Ever launched a campaign that felt spot on, only to watch it fall flat? Chances are, you were selling a product. Not solving a problem.

I see this daily, especially from those that are yet to understand the power of using insights. The most informed marketers don’t start with features. They start with pain points.

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Here’s how to use insight to improve conversion at every stage of your customer journey—with examples from the teams doing it right.

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1. Discovery: Speak to their struggles

Before your customer even knows they need you, they’re grappling with a problem. Your job is to understand that problem better than they do.

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What to ask:

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• What are you struggling with?
  
• What have you tried before—and why didn’t it work?
  
• What’s stopping you from trying something new?
  
  

Real-life example:

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At Koru Kids, the team noticed a demand problem: they couldn’t recruit enough older nannies, despite high demand. They ran deep 1:1 conversations and learned these women weren’t motivated by money—they wanted to feel needed. The insight? “You’re needed.” That simple emotional message boosted conversions by 281%—not clicks, conversions.

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What to do:

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• Swap feature-first messaging for emotion-first copy.
  
• Try headlines like: “Now you can feel valued while working with children” instead of “Flexible part-time nanny work available.”
  
• Use tools like The Mom Test to frame better interview questions.
  
  

2. Research: Show up where it matters

Once they feel the pain, your customers start looking. But not necessarily for you. For answers. For ideas. For a better way.

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What to ask:

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• Where do you go to find solutions?
  
• What convinced you a better option existed?
  
• What would make you say “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for”?
  
  

What to do:

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• Research the keywords and phrases customers are actually using—not what your team thinks they say.
  
• Partner with the podcasts, newsletters, and communities they already trust.
  
• Add language that reassures ("You don’t need to be an SEO pro to rank on Google”) as seen in the ad examples from the deck.
  
  

3. Comparison: reduce friction, build trust

Now your customer is comparing you to competitors—or simply wondering if they need to change at all.

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What to ask:

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• What almost stopped you from signing up?
  
• What else did you consider?
  
• What convinced you in the end?
  
  

What to do:

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• Add testimonials that speak to emotional wins, not just business ones.
  
• A/B test landing pages that focus on life outcomes. E.g., “Ace your driving test in 10 mins a day” vs. “UK Driving Theory App.”
  
• Include social proof that mirrors the customer’s situation.
  
  

4. Commitment: Remove Friction and Celebrate Progress

At the final stage, you’re helping them follow through—whether that’s a purchase, onboarding, or continued use.

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What to ask:

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• What made you take the final step?
  
• What helped you feel confident in your choice?
  
• What’s been most helpful so far?
  
  

Real-life example:

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One of our clients noticed a major onboarding drop-off. By speaking with users, we learned the friction point was fear—people didn’t understand what they were signing up for. 

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The fix: revamp the onboarding flow with messaging like “Now you can…” to show immediate progress. Conversions to paid jumped 3x.

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What to do:

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• Update onboarding screens to focus on desired outcomes.
  
• Send milestone check-ins like “You’ve just unlocked your first win.”
  
• If someone cancels, don’t just ask why, they might not know. Ask: What was missing? What would have made you stay?
  
  

Turning insight into action

Here’s our process for turning interviews into conversions:

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Step 1: Prioritise and Categorise
Use the Jobs to Be Done framework to tag insights by struggle, trigger, anxiety, and desired outcome.

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Step 2: Map It to the Journey
Don’t dump insights in a spreadsheet. Align them with the four key stages: Discovery → Research → Comparison → Commitment.

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Step 3: Test and Measure
Run A/B tests on ads and landing pages, create lead magnets tied to emotional struggles, and revisit your onboarding flow to highlight progress, not features.

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Final thought

Better messaging doesn’t start with brainstorming.

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It starts with listening.

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Every single conversion win we’ve seen—from lower churn to higher click-through—was powered by real insight, drawn from real conversations.

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Start there, and the results follow.

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Thank you to Matt Lerner for the graph!