There comes a point in the life cycle of many businesses when advertising needs outgrow the “homespun” and it’s time to call upon the services of a professional agency. When you’ve reached this point, whether you’re looking for a partner to help you implement a major campaign, or a “boutique” agency to focus on just one marketing niche, you want to make sure that the choice you make is a sound one. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Marketing communication’ Category
Tips for Choosing an Ad Agency
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010High Demand for Free Services (aka Free Marketing)
Saturday, June 5th, 2010I recently observed in a LinkedIn update I posted that I seem to be in high demand these days to provide free services. I’m asked to conduct free webinars (well the webinars are actually paid for by the attendees, but I, as the presenter, am not paid), contribute free blog posts, offer free marketing or communication advice, provide free copy critiques, etc., etc., etc.
I’ve been fairly generous in terms of saying “yes,” to these requests, but I’m finding the need to become more stingy, primarily because (more…)
Do you know who your competitors are? Are you sure?
Thursday, May 6th, 2010When most businesses consider their competition, they tend to think of the obvious – their direct competitors. If I run a salon, the salon across the street (assuming it targets the same clients) is my direct competition. But direct competitors aren’t the only competitors we need to be concerned with. (more…)
Try These Copywriting Tips to Boost Sales
Sunday, March 7th, 2010Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.
Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: (more…)
They don’t care about you – but YOU should care about THEM!
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010Want a quick tip to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising copy? It’s simple. Just take a look and see how many times you use words like “we” or ”our.” What’s wrong with those words? They’re you-focused, vs. they-focused – they being the target prospects you’re hoping to influence in some way. Instead of words like “we” and “our,” your copy should include (more…)
How much research do you need to do?
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009Moving forward with communication tactics without a good understanding of the target audience, their current attitudes and beliefs and the drivers that might lead them to positive action relative to your product or service is never a good idea.
On the other hand, many companies - particularly small companies – don’t have the time or resources to invest in expensive research activities.
It’s a conundrum – but one that can be addressed (more…)
“You” and “your” vs. “we” and “our.”
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Whenever I’m called upon to offer a critique on or advice about a company or consultant’s copy – whether it’s on a web site, in a brochure, an ad, a blog, or whatever – the first thing I do is read through the copy to see whether the focus is on “we/me” or “you/your.” Most of the copy I look at is the former. A quick, easy and relatively painless way to improve it (more…)
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