The blog
Did anyone read your GDPR permission messages?
29th May 2018 | Posted in GDPR, Marketing communications, Newsletters
GDPR Day has been and gone in the UK. The 25th May was the “deadline” set for organisations of all shapes, sizes and purposes to update their privacy notices and make sure their audience was happy to continue receiving emails. (Apparently it wasn’t a deadline, more a beginning, but we won’t go into that here.) […]
Extrovert or introvert copy. What’s best?
8th May 2018 | Posted in Marketing communications, Web content
Today I took a quiz to determine whether I’m an extrovert or introvert (not that there’s much doubt about the answer). Not one of those daft click-bait quizzes, but one created by organisational psychologist Adam Grant. It was actually the description of the ambivert that caught my attention and left me wondering whether copy can […]
Sports fans and business blogging – spot the difference
23rd April 2018 | Posted in Blogging, Content creation, social media
Last night I listened in to a webinar about sports marketing and social media*. This is odd for two reasons. First, it was all about football in Europe, and I only ever pretend to be interested in that to keep other people happy. Second, it was about engaging with fans on social media. And I […]
Honesty in blogging can be healthy for your brand
18th April 2018 | Posted in Blogging, Branding
Do you struggle to be endlessly positive in your blogging because you’re trying to show you know best? I do. Perhaps we’re trying too hard. Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with being less than perfect. And not knowing all the answers all the time. It can be hard to constantly take the role of lofty adviser […]
Is the GDPR going to lose you precious subscribers?
10th April 2018 | Posted in Marketing communications
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a headache, right? It’s great for EU citizens who are going to see their personal data even more closely protected from the end of May 2018. But it’s hard work for organisations who hold and process information about people. This includes those of us who send out email […]
What is the point of a copywriter?
28th September 2016 | Posted in Content creation, Marketing communications
Many people write these days. Content is a massive thing. So why pay a professional copywriter to create the words for your marketing programmes? Here are five reasons why they can bring real value to your business. They don’t work for you. Well, not all the time anyway, if they are with an agency or […]
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 […]
