As marketers, we’re constantly on the lookout for conversion optimization hacks and techniques.

Over the last 13 years, we’re A/B tested every conversion optimization trick under the sun. Many of them have worked really well. The technique we’re going to reveal in this article is going to massively improve your conversion rates.

People buy when their circumstances change. Something’s happening in their world that is pushing them forward.

The marketer who is crafting the marketing strategy isn’t typically the buyer. So, in order to understand the actual shopper we need to get into their head. We need to Sherlock Holmes the situation.

The question you are exploring is: what can I guess about this buyer?

Note: In the first part of this article we’re showing a written example for making guesses about your buyer. But there is also a video explanation towards the end of this article.

2 Types of Guesses

Obvious Guesses

Let’s explore this by looking at an example. SHEFIT.com (not a client, yet) sell a performance workout bra. Screenshot of their best selling product page:

Some obvious guesses about the buyer:

— It’s a she
— She is into working out
— She either doesn’t own a sports bra -or- is in the process of firing her current brand. Either way, she’s not happy about her current solution.
— She is looking for superior support (that’s the USPfor this product)

Creative Guesses

Now we’re going to make creative guesses about our buyer. These guesses could be right; they might be wrong. It’s a refinement process.

Looking at that same example, here are some creative guesses:

— In our Google search for “sports bra” we see these ads:

If you look at the price points listed in the screenshot above you’ll see Shefit’s price of $65 is middle of the range. It isn’t the $108 of lululemon and it isn’t the $48 of Born Primitive. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume our shopper is looking for value for money.

— She is someone who values physical health. By extension, she cares about her body image. This statement doesn’t have to be 100% true, but it’s a reasonable theory.

— lululemon or Title Nine are well-known big brands. Shefit isn’t as famous. This means our buyer is willing to work with a brand that isn’t a household name yet. This could also suggest she likes the idea of supporting newcomers/new entrants.

Using these behavioral cues you can start drafting a story. An example:

This is our first draft. It isn’t perfect. But as we keep working on it, it’ll get 4x better.

Making Guesses About Your Buyer Video Explanation

Clicking the video below will play it from the 8:07 marker and that’s when I describe how we made obvious and creative guesses on CROSSNET without talking to even one of their buyers. Here’s the video:

Next Steps

We hope we’ve been able to convince you that user research, while extremely valuable, isn’t the only path to success. We assume you landed on this Making Guesses About Your Buyer article via our Conversion Copywriting Without User Research article. If so click here to return to where you left off.

However, if this is the first page you are seeing on our site we have a special surprise. Introducing the most important article we’ve ever written: Marketing Secrets.