Posts tagged: Copywriting

The Medium may be the message, but the message still applies

Posted on March 22, 2012

by Stephanie Goodman

Last September, I wrote a blog titled “The Medium is the Message” and how it applies to our social media efforts. As mentioned in my previous blog, McLuhan’s theory was not made for the internet and social media, however, his theory applies none-the-less. When stating “The medium is the message”, McLuhan believed that it was not what we said, but the way we said it that mattered most. Although McLuhan was right in saying that the way we send our message is important, we cannot neglect the message itself; this is where the importance of copywriting comes in.

Copywriting is essentially the value of your company, its services and products in writing. In order to ensure you accurately portray your brand to your customers, prospects and even competitors, here are a few tips to get you on your way:

  1. Assign someone to do the task. Startups and growing organizations suffer from inadequate resources to get things completed. Find the person in your company that handles the majority (or all) of your Marketing efforts. This person will have some prior insight into how your company should be communicating with your audience.
  2. Prep yourself before writing. We won’t all be superstar copywriters at first, but a bit of help can lead to success. Attend webinars, read whitepapers and even take a copywriter in your neighbourhood out for a coffee to pick their brain for an hour.
  3. Make a copywriting plan for each medium. Put a copywriting plan in place for your Social Media outlets, Whitepapers, Email Newsletters and Website. Having copywrite for each medium put into a plan and templated will make it easier to pass it on throughout your company. It will also serve as a back-up source of information in case any of your employees need a refresher.
  4. Keep a content calendar. A content calendar can be done on something as simple as Microsoft Excel, or it can be done on Google Docs. Either way you choose to track this information, make sure your entire team is on the same page. This way, the timeline and expectations for each source will be known by all your employees. Mark Evans speaks also speaks on the importance of content marketing and how it applies to our Marketing efforts; check out his website for more information. 

If you’re looking for help on your copywriting efforts, or simply looking for resources on Copywriting techniques, reach out to myself or sign up for our monthly newsletter filled with great information, suggested readings and events on Sales and Marketing.

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B2B Marketing Webinar by @CopywriterTO Recap

Posted on September 15, 2011

by Stephanie Goodman

Last week I participated in a webinar focused on B2B Marketing run by @CopywriterTO. Unlike a lot of marketing webinars that I have attended, this one addressed new concepts, ideas and tips on what tasks to implement in order to enhance your marketing efforts. After looking at my notes from the webinar, I noticed there were three main concepts I took from @CopywriterTO:

Think about Sales when thinking about Marketing

  • Know your buyers’ personas. Every individual is different and therefore, so is every buyer. Know what kind of person you are targeting and arrange your marketing efforts to suit different kinds of people.
  • Ask customers what they want. This is where Social Media performs at its finest. Ask your customers for feedback on your product/service or ask them for ideas on what they would like to see.  By doing this, you are not only developing a strong relationship between buyer and seller, but you are gaining interest of prospective customers.
  • Correspond your content to your lead’s position in the buying cycle. The information you market to your prospects is going to be different depending on whether you are prospecting or negotiating.

What is Content Marketing and why do we use it?

  •  Content Marketing is the art of communicating without selling. The thought process behind content marketing is that if we deliver ongoing and consistent information it will ultimately result in sales. The information needs to be useful to your customers and provide value to their problems/questions pertaining to your solutions. (Example: Using the content space on your website as a marketing platform, not just a place to promote your business)
  • 5 Benefits of Content Marketing:
  1. Generate Leads: Provide information that is useful to your prospects and use their interest to turn them into a customer
  2. Shorten your sales cycle
  3. Have your company recognized as an industry leader
  4. Increase search engine rankings
  5. Gain an advantage over competitors
  • No matter how old you are, everyone has something to learn. Use educational pieces on your website to give a play-by-play of how your product/service is useful to your customers. If we look at a webpage dedicated to an educational piece, 90% should be educational, while 10% is marketing (Ex. Include a small side banner with a call to action).

Social Media is a key factor in any Marketing plan.

  • Interesting fact: 96.9% of B2B marketers plan to increase their social media efforts this year
  • There are 3 ways to make your marketing “social”
  1. Maintain a consistent social media presence. Tweeting once a week or once every few weeks will not make the cut
  2. Understand your target audience. Know who your product/service is for. If your target market is not on Twitter, neither     should you.
  3. Think of all your marketing as social marketing. Remember to stay social with your audience, have a conversation, listen to what they are saying and don’t drop off the face of the earth mid-conversation (i.e. Leaving Twitter because there just isn’t enough time in the day).

If you’re looking to get started on your marketing efforts, or enhance the ones you already have in place, feel free to reach out to our team to find out how VA Partners can help.

 

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Copywriting for your Small Business: Execution

Posted on July 26, 2011

By Stephanie Goodman

I recently finished reading the book Improve Your Copywriting by J. Jonathan Gabay and found his collaboration of copywriting tips for multiple media platforms very helpful to either a first time copywriter or anyone looking to enhance their skill at the craft. This is the second part in a two part series. The first part focused on tips for work to be done prior to writing, whereas the second part will address tips on execution. I have included some important points of reference from the book that I believe any writer, sales/marketing person, entrepreneur, or small business employee should have on hand when deciding how to market their brand.

Copywriting has strong ties to Sales.

To sell a product/service, you must know how to communicate its functions and benefits effectively. Below is a simple, yet effective formula to follow when crafting your content to fall in line with your sales efforts.

FAAB (Features into Advantages into Applications and Benefits): The book suggests that for the product/service you are writing about, list it “Feature,” followed by how the “Applications” of using that feature. After you have completed this, associate your content with its “Advantages” to the specific reader. Then, summarize all of this into a “Benefits” section, and you’ve taken the first step in creating a professional piece of copywriting. At VA Partners, we suggest establishing your Benefits first, followed by Advantages, Applications and Features. By rearranging the list, as a writer you are able to establish the positives of your brand initially, setting the tone for the rest of your content. If someone is going to use your solution, the first thing they are going to want to know is how they are going to benefit from it.

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

SWOT: what to know about you and your surroundings before, during and after the writing process.

  • Know your Strengths and those of your competitors
  • Acknowledge your Weaknesses within your content or the logisitics around creating it (time, cost, etc.)
  • Be aware of your Opportunities (i.e. changing environment, changing consumer habits, emerging trends)
  • Be on guard for Threats from competitors

When writing your website, be sure Google can find you

Not only is effective copywriting good for attracting readers/customers, it also attracts Google. Here are some things Google looks for when it ‘checks you out’:

  • Bold mark-up
  • Number of references to a key phrase or word on a page (Frequency should be 2-4 per cent)
  • External links in and outbound
  • Proximity of a phrase to the start of the document and the gaps between keywords

Email Marketing: Guaranteeing your letter gets opened

Traditional snail mail is still useful in many cases and getting someone to open your envelope is the tricky part. Taken from the book, follow a few of these guidelines and you’ll be sure your letter is read and received:

  • Feature a hand written address
  • Feature a think package
  • Real stamps on a reply paid envelope
  • Don’t use a clear envelope

Improve your Copywriting also includes chapters dedicated to press releases, brochures, writing radio ads and creating television commercials and scripts. Regardless of what type of copywriting you’re looking to brush up on or learn about for the first time, I suggest reading the entire book; tips on copywriting, regardless of the medium, are all transferrable.

For more information about Improve Your Copywriting read my first Blog “Copywriting For Your Small Business: Research” or for any other questions contact me.

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Copywriting for your Small Business: The Research

Posted on July 21, 2011

By Stephanie Goodman

I recently finished reading the book Improve Your Copywriting by J. Jonathan Gabay and found his collaboration of copywriting tips for multiple media platforms very helpful to either a first time copywriter or anyone looking to enhance their skill at the craft. This is the first part in a two part series. The first part will focus on tips for work to be done prior to writing, whereas the second part will address tips on execution. I have included some important points of reference from the book that I believe any writer, sales/marketing person, entrepreneur, or small business employee should have on hand when deciding how to market their brand.

Before writing: RESEARCH.

Market research can be outsourced, however, for a smaller company’s budget, this is not usually an option.  To conduct your own research, look at your competition and see how they’ve written, positioned and presented their copywriting. Use their strengths as a foundation to build your own, and witnesses their weaknesses as spots wherein your copywriting can excel

The internet is large and it is easy to get lost.

There are millions of brands on the internet, so it is vital that yours is distinctly yours. In order to increase the interest and participation of your audience, incorporate social media into your website (internet marketing) to initiate a sense of community with your brand.

 “If your proposition is relevant, the reader will read further”

As previously mentioned, the interest is a great space with lots of content; your brand is simply one amongst billions. Do not delude your readers or attempt to be ‘creative’ by using clever headlines. Instead, get straight to the point of what you’re trying to say/sell. Time is money.

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

SWOT: what to know about you and your surroundings before, during and after the writing process.

  • Know your Strengths and those of your competitors
  • Acknowledge your Weaknesses within your content or the logisitics around creating it (time, cost, etc.)
  • Be aware of your Opportunities (i.e. changing environment, changing consumer habits, emerging trends)
  • Be on guard for Threats from competitors

Do not assume success will come by only utilizing one medium.

There are dozens of ways a brand can market itself and customers are aware of this, which is why you will be soon forgotten if they’ve only seen you on one type of media. Customers have greater choice now than they ever have, so give them more ways of choosing your brand.

Improve your Copywriting also includes chapters dedicated to press releases, brochures, writing radio ads and creating television commercials and scripts. Regardless of what type of copywriting you’re looking to brush up on or learn about for the first time, I suggest reading the entire book; tips on copywriting, regardless of the medium, are all transferrable.

For more information about Improve Your Copywriting, or for any questions relating to the services provided at VA Partners, reach out to us.

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