The blog
Storytelling helps marketing but must it be truthful?
20th July 2016 | Posted in Branding
We’re currently seeing Tesco being berated by the National Union of Farmers for using the names of imaginary farms on some of their products. Why? Because a consumer survey found that many people thought the name suggested that the produce was sourced in the UK, but actually Tesco buys in from other countries too. It […]
How long does it take to write a blog?
18th July 2016 | Posted in Blogging
Or, more importantly, how long does it take to write a good business blog? I believe a good business blog goes beyond analytics. Finding the topics and the keywords that attract potential customers is great. But that content then has to be valuable in some way to build your business credibility. So it needs to […]
Copywriting that sales people can actually use
5th July 2016 | Posted in Content creation
Marketing people can give great briefs to copywriters. They really can. They’ve got a product or service to promote. They’ve researched its advantages and benefits for customers. They know who the customers are and something around their needs and aspirations. It’s all good. So marketing build a campaign that includes maybe direct mail marketing, articles, […]
Are our calls to action too demanding?
23rd June 2016 | Posted in Content creation
Yesterday we took the day off and drove down to the coast. By the time we got there I was fighting an impulse to pull over, knock on various strangers’ doors and complain that their attitude was patronising, over-bearing and downright out of order. I totally admit that would have been a complete over-reaction. But […]
My blogs are misbehaving
17th June 2016 | Posted in Blogging
It’s not like I don’t have a content plan. It’s not like I haven’t thought through the topic. And remembered all about the audience persona that I am addressing. And yet my blogs constantly misbehave. Instead of telling a single story, they wander around a number of (very interesting) points and finish far away from […]
What is a call to action in marketing communications?
7th June 2016 | Posted in Marketing communications
Despite having been asked to write hundreds of calls to actions, I can’t get that initial vision of half a dozen marines charging around an assault course out of my head. Take a few seconds to remove that thought and let’s move on. Actually a call to action is simply telling your customer what you […]
Skills for a customer magazine
2nd June 2016 | Posted in Marketing communications
You’re putting together a high-quality customer magazine that you’ll use in print and online as a pdf download. It’s going to include informative articles – perhaps some case studies, hints and tips, and maybe some advance product details. You want it to be something your current and potential customers will find of value. You’ll need […]
Quick tweaks for consistent newsletters
20th May 2016 | Posted in Marketing communications
Congratulations! You’ve encouraged and beguiled enough people around your company to gather enough content for a newsletter. Now all you have to do is drop it into a template and you’re done. Uh oh! And that’s when you notice that while you thought you were encouraging variety, what you’ve actually got is a bit of […]
Making every word of your email promotions and newsletters really work
16th May 2016 | Posted in Marketing communications
You want to send out an email campaign or a newsletter to attract prospective or current customers. You know you’ve got a reason for doing it (don’t you?) but what else can you do of value that doesn’t completely confuse the reader? Let’s look at the various components you can include in your email message. […]
Customer insight: empathy or numbers?
22nd April 2016 | Posted in Content creation
I know data and analytics are all the rage. But I just don’t believe that numbers are everything. They may give us some insight but are they helpful in driving empathy? Are numbers a goal in their own right? For a while I worked for an extremely large, well-known company writing articles for their corporate […]
