Entries Tagged 'freelance copywriter' ↓

Social Media is a contentious topic that continues to divide opinion. People tend to fall into one of three camps:

• They love it
• They hate it
• They just don’t ‘get’ it

From my point of view, I love it. As a freelance copywriter it has helped my business hugely. I tweet (@sallyormond), I blog, I dabble in Facebook and I use online forums, social bookmarking sites etc. They have all helped me gain greater online exposure, gather wonderful clients,  find amazing people and help when I’ve needed it most.

Before you ask, yes I do get out occasionally seeing real people. But being a writer is a solitary profession and I spend a lot of time at my desk therefore social media provides me with a link to the outside world while I am working.

Are you social media phobic?

Are you one of the people that says…

“I can’t see the point in all this social media stuff.”

“Why would I want to waste my time reading about what someone had for lunch?”

“It’s a complete waste of time; it’s not as if anyone reads that stuff anyway.”

“My customers don’t use social media.”

It always makes me smile when I hear these objections. They make social media sound like some sort of alien concept that has no place in society and yet it’s been happening for years albeit in a different format.

Social media is all about being ‘social’ – it’s chatting, building relationships, being interested in other people.

In your line of work, how do you interact with your customers?

Do you just take their order, give them what they want and then move on to the next person? If you did they won’t think much to your customer service.

First up you probably have to build some sort of rapport with your customers before you can get them to buy. You’ll spend time investing in your relationship with them but offering them information and guidance. Once you complete the sale you’ll keep in touch, make sure everything is all right.

To market your business you probably go out and network. That means you chat to people unrelated to your business learning about what they do and what they need. You might even put people in touch with others who need their help.

All of this you’ll do as a matter of course in your daily business life.

Hello? That’s what social media is all about it just happens on a different platform—online.

To get to grips with social media all you have to do is transfer the skills you use in your everyday life to the online community.

Give it a try—you might surprise yourself. If you do decide to dabble in a spot of blogging or tweeting give it a chance to get going. Miracles won’t happen overnight so don’t give up after a week just because you’re not seeing any benefit.

You have to give to the online community to get something back. Persevere with it, engage with people—you could surprise yourself.

A new year is a time for resolutions, a lot of which probably only last a few days at most before they are broken.

But just because 2010 is over you shouldn’t just forget about it.  Now is a great time to reflect on what happened last year, discover what worked for you and what didn’t.  Once you have the answer to those questions you can begin to plan your email marketing strategy for 2011.

Email marketing for 2011

To help you make sure you enjoy successful email marketing campaigns this year I have listed below a few suggestions that might make all the difference.

Now’s the time to try something new to help you enhance your results from last year. So without further ado, here are my suggestions:

1. Remember mobile

One thing many companies forget is how their emails are being read.

More and more people will first become aware of your email on their mobile phone.

How do you decide whether to open and email or not? You probably look at who sent it to you first, followed by the subject line—if it looks interesting you’ll open it. If it doesn’t catch your attention it’ll probably remain unread.

Boost your email’s chances of being read by adding text above your header:

Therefore when the email appear on their phone they will see who it’s from, the subject line and the text ‘Email marketing secrets revealed’.

2. Hook line and sinker

The subject line of your email will ultimately determine whether it is opened or not.

It has to be intriguing, promise something new/important or offer them something that’s going to make their lives easier or help their business.

But once you have them hooked it is just as important to make sure the body of your email provides them with the answers.

Using a strong subject line but then talking about something different in the email will dissolve any confidence they had in you.

Make sure that what your subject line promises, your email delivers.

3. Drop off zone

How long should your email be before your reader dozes off?

An email that goes on and on and on will bore the pants of your recipients so if you have a lot of information you want to get across, add a teaser in the email and then link out to the full article so if they want to learn more, they can.

Everyone is busy and if you constantly send out mind-numbingly long emails you’re going to get a lot of unsubscribers.

4. Call to action

You call to action is vital because it asks your reader to take an action—call you, email you or buy now, book here…

Frequently they are seen as hyperlinked text inviting the reader to click it. But how about using a button instead? It stands out more and there’s something compelling about seeing a button – you just have to press it.

5. Proofread

A simple thing but something that’s not done often enough.

There’s nothing worse than sending out your email only to then discover a prominent typo.

Make sure you speak to your public and not the pubic, offer to nurture your clients but don’t neuter them.

An email full of typos will do untold damage to your reputation, so read it carefully before hitting send.

These 5 simple suggestions could help your 2011 email marketing campaign go with a bang. Try them out and see how you get on.

These tips are brought to you by Sally Ormond, freelance copywriter, blogger and social media fanatic.

Once you get to grips with Twitter, it seems to be the easiest thing in the world to use.

All you have to do is squeeze your message into 140 characters and away you go.

You can tweet to thousands of people instantly which is why you need to make sure you are not making the 5 classic Twitter bloopers.

Social media has transformed the art of communication. Now customers have a very loud voice so you must make sure you convey yourself with dignity at all times—because if you don’t, that’s when you can get into trouble.

5 Classic Twitter Bloopers

1. You talking to me?

There is one thing you must accept—not everyone is going to like your company.

Twitter is a powerful outlet through which dissatisfied customers can rant. But don’t get drawn into an online slanging-match.

Arguing the toss through Twitter may be entertaining to some, but it will do untold damage to your reputation.

Your other followers will watch to see how you deal with the situation (and that will tell them a lot about the type of company you are).

Diffuse the situation quickly, resolve their issue and apologise.

2. Autofollow

Some people on Twitter are obsessed about amassing huge numbers of followers.

Why?

For example if you 40,000 followers and yet only follow 600 people, unless you are a huge brand  name or a celebrity, you’re going to look like a spammer.

My advice is to follow only those people you want to follow. Don’t use the autofollow feature. By all means when you get an email telling you someone new is following you take a look at their profile. If they look interesting and tweet great stuff, follow them. But if they don’t, don’t follow—it’s as simple as that.

Also the more people you follow the harder it gets to keep up with what’s happening. That’s when it’s a good idea to create Twitter lists – you can set one up for best friends, business contacts, celebrities etc., to help you keep track of what’s going on.

3. Tweet carefully

There are plenty of users out there who only tweet about their business, constantly linking back to their website.

If you just do that, you’ll be viewed as a spammer.

Twitter is all about conversations and sharing. If you read a great article, see a funny video or hear something in the news that’s interesting, share it with your followers. Be seen as someone who adds value to the Twitterverse.

4. Have a personality

Many corporate tweeters make this particular blooper.

If your tweets are boring, mundane and lifeless, people aren’t going to follow you.

Twitter is something you can have fun with—use it to show your company has personality. When engaging with other tweeters it’s important to make sure you show your human side. It will make you appear more approachable, a company that cares and that is prepared to listen.

5. Listen

Using Twitter isn’t all about what you can cram into 140 characters. You also have to listen to what people are saying.

Monitor it and track any mentions of your company. If someone has experienced a problem engage with them, find out what went wrong, apologise and sort it out.

If you’re on Twitter and you don’t do this, people will see you as a company that doesn’t care—and news like that will spread fast.

Twitter is a great tool for your business. It will help you engage with your customers, attract new ones and solve problems should they arise.

Just make sure you use it wisely.

This post is brought to you by Sally Ormond, freelance copywriter and social media queen.

How do you know what your customers want?

That’s a dilemma that faces every business.

If you can’t tailor your products or services to your target audiences’ needs you’re in trouble. If they aren’t the perfect fit they won’t fly off the shelves.

Many companies make the mistake of assuming their customers want the same things they want.

Big mistake.

I really enjoy cycling, in fact some of my clients also enjoy cycling but that doesn’t mean they all do.

Your customers aren’t a mirror image of you

Making decisions about social media use and marketing based on your own personal beliefs and preferences is a recipe for disaster.

If you want your business to succeed you must research your market and work out what they want, how they want it presented and what they’re willing to pay.

Even when considering dabbling in social media you have to work out where your customers are ‘hanging out’ because if you interact in the wrong place, you’ll simply be talking to yourself.

Some common misconceptions are:

• MDs of B2B companies thinking that as they don’t use social media, their customers don’t either. Yes they do—you just have to work out how they’re using it and where they are.

• Companies that use Facebook tend to update their status during the day whereas most of their ‘fans’ don’t log on until the evening or weekend.

• Sticking with Facebook, just because someone ‘liked’ your page doesn’t mean they want to be bombarded with promotional emails from you. Guess what? The ‘like’ button is not an ‘opt-in’ button.

No matter what business you’re in –retail, IT, manufacturing, copywriting, shipping etc., the only way you can discover what your customers want is to ask them (or survey them).

A scientific approach wins every time, guesswork doesn’t.

I want to hear what you think.

Freelance Copywriter’s Blog has been going for sometime and now’s the time to find out what you really think.

This is your opportunity to tell me what you want to read, what you find interesting and what you find not so interesting.

Whether you stop by regularly or just once in a while, your feedback will help me tailor future posts to make sure you always find something that’s going to be of use to you. After all, a blog full of useless posts is about as useful as a chocolate teapot [although not as tasty].

It will only take a minute or two to complete the short survey below so if you have the time to spare I’d love to hear your views.

Thank you.

Sally