Does writing your marketing stuff send you into a spin?

It’s not surprising if it does.

You just have to listen to all the advice flying around to know that it’s not as simple as writing things down.

There’s SEO and keywords that you’ve heard are more important than anything. And then there’s something called content that doesn’t seem to be the same as words on the website. And then there’s social media and blogs and newsletters that fit in somehow too. 

How can a small business possibly do it all and why should they?

Marketers often talk about a customer “journey”. First you get the attention of the potential customer, then you persuade them that they want to buy from you, and then you keep in touch to remind them of all the good things you can do for them.

And that’s where all these different techniques fit in.

“Yoohoo, I’m here!”

Getting people to visit your website is the first step. Use the keywords on your website that people use in their searches and you stand a better chance of being found. Refining those keywords through research ups the odds of being seen and that’s search engine optimisation (SEO).

“Believe in me!””

Building trust and credibility with an audience who don’t know you is tough.

Welcome to social media and blogging.

Social media isn’t a direct selling place. It’s where you share your knowledge. And increasingly it’s the people who can be entertaining that win hearts and minds here.

And blogging is about sharing knowledge around your business.

This is content. All content leads your customers to your website on their journey.

“Buy from me!”

Hurrah, we’ve arrived at your website. Here is where you show what you’ve got. You tell people what you offer, why they want what you offer, and why they want to buy from you. 

And you talk in their “language” because that will make them comfortable and help them believe you understand them. 

Do that, and many of your keywords will just naturally fall into place.

“Don’t forget me!”

It’s a lot easier and cheaper to get repeat business from a customer than to keep finding new customers, so staying in touch is good. 

Even if they haven’t bought from you on their first visit, they might in the future. But only if they remember you’re there. 

That’s why you encourage them to follow you on social media or sign up for a newsletter. A newsletter doesn’t have to be a major headache. Latest offerings, links to blogs, a bit of industry news – all good food for a newsletter. 

Putting the boring voice on

How not to send your readers to sleep

Do you ever catch yourself doing this?

Someone asks you a question about something you’re really excited about. Might be how to grow tomatoes, run a marathon or make some jewellery. Something you know a decent amount about.

You think you’re going to share that excitement. But you find yourself undergoing a change. Your voice has gone monotone and you’re issuing a long list of instructions instead. It’s a weird thing to do but it happens under the pressure of having to explain instead of just enjoy.

Many of the people I work with have exactly the same issue when it comes to writing about their business for their website or brochure.

All that excitement and certainty get lost in a sea of stolid verbiage and clichés. Somehow they feel there’s a proper way to write that’s far removed from how they would normally talk.

Why do we do that? Why do we feel the need to write passionless copy?

Fear has a lot to do with it. Fear of looking unprofessional. Fear of looking different from our competitors. Fear that what we think is important isn’t actually of interest to the reader. Even fear of being ridiculed for poor writing.

Those could all be valid arguments.  

Let’s look at them.

Fear of looking unprofessional

This is all about talking to our readers in a tone that they recognise and understand. If we’re talking to an audience that needs absolute precision of facts, we have no choice but to work with that. But we should remember that we’re talking to real people who want to know why they should buy from us. 

And our business “personality” is a part of that.

Fear of looking different from our competitors

But how else are we going to stand out from the crowd? We need to prove our value. Not just in monetary terms but by displaying our credibility and confidence through language that will resonate with the reader. Without the clichés.

Fear of saying the wrong thing

We won’t do this if we always focus on what’s important to the reader. Who are our preferred customers? What drives them to make a purchase? What makes them trust a vendor? Keeping the answers in mind will help shape the way we write for them.

Fear of poor writing

Writing with little regard for grammar and spelling can deduct points for credibility with the section of your audience that cares about these things. Marketing and advertising copywriters do ignore the rules. But they know what the rules are and then ignore them. A bit like the great modern artists who learned and mastered the traditional methods first before experimenting. Getting someone else to proofread and edit our stuff is really important. That’s especially true for anyone who doesn’t trust their knowledge of language.

It’s a one-sided conversation

On websites, in brochures and in newsletters, we get to do all the talking without interruption. But we can imagine the responses and make sure we’re answering the questions as we write our marketing copy.

Forget the boring voice and just talk to your customers. It will make writing so much easier. 

How headings can help with the flow of your writing

I've recently been working with a mature student studying law on the reports he's written as part of his assessment.

When he contacted me he was looking for proofreading help but at the end of the project the one thing he said really stood out as a lesson was how much headings can help make a document easier to read.

Headings help to tell a story
Whether we're talking about a complex report or an article or any piece of marketing communication, adding headings throughout can really help you tell the story.

Here's an example
Take a case study. A good structure for a story about how you've helped someone overcome a problem might be to write about:

• the challenge the client faced
• the solution you proposed
• why the client chose you
• how you implemented that solution
• what benefits the client has achieved

If that's how you're structuring the article, then adding in headings that fit with the structure will really help the reader to understand where the story is going. They don't have to be clever headings - meaningful and helpful are the key.

Creating different levels of headings

If you're writing a long piece such as a report or a brochure, you might find it useful to start using subheads. So under a heading of "Challenges" you might want to look at how the problem affected business operations, customer relations, staff morale etc. 

However you choose to structure your headings, make sure that you have some consistency right through the document, both in logic and in font. Give your headings different levels, say 1-3, and make sure every level 1 heading is the same font. Different sizes to differentiate headings may be enough. No need to get carried away with bold, italic and underlining - however tempting that might be!

Testing the flow through headlines

To test if your headings work, try looking at your document just with headings. Do they explain what the next chunk of text is about? Are they in a logical order that tells a sensible story? Do they lead your reader to a conclusion?

Would you like more help?

If you're like my student client who knows what to say but is having trouble organising it for the reader, I may be able to help. Drop me a line at kathy@wrightwell.com and we can talk.