Whenever 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…)
Archive for the ‘Marketing Communication’ Category
When You Make It All About You, You Lose
Tuesday, June 21st, 2022Unless Your Customers Are Like You, You Shouldn’t Treat Them Like They Are
Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
Over the years I’ve noticed a dangerous tendency—among myself and others—to assume that we “know” our customers, or target customers. Because we think or believe something, we assume that—of course!—others think or believe as we do. They don’t.
This was driven home to me a while ago as my husband was watching the MLB All-Star Game.
“Great!” I said—”this must mean the baseball season is over!” No, he assured me — only halfway over; still about 80 games to go. “Good grief! Who in the world wants to watch that much baseball?!! How can the networks possibly afford to keep broadcasting these things?!?!?!”
And then it hit me. (more…)
How Can You Find the Right Focus For Your Marketing Messages?
Friday, May 13th, 2022
A prospective client contacted us recently wanting to produce a white paper to serve as a promotional tool. The white paper needed to include: a focus on the new national campaign theme, a focus on the new local campaign theme, a focus on the areas served, a focus on the organization’s new direction for the coming year, a focus on…OK, hopefully, you get the point.
If you focus on everything, you’re focused on nothing!
It’s tough to focus. Any organization has multiple objectives and messages that need to be conveyed and there can be a tendency to try to “do it all” in one message. The trouble with that, though, is (more…)
What Are the Best Tips for Writing Great Copy?
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement, or a page or blog for your website, 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…)
This is Why LinkedIn Isn’t Working for You!
Tuesday, December 7th, 2021
We’ve been managing our own, and client, LinkedIn profiles and company pages for several years now. I’ve always been a big LinkedIn fan and I’ve seen interest in using LinkedIn for business development grow significantly during the pandemic as opportunities to connect in person with clients and prospects has diminished, or disappeared in some cases. As we work with clients who are new to LinkedIn we tend to see a lot of the same issues that are hindering their ability to use this powerful business-to-business (B2B) social media channel most effectively. After working with a couple of new clients to help them develop and fine-tune their strategy, I thought I’d share some of the most common missteps I see and offer some advice for others who don’t feel they’re getting enough traction on LinkedIn (or other social channels—the same best practices apply there as well). (more…)
Challenging the Notion of TOFU, MOFU, BOFU – What Does Today’s Buyer’s Journey Really Look Like?
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
First there was AIDA, then the notion of a sales “funnel” emerged and the concept of a buyer’s journey that began at the top of the funnel (TOFU), moved to the middle of the funnel (MOFU) and ultimately ended with a sale at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). But is this concept too simplistic—and too linear—to truly represent today’s buyer’s journey? Was this model ever relevant in a business-to-business environment? Are content marketers wasting their time attempting to create copy that focuses, discreetly, on TOFU, MOFU, BOFU?
5 Quick Tips for Writing Headlines for Digital Marketing Efforts
Friday, September 3rd, 2021
In the newspaper business, the above-the-fold headline is a crucial aspect of grabbing a potential reader’s attention and enticing them to pick up the paper and read on. The same is true of online headlines – the hyperlinks that come up in a list when you search for something in a search engine. In addition to page ranking, an enticing headline is an important way to drive traffic to your site. With that in mind, here are some tips for generating great headlines. (more…)
How Marketers Are Using Video in 2021
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021
Video continues to be a popular and effective way to boost marketing efforts, especially with the emergence of video-first platforms such as TikTok. And, with the proliferation of do-it-yourself (DIY) video options, the demand for professionally produced, high-production-value video content no longer looms as the must-do priority it used to be. Today, marketers of all types and sizes—even those with very small budgets—can successfully use video to augment their marketing communication efforts. (more…)
Sometimes SEO, as We Typically Think of it, Just Doesn’t Matter!
Thursday, February 25th, 2021
I’ve written about search engine optimization (SEO) in the past and have gathered input from a wide range of content and digital marketing experts about the topic. As someone who was writing advertising copy long before SEO was “a thing,” I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the concept. Or maybe I should say a love/grudging respect for the concept. (more…)
It’s Time to Move Beyond TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021
I’ve been working as part of an agency team to create a white paper for a technology client and we’ve been having some back-and-forth discussion about the outline and direction the white paper will take. It was, according to the agency brief, initially envisioned as a “top of funnel” piece. After a review of the draft of the outline, though, one of the client reviewers indicated that she felt it was more “middle of funnel”—and an interesting exchange and spirited debate ensued. (more…)
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