Copywriting Archives - Page 6 of 13 - McLellan Marketing Group

I still wish I had written this

November 14, 2007

Very early in my blogging life, long before you began to read what I had to say…I discovered one of the finest, most precise bits of copywriting that I have ever seen. I've decided that I needed to bring it back around, because I really want to share it with you.

It is the best of copywriting…both form and function supporting the core message.

Selfishly, as a writer, I also love that it clearly demonstrates that memorable copy is not accidental. This is a work of art.

I felt a surge of both admiration and envy when I saw this. Stick with it for the entire two minutes. The twist is worth the wait.

I hope we all aspire to be this good at something!

When should you be in your own commercials?

November 11, 2007

For the last couple days, we've explored why it's usually not a good idea for business owners to star in their own marketing materials. As with all things in the marketing world, there are of course, exceptions.

There are a couple circumstances when you need to be the face of your organization.

1) If you are small enough that you ARE the business: If you are a solo consultant or shopkeeper and your customers interface with you and only you – don't have someone else stand in for you. (Note: In this case, odds are you shouldn't be on TV at all!)

2) If your brand position is that you're THE expert in your field: If you possess some specialized expertise or credentials that form the basis for your position in the marketplace, then you need to be careful that you don't accidentally misrepresent that. (Again, hard to imagine that TV or radio are your best options if this is the case.)

This gets to the comment Gavin Heaton posted in one of the earlier posts. Where do podcasts, vlogs, etc. come into this. When you are imparting information, sharing knowledge, teaching etc. — then it is perfectly appropriate to be the star. It's also appropriate for you to sound like you, with the occasional "um" or slip of the tongue.

3) If you are of "celebrity" status in your community or field: This is a tricky one. Many of us may think we're more famous than perhaps we are. If you have a spouse or friend who is brutally honest – ask them.

Just to clarify – I am not saying you can't or shouldn't use professional talent. I am saying that in these specific circumstances, you may be better off representing yourself. If your radio or TV spot is coming from the consumer's voice or is from a broader perspective, then by all means use the pros.

The bottom line is still the same. 99% of the time, you having the starring role in your own marketing is not sending the message you want to send. Don't take my word for it. The e-mails and comments on this topic were about 100 to 1 in favor of you not doing it.

It’s too much you – why you shouldn’t be in your own commercials

November 9, 2007

A day or so ago, I donned a Kevlar suit and stated the truth.

99% of business owners should not star in their own marketing – especially TV and radio.

As I predicted, the article generated many phone calls and e-mails. Lots of people took it personally.

Exactly.

You see, when you start in your own commercial, your message, by default, is about you. How long you've been in business, how many XY or Z you sell a month, that your granddad started the business at the turn of the century, etc.

Here is a harsh but true fact. Your potential customers could care less. They care about themselves. And what they need and want.

When they see a TV commercial or print ad or website – they want to see themselves. They want to see their problems solved or even better, averted. They want to see how their lives could be better, easier, faster, more posh or sexier. They do not want to see your grandkids. No matter how cute they are.

I mentioned that you look a little uncomfortable and stiff in your spots. But it's more than that. It goes beyond that fact that while you're great at what you do, what you do isn't acting in front of a camera.

It is much more than the reality that spokespeople are prettier than most of us average joes or janes. It boils down to a fundamental reality. Your customers are only interested in you because you can do something for them. That's why they will give you their most precious resources – their time and attention.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes, you and only you can star in your marketing. We'll delve into that one next.

Hey Good Lookin’ — should you really be in your own TV spot?

November 6, 2007

This might ruffle a lot of feathers, so let the comments fly. With very, very few exceptions (and I mean very, very) you should not be in your own TV spots. And in most cases, you shouldn't be in your own radio ads or voiceover work either.

I know…but you are different. People tell you how good you are.

They are lying.

They aren't being mean. They either have no clue how to evaluate if you are good or not, or they are being polite. Honestly, in most cases, they are being polite. Either way, you are not good.

You look uncomfortable. You sound uncomfortable. Frankly, you come off a little stiff and uptight.

If I have not brought a curse upon my house with the above statements, let me add this. Your kids and grandkids shouldn't be in your ads either. They may well be cute as a button but that doesn't mean it's a good choice.

I recognize how intoxicating the attention and comments are. "Hey, saw you on TV. You looked great!" But you are paying a pretty penny to garner a compliment or two, aren't you?

Let's try to be objective here. If you saw an ad where the spokesperson was awkward, uncomfortable, stiff or just looked amateurish, would that give you a sense of confidence about their product or service? You've got enough competition and obstacles when it comes to selling your wares.

Bottom line – don't let your ego or an overzealous sales rep tell you it's a good idea for you to star in your own commercials. Use professionals in your advertising. It's worth the investment.

Unless I know you. Then, you look great.

Serve a steady stream of snack-sized messages

October 18, 2007

Ever hear those radio spots where the poor on-air talent is talking so fast it sounds as if they didn’t take a breath for the entire :60 seconds?

That’s an example of the "shove it all in" thinking.

Many business owners believe that they have to cram all the facts, figures and information into every single ad, sign, brochure and web page. They are in a panic, imagining that they might never have another chance to tell their story.

Of course, when they create marketing tools that are over-packed, that’s exactly what happens. The audience turns a deaf ear.

When you think about creating a marketing piece — think bite-sized snacks. One piece, one message.

Have you ever over indulged on Thanksgiving and when you finally pushed away from the table, you felt like you might burst? Contrast that with how you feel when you eat several mini-meals throughout a day.

Your marketing tools should be like mini-meals. Tasty treats that your audience will look forward to because they are not too filling and were created to delight the consumer.

Mason Hipp of SmallFuel Marketing, gets this concept in spades. His excellent series, Small Business Marketing 101 breaks down his counsel into 9 bite-sized posts. Could he have written one mammoth white paper? Sure…but his readers would have felt bloated and saturated.

Be a smart marketer. Don’t drive your audience away by drowning them in details. Give them plenty of time and space to slowly absorb your message. One bite at a time.

UPDATE: Got this note via e-mail:

From a 20 year radio guy- THANK YOU!!

I loved your example of trying to get too much in a radio commercial.

The main reason radio’s getting bad press is our own dumb moves. People as a whole are still satisfied with radio’s delivery quality- and the dirty little secret is they’re also satisfied with hearing their FAVORITE songs (look at most people’s iPod most played lists).

It doesn’t have to be fancy…or star Tom Cruise

September 26, 2007

Video is a powerful medium. It's a storytelling medium. We've seen that with the explosion of YouTube.

There's been a lot of discussion about production quality. Now do not misunderstand. I firmly believe there is a time and place when you need high end production and wouldn't allow a client to skimp.

But sometimes, you can capture the spirit and the story telling…and not spend a fortune.

Check our The Marketing Minute's friend Phil Gerbyshak tell us about a webinar series. It makes you smile. (Had me actually laugh out loud) It gives us a hint of what the webinar series might be like.

It's the first chapter in a story…

For more information about the webinar series, follow Phil's instructions and head to the website.

Be the $10,000 buyer!

September 9, 2007

Less than 2 months ago, 103 hopeful authors and two neophyte publishers (yours truly and the always brilliant Gavin Heaton) launched Age of Conversation.

Our goals were pretty simple:

Get exposure for all the authors
Provide quality content
Explore what the "age of conversation" meant
Do something together that would eclipse what any of us would do alone

and the biggie — raise money for Variety, the Children's Charity. We set $10,000 as our first target for funds raised.

<60 days later….we have sold 1,274 books and raised $9,997.60. WHO will put us over the top? Can we get to our $10,000 goal before September 16th, the 2 month anniversary of the launch?

Whoever buys a book (e-mail me the receipt) between now and September 16th will be profiled on the Age of Conversation blog and no doubt, will get plenty of link love from the authors.

Need a little marketing BS?

September 5, 2007

Next time you are looking for that million dollar phrase to really impress the pants off someone, turn to the handy-dandy Marketing Bull%$#* Generator.

Here are some of my favorites from the site:

aggregate interactive users

incentivize world-class niches

benchmark turn-key convergence

benchmark plug-and-play paradigms

The really scary part of this fun little toy is that we all know someone who actually talks this way!

Write for real people

September 5, 2007

Whether you are writing a brochure, a radio spot or a blog post – you are writing to a specific audience. And in reality, in most cases, multiple audiences. The more clear you can be on who you're talking to, the more clear you can be in your language, examples and tone.

Here's one of my favorite "tricks of the trade" when it comes to writing. I create my audience from a composite from bits and pieces of the real people who engage with the product or service. From those seemingly random facts, I concoct a 3-D, multi-faceted person.

I literally can picture them in my head. I know enough about their job and their lives to be able to relate to them.

Think of this as the poor man's persona.

Here's how you do it. Let's take this blog as the example. When I sit down to write every day, who am I writing for?

I know that I have several sub audiences here and have detailed personas (too long for this post) for each. But, let me introduce you to them.

CMO/Director of Marketing at a medium sized company: Ian is either on his own or has a small staff. He's inside a B-to-B company and is pretty savvy in terms of basic marketing. But he needs help creating solid strategy, staying on course and executing the marketing plan.

Odds are, branding is less familiar territory for him. He gets it but has no idea how to create it in a meaningful way that has depth, meaning and sticking power with his internal and external audiences. He needs a partner here who can walk them through the process and execution.

He also needs to be inspired some days. He has to champion everything inside his company and sometimes the CFO can be a real prig. Because Ian is so immersed in the day-to-day world of his job, he also looks to me to keep him current on trends and fresh creative.

Blogging is a some day for Ian. He knows he needs to get his company there but he doesn't feel as though he can sell it yet. It's too fringe still. He checks out my feed a couple times a week and then reads what's of interest to him. His typical comment is a question or clarification, which I love.

Small Business Owner: Poor Erin has to do it all. Her business is successful but she views marketing and advertising as a necessary evil. She's pretty savvy but still gets "sold" by a slick media sales person now and then. Everything sounds like a good idea, so how does she choose the best ones? It's not that she resents investing the time or money, but she wants to do it wisely.

She's the one that branding could actually make the most difference to, if she got it. With her limited budget and knowledge, differentiating herself from her competitors in a real, user (both internal and external) experience sort of way would generate incredible word of mouth, which will not only stretch her budget but also deepen the love Erin's customers have for her entity.

She is stretched so thin she could scream. She doesn't have time to read all the magazines, business books and keep up on the trends. So she's looking for quick reads that will teach her all the nuances she doesn't know and remind her of the ones she does.

She also needs to be reminded now and then that despite the long hours and frustrations, she worked hard to be able to have this life and there's a lot right with it.

She isn't quite brave enough to comment yet. But she shows up almost every day.

Branding/marketing Pros: Blogging or not, Patrick either works in an agency, consultancy, or at a high-level client side job. He loves marketing and branding. Loves to talk about it, loves to create it, loves to read about it and loves to surround himself with other people who share his passion.

He comes to my blog not so much to learn something new but instead, to share common experiences, poke and pull on fresh ideas and to tell war stories. He views us as kindred spirits and nods his head a fair amount as he reads what I've written. He's a frequent commenter and always adds value to the conversation.

What he hopes to find when he shows up at the blog is a topic to discuss or share ideas around. Patrick likes to talk about the industry and where it's going. He finds the blogosphere a way he can keep very current, so he can guide his clients better.

So now that I know who I am writing for – how does that influence my prose?

Whenever I have an idea for a post, I think about Ian, Erin and Patrick. I wonder if it will interest them. And I keep a mental tally. If I've written a couple pieces that week that I know are more up Patrick's alley, then I go out of my way to make sure I offer up something that Ian and Erin will particularly value.

I try to position my questions to entice them all to comment, even though I know Erin's a long shot. I figure even if she doesn't answer me on the blog, hopefully she's answering the question in her own head and that's helping her clarify her thoughts around the topic. I use my experiences with MMG clients to explore what might really be a hot button for Ian.

When I want to write something but it doesn't seem to really be something any of them would care that much about, I re-think writing it.

Understanding my audience helps me keep this blog (or a brochure, website, ad etc.) on the straight and narrow. It forces me to justify any detour that I'm thinking about taking. And, I think in the end it means I deliver my message in a way that keeps Ian, Erin and Patrick coming back for more.

Which is sort of the point.

Related posts:

Ease into the conversation – be a drip

No one is a demographic

Effective or stupid?

Listen up (why your customers’ native tongue matters)

August 10, 2007

Have you ever been out in a public place, maybe enjoying coffee with a friend when all of a sudden, your ears perk up? You hear a familiar voice and you can't help but listen for it? Or you hear a phrase or word that trips off your own tongue on a regular basis?

It's human nature to be drawn to voices that feel familiar. Steve Lovelace from Build a Better Box has a great post about a study from the National Academy of Sciences about how infants respond to people speaking in different languages. The study suggests that even as young as five months, the infants recognize the tones and patterns of their native language and respond accordingly.

Customers are really just big babies. No, I don't mean fussy. I mean, just like the 5 month olds, they respond to their native tongue. But all too often — we don't write that way.

Look through your own communications pieces and see if you can spot one or more of the following:

Sales speak: "You can drive it home today!" Okay, yours probably aren't that blatant. But if it sounds like a slick salesman, it isn't going to fly.

Insider jargon: Do your materials look like an eye chart with all their acronyms? Are you sure your audience uses those same shortcuts?

Vague buzzwords: You know the words I'm talking about. Empower. Paradigm. Value add. It's not that those concepts are bad or irrelevant to your customers. But the words are so over-used that we assign very little meaning to them any more. Don't talk in generalities — be concrete.

Listen to your customers for awhile. Then, read your materials out loud. If they don't sound like your customers talk — re-write them. It really is that simple. Be sure you're speaking in their native tongue.

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