Where’s the value in your writing activity?

20th March 2023 | Posted in Marketing communications

Whether you’re creating the words for your website, writing blog posts, pulling together newsletters, keeping up with social media, or pushing out marketing communications, there is a question to be asked. Just because I can, do I need to?

You can choose to make the time and the resources for all these activities, but what I wonder is whether they are all of value to your business? the chances are you do need to prioritise your activities, perhaps to stay within a budget, or perhaps because you’re spreading brainpower and resources too thinly to be truly effective. You need to make decisions.

If that sounds like you or your marketing department, here are a few thoughts about how to make the right choices for you.

It’s always about the customer

Who is your customer, where will you find them, and what do they want from you?

I always start my copywriting relationship with a client by getting to understand who their customers are, and why they would buy from that client. This knowledge helps to draw a picture of why and how to make contact.

Social media

Do you need to be on top of every area of social media? Consider where your customer would be looking for information.

As an example, we have a website/blog that’s focused on a certain consumer group. We know that generally they read Facebook, which we can use to good effect to share our blogs – though we don’t have the resources to run a group.

We could and do also use Twitter, but we are well aware that it’s professionals in the industry who are following us here, so we tailor our tweets accordingly.

We’d like to look more closely at the other SM channels, but we don’t have the time right now, and we think it’s more important to get what we do right, and maintain frequency and quality.

Newsletters

Keeping in touch with past and potential customers through newsletters can be useful, especially if you have regular offers to publicise. If you believe that using this channel of communication is bringing sales – or at least raising awareness depending on your goals – then it is likely to be worth the effort. For a small business in particular, you need to balance the benefits against the costs. If you have a large number of subscribers you will pay for your emailing service, as well as the time needed to prepare each newsletter.

Website updates

If you’re receiving visits via search, then regularly updating your content with fresh, high-quality content is going to help you get noticed. Keeping that content up-to-date is important, because your credibility will suffer if you’re giving out the wrong information. I really do think it is of value to have someone check through the content of your website regularly and point out what’s clearly in need of refreshing. There are a ridiculous number of sites still giving advice on their home pages about how they are doing business during the Covid pandemic. It’s really not a good look.

Blogging

If you have useful advice to share, or an interesting perspective on a subject close to the hearts of your desired customers, then blogging is a great way to make your mark, on your own blog or as a guest poster elsewhere.

I have seen though from experience how some organisations are using computer-generated articles as blog posts, and so far I have not been terribly impressed. Because this style of blogging tends to be a rehashing of what’s already out there on the internet, it’s unlikely to deliver original thought with your own brand personality. I may not have seen enough to be sure, but it you want to stand out from the crowd as a thought leader, this may not be the way to go. If you just want to get links onto other platforms, well then, yes maybe. But I would advise against letting your quality of writing suffer in favour of quantity. Your potential customers may notice. (Perhaps that’s just me as a proud copywriter speaking.)

 

These are just a few of the areas where your marketing efforts can be supported, or not, by creating content. You don’t have to tackle everything, because the chances are some will rarely be seen, and too much effort could mean quality suffers where it matters. Thinking about the customer, and what they want from you, can help you decide where to focus your best words.