When I first got into copywriting, market research took five to ten days per client. Reading forums. Studying competitors. Compiling notes. Building avatars from scratch.

AI has compressed that timeline to 30 minutes.

I'm Michael Kelly, founder of Scale Your Offers. I'm going to show you the exact process we use to do deep market research for VSLs, sales pages, and ads in a fraction of the time it used to take.

The Two-Part Client Interview

Every research process starts with extracting information from the client. We do this in two stages.

Stage one: The creative brief. Before any call happens, we send clients a document to fill out. This lets them brain dump everything they know about their target audience. Who they think they're serving. What problems those people face. What transformation the offer delivers.

Stage two: The onboarding call. After the brief comes back, we schedule a 30 to 60 minute call. During this conversation, we extract the stories, language, and details that don't show up in written responses. We ask follow-up questions. We dig into specific client wins. We pull out the nuance that makes copy feel real.

Both stages get recorded and transcribed. Those transcriptions become the raw material for everything that follows.

Automating the Intake Process

We've built automation into our onboarding flow. The moment someone pays an invoice and gets marked as a client in our CRM, a survey fires automatically.

That survey asks questions like:

What's the biggest result you can help someone achieve?

Describe your favorite client you've ever worked with.

What's the biggest problem your dream client has?

These answers arrive before we ever get on a call. By the time we talk, we already have a foundation to build on.

Building the Avatar with AI

Once we have the transcriptions and survey responses, we feed everything into ChatGPT.

The prompt is simple: "I am going to give you some information. From that, I want you to create an avatar."

We send the information in parts. Part one includes the program details, value proposition, and offer structure. Part two includes the onboarding document with all the client's answers about their audience.

The AI synthesizes everything and produces an initial avatar. Demographics. Pain points. Goals. Objections. It pulls directly from what the client told us.

Then we go deeper.

Reaching Layer Three Psychology

Surface-level research produces surface-level copy. Layer one psychology covers basic demographics and stated wants. Layer two goes slightly deeper into acknowledged problems. Layer three reaches the fears, beliefs, and desires people rarely articulate out loud.

After the initial avatar is built, we prompt the AI to go to layer three.

The output includes:

Deepest fears: What keeps them awake at 2am. What they're terrified might happen if nothing changes.

Core beliefs: The assumptions they hold about themselves, their industry, and what's possible.

Burning desires: What they want more than anything but might feel embarrassed to admit.

Emotional triggers: The specific words, scenarios, and ideas that create an immediate reaction.

Identity and self-concept: How they see themselves and how they want others to see them.

Objections and rationalizations: The reasons they'll give themselves for not buying.

This layer three document becomes the foundation for all copy. When you know someone's deepest fears and unspoken desires, you can write directly to them.

From Research to Copy

Once the research is complete, we export everything as a PDF and upload it to Claude.

Claude has been trained on our frameworks for VSLs, ads, and sales pages. When we upload the avatar document alongside the offer details, we can prompt it to write copy that speaks directly to the layer three psychology we uncovered.

The first draft is never perfect. We go line by line, adjusting for flow, clarity, and authenticity. But the foundation is solid because the research is solid.

Here's what a prompt might look like: "Based on this information, let's create a unique angle that speaks to the layer three psychology of this target audience. They are pretty aware of the problem. Use more of a direct lead."

The AI produces copy that references specific fears, desires, and beliefs from the avatar. It pulls in the language the target audience actually uses. It addresses objections before they arise.

Adding Customer Voice

One additional step makes the research even stronger: transcribing testimonials and case studies.

When clients have video testimonials or written case studies, we transcribe them and add that content to the AI while building the avatar. This captures the exact words customers use to describe their problems and results.

Copy that uses customer language converts better than copy that sounds like a marketer wrote it. The testimonials provide that language directly.

The Complete 30-Minute Process

Here's the workflow from start to finish:

Minutes 1-5: Review the creative brief and survey responses the client already submitted.

Minutes 5-15: Upload transcriptions to ChatGPT. Prompt for initial avatar creation.

Minutes 15-20: Prompt for layer three psychology. Export as PDF.

Minutes 20-25: Upload research to Claude alongside offer details.

Minutes 25-30: Generate initial copy angle and first draft.

From there, you edit. You refine. You make it sound human. But the heavy lifting is done in half an hour.

Why This Works

The old research process involved hunting for information across dozens of sources. Forums. Competitor pages. Amazon reviews. Social media comments. You were assembling a puzzle with pieces scattered everywhere.

This process starts with the client. They already know their audience. They've talked to hundreds or thousands of customers. They have testimonials and case studies. The information exists. AI just helps you organize it and go deeper faster.

The output quality depends entirely on input quality. Garbage in, garbage out. But when you have solid client interviews and real customer language, AI produces research that rivals anything you could do manually in ten days.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is layer 3 psychology in copywriting?

Layer 3 psychology refers to the deepest level of customer understanding. Layer 1 covers demographics and surface-level wants. Layer 2 addresses stated problems and acknowledged pain points. Layer 3 reaches the fears, beliefs, desires, and identity-level concerns that people rarely articulate openly. Copy that speaks to layer 3 creates stronger emotional resonance and higher conversion rates.

How do I get clients to give me good research information?

Use structured intake documents that ask specific questions. Send a creative brief before any calls so clients can think through their answers. On the call, ask follow-up questions and dig into specific examples. Record and transcribe everything. The more specific your questions, the more useful the answers.

Can I use AI for market research without client interviews?

Client interviews produce the best results because they contain firsthand knowledge of the target audience. If you don't have client access, you can use AI to analyze competitor pages, forum discussions, Amazon reviews, and social media comments. The quality will be lower, but the process still works.

What AI tools work best for market research?

ChatGPT works well for building avatars and exploring psychology. Claude excels at synthesizing research into copy. Use both in sequence: ChatGPT for research development, Claude for copy generation. Both tools improve when you upload existing documents rather than starting from scratch.

How do I make AI-generated avatars more accurate?

Feed the AI real customer language. Transcribe testimonials, case studies, and sales calls. Include actual quotes from customers describing their problems and results. The more real language you provide, the more accurate the avatar becomes. AI can only work with what you give it.

What questions should I ask in a client onboarding survey?

Focus on questions that reveal the target audience: What's the biggest result you can help someone achieve? Describe your favorite client you've ever worked with. What's the biggest problem your dream client has? What objections do people raise before buying? What do customers say after they get results?

How often should I update market research?

Update research when the offer changes, when you notice conversion rates dropping, or when customer feedback suggests the messaging isn't landing. For evergreen offers, review research quarterly. For launches, do fresh research each time. Markets shift, and research that worked six months ago might miss current concerns.

Need a Team of Pros to Write Copy That Converts?

Deep research is where great copy starts. Our team does the full process: client interviews, avatar development, layer three psychology, and the copy itself. We write VSLs, sales pages, and ad scripts built on real audience insights. We've helped clients generate millions with research-driven copy. Our focus is your revenue. If the copy doesn't convert, we haven't done our job.

Apply For Your Gameplan Call to Get Started