
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When you use VOC to craft copy or content, you're not guessing what your audience cherishes the most. You're just reflecting it back to them in their own words. That's what creates instant relevance and trust.

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Let's get down to brass tacks. How do you collect VOC?

  1. Surveys: Ask open-ended questions like "What was going on in your life that brought you here today?"
  2. Customer interviews: Five conversations - smartly managed - can reveal more than five "brainstorming sessions."
  3. Review mining: Search Amazon, Google Reviews, or Yelp (if you're in the US, UK, and Canada) for products/services like yours. Look for phrases that express pain or relief, such as "I was tired of..." or "Finally found..."
  4. Sales calls: Listen for objections or excitement. "The price seems high compared to what we're using now" or "This would save me so much time every week!"

I'll talk about how to work with each of these techniques in detail in future editions.

Joanna Wiebe conducted a four-way split test on a homepage headline for a treatment center. They tested four completely different approaches against each other.

Control (Headline 1): "Your addiction ends here."

  • Direct, institutional, promise-based
  • Company voice—written by copywriters
  • Positioning: Definitive solution statement

Headline 2: A statistic about recovery

  • Data-driven, credibility-focused
  • Company voice—using industry statistics
  • Positioning: Social proof through numbers

Headline 3: A testimonial about recovery

  • Social proof, transformation story
  • Customer voice—but curated/polished by the company
  • Positioning: "People like you succeeded here"

Winner (Headline 4): "If you think you need rehab, you do."

  • Permission-giving, validation
  • Pure customer voice—found verbatim in a review
  • Positioning: Meets the visitor in their moment of doubt

Joanna found this line while poring over reviews for books about alcoholism on Amazon.com.

This wasn't from the treatment center's own reviews. It wasn't from surveys of their clients. It was from Amazon book reviews—people talking about their experience with alcoholism and recovery in a completely different context.

The line stood out because:

  • It sounded completely different from anything in the rehab space.
  • It didn't sound like marketing copy.
  • It captured a specific psychological moment (the hesitation, the doubt, the "am I really bad enough to need help?" internal debate).

"If you think you need rehab, you do" outperformed all other headlines:

  • 400% increase in clicks
  • 26% increase in leads
  • Statistical confidence (meaning the results were reliable and repeatable)

If you want to write something similar for a B2B audience, you can try these:

For project management software: "If you're Googling 'how to track project status,' you need a better system."
For financial advisory services: "If you're losing sleep about your retirement, it's time to talk to someone."
For HR software: "If you're tracking PTO in spreadsheets, you're doing it the hard way."
For marketing automation: "If you're manually sending follow-up emails, you're leaving money on the table."

So, your next high-converting headline isn't hiding in your brainstorm document.

It's out there - in survey responses, online reviews, sales call recordings, or focus group conversations.​
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In the next few editions, I'll talk about each of these methods in detail. Whether you write long-form content or short copy, VOC is always useful.
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Best,
Satabdi
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Satabdi

Content Marketer

I share tips on writing better B2B copy. Subscribe to my newsletter.

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