Entries Tagged 'copywriting services' ↓

One of the most effective online marketing tools is the press release. However it is often misused or under-used.

Let me ask you something – in the past 12 months how many press releases have you made on behalf of your company?

20, 15, 10, 5…less…none?

When should I make a press release?

The simple answer is whenever your company does something it wants to shout about. If it’s news, press release it.

Want some examples? OK, here is just a selection of scenarios where you can spread the news through press releases:

• The launch of new products or services on your web site
• You want to publish the results of an online survey you’ve been running
• To publicise a seminar you’re hosting
• You are launching a new website
• Your company has won an online award
• Publicise online products or services you’re giving away
• If you’ve started an online club/forum
• If you’re lucky enough to have someone famous to endorse your product
• Launching a joint venture with another company
• If you’ve written a new eBook

That was just a list off the top of my head. I’m sure if you have a think you’ll find an angle you can press release about right now.

Press release golden rules

Of course, if you want your press release to stand the best possible chance of being published, you’ll have to make sure it is written correctly. By following these simple steps you should be able to create something interesting, readable and printable.

• Make sure your release reads like news and not an advert
• Only send your release to media related to the topic of your press release
• Keep it one page in length
• Your header, contact information and release date should be at the top of your release
• Use short, simple sentences and double space your lines
• Your header and first few sentences must grab your readers’ attention
• You should tell a story and mention your business, product or service in the body of the press release
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes

No I haven’t gone mad. That last point is meant to appear 3 times. You can’t afford to send out a press release with errors in it.

Don’t forget if it’s new to you, it will probably be valuable news to someone else so shout about it.

These press release tips are brought to you by freelance copywriter Sally Ormond.

As a copywriter I am asked to undertake a huge variety of projects for my clients. They can range from website copywriting to providing copy for brochures or writing features/articles to interviewing people to write case studies and just about everything else in between.

A recent project I was involved with was to not only write a clients web copy but to also produce an awards entry for their company. They are a freight forwarding company and were looking to enter the IFW Freight Forwarder of the Year Award for the first time.

Working closely with the company, I produced an entry for them and guess what?

The Managing Director phoned earlier this week to tell me they had been shortlisted as finalists!

Superb! Now it’s fingers crossed time that come September there’ll be even better news – a win?

A great sales letter can stand between you and a small fortune. By getting the content, tone and sales pitch right you could open up a whole new world of customers. But writing the perfect sales letter isn’t easy.

In my post Copywriting – The Sales Letter I talked about the mechanics of the sales letter and its 3 main components – the headline, the offer and the call to action,

These elements are vital but there is something missing – your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I came across this post recently written by Jonathan Young of Decodefy: What’s Your Unique Selling Proposition? Have a read, perhaps it will help identify your products USP’s and in turn strengthen your sales letter.

What’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

Also known as the unique selling position or unique sales position, the USP is often one of the most misunderstood elements of a good sales letter. It’s what separates your product or service from your competitors. Let’s take a quick look at some unique selling propositions for a product itself:

Lowest Price

If you’ve got the corner marketed on budget prices, flaunt it. Tesco has made this USP famous lately, but it’s not new to them. In fact, selling for cheaper has been around as long as capitalism itself. Personally, I’m not crazy about price wars, because someone can always come along and sell for cheaper. Then it’s time for a new strategy…

Superior Quality

If it outperforms your competitor’s product or is made with higher quality materials, it’s a good bet that you could use this fact to your advantage. For example, compare Ben & Jerry’s to their competitor’s. From the packaging to the wholesome superior ingredients, the quality is evident. It may cost a little more than their competitor’s ice cream, but for their market, it sells.

Superior Service

If you offer superior service over your competitor’s, people will buy from you instead. This is especially true with certain markets that are all about service: long-distance, Internet service providers, satellite television, etc.

Exclusive Rights

My favorite! If you can legitimately claim that your product is protected by a patent or copyright, licensing agreement, etc., then you have a winner for exclusive rights. If you have a patent, even the Queen must buy it from you.

Ok, what if your product or service is no different than your competitor’s? I would disagree, because there are always differences. The trick is to turn them into a positive advantage for you. You want to put your “best foot forward.” So what can we do in this scenario?

One way is to present something that your company has devised internally that no other company does. Look, there’s a reason why computer store “A” offers to beat their competitor’s price for the same product by X%. If you look closely, the two packages are never exactly the same.

Company “B” offers a free scanner, while company “A” offers a free printer. Or some other difference. They are comparing apples to oranges. So unless you find a company with the exact same package (you won’t…they’ve seen to that), you won’t be able to cash in.

But what if you truly have the same product for sale as the guy up the road?

Unless your prospect knows the inner workings of both your and your competitor’s product, including the manufacturing process, customer service, and everything in-between, then you have a little potential creative licensing here. But you must be truthful.

For example, if I tell my readers that my product is bathed in steam to ensure purity and cleanliness (like the cans and bottles in most beer manufacturing processes), it doesn’t matter that Joe’s Beer up the road does the same thing. That fact that Joe doesn’t advertise this fact makes it a USP in your prospect’s eyes.

Want some more USP examples?

• We are the only car repair shop that will buy your car if you are not 100 percent satisfied with our work.
• Delivered in 30 minutes or it’s on us!
• No other furniture company will pay for your shipping.
• Our recipe is so secret, only three people in the world know it!

As with most ways to boost copy response, research is the key with your USP. Sometimes your USP is obvious, for example if you have a patent. Other times you must do a little legwork to discover it (or shape it to your target market).

Here’s where a little persistence and in-person selling really pays off. Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean:

Suppose your company sells beanbag chairs for kids. So you, being the wise marketer that you are, decide to sell these beanbags in person to prospects before writing your copy. After completing twenty different pitches for your product, you discover that 75 percent of those you visited asked if the chair would eventually leak.

Since the chairs are for kids, it’s only logical that parents would be concerned about their youngster jumping on it, rolling on it, and doing all things possible to break the seam and “spill the beans.”

So when you write your copy, you make sure you address that issue: “You can rest assure that our super-strong beanbag chairs are triple-stitched for guaranteed leak-proof performance. No other company will make this guarantee about their beanbag chairs!”

Now, get to work and start creating your, soon-to-be, world famous USP.

Press releases are something I touched on in an earlier post Is Your Press Release Newsworthy?

They are one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business. Online press release sites provide an excellent opportunity to get your company’s news out into cyberspace. So why do so many entrepreneurs ignore this type of promotion?

Quite simply, because they don’t know how to write a press release but trust me, it is well worth learning. It’s important to promote your online business with press releases because of the media all over the internet. There is a vast amount of advice and information available on the web showing you how to write a press release, but below are some common press release writing tips:

• Your press release must sound like news not an advert
• Only send your press release to the media related to the topic of your release
• Keep it to one page in length
• Make sure your header, contact information and release date are at the top of your press release
• Use short, simple sentences
• Grab your reader’s attention with the header and first few sentences
• Tell a story briefly mentioning your business/product/service in the body of the press release
• Proofread it many times to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors

Of course, there is another reason why entrepreneurs don’t use this method of promotion. Because they don’t know what’s newsworthy. Well, here are a few suggestions of what is considered news – I think you’ll be surprised and you’ll probably find something that relates to your business right now.

• New products/services you’re offering on your website
• Results of an online survey you’ve completed
• A virtual trade show or seminar you’re hosting
• A free chat room class that you’re running
• The launch of a new website
• An online award your business/web site has won
• A free e-mail newsletter you’re launching
• A free trial/service/product that you’re giving away
• An online business club you’re starting
• An endorsement from a famous person you have received
• A major joint venture you’re starting with another business
• The launch of a new eBook you’ve written
• A fundraising event you are doing

The list is endless but I hope the above has given you an idea of what counts as news. Do you have something that fits the bill? If so, write a press release and get it out there and start driving some traffic to your website.

If you are a follower of my blog you would have seen recent posts giving you copywriting secrets that sizzle and 8 Psychological Triggers of Copywriting. Whatever form your sales writing takes, it is vital that it works hard to make your readers want your product or service rather than just describe it to them.

You probably think there can’t possibly be anything else I can cover about how to make your copywriting as compelling as possible. Well, you’re wrong – I could keep going forever because I can’t stress enough how important the content of your web sites, ads, newsletters etc., is if you are going to convert readers into customers.

What else do we need to do?

The following list provides you with details of what techniques you can employ to make your readers buy.

I’m not giving you a guarantee that by using all of these every person who comes across your ad will buy – mainly because people are fickle creatures – but they will give you the best possible chance of maximising your sales opportunities.

• Make your copy read like a story – this will create interest, make it more readable and that way will create more interest in your product.
• Surveys help you ensure your product/service is tailored to the needs of your customers. Give away a freebie if they complete you survey.
• Highlight keywords in your copy using colour, bold or underlining (use the latter sparingly otherwise readers could get frustrated thinking they are hyperlinks)
• Give them plenty of choice – give them several ways to get in touch with you and to order your product.
• Design your site with your reader in mind. What they want to see is far more important than what you want to see.
• Stuck for ideas? Join online forums and participate in chats. You’ll learn a lot from other online marketers.
• Create a sense of urgency by limiting offers by time, or give away something free with their order again making it a time limited offer.
• Offer extras at point of purchase – i.e. batteries, glasses cases etc.
• Compliment your reader – making them feel good about themselves will help them reach that all important buying decision.
• Create up sell and cross selling opportunities by selling products that compliment each other.