It’s All Marketing

Some is good. Some is bad. But it's all marketing. 
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February 11, 2010
 

Aarogant Advertising

This was in my fridge. Blame my wife.

I got a kick out the marketing copy on the back of this beer. Nothing like calling your beer "Aarogant Bastard Ale" and then following through with the marketing by writing, "It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."

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January 27, 2010
 

Don't Be Too Vague

If you're going to have a call out with an interesting fact about your company, product, or organization, make sure that it isn't too vague. Ask yourself, "could my competitor paste this on their marketing material without chancing a single thing?" If the answer is yes, then rework the copy and make a better pitch. For example:

Pretty sure this isn't a statement unique to WTS. Plenty of seminaries can say the exact thing. It is like saying, "Our graduates have jobs..."

A simple fix would be to take the vagueness away and give a number. Even small numbers or ball-park number would make this more interesting, engaging, and unique to WTS.

"More than 15 alumni serve a presidents..."
"Over 200 alumni serve or have served as.."
"15% of all seminaries around the world have WTS alumni serving as..."

Don't be too vague.

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January 27, 2010
 

The iPad and Great Marketing Copy

I love Apple's ability to keep their marketing copy clear and simple. In today's announcement of the iPad, Steve Jobs summed up the iPad like this:

Our most advanced technology
in a magical and revolutionary device
at an unbelievable price.

Don't know if I'll buy one, but in just one sentence I know what it is all about.

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January 22, 2010
 

Writing like a Ninja

I was checking my Amazon Associates account this evening and saw a title someone bought that beckoned me to click and learn more. As I read the product description, I couldn't help but laugh and think about how entertaining and clever the writing was. I didn't quite suck me in enought to buy it, but I think I'll add it to my wish list.

This was part of the product description for Ask a Ninja Presents The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon:

After much debate and in a spirit of morbid amusement, the International Order of Ninjas has chosen to produce The Ninja Handbook, the first-ever secret ninja training guide specifically designed for the non-ninja.

Most non-ninjas who handle these delicate, deadly pages will die–probably in an elaborately horrific and painful manner. But whether your journey lasts five seconds or five days or (rather inconceivably) five years, all those who bravely take up this text and follow the tenets and trials laid out within will die knowing they were as ninja as they possibly could’ve been.

This is a good reminder that marketing copy doesn't always have to be so serious and sterile. Consider this potential angle the publisher could have gone with:

Under the guise of the International Order of Ninjas, authors Douglas Sarine and Kent Nichols share humorous tips designed to entertain the non-ninjas of the world.

While you won't become a Ninja by reading this book, Sarine and Nichols will keep you laughing out loud as you take the imaginary journey to becoming a Ninja.

Yeah, my rewrite is lame. But that is the point. Sometimes you need to let your marketing copy die "in an elaborately horrific and painful manner."

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January 22, 2010
 

2010 Content Marketing Trends and Predictions

The folks at Marketo and ClickDocuments have released, what appears to be, a helpful (FREE) little document about 2010 content marketing trends and predictions. I just downloaded my copy and have only glanced through it. Certainly looks like some good information in there.

One nice feature is that if you are super lazy, they've put together a top 10 list on page 3 that pulls trends they saw from their 39 contributors.  Here are some of their top 10 tips to whet your appetite:

3. Get Visual! If you think about content (white papers, blog posts, etc.) as just text, you’re missing huge opportunities to really connect with your audience. Your content has to look great and include plenty of visuals. And different styles of content, such as video, will become staples. Remember: You’re telling a story, and video is a great medium for storytelling.

5. Think About Engagement. Pushing ads is a thing of the past. Interacting and engaging with consumers – wherever they are (mobile will be big!) – will help you stand out from the crowd. It’s not about how many Twitter followers you have, it’s about how many you actually know and engage with.

8. Scale Back the Volume; It’s Quality that Matters. Too much content isn’t a good thing. But that’s what we’re starting to see, as publishing content becomes easier and easier. Quality rules the day! Before publishing something, really give some thought as to whether your readers would truly value the content and benefit from it. Be rigorous in your filtering. If something isn’t going to be hugely valuable to your audience, don’t publish it.

Our Bonus Tip - It’s not the size of your megaphone that matters; it’s the size of your customers’ megaphones. Create content that encourages your customers and audience to do the marketing for you. Create content that your audience absolutely has to share because it’s that good! Provide a level of customer support and engagement that inspires your customers to tell the world. Then: You win.


You can grab your copy of the full report here.

Hat tip to the folks at http://twitter.com/maplest for pointing this out.

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January 21, 2010
 

Writing for the Web in 2010

Well, thankfully it's a lot like writing for the web in 2009. That said, if you have a website and don't have a clue what SEO is or how it works, then this seminar is actually worth a listen. In particular you'll gain a better understanding on how search engines work and how you can optimize your website to better reach your target market. You do want to reach your target market, don't you?

http://service.prweb.com/learning/writing-for-web-2010-webinar.html

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