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I've been working with a client recently on validating and optimizing their existing website copy, and I stumbled upon something that's been hiding in plain sight all along.

While most copywriters are busy studying competitors' websites and running surveys, there's an underutilized goldmine of insights sitting right under your nose: product team interviews and user testing videos.

Let me walk you through why this matters.

Here's what typically happens in most SaaS companies:

• Marketing teams operate in their own bubble, often disconnected from what's happening on the product side
• Copy focuses heavily on features and benefits, but misses the actual context in which people use the product
• Messaging frequently uses internal jargon rather than the language customers naturally use
• There's a fundamental gap between how companies talk about their products versus how customers actually think about them

It creates a kind of translation problem. The product team often has incredibly valuable insights about user behavior that never make it into your marketing materials.

A quick example

With my recent client (a B2B SaaS platform), we were struggling to validate whether their existing product copy was actually resonating with their ideal customers.

We had the usual inputs—customer interviews, competitor research, internal stakeholder feedback—but I thought something was missing.

Then I asked: "Do you have any recordings of product team interviews or user testing sessions I could watch?"

💡

Watching real users interact with their product gave us:

• The specific workflow problems they were trying to solve (much more nuanced than what came up in marketing interviews)
• The exact language they used to describe both their problems and the solution
• The environmental context—one user was literally trying to use the software while simultaneously answering Slack messages and attending a Zoom call
• The emotional journey—from frustration to relief to excitement—as they navigated the product

These details gave us the raw material to transform the copy from technically accurate to vividly authentic.

Why this works so well

Product team interviews and user testing videos offer unique benefits that traditional copywriting research simply can't match (reason why I constantly say understand the “UX of your copy” is important):

1. Context of use: You see exactly when, where, and how people use the product in their actual work environment
2. Unfiltered language: You capture the authentic terms and expressions users naturally employ without marketing's filter
3. Pain points in action: Rather than recalled experiences, you witness real-time frustrations and challenges
4. Mental models: You observe how users conceptualize and navigate through the product
5. Emotional responses: You see genuine reactions to features and functionality, not just rationalized feedback

Your advantage in the AI world

Here's what makes this approach even more valuable right now:

While AI tools can analyze data and even mimic tone, they fundamentally lack something: real-world context and genuine human experience.

AI has no idea how a frustrated user frantically clicks around when they can't find a feature. It can't see the relief on someone's face when they finally solve a problem using your product. It doesn't understand the environmental factors—like a noisy office or the pressure of a looming deadline—that influence how people actually use software in their daily lives.

What I found through analyzing product team interviews with my client wasn't just better words—it was the vivid reality of their users' experiences. The resulting copy resonated with prospects because it reflected their actual challenges and thought processes in a way that felt almost telepathic.

This level of contextual understanding creates copy that:

• Speaks to the specific environments where your product is used
• Addresses the emotional journey of users, not just their logical needs
• References the exact obstacles prospects face in their workflow
• Uses authentic language that makes prospects think, "It's like they've been reading my mind"

Try this for yourself

Next time you're working on copy for a product, ask for access to user interviews or testing videos. Spend just 30 minutes watching how real users interact with the product, and I guarantee you'll discover insights that turn your messaging from generic to genuinely resonant.

The gap between how companies think customers use their products and how they actually use them is where the most powerful copy insights live. And that gap can only be bridged by witnessing the real thing.

Let me know if you try this approach—I'd love to hear what you find.

P.S. Has a user interview or testing session ever changed your perspective on how to position a product? Reply and let me know—I'm always collecting examples of this principle in action.

DISCOVERY

I've been taking some time off driving from the UK back home to Italy and it's been great! So... some self indulgent photos for y'all 😝

RESONANCE

Dan Martell, Buy Back Your Time

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Chris

Chris Silvestri Founder & conversion alchemist

🙌🏻 Let’s be friends (unless you’re a stalker)​

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