Customer Research Mastery: Insights from Dr. Mimi Zhou

Cracking Copy

Without a deep understanding of who you are selling to, your chances of writing successful copy that converts is going to be a damn sight harder.

In this episode of Cracking Copy, Ella Hoyos delves into the essential world of customer research with special guest Dr. Mimi Zhou.

Mimi, a conversion copywriter and email strategist, highlights the pivotal role of research in crafting compelling copy. The episode reveals how Mimi acquires accurate customer data without unintentionally introducing bias into the process.

You’ll learn her methods for gathering valuable insights, including mining reviews, conducting surveys, and performing interviews. And discover Mimi's techniques for making interviewees comfortable and the strategies she employs to ensure the reliability and accuracy of her data.

Copyhackers supremo, Jo Wiebe describes her as “One of those quiet, unexpected copywriting talents very interested in the planning and strategy side of email which is rare to find. [She’s] really curious about how to write emails that convert better and better all the time”.

The conversation also explores how to translate research findings into effective copy, using frameworks like the “jobs-to-be-done” timeline and the forces at “the switch”. Mimi shares practical examples and tips for copywriters new to conducting research, emphasising the importance of defining research goals and starting with review mining.

Whether you're a seasoned copywriter or just starting out, this episode is packed with actionable advice and insights to help you harness the power of customer research in your copywriting projects.

00:00 - Cracking Copy is a marketing and copywriting podcast where we discuss effective copy

01:02 - Research is a crucial skill for any copywriter

02:32 - Mimi is a conversion copywriter for coaches and service providers

04:29 - Why is customer research so important in the context of copywriting and marketing

07:27 - The different types of research that effective copywriters do

09:17 - Does email list size impact the kind of research you do?

10:58 - What systems work best for capturing responses and data for research projects?

13:21 - Techniques for making interviewees feel comfortable and open up

17:38 - The reason you shouldn’t get too friendly during interviews

21:16 - How to glean insights from research interviews

24:42 - Ensuring that research insights are reliable and representative of target audience

26:11 - How do you translate insights into compelling copy?

33:08 - What advice would you give to copywriters new to conducting market research

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Airstory https://www.airstory.co/

Capture research and use it in your writing - no matter where you write online. Put an end to copying and pasting interesting quotes, data points, images and more you find online.

About Mimi

Dr. Mimi Zhou revels in customer research--because when you understand what your audience wants, you don't need to guess what they'll pay you for.

Her conversion copywriting projects are built on a thorough research foundation where she studies info your audience provides through reviews, surveys, interviews, and more. Her ability to parse data into numerical information and read between the lines to hear what customers say beneath the surface helps her understand what customers want even when they don't tell you directly.

A fun fact about Mimi: Her path to becoming a professional researcher began at UC Berkeley and culminated in her PhD at New York University. Later, her belief that knowledge is power led her to seek copywriting training from the original conversion copywriter herself, Joanna Wiebe (founder, Copyhackers).

So Mimi literally got a professional research degree and then studied copywriting with the best person in the business.

Website: mimizhou.com

instagram.com/mimithezhou/

linkedin.com/in/mimizhou/

For monthly emails that break down how customer research gets translated into conversion copy, listeners can subscribe to my newsletter, Smarter Customer Research: mimizhou.com/newsletter

Contact us

Please drop us a voice note at memo.fm/crackingcopy and let us know what you think or what topics you want us to cover.

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You can also find us at:

Instagram:

Ella Hoyos - @flurrymarketing

Minnie McBride - @minnie__writes

LinkedIn:

Ella Hoyos - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellahoyos

Minnie McBride - https://www.linkedin.com/in/minniemcbride

Ella Hoyos and Minnie McBride are co-hosts of this podcast. We are professional copywriters and marketers. We deep dive into a different aspect of copywriting in each ‘snack-sized’ episode so that we can help you become better writers for your business.

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