Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

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

OK, that’s nothing new. I’m guessing you’ve been told by umpteen marketers that you should be blogging.

But how much does blogging really help?

Well, according to Hubspot, companies that blog get:

• 55% more visitors
• 97% more inbound links
• 434% more indexed pages

Not only that, but 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from it.

Still think you don’t need one?

Getting started

Now you’ve been convinced to start blogging, you have to decide a few things:

• The niche you’ll blog about
• The type of articles you’ll write
• Who will blog
• How often you’ll blog
• How you’ll promote it

Your niche

Before you put finger to keyboard, you need to give some thought about the topics you’ll cover. Obviously, it makes sense for you to write about your business activities. So, as I’m a copywriter my blog focuses on copywriting, marketing and social media.

Always stick with what you know, after all, that’s want you’re an expert in.

Type of articles

It’s good to add a variety of articles such as top tips, opinion pieces, how to guides, reporting on industry news etc.

As your blog grows your analytics will show you which articles are the best received. Using that information, you can hone your blogs to draw in more readers.

Who will blog?

If you run a company with several staff, why leave the blog writing to one person when you can ask everyone to contribute.

Just make sure they understand how their posts are to be written (i.e. in the second person with a conversational style and absolutely no jargon) and which keywords they should include. It’s a great idea to add an author’s bio too, that way you readers can put a face to the name.

How often is too often?

The frequency you decide on has to be achievable. If you are the only person in your business, setting a goal of a blog a day is probably not going to happen. I blog 3 times a week, which is manageable.

Set yourself a realistic target and stick to it. People will get used to your posting frequency very quickly so if you suddenly stop, they’ll wander off elsewhere.

Promotion

Many companies make the mistake of thinking that just because they have a blog people will read it. That’s not always the case; you will also have to show them it’s there. Social media tools such as Twitter are a great way to promote your blog and widen its readership.

Over to you

Have you been convinced to blog?

Perhaps you’ve been blogging for a while – if so, leave a comment below and let us hear your blogging success stories.

For many, working for yourself is a dream come true:

• No more annoying bosses calling the shots
• You can work the hours that suit you
• You only work for the people you want to work with

Within reason, you can do what you want, when you want.

Of course, there is always a flip side in that you also have to be Jack of all trades – Managing Director, Finance Director, Operations Director, Customer Service, Sales Director etc.

But all that aside, there is one very important thing you have to do when starting out as a freelancer, and that’s deciding who you are.

Finding your niche

When you start your business, it’s vital you understand what you are and what you offer.

It’s very tempting to say…

 “I am a copywriter. Design? Sure, I can put something together for you. Run your social media accounts? Sure, no problem”

…because you don’t want to appear inflexible, but that could be your downfall.

Defining yourself and what you offer will help you focus your marketing activities to make sure you get in front of the right clients.

 Think marketing

Even though you’d probably love to be able to say ‘yes, I can do that’ to any job that comes along, just think for a moment about how you would marketing yourself.

If your materials and website listed umpteen different skills you could be watering down the effectiveness of your sales campaigns.

When I started out in 2007, I decided I would market myself as a copywriter. To some, even that was too wide and I was advised to specialise in a particular industry.

But I knew that wasn’t for me.

Why?

Well, the main skills of a copywriter are to put yourself in the shoes of your client’s customers to discover what it is they need to know to make them buy. Then you have to learn enough about the business to be able to sell its products or services. And you have to adapt your writing style to fit in with their existing brand and tone of voice.

To me, they aren’t industry specific skills.

And it worked. I knew who I was, how I was going to position myself in the market, and, 5 years down the line, business is great.

Where to start

So, if you’re about to head out into the world of freelance, here are a few things to think about:

• What are your main strengths?
• Are your skills niche?
• Who would be your ideal client?
• What will be your primary service?

Did you notice I mentioned primary service there?

Once you’ve established yourself and have been in business a while, there’s nothing from stopping you realigning your skills to your market. Perhaps it will become apparent that your clients also need another skill you offer (perhaps PR)? In which case, there’s nothing stopping you from adding that to your services list and marketing it to your new and existing clients.

What it all boils down to is that you must work out what you are – once you know that, shout about it.

Over to you

If you’re already freelancing, what was your experience when starting out?

If you’re just thinking about it, what are your plans?

Worldwide, there are now over 1 billion users of social media . Plus with over a quarter of all adults and half of all teens (Ofcom) owning a smartphone, access to social media sites has never been easier.

So with all those users out there, how do you, as a company owner, view social media?

Do you still see it as a fad (albeit a very popular one), or have you embraced it as part of your marketing and customer service strategy?

The two sides of social media for business

Did you see what I did there?

I asked whether social media was part of your marketing and customer service strategy.

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are 2 way conversations – you can offer advice and offers to your customers/followers and they can make comments and ask questions of you.

But, according to a recent article in The Drum, 70% of complaints made by customers on social media are ignored because many companies still view it as a purely marketing tool rather than a direct link for customer support.

Big mistake.

The research by A.T. Kearney’s annual social media survey found that between 5% and 20% of all complaints to many organisations are made through social media.

Of course, unlike traditional letter or phone complaints, those made using social media are visible to the world. Other customers can sit back and watch how you deal with a situation, giving them a good idea of what type of company you are and how seriously you take customer gripes.

Benefits of social media as a customer service tool

It’s fast.

It’s personal.

It can be used to offer help and advice to those who aren’t customers yet.

What more do I need to say?

Plus, because everything you write (unless it’s a DM through Twitter) is visible to your other followers, you can show yourself off as a company that puts its customers first and is willing to go that extra mile for them.

Brownie points all round.

Basically, using social media as a customer service tool will have a massive reputational impact on your business (sadly, that also means if you get it wrong it will have a negative impact too).

So make sure those in charge of your social media accounts understand your social media policy, monitor them regularly and respond quickly.

Jim Close, Managing Director or Datapoint sums it up:

“Social media tools are for two-way dialogue with customers as well as a (mostly) one-way marketing channel. They differ from more traditional media because often the interaction is globally-visible and there is potential for massive reputational impact. The organisation  that learn this lesson the fastest – and use contact centre systems to do this effectively – will be the ones that win the customer retention race.”

Sally Ormond – Copywriter

Email marketing and newsletter marketing are great.

They allow you to quickly contact thousands of customers in one go.

But the speed can sometimes be the downfall of many marketers, because once they’ve hit send, their message is out there – mistakes and all.

But that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

More seriously, they could easily fall foul of the CAN-SPAM Act, which provides the rules and regulations that have to be abided by for those undertaking commercial emailing and provides recipients of emails the right to make you stop sending them.

When undertaking email marketing, all your messages have to comply with the Act:

• You must not use misleading, deceptive or false information in your “To”, “From”, “Reply to”, subject line etc. You must specify whether the email is from a company or individual and the subject line must reflect the content of the email.
• Your physical postal address must be supplied on all emails.
• You must include an opt-out link and deal with every request promptly.
• Use a legitimate email service provider.

Always check before hitting send

We are all human so, occasionally, things go wrong.

But continuously sending out emails and newsletters that contain numerous errors is just sloppy.

Don’t forget that your company’s reputation is built on your correspondence with your customers, whether through emails, newsletters, web content, brochures etc. Therefore, it is essential you make sure you have thorough checking procedures in place.

Should the worse happen and something slips through the net, apologise and make it up to your customers. Never act in haste, because that could compound the problem.

Email marketing is a highly valuable tool for any business. But it’s essential it’s done well. Make sure your emails comply with the regulations set out in the CAN-SPAM Act and their content is thoroughly checked before hitting send.