5 steps to Well-written Marketing Material Works
Marketing communications can attract or repel a potential customer within moments of their reading what you have to say.
If you want to create a buzz around your business, or if you want people to appreciate that your company offers a first-rate service or product, you need to demonstrate excellence in everything you do.
This is particularly true of your marketing communications. Put simply, a well-written website, company brochure or promotional leaflet can establish or destroy your reputation and your company’s credibility, before you even get a chance to talk to a potential new customer.
The tips that follow are not about how to give a reasonable impression of what you do, or how to show that your business is an ordinary one like any other in your field. They are about how to establish that your company is an extraordinary company that stands out from the crowd and aspires to deliver excellence to its customers every time. Read on if this description matches your principles and aspirations.
1. Be true to your goals
Your written communications should never lose sight of the goals and aims of your company, even if these are not the main messages you want to convey in a specific communication.
Well-drafted, strategic communication material can have an immediate impact on your sales and business. A good copywriter will know how to elicit the right quotes from your key spokespeople, and come up with headlines and ‘power phrases’ appropriate to the audience you are targeting.
2. Never underestimate the power of a good slogan
The Marks & Spencer advertising campaign built around the catchphrase ‘This is not just food: this is M&S food’ in 2005 raised sales of pannacotta by 1207 per cent, roast potatoes by 454 per cent and basil pesto by 367 per cent in just one week.
Not surprisingly, the advertising campaign was central to the revival of M&S’s fortunes in recent years, and was deemed the most effective marketing communications campaign of 2005/06 at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising 2006 Effectiveness Awards.
Perhaps just as importantly, though, ‘This is not just… This is…’ became a common turn of phrase and is often cited by marketing experts as the epitome of what communications can do for a brand. At the same time, it remains the subject of popular debate - parodied on YouTube and scorned in website blogs and discussion forums.
Creative writing can also create a buzz around your company – and at the fraction of the cost of a conventional advertising campaign if that buzz is on the internet.
3. Look outside your organisation
You might think that you can write your own corporate communications or get them written in-house. After all, you know what you want to write about. However, producing good copy is about much more than just knowing your subject, and any text that comes straight from the boardroom is not likely to produce the effect that you want on your target audience.
Advertising legend David Ogilvy, whose global company has often used the niche talents of Analytica Communications, effectively summarises the importance of distance from a company set-up when writing good marketing copy: “Advertising seems to sell most when it is written by a solitary individual. He must study the product, the research and the precedents. Then he must shut the door of his office and write the advertisements.”
Employing independent and talented copywriters allows you to close the door on your business meetings and communicate in an engaging and interesting way. Outsourcing your copywriting can bring a refreshing perspective on internal and external communications, and can help you engage new readers and foster new interest in your company.
4. What to check when hiring a copywriter
Your communications are essential for establishing your reputation. If you want to be seen as a company offering first-class services or products, your communications need to reflect the high, professional standards you maintain in your business.
Make sure any copywriter you use understands the business world and understands what your company does, your goals and whom you are targeting. “You want the copy to help brand your company in the direction in which you aspire to go, and for that the copywriter needs to understand what you do and the market conditions in which you operate,“ advises Andy Stern, Managing Director of Analytica Communications.
Similarly, it is worth checking their professional background, and whether it includes writing for well-known publications and top advertising agencies. Someone who has only worked for obscure magazines or on ‘below the line’ advertising is unlikely to have the qualities you require if you want to convey excellence.
A good copywriter will have extensive experience in a variety of media, from web media like e-letters, website text and blogs to print texts such as magazines, reports and brochures.
An experienced web writer will know not only how to write texts that engage the reader and convey the spirit of your company and what it has to offer, they will also know how to optimise your website’s search engine ranking through the use of language within the site.
5. Make your style professional and clear
On an absolutely basic level, a professional writer will ensure there are no embarrassing grammatical mistakes in your communications.
The two following texts give an example of how your punctuation can change your meaning entirely:
Version 1:
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Version 2:
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria
Gloria’s relationship with John will evidently be on unsteady ground if she can’t put her full stops and commas in the right places.
The message, as it always should be, is clear: If you want your organisation to be seen as first-rate at what it does, make sure your communications are first-rate as well.
© Analytica Group Limited 2007
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