Entries Tagged 'copywriter' ↓

Advertising is everywhere – on the TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, Facebook, Google… the list is endless.

Sometimes it can be quite subtle, but the increasing use of product placement is making even our favourite films advertising vessels. Take the new Bond film for example. Usually, Bond reaches for his trademark dry martini (shaken not stirred), but in the latest offering ‘Skyfall’, our hero reaches instead for a beer thanks to the film’s makers rumoured $45million marketing deal with Heineken. (The Telegraph). Not only that, but Daniel Craig will also appear on bottles of the beer, while Sam Mendes (Skyfall’s director) will shoot a commercial for them.

In the grand scheme on things, that’s not too intrusive. But what happens when advertisers resort to shock tactics to get us to sit up and  take note. This type of graphic advertising is discussed in this wonderful post by Sarah Turner looking at the degredation of women in fashion advertising campaigns.I don’t know about you, but images like that certainly don’t make me want to buy.

As if we weren’t exposed enough to advertising messages, I was horrified to read a report in The Drum about Skype’s launch of in-call ‘conversation ads.’

According to Sandhya Venkatachalam, VP of advertising and monetisation at Skype:

“These new display ad units will appear within the calling window of users who do not have Skype Credit or subscriptions when they’re making 1:1 Skype-to-Skype audio calls using Skype for Windows.

“We’re excited to introduce Conversations Ads as an opportunity for marketers to reach our hundreds of millions of connected users in a place where they can have meaningful conversations about brands in a highly engaging environment. Skype is already at the center of meaningful conversations, where families, friends, and colleagues spend time together.

“While on a 1:1 audio call, users will see content that could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users and highlight unique and local brand experiences. So, you should think of Conversation Ads as a way for Skype to generate fun interactivity between your circle of friends and family and the brands you care about. Ultimately, we believe this will help make Skype a more engaging and useful place to have your conversations each and every day.”

Really?

So, when you’re on a Skype call to a relative or friend on the other side of the world, are you really going to start talking about the ad that annoyingly pops up on your screen? Surely, you’ll have more important things to talk about – please tell you me you would have something more important to chat about?

What’s next? Recorded adverts played during your telephone conversations?

Honestly, is there nothing sacred anymore?

What do you think?

Has advertising got out of hand?

Leave a comment below and vent your opion.

Yes, I know, us copywriters are always banging on about the important of proofreading.

And no, I’m not going to claim to be whiter than white in that area. I am human, I make mistakes, but I do my utmost to stop any typos slipping through.

You may have seen this on Facebook recently (it’s appeared in my timeline several times):

Go on, admit it. You had to read it twice, didn’t you?

See how easy it is to let a mistake slip through?

So how can you make sure your typos are spotted before it’s too late?

Two pairs of eyes are better than one

One of the best ways of proofing your work is to get a trusted colleague to read it through for you.

By trusted I mean someone you know who will actually read every word rather than skimming it.

Because they haven’t written it, they are more likely to spot any errors you’ve made.

That’s great if you work with other people, but what happens if you’re a freelancer working on your own?

Going solo

Proofing your own work is tricky.

You wrote it, you know what you wanted to say, so your brain has the tendency to trick you into thinking what you thought you wrote is actually what is on the page.

Of course, you could hire in a proofreader to check your work for you. But that adds an additional cost to your work that you’ll either have to absorb or pass on to your clients.

The other option is the one I use. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it does pick up your errors.

First, once you’ve written your copy put it to one side – preferably for at least 24 hours – and go and do something else.

Then, print it out.

OK, I know, that’s not very environmentally friendly, but reading off a screen is horrible and you can’t easily mark-up errors when you find them.

Next, start from the last word on the last page and read it backwards, right to left.

Why?

For starters it won’t make sense so you’ll concentrate on each word, meaning you’re more likely to spot any typos.

Once you’ve read through the whole document like that, start from the beginning and read it out loud. This will not only highlight any grammatical errors and incorrect word usage, it will also draw your attention to any repetitions and the rhythm of your writing.

Then, go back through and make the changes you marked-up and go through the whole process again.

It might sound long winded, but it will save a lot of embarrassment in the long run.

Over to you  

Do you have a different technique for proofing your work? If so leave a comment below and tell us about it.

Have you noticed that when companies write brochures, web copy and other marketing materials, they produce text that’s very jargonated (yes, I made that word up), corporate and downright boring?

There seems to be a misconception that sales writing has to be that way.

Why?

Do they think it makes them sound important? Interesting? Intelligent?

Well, it doesn’t. In fact it’s a complete turn-off.

The way you write reflects the type of company you are. For example, something as simple as the salutation in a letter can speak volumes about your company:

• Dear customer – we are a company that really doesn’t care about you, we just want your money
• Dear Mrs Jones – at least me know your name, but we’re very formal and not very approachable
• Hello Mary – we want to talk to you, you’re a real person and we want to build a relationship with you
• Hi Mary – we love our customers because they make us the company we are. Come and talk to us, we want to hear from you

How you structure your brochures, web copy and sales letters is also very important. Writing these in-house can lead to stuffy writing. Company employees very quickly become indoctrinated to communication through ‘company jargon’ and therefore, when they write, that’s what they write.

A better way would be to imagine yourself with a friend and think about how you would explain the concept you’re writing about to them.

The chances are you won’t use ‘corporate’ words and phrases like obtain, retain, further to, in the event that and instead use simple words you’d use in everyday speech like get, keep, following and if.

In other words write as you would speak. And before you go getting on your high horse and start ranting about professionalism in business, let me ask you this – is it better to get your message across simply and effectively, or appear ‘professional’ by using complex words and sentence structures that complete baffle your reader?

To me, and just about every other marketer under the sun, it is professional to understand your reader and to address them in simple language that effectively communicates your message.

If you ignore your reader and their needs, they are not going to want to do business with you. Why should they?

So, in a nutshell:

• Write what you mean and say it clearly
• Write to your reader (i.e. in the second person)
• Cut out any jargon, business buzzwords or anything formal
• Use verbs as much as possible rather than nouns
• Use the active voice (i.e. the subject of the sentence ‘acts’ e.g. ‘I threw the ball’, ‘Dave stroked the cat’)

By following those simple steps, your writing will become more effective, punchier and clearer.

Give it a try – find a piece of writing you’ve done before and write it again using these tips.

Sally Ormond – Copywriter

Any parent will know how annoying the word ‘why’ can be.

But, for a copywriter, it is one of the most valuable words in the English language.

Why?

As a copywriter, you are:

• A master sales person
• A wordsmith
• A persuasive orator
• A great writer

However, you are not an expert in every industry sector in the known universe.

It is important that is made clear to your clients from the outset.

I often hear people ask why they need a copywriter when they don’t know anything about their business. Well, that’s exactly the reason why they do need a copywriter.

Let me explain.

In the client/copywriter relationship, the client is the expert in their industry, but the copywriter is the expert in selling their clients products and services to their marketplace.

So long as neither party crosses those lines, the relationship will be harmonious.

Why?

When taking a brief from a client, the one word that should constantly be used is ‘why’.

Don’t be afraid to keep asking, especially if you’re dealing with a complex product or service.

The client will know their business like the back of their hand and therefore will have the tendency to talk in jargon only understood by their colleagues.

Your job as a copywriter is to break through that jargon to understand the product or service in layman’s terms. After all, if you don’t fully understand it, how are you going to be able to write about it and make your readers understand?

So keep asking:

• Why?
• What does that mean?
• How does that work?
• Why is that of benefit?…

Far from annoying your client, it will demonstrate your interest in their business and your determination to produce powerful and persuasive copy that will grab the attention of potential new customers.

At the end of the day, you can’t write about something you don’t fully understand, so keep asking ‘why’ until you get to the real nitty-gritty.

We’ve all been there.

You’ve been approached by a customer to create some copy for them; you’ve taken a detailed brief and provided them with a written proposal and quote – the work starts and just when everything seems to be going well, the client moves the goal posts.

So what do you do?

Is it in writing?

Let’s go back a few steps.

You did provide a written quote, didn’t you?

Verbal quotes are all well and good but, if things change, you’ll have nothing to refer back to when tackling the client about the changing brief.

That’s why it’s best to create a written detailed proposal and quote based on the brief received from your client, whether it’s from an email, briefing document or a face to face meeting.

It should include details of:

• The aim of the project in question (what your client wants to achieve)
• Your fee for the project and what that will cover
• The hourly rate that will be charged for further meetings or additional rounds of amendments over and above those included in your fee
• The services you will provide your client based on the brief they have provided
• How the work will be carried out
• When the first and subsequent drafts will be available and how quickly you’ll turn round the amendments
• How payment is to be received

That way, when they want to make changes to the brief (i.e. they now want 10 pages of web copy instead of 3) you can go back to the quote that they agreed to and negotiate the way ahead for the extra work.

If you have nothing in writing it’s going to be an uphill struggle.

A professional way of working

If you think that all of this is just going to generate more work for you and you don’t have time to put formal proposal and quotation documents together, have a think about this.

Can you really afford not to?

After all, how many times have you agreed to extend the work you originally agreed because you either:

• Had no way of proving what you thought had been agreed
• You and your client had different interpretations of what was agreed
• Felt uncomfortable going back and asking for more budget

If you provide a professional, written document outlining all aspects of the project, what your fee includes and an outline of what they will be charged extra should they exceed the scope of the original brief, you can refer back to it if required.

Plus, as they would have agreed to it in order to accept your quote in the first place, they can’t quibble.

Over to you

How do you go about defining the projects you work on?

Have you experienced moving goal posts? If so, how did you deal with it?

Leave a comment below and let us all learn from your experiences.