Customer language research: how your buyers talk

Short answer

To learn your target audience's language, collect how people write about your category in public discussions: the words they use for the problem, what they call the outcome they want, what they compare the product with, which languages they mix. Gather these phrases in a vocabulary sheet and test them in headlines, ads, website copy and sales scripts. The goal is not to imitate customers but to speak in the words they already use, so your message needs no translation.

Why it matters

Companies describe their products in internal language: "an omnichannel solution", "an integrated platform", "the premium segment". Customers write about the same need in completely different words: "seeing all my messages in one place", "I don't want to log into every app separately", "pricey, but doesn't break quickly". When the gap between the two languages is wide, ads do not catch the eye, website copy goes unread, and people search using words you never use.

What to collect

• Problem words — how people name the pain: "these calculations give me a headache", "the same fight every month".
• Outcome words — what they want: "make it easy", "set it up once and forget it", "so even a kid could use it".
• Comparison phrases — what they compare it with: "like the old way", "like X, but cheaper".
• Doubt words — what they fear: "they'll cheat you", "hidden fees", "you can't get out later".
• Emotional words — which words show a strong reaction: "I lost my temper", "it saved me".
• Language mixing — which terms stay in Russian or English: "dostavka", "skidka", "online payment".
• Local expressions — words specific to a region or age group.

A vocabulary sheet template

1. 1PhraseAs people write it, in short form.
2. 2CategoryProblem, outcome, comparison, doubt, emotion, term.
3. 3ExampleOne or two short quotes with links — for context.
4. 4FrequencyHow many different authors used this phrase or a close variant.
5. 5Our wordHow the company currently writes the same idea — to see the gap.
6. 6Where to use itHeadline, ad, FAQ, sales script, search term.

Language mixing in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan a customer may use two or three languages in one sentence, and that is not a mistake — it is how people really talk. Some terms stay in Russian ("zapchast", "remont"), some in English ("online", "cashback"), and some have settled into Azerbaijani. Knowing which form dominates matters for both ad copy and search terms: a page written with the official Azerbaijani term may not show up for a topic people search with a different word. Formal documents and legal texts, though, should keep the literary language.

Where to apply the language

• Headlines and ads — naming the problem in the customer's words catches attention faster.
• Website copy — outcome words on the first screen, technical detail further down.
• FAQ — write the question the way customers write it; answer in plain language.
• Sales script — a manager echoing the customer's word speeds up understanding.
• Search terms — people's real spellings go on the keyword list.

What not to take

Using customers' language does not mean copying their text. Using long quotes in ads without permission is a copyright and trust risk; showing a person's name, profile or personal details is a privacy problem. Insults, crude words and phrases aimed against other groups are not "the audience's language". A phrase you borrow should be short, generic and anonymous — take the idea, the word, the structure, not the person.

Illustrative example

This is an illustrative example. A company selling accounting software described itself on its website as "automated financial management". On small-business forums, the same need was written like this: "I lose two days on the month-end tax report", "I'm fed up collecting invoices in Excel". The company changed its home-page headline to "Stop losing two days on the month-end report" and compared the two versions in ads. The new headline got more clicks; that is one result, but it showed the direction.

How to test the new wording

1. 1One changeChange only one headline or one ad text at a time.
2. 2Two versionsCompare the old and new versions with the same audience over the same period.
3. 3One measureClicks, enquiries or time on page — choose in advance.
4. 4Record the resultNext to the phrase on the sheet, note "tested, result".

Linking it to your own conversations

Public sources show the language of people who do not know you yet; sales calls show how your message is understood. You need both. How customers understand your brand message in your own calls and chats is covered in brand message comprehension.

Limitations

The language of forum posters is not the language of your whole audience: differences by age, region and platform are large. So do not build the sheet from a single source. Automatic language detection can get mixed texts wrong. A word's frequency does not prove it will work in an ad — only a test shows that.

Common mistakes

• Taking internal jargon for customer language.
• Attributing one active user's style to the whole audience.
• Using long quotes in ads without permission.
• Ignoring Russian and English terms.
• Rewriting the whole website without testing the new wording.

Language data in Vexvon Monitoring

Vexvon Monitoring records the language of every post it finds and gives a one-sentence summary and topic tags, so it is easy to see side by side how the same topic is written in Azerbaijani and Russian. Azerbaijani text is normalised in its own way and matched by word start, which finds suffixed forms. You can export results to Excel and use them as raw material for the vocabulary sheet. More on the Vexvon Monitoring page.

Next step

This week, read 50 public posts about your category and fill in the first 20 rows of the vocabulary sheet, including the "our word" column. Run a headline test with the phrase that shows the biggest gap. Customer questions are organised in the category question bank; other topics are in the buyer intent and customer needs section.