Effective Copywriting-It's About "You", Not "Me"

There are so many reasons to write. It's such a vital form of human communication, always has

been and always will be. However, written communication can be easily overlooked or misunderstood if its purpose is not clear, and its message is misdirected. Take copywriting, for instance. Like any other genre of writing, it has its purpose which is different than writing, say, an essay, a report or a technical article.

Copywriting is essentially a commercial or a persuasive piece of text that is designed to speak to the consumer to compel them to purchase a product or service that will resolve a problem or pain point they are having. In order for it to be effective, it must be written in a language and perspective that will appeal to and be understood by the individual for whom it is directed towards. In other words, a good piece of copywriting is always written in the second person. Why? Because it's not about ME, meaning yourself; it's about YOU, the customer. It's about understanding the needs of your clientele and how your product or service will adequately meet those needs.

Although copywriting has been around since the dawn of print media, radio and TV, before the age of internet it was strictly undertaken by ad people from ad agencies who were schooled in the arts of effective copywriting. However, in today's digital marketing arena, it becomes ever important for anyone in business to make it their business to understand the copywriting process and how it is pertinent in obtaining new clientele, as well as retaining an existing customer base.

Of course, not every business owner, entrepreneur, manager, etc. has the talent, time or patience to write compelling copy. If this is you, you may decide to hire a Content Marketing Writer. Or you may decide that you rather take the Do It Yourself route. With the advent of blogging for marketing purposes and do it yourself website templates, many business owners are taking it upon themselves to create their own content to drive internet traffic. If you wish to become one of those billions of self-help digital marketers, here are some valuable tips to remember and use when creating your own marketing content:

THINK LIKE THE CUSTOMER: I'll be painfully honest. You'll have to lose the ego! Your copy should not be about how wonderful you or your company's offerings are. The truth is your product or service is far less important than its ability to fulfill your customer's needs. Always keep in mind that your potential, even your present clientele are always thinking, "What's in it for me?" Think of many instances when you were on the receiving line of a sales pitch. You're not going to part with your hard-earned money just because someone tells you to buy because their product is the greatest since sliced bread. Most likely you will buy from someone who can demonstrate their products have value to you in meeting your particular needs and wants.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: Ask yourself, who is your ideal customer? For instance, let's say

you are an insurance agent. Well, everyone needs some kind of insurance. Does that mean that

your ideal customer is everyone or anyone? Yes and No. Of course, many people are going to need insurance many times during their lives for different instances. However if you want to create an effective campaign you're going to need to concentrate on reaching a particular segment of the population with one particular service at a given time. Focusing on a demographic such as gender, age, ethnicity, family status, income, occupation or interests will allow you to tailor your message to a particular group who are most likely to buy a particular product at a given time.

BE COMPELLING: Because we are living in an age in which everyone is constantly bombarded with information, the average attention span of a human being has dramatically reduced. You literally have only seconds to grab someone's interest. Start with a question or catchy headline to draw your target audience in. Use simple language, personalize and get right to the point to you keep your audience engaged. Otherwise you'll lose them in a heartbeat by isolating them with industry jargon they don't understand or boring them to death by droning on with details that are not relevant to their needs.

GET YOUR READERS TO ACT: You can be as compelling as ever but if you do not tell the reader what you want them to do, you have wasted your words because they will be clueless and move on. You must always end your copy with a CALL TO ACTION, whether it be an invitation to subscribe to a newsletter, take advantage of an offer, attend an event you are hosting, or any instruction that will signal your potential customer to take the next step on the path to do business with you.

MAKE YOUR COPY ATTRACTIVE: Your lay out of text should be pleasing to the ever scrolling eye. Keeping mindful of people's limited attention span, make a habit of using any combination of the following: bold subtitles, bullet points, white space and imagery, especially imagery. The human eye loves to focus on colorful images that support the message. Keep in mind, though, not to overdo it. The text and visuals must be congruent so one doesn't cancel the other out. Less is more. Quality over quantity is always the rule of thumb.

BUILD AND MAINTAIN CREDIBILITY: It's a no-brainer that your goal in writing copy is to attract new business and retain the clientele you already serve. However you should always think in terms of the long haul by building a reputation for your brand that is steeped in value. People will start to follow and respect you if you regularly provide honest and useful information that will benefit them. Prospects may not buy from you now but they will think of you the next time they are in the market to use your business. For example, useful tips and advice are always appreciated, as long as the copy is relevant, authentic and intelligible. Don't make outrageous claims that you cannot support with evidence, always stay current with fresh topics, and make certain your copy is edited to perfection.

If you decide, instead, to hire a Content Marketing Writer this doesn't mean you're off the hook from having to be concerned whether you have quality content or not. With your new-found knowledge now of what constitutes an effective piece of copy you should be able to determine whether the product is worth paying for. My advice is to pay for a test assignment or ask for a sample of their previously published work before agreeing to the assignment. Whether you decide to write your own copy or not, the above guidelines are a good source from which to monitor your own or another's writing. Good luck!

The Press Release--Make It Part Of Your Marketing Plan

In our fast-paced digital age, anyone doing some kind of business is well-aware that the use of internet-based platforms such as social media, websites and email marketing are vital components to driving search engine traffic in order to build brand awareness. However, it is also important not to lose sight of the fact that traditional marketing tools, namely print advertising, is not going away any time soon. As long as there continues to be a demand for newspapers, magazines, journals, etc., there will continue to be a need for the Press Release to generate articles of consumer interest to a vast population.

Whether it's an open house, fund-raiser, merger, product launch, rebranding or any other vital news that a company desires to share to get the word out to the community, the Press Release remains a valuable means by which to attain exposure through the help of traditional media. Help is the key word, though, in the sense that a publisher can get a message into print, but only as long as the publisher deems it has some kind of worth or interest to the general public. Seems easy enough, right? Make it compelling enough to catch the reader's interest. Er...yes and no. As a businessperson writing a press release you must make the message compelling to the journalist in order that the journalist can make it compelling to the reader. But how, you ask? Tell an informative story. Think of the famous line spoken by Joe Friday of the ever-popular police series, Dragnet, "Just the facts, maam." Just like a news story, a press release needs to contain the important facts along with some embellishing details that can be translated into an article of interest. If it reads like a sales pitch, it will end up lining the bottom of an editor's wastebasket.

In order to capture the media's attention to your Press Release the first step is to understand that it must have a particular format. There is no guarantee that your release will be picked up because it is competing with other stories, however you will increase its chances of consideration by adhering to the following guidelines:

1. Include an attention-grabbing headline. Similar to the title of a news article, the attraction starts with a captivating headline. Keep it succinct but with enough information that will assure an editor you are thinking like a writer rather than a marketer. This is the very beginning of building an inverted pyramid of knowledge starting with the most basic who, what, where, when why and how.

2. Date of Release: Depending on time constraints that is up to whomever is managing the marketing campaign. Although, it is strongly recommended that you choose a day or two ahead to give the media source time to craft a good article. For big events and launches, schedule multiple releases.

3. Contact Information and City of Release: Make sure to use company letter head with contact info indicated to the left. Identify the city in which the news will take place, at the start of the body of the announcement.

4. Compelling Lead Sentence: Your introductory sentence should be as captivating as the headline and contain a summary of all the essential information.

5. The Body of the Press Release: Include one or two paragraphs with supporting details. Be careful not to go overboard with specifics since the purpose is to provide the media with just enough data with which to fashion into an interesting and succinct news announcement.

6. Background or bio of company or noteworthy individual: The only other aspect of the PR that is as important as the news event is the subject of the news event. Devote the last paragraph of the release to spotlighting the company, organization or individual that is responsible for making the news. Whether it is indicating the accomplishments of a significant individual or the history and contributions of a corporation, it lends a great deal of credibility and importance that will serve to further pique the media's interest in what you have to offer to their readership. Create a template for future releases in which the background information remains constant until it needs to be updated.

7. Make it personal: In addition to a bio or background, get permission to add a relevant quote by an influential person involved with this news event. It provides a human quality and connection that enhances the story. Remember that it is important that you tell a story, not advertise, even though your goal is to influence consumerism through community exposure.

8. Signal the end: It's simple. Add three hashtags (###) to indicate the end of your release. But don't stop there. Be sure to reread and correct any grammatical errors, misspellings or other inaccuracies. The presentation of your PR is an immediate reflection of your image as a professional. Plan ahead to make certain you are leaving a lasting and positive impression.

9. Length and Language: Keep it to 1-2 pages and use simple language that can be easily understood by a general audience.

10. Relevancy and locality: Choose media sources that are in the surrounding community and share your interests. Keep it local and find publications that are vested in similar topics they believe will draw their readership. It's also important to get acquainted with some of the local journalists in order to get feedback on whether your release will or has been picked up for publication. This will also increase the chances of your news getting published because your business becomes familiar and trusted among the news community.

By following these guidelines your Press Release stands a very good chance of getting picked up by your local media, especially by those publications that make it their business to post news from other businesses that they find relevant to their subscribers. Of course, it is up to you to determine whether a Press Release will be useful to your Marketing Plan. Many choose to go strictly digital because that yields them the most exposure. Nevertheless, it certainly can't hurt to include a Press Release when you consider that in the present day there are still plenty of people who choose to get their news from print media. If you choose not to include a press release you may be missing out on reaching a significant sector of the population that prefers to get their news from paper and ink. Like other forms of traditional marketing still used today such as newsletters, brochures, flyers and business cards, the press release remains a tried-and-true component for driving new business. Make it part of your marketing plan.

Why Create A Blog For Business?

When you think of a blog, what comes to mind? Well, it really depends on the decade. In the 1990's blogging began as a past time to express opinions or thoughts to a general audience. In essence, it was an online journal.

Today, blogging has taken on a whole new purpose. It has become a mode by which businesses communicate to an online audience about their products and services in order to gain customer interest. However, it's most important to stress that an effective blog is not so much about selling products and services as it is about conveying valuable information that will be helpful to the public.

A business blog is more about value than about getting the sale but can eventually lead to a paying customer who remembers your words of wisdom. People like to be educated with useful information and kept up to date about new topics and trends that may influence their buying decisions. Close to 80% of internet users today read blogs and nearly 70% say a blog adds credibility to a website.

In addition, statistics show that blogging has become favored by search engines such as Google. Websites that contain blogs have 434% more indexed pages, hence receive 97% more links to their website than those who don't blog. As a result, those who blog experience a 126% higher lead generation growth than non-bloggers and are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI with regular blogging.

Many business owners and managers who have never blogged before are now seeing the value that it brings, especially those that do business with other businesses. 76% of B2B marketers now blog because they see how profitable it has become to their competitors.

For those of you new to blogging, here are some vital tips to remember before beginning to write:

1. Make your topic about value and relevancy: Provide useful advice, tips and instructions instead of a sales pitch.

2. Readability and Visual Enhancement: Provide content that easily scrolls and is visually inviting. To maximize this, use sub-headings, bullet points, hyperlinks, images and video. These will contribute to a greater engagement and a higher potential for users to become your followers.

3. Diversify: Experiment with different formats such as infographics, videos, interviews and podcasts to see which generates the most interest among your audience. These enhance a blog by adding credibility and authenticity that people can relate to.

4. Be unique and tell a story: Provide a niche, a personal experience, customer testimony or a different spin on a topic that will help you stand out from your competitors.

5. Edit and proofread: Always reread, even have others check your work. You'd be surprised at the grammatical errors you miss that spell check often doesn't catch. Typos and poor sentence structure will most definitely give a bad impression...and as a professional you want to build and maintain credibility, not lose it!

6. Share your blogs: Once you've created your blog masterpiece it's time to show it to your audience. Post it on social media, make it part of an email marketing campaign, share it on a blog page. For further engagement, add a comments platform to encourage feedback from your audience.

7. Frequency and SEO: The best way to increase readership is by blogging often, adding key words to drive search engine traffic and keeping your topics fresh and relevant.

Stay fresh and relevant to your audience this summer with a business blog. Don’t have time to write? The Prolific Word can help! Now through August save $100 on blogging services with our 2 for 2 Blog Promotion! Get 2 blogs for $200. (Regular price--$150 each)

Contact Andrea Harrison for more information at theprolilficword@gmail.com or 848-213-5520