by admin | Feb 14, 2012 | Blog, Content
People today more receptive than ever before to Clear Solutions and Clear Messages. Clarity promises Peace of Mind in today’s chaotic world!
Here is an example by a jewellery chain that produced amazing results:
A simple headline was changed from:
“We guarantee the quality of the diamonds we sell”
to:
“If the Gemological Institute of America doesn’t confirm our diamond’s colour, clarity and carat weight to be at least as good as we promised you, we’ll buy back that diamond for the price you paid, reimburse you for the cost of grading, and pay you an additional five thousand dollars. If other jewelers aren’t willing to match this offer, you’ve got to wonder why.”
for spectacular results!
Does your brand provide a guarantee like this? When looking at your content development, examine your Brand Promise and aim to deliver on it each and every time!
by admin | Feb 13, 2012 | Blog, Content
When working with content development, solutions we offer have to be immediately comprehensible otherwise they become problems and add to the sensory overload of our clients and prospects.
People are too stressed and busy for dense visuals and jargon – a common sin of Finance and IT industries.
- Time Deprivation + Technology = Compression
- Digital TV 500 channels & The Web = Life now is 24 x 7x 365
- Compressed patience and attention span of customers means that unless you grab their attention instantly they will use their Remote Control or click their Mouse to never be heard from again!
A simple PICTURE is a 1,000 WORDS, but it better tell a story much faster than that or today’s consumer will be gone before you have the chance for the proverbial wink!
by admin | Feb 12, 2012 | Blog, Content
Effective marketing tools look at whether your marketing communication:
- Dramatizes your brand’s most important benefit?
- Communicate simply? Simplicity is powerful – less is more
- Use natural, real life dialogue?
- Avoid jargon?
- Tell a story, leave a picture in your prospects’ mind?
- Ask questions?
- Provide proof and reasons to believe?
by admin | Feb 6, 2012 | Blog, Promotion
If you are the owner or founder of an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) or are the person responsible for sales or business development in any size organization then your reputation – your personal branding is paramount in your personal success and the success of your organization.
‘Brands are like people’ is an analogy often used to describe the companies they represent. Virgin is the brand built by Richard Branson and the two are hard to separate. Consumers buy into the personality of the founder and what it represents and promises.
In many cases however ‘brands are people’ – every celebrity is a brand, from Oprah to Dr.Phil, to rock stars and actors to sports people like Beckham.
Business brands take on or communicate the values of their founders. This is especially true for start-ups and new businesses, professional services firms where the names of the founding partners make up the brand names. Although this is not the best way to brand your services business this is still the dominant reality for many.
So the brands are designed and communicated by people. People, especially in services industry is who we all buy from! So it makes sense that ‘these people’ have an optimal representation of who they are and what makes them special in the place where it matters most, the place where positive perceptions are formed – online!
Your online identity and representation is made of your online assets:
- LinkedIn
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Blog / Website
- YouTube Channel, etc
The most important of these in the SME (B2B & Professional Services) is LinkedIn, and we’ll cover this next.
by admin | Feb 5, 2012 | Blog, Content, Design, Strategy
All websites can be classified into 4 types:
1. A site that sells product(s) or service(s) by the quality of design and copywriting, which is in turn
2. A lead generation site that attracts potential new clients
3. A customer support or self service site that reduces costs by completing routine tasks, replacing or reducing human interaction
4. A content site that educates or informs visitors about your organization or service
Most websites are a mixture of the above, yet content strategy is the key! They all need to do 2 things to be successful:
- Attract enough new prospects to survive and prosper by cost effectively letting their target audience know that they exist (PUSH), and/or getting found (PULL).
- Once prospects land on your website, their experience there needs to be positive, and this is a decision that is often made in less than 1/20th of a second! The user experience is determined by the quality of design and copywriting which is in turn developed by following a strategic process outlined by the diagram below:
Website marketing is an ongoing process, similar to designing and building a house. It is then important to maintain and build the value of your marketing properties and prevent this value being depreciated through neglect of infrastructure or promotional activity by competitors.
To get the best return on the marketing investment, time needs to be dedicated to answer the questions that assist in building a solid foundation for the marketing of your business online.
By starting at the bottom and working up, the process will be shorter, less painful and more profitable.
Recent Comments