Once upon a time, customers could only get in touch with you by telephone, letter or by visiting your premises. If they were unhappy, they’d probably moan about you to a friend or two and you’d be non the wiser.

How times have changed. Now, if they’re unhappy they’ll tweet about it or post in on their Facebook page. Before you know it, the whole world will know they received bad service.

That’s why, as a business, it’s vital you’re using social media.

How social media can be used to your advantage

If there’s one thing everyone loves, it’s to talk. By listening to social media channels, you can learn a lot about your customers’ likes and dislikes. So you need to use that to your advantage.

1. Sales Department

The optimum time to sell to someone is when they’re ready to buy. Hitting on that golden moment isn’t easy. But monitoring social media channels will give you the advantage.

If you’re an electrical retailer and someone in your Twitter feed is asking advice on buying a new radio, you can respond and offer advice. That puts you in the right place at the right time.

2. Marketing Department

Listening to your target market will tell you whether your marketing materials are addressing the questions your customers are asking.

3. Customer Service

We’ve already looked at how an unhappy customer can use social media to vent their frustration. But imagine if you were monitoring Twitter for anyone mentioning your company name. You would be able to pick up the fact that there’s a problem and deal with it straightaway.

Then you would go from a disappointment to the best company in the world because you listened and put it right.

4. Research and Development

Eaves-dropping will tell you a lot about what people really want. But you can also use social media as a way of conducting customer research. Ask your customers what they want and give it to them.

5. Human Resources

Can social media really help with HR?

Yes, users fill out profiles showing their skills and experience (e.g. on LinkedIn). If you’re looking for someone with a particular skill, just search for them.

It’s amazing just how many ways social media can help businesses today. If you’re not already there, start using it today – your competitors are.

Yes, I know – if you could answer that, marketing your business would be a doddle. You’d be able to second guess precisely what they want, provide it for them and keep them happy forever.

That’s a nice dream but it will never be a reality.

The dilemma is that your products and services have to fit the needs of your customers – if they don’t, they won’t sell.

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is to believe that their customers want what they want.

Let’s think about that for a second. I enjoy going to the gym, watching F1 and going out to dinner. So does that mean all my clients and indeed my friends like those things too? Probably not.

Your customers aren’t like you

However you market your business – through social media, website, brochures, networking etc. – if you base your activities on your beliefs rather than what your customers want, you could be in trouble.

To make your business a success you have to do some serious leg work and that means researching your market.

You have to find out:

• What they want
• What they’re willing to pay
• Where they hang out (to find the optimum marketing avenue)

When thinking about your social media marketing strategy research is vital to work out where your customers are and what platform they use the most.

Common marketing mistakes

Let’s start by looking at B2B companies. It is often perceived that their customers don’t ‘hang out’ on social media platforms. Well if you think about, the vast majority of companies are using social media these days so, yes, they are there – you’ve just got to find them.

Do you use Facebook? If you do, when do you update your status? Many companies add stuff during the day but the problem is most fans won’t log in until the evening. So if you want to generate a buzz and get some participation going on your page, you must update when your fans are about.

One more think about using Facebook, if someone ‘likes’ your page that’s not the same as opting in for your marketing emails. If you start bombarding them with unsolicited emails you’re going to lose them as fans very quickly.

Research, research, research  

It doesn’t matter what business you are in – IT, retail, telecoms, copywriting etc., you have to research your market to make sure your products and services match the needs of your target audience.

Don’t use guesswork – ask them or survey them and find out what they really want. Only then will your marketing hit the spot every time.

Keeping in touch with your customers will set you apart from your competition.

All too often businesses take your money and wave goodbye. But they’re missing a trick. Regular contact with your customers (and prospective customers) is vital because it keeps you in their mind when they’re in need of your products or services.

An effective way of doing that is by producing a monthly newsletter.

Newsletter content

Many businesses stumble at the first hurdle because they don’t know what to include.

Your newsletter can be used to convey great information, industry updates, special offers, announcements, helpful hints—anything that will add value to your customers.

Of course a newsletter isn’t a lot of use without anyone to send it to. The best way to develop your mailing list is to grow it organically—home grown will always bring in better results than a bought in list.

Here are 3 ways to ensure your newsletter works:

1. Opt-in

If you want someone to opt-in to your list you have to make it easy for them. If you hide the opt-in form deep within your website they’re not going to go looking for it.

Make sure your sign-up box is highly visible, preferably on every page and simple to complete.

Make sure you also make them aware of what you’ll be sending and how often and reassure them that you won’t share their details with anyone else.

2. Content

Your content shouldn’t be overly promotional and whatever you do, don’t jump in immediately with a sales pitch.

Start with a recommendation, article, or comment on industry news. Follow that up with a hint or tip that your customer will find useful. Once you’ve given them something for free you can then bring in your offer or a case study to promote your products/services.

If you’re still stumped and have no idea what to write why not enlist the help of a freelance copywriter to write the content for you.

3. Two way traffic

Make it easy for  your reader to interact with you through your newsletter.

After reading your news they may want to get in touch so don’t use a “no-reply” email address. Make it simple for them.

Always remember that your newsletter is about adding value to your relationship not selling. Be generous with your information as this will develop trust and with trust comes sales.

Does this look familiar?

This is the Google 10 box that appears at the top of your search results. It shows 10 local businesses that relate directly to your search term (so in this case it is builders).

Ever wondered how companies get listed here? Or haven’t you given it much thought because you thought it was bound to be expensive?

Well here’s a news flash for you – your Google Local listing is free.

If this is old news to you and you’ve already claimed yours, well done you’ve taken the first step to boost your online visibility. But how are you using it?

Have you just claimed it and left it at that?

This listing is a great free marketing tool for your business.

When creating your listing you’ll have the opportunity to add video, photos, receive customer reviews and list events. All sorts of data that can be used to enhance your SEO.

Utilising all of these tools will help generate more business for you. And you can also manage its effectiveness through its analytics making it a tool that is:

• Versatile
• Free
• Interactive

You can enhance it by getting customers to write a review, list new offers and events to keep it fresh.

It’s free so make the most of it. 

The first thing your website has to do is engage your reader.

Granted, the design of your site and its copywriting will go a long way to persuade your reader that you are the company for them. But how about getting a bit more personal?

Be visual with video

More and more companies are using the power of video within their websites. It seems to be one of those things you either love or hate. But if you’re undecided here are a few things to think about.

1. Getting personal

A corporate video (especially if you’re on it) is a powerful way of conveying your (or your company’s) personality to your viewer. Many videos use images and a voice over which are good but nothing beats a video showing you talking to your viewer.

By directly speaking to your customer, you will make an instant connection and they will feel as though they already know you when they decide to do business with you.

2. Product insight

Videos are also a great way to introduce people to your products and services.

Instead of having to read all about them they can simply watch your video. You can also use them as ‘How to’ guides which will add value to your relationship with them.

3. Innovative

Video is also still seen as a fairly forward thinking kind of marketing, making your organisation look cutting-edge and innovative – one that thinks beyond the normal limits of marketing.

4. Search engine optimisation

Of course, one of the main benefits is that Google loves video so incorporating it within your website will give your search engine optimisation a boost. Whether you host it directly on your website or bring it in from YouTube, utilising the descriptive element of your video will enhance your online visibility.

Warning

That all sounds amazing but using video does come with a few warnings:

Music – not everyone will be thrilled if your website begins to blast out music as soon as it’s open. Make sure there is an obvious icon to click to mute or reduce the decibels.

Auto play – don’t have your video on autoplay. Have it plainly visible so your reader can decide when (or if) they want to play the video.

Load speed – video can affect the load time of your website so be careful. When browsing the net people aren’t going to want to hang around while your site loads.

Video can be a very powerful sales tool. It makes an instant connection with the viewer, offers an innovative way to market your products and a valuable tool through which you can offer help and guidance to your customers.

Email marketing is an excellent way to your message out to potentially thousands of people instantly and relatively cheaply.

But if you don’t do it right your emails will simply be deleted and remain unopened. So successful email marketing doesn’t start when you begin to compose your email copy, it starts when you begin to devise your strategy.

You do have a strategy – right?

Step 1 – Back to basics

At this point in the process you’ve made the decision to start an email marketing campaign. Great, so what’s next?

Well, before you start writing there are a few things you need to think about.

• What’s your offer?—not just the product you’re selling but also the emotional aspect your product – think about how it will make your readers feel?
• Who are you selling to?—who’s going to buy your product? What’s important to them?
• The timing of your offer—are there any trends in the market you can tie into?
• What do you want your reader to do?—your call to action; do you want them to email, call, complete online order form…

Step 2 – Your content

The first decision is do you write it yourself or do you bring in a professional copywriter. Remember it is essential that the email is about what you can do for them rather than being about your company.

But more than just what your email says, you must also think about how it will look. It must look inviting if you want the recipient to take the time to read it. And we’re talking here not just about the design but also layout, font, images etc.

If you want your email to have a big impact you have to look at the whole package, including:

• Font – a sans-serif font such as Arial or Verdana is easier to read than some of the other fonts available. It’s a small detail but it will have a bearing on whether your message is read or deleted. 
• Read aloud – this one is true for all content creation. The best way to ensure your message is clear, unambiguous and engaging is to read it aloud. This will highlight whether the rhythm is wrong, whether there are any repetitions or if it sounds stilted. 
• Pruning – most people toss in unnecessary words when writing. There’s nothing wrong with that but it does mean reading through and pruning is essential to tighten your copy. 
• Rhetoric – extra power can be injected into your email by using rhetorical techniques. The incorporation of three part list add punch and rhythm – remember Tony Blair’s      “…education education, education”?
• Moving forwards – every word has to count in your email so make sure your reader is carried through the text by using words such as ‘remember’, ‘but’, ‘consider’, ‘for example’.
• Variety – solid text is very unattractive so make sure you vary your paragraph lengths (but keeping them short), add sub headings, bulleted lists and sentence fragments to keep your reader on their toes. 
• Benefits – all marketing copy should be heavily benefits led and email marketing is no different. But make sure it is the benefits you talk about (i.e. what it will mean/do for your customer) and not just the features. 
• Second person – creating rapport is essential if you want your email to resonate with the reader. Writing it in the second person (i.e. you and your) will help make an emotional connection needed to get the reader on your side and to take action.
• Keep it short – no one wants to waste their time reading a mammoth email. Keep your communication short. If you want to impart a lot of information use your email to link out to another web page (which will also encourage people to visit your website) so if they want to read more they can.

Because we write emails every day many people are fooled into believing email marketing is simple. All they have to do is through a few paragraphs together and Bob’s your uncle.  But it’s rarely that straight forward.

You have to remember that although the recipient has opted in to receive your emails, they will receive hundreds a day. That’s a very crowded inbox that your email has to survive. By creating a strong subject line to encourage your reader to open your email and killer content, you will maximise your email’s chances of survival.

Give these tips and try and see how you get on.

Do you use any other techniques when composing your emails? If so leave a comment and share them with us. 

Your list is one of the most vital parts of your email marketing campaign.It doesn’t matter how great your offer or sales message is, if you don’t send it to the right people, it won’t work.

The quick option is to buy in a list but how can you be sure it is the right audience for your offer? Surely the best way to optimise your campaign’s chances is to use a home-grown list that you’ve developed over time from an interested audience.

So how do you get started?

Well it won’t be a quick process. Building your own quality list will take time. It will involve gathering email addresses from customers which means you have to maximise your opportunities to capture them.

You could:

• Have a sign-up box on every page of your website so your visitors can’t miss it
• Provide a free giveaway that’s of value to capture their email address
• Include a sing-up link in your email signature
• Promote your newsletter on your print materials too. Once  they’ve signed up for your newsletter you have their details to send other offer to as well
• If you use direct mail, send an offer that will drive them to a landing page that requires an email address to access the deal
• Promote your giveaways through social media (such as Facebook or Twitter) to widen your audience
• If you work regularly with other companies see if they would be willing to promote your newsletter within theirs

These ideas are easy to implement and in time will lead to the creation of a high quality in-house marketing list to which you can make offers and provide news and advice to constantly strengthen your customer relationships.

As I mentioned earlier, it will take time to grow your list but it is worth it as the results from your marketing campaigns will be much better than if you simply bought in a list.

Give it a go and see how it works for you.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

Most people see press releases as off line marketing tools. But that doesn’t mean you should lose sight of the fact that they can also be published on online press release websites.

The main advantage of that is that where printed press releases appear for just one day and then become someone’s chip wrappings the next, online press releases will be attracting a new audience for months or even years after its original release date.

That’s why you should always write your press release to include your main keywords so it will continue to attract the audience you want. Although it is important you still follow the usual rules of press release writing.

The usual rules apply

Your press release should still:

• Be regarded as newsworthy rather than a thinly veiled advert
• Be brief and too the point. Any waffle will get it rejected immediately
• Contain quotes from real people and referenced back to them
• Ensure the first paragraph  summaries your story
• Make sure you send it to a targeted group of editors rather than going for blanket coverage

The on line press release

Keywords for press releases are just as  important as for your website copy. If you are unsure about how to go about it hire a freelance copywriter to help you.

Using keywords within the copy will make sure your press release is constantly picked up by your target audience for as long as it remains on the internet. The key things to remember are:

• Focus on your primary keyword for the headline, quotes and opening paragraph but taking care not to over stuff your content
• Make sure your summary also contains your keyword
• Still keep your press release brief and to the point
• Do your research and make sure you send it to journalists and bloggers who will be interested in your  subject

Following these simple tips will help your press release generate new readers and traffic for you for a long time to come. So, if you don’t already do it, start getting your press releases online and enjoy the benefits of longevity and constant traffic.

Online marketing – love it or hate it, if you’re a business owner you have to get to grips with it.

As the vast majority of the population use the internet to search for products and services these days, if you you don’t have an online presence you will be missing out on a massive marketplace.

But that doesn’t mean you can just lob any old website into cyber space and people will come running with open wallets.

Being online badly can seriously damage your business

The first thing to remember when starting out in the online world is that the internet isn’t a static entity.

It changes at an alarming rate so you must get to understand it and keep up to date with the latest thinking, ideas and pitfalls.

Being successful on the web will take time, patience and money. If you chuck any old thing together on the cheap you’ll do yourself more harm than good. After all if you had a High Street store you would make sure your window display was attractive and enticed people in the door.

Your website is your virtual High Street store so it must be professional, appealing and tailored to your business needs.

One of my favourite blogs is Copyblogger. A post appeared on there a while ago by Mel Brennan called 6 Online Marketing Mistakes that Will Kill Your Business. Mel takes you by the hand and leads you through the 6 no-nos of internet marketing.

Grab a coffee and have a read. Whether you think you’re web savvy or not, it’s worth taking a few minutes to check it out and make sure you’re not committing any of these cardinal sins.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

If you a business owner today the likelihood is that you dabble in email marketing, or at least have started to think about it.

Email has opened up a new and effective way of keeping in touch with your customers quickly and relatively cheaply.

You can use the emails to give great information, keep them up to date with industry news as well as new products, services and offers.

It only takes a few seconds to communicate with thousands of people.

Because email marketing is a hot topic, I have written numerous posts about it, such as:

How to build your email marketing list

Email marketing – Welcome

How to be an email spammer

How to become the King or Queen of email marketing

Consistent  email marketing

10 words that will make people open your email

Email marketing – When’s the best time to send?

Boost your email open rate

But in this post I want to look at one of the most frequently asked questions…

How often should I email my customers?

It depends…

Your ideal frequency is going to be determined by your business type – what’s right for your neighbour isn’t necessarily going to be right for you.

Take a good hard look at your business. The optimum frequency of your emails will depend largely on:

• What you are offering your customers
• Who your customers are
• What you have to say

People tend to send email son either a quarterly, monthly, bi-monthly (i.e. once every two months), twice monthly, weekly and sometimes daily (or multiple times per day) frequency.

To help you out, here is a short guide to email frequency:

Quarterly

This is great if you don’t have a lot to say. Your products and services probably don’t change that much and you rarely have offers to make.

The main problem with quarterly is it’s not regular enough to make an impression on your readers. By leaving so much time between communications you run the risk the recipient forgetting who you are.

Monthly

Monthly is quite common as it’s regular contact without being intrusive. The content can be a mixture of information, offers, news and views. This type of information exchange is a great way to build and strengthen relationships with your customers.

As a copywriter I send out a monthly newsletter. It provides hints and tips on copywriting, marketing and social media – its all free information that I am giving away and I never sell through it. By the way, if you want to get on the mailing list visit my website and sign up.

Twice a month

This is a compromise if you want to make contact more than monthly but don’t have enough to say for a weekly newsletter. One of the main benefits of twice monthly is that you can use one newsletter to give information whilst the next could be an offer on one of your products. 

Weekly

These are often used by stores looking to sell. Their weekly emails let them communicate offers and new lines quickly and easily to their customers. Plus being retail outlets it won’t come as a surprise to the recipient that they are being sold something.

Keeping up with your chosen frequency is important because your readers will soon get to expect your next issue. If you have to miss one make sure you  tell them to keep them informed.

Email marketing (whether it’s to sell or to offer a regular newsletter) is a great way to keep your company name ‘out there’.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter