I love my profession. Marketers come in all stripes and sizes. Some are shysters and others are hard graft honest workers.
We use a lot of techniques to advantage the brands we are working for. Some are sly and dishonest and others are honourable.
And today I am focusing on two different ways to influence the customer’s perception versus the reality.
Pricing perception & reality
You may know that there is a “Left Digit Bias” which is well documented in the psychology literature.
This means when we read a price, the numbers before the decimal point get more attention from us than those to the right. And so if a price is slightly below a threshold number like $29.99 as opposed to $30.00 our perception of good or best value goes with the lower left hand number, 29 in this case.
Marketers advise on pricing. And it’s worth reading this recent research about when to use the left digit bias tactic and when not to use it.
If your product is normally priced $2.00 and your net margin is 9% and the price is lowered to $1.99 the net margin drops to 6%. That’s a lot of profit left on the table just for one cent of discount.
A better tactic is to show the Before and Now price. So the relative prices are known by the consumer.
By playing with the pricing you can advance a marketing perception which is less obvious than the reality and which delivers a better outcome for your client brand’s profitability.
Data visualisation perception & reality
I have a tiny obsession at the moment with water. We have a local hose pipe ban – it’s the middle of winter and has been
Auckland Watercare data
raining heavily most days this month. So why the ban?
I investigated and found the local water company publishes daily updates on the water level in local dams, the volume of water consumed per week and the weekly rainfall compared to the long term mean.
We are currently at 64.95% water storage compared to a historical average level of 88.77% at this time of year. And they illustrate this in a handy graphic, updated daily.
Now I know why there’s a hosepipe ban.
Marketers could use images and data visualisations more often. They offer an easy way to explain things quickly to your customers and prospects.
Geeking out on data summaries isn’t everyone’s hobby of choice. Yet I was drawn into a very detailed analysis of what “good” actually looks like in data visualisation and ways to use this to advance your marketing reality compared to customer perception.
Define good data imagery
Avinash is a data geek – he works for Google. And he shares his expertise in a wonderful weekly email.
Here is a comparison of 4 data visualisations about Covid19. Timely, yes – and each trying to convey a lot of information to the public about what is and is not “safe” to do.
Which of these 4 do you prefer? Which can you ‘understand’ fastest? What is each trying to explain?
Is there a perception and reality gap in these four images? Which is best at showing Covid19 risk?
Comparisons of 4 data visualisations for Covid19
Avinash writes a detailed analysis of his personal scoring system to appraise each image against 8 criteria.
He creates a weighted scoring for each so that a total score is out of 66.
The scoring is on a three point scale “Perfect” scores 3; “Could be optimised” scores 1 and “Reboot” scores minus -2. As you can see the weighting he applies rewards perfect far more than the midlevel score. But hey, that’s his choice. When you do well your score easily out-strips the others.
Which image got which score? [ For answers scroll down.]
23
7
50
64
How were they so different? Isn’t Avinash’s judgement seriously wrong? They all look great to me.
First understand the qualities he is seeking to appraise.
Time to the most important insight.
The effort to understand the whole graphic.
Trust marks.
Rank-ordering of key messages.
Explaining the key logic powering the graphic.
Exposing nuance.
Visualizer trying to be too clever.
Likely to recommend to influential leaders.
And now we can better understand the relative effectiveness of the designs against these criteria.
Read the full article – warning, it’s 6000 words long.
[Scoring – list top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right.]
Copywrite a marketing brief
Briefing is everything.
If you ask the right questions you get the brief right. Then you’re most likely to get the best answer / output to suit your goals.
Knowing your success criteria and metrics are important and also defining what ‘success’ looks like. This is a great methodology of writing the brief from the end back to the beginning. Try writing the ‘conclusion’ statement as your opening paragraph.
We need customers to understand a Covid19 activity risk matrix. We will have succeeded if fewer people undertake risky activities as measured by…..
One of the things I admire about Avinash is his consistent support for people in the same line of work – how to impress your boss is a key theme. Hence item 8 on his list above.
As a marketer, it really MATTERS that you get noticed for doing good work. Learning some of these things I’m writing about could help your career.
Do good marketing
Get noticed
Get the next job / pay rise / promotion you deserve
If you would like to know how I would copywrite a marketing brief for this job – just email me. Happy to share.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/watercare_akld_water_supply_update_24_aug_2020_snipped.png352250Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-08-26 18:16:112020-08-26 18:16:11Marketing perception versus reality
Getting things done is the difference between the successful and the rest.
Book on Objectives and Key Results
I like to prioritise tasks for myself on a grid or importance and urgency – but this is just a short term day task management tool.If you have big projects that will achieve your goals, you need a better system.
A workable workflow
Introducing OKRs – Objectives and Key Results – a toolset that will help you align focus, engagement and get the team aligned.
Working within a team is challenging because each person can contribute massively as either an accelerant or a brake on progress.
I’m a rower and the sport of rowing is often used as a metaphor for workplace teamwork. The lessons I learned from sport carry through into my working life. I’ve enjoyed hiring sportspeople because they understand many of these techniques already.
Pick a toolset that works
Rebecca’s rowing business Faster Masters Rowing
Having a hierarchy of tools helps you both in the day to day and also in the longer term. The bigger a project the easier it is to lose focus and direction as you dive into detail, it’s hard to see the bigger picture of your overall progress…. or lack.
An important feature of OKRs is pacing. Setting the speed of work that is manageable.
This book explains what OKRs are and also a detailed example of ways to set them up which you can copy in your business.
Now, get going…!
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/OKRs.png7581466Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-08-20 17:32:232020-08-14 12:48:46Tips on Getting Things Done
The announcement of a renewed Covid lockdown to Level 3 in Auckland – which affects me and many of my clients seems to be a mixture of ‘here we go round the mulberry bush’ and ‘once more into the breach, dear Friends.’
I can’t decide if it’s Shakespeare or a child’s nursery tale.
Be obedient and diligent
I was reminded this week by Trish Love that Churchill didn’t know how many battles it would take to win a war. And neither do we.
She wrote
In 1939 nobody knew how long the war was going to last. But, they did know there would be more than one major battle to finish it. At every stage, Churchill and others had to navigate with the then current set of circumstances. They did so with courage and steel resolve. Our Covid-19 situation is not dissimilar. It will only be with hindsight that we find its’ full impact and duration.
If from the future looking back, you were to know that we are currently entering the very early stages of a second major “battle”, what would you do differently if you had that benefit of hindsight? Consciously consider this now, because we have been told that further lock-downs are a case of when, not if. Plan for your business needs from the perspective of many potential major economic battles occurring in this war. Work with us to do so, it is crucial to have external help on your team. Nobody can do this alone.
And what if, this were to be only the second major economic battle of many, over the next few years? What if we had 7-8 further lock-downs heading their way towards us? You might need to change what you do, by further investing in some areas of your business, but ration other areas. The rationing may need to be on your discretionary spending, subject to your business needs.
Covid is our modern day battleground.
Our goal is survival, thrive if possible, and adapt and renew.
All big ‘asks’ for a business community under pressure.
What we learned already
From the last lockdown we all learned fast. Take a look back at the recession marketing video articles I wrote if you need a refresher.
Use what we learned already
Look out for each other – help, offer, support
Don’t be ashamed to ask for help
And consider Scenario Planning as a tool for your future outlook
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/kristina-g-Mdx7XqEJ4ig-unsplash-scaled.jpg17082560Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-08-18 16:47:342020-08-18 16:47:34The new Covid - a battle not the whole war
There’s an overload of businesses sending unnecessary emails about the New Zealand Covid-19 alert level change.
May I suggest we simply put something on the website home page?
And telephone anyone who’s coming in for a meeting.
And maybe the team add a note to their email signatures….
Covid Alert Email – is it necessary?
The customer is SMART
Interrupting with email is not respectful of people’s time… they will probably guess what you’ll be doing because, let’s face it, compliance has been exemplary through lockdown.
Virtue signalling emails are self-serving and easy to see through. Do you really need to send that message?
Our clients and customers aren’t stupid.
The Exception
One of my clients sells PPE gear – for them this email is useful – because they can communicate product stock levels and ordering information to bulk-buying customers who are probably already working on stocking up.
Be sensible, just think it through from the recipient’s point of view.
One thing to DO NOW
Update your Google Business Listing status. There’s already a Covid notification “post” option.
Good. Sorted in 10 minutes work.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Alert-note.png3921200Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-08-12 15:23:052020-08-12 15:23:05Please NOT another covid email
Data – love it or loathe it, we get it served up everywhere we look. But do you know enough to judge and make up your mind? What is factual, what is relevant, where are devious presenters hiding the truth?
The answers to all these questions requires modern marketers to educate themselves.
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World. By Carl Bergstrom and Jevin T West
The The Economist called this book “Dodgy Data – the sum of all fears” and opened its article with an expose of the State of Georgia’s Covid19 count – which I tweeted on 18 July. See if you can spot the deliberate mis-information as presented in their map illustration below.
July 2 on left July 18 on right. Covid 19 cases growth.
I think this book will be as influential as Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science was in 2010 – exposing what is and is not a scientific process and a robust outcome.
I’m buying this book (pre publication) if you’d like a copy pm me and I’ll add it to my order. If you’re in Auckland – I’ll hand deliver….. saving you the postage.
Oh, I’ve also reached out to one of the authors….. we will see what happens.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/calling-bullshit.png4381472Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-08-04 09:56:262022-12-19 13:51:27Data - you need to understand it
I wrote down each colour hash on a post-it note and had it above my desk. Every time I was writing or designing, I manually wrote out the colour hash. My copying skills are all right – but the potential for a single digit error was high – particularly when I was in a rush.
And so I decided that a change was needed. Electronic copying rather than visual copy-typing was needed.
But again, having a document I had to find and open and copy and paste was a bore. You get the idea. Time consuming eh?
My big insight
I realised that my emailing programme was the place where I used these colour hashes most frequently.
And so I edited the newsletter template to include a segment where each and every colour and its associated hash is listed.
Creative Agency Secrets logo hex colours
The time saving design outcome
Now whenever I need to get the colour shade I want, I can copy it from the template block into the area where it’s needed. Remove the hash text and bingo!
The only thing to remember is to remove the block from the final email design before sending.
Selling consultancy is hard. And selling a professional service is doubly hard.
Niche selling is the best way to be – create a tight brief of detailed information what you do and for whom. Stay focused and don’t deviate.
All easy to say and hard to do.
When a contact asked me “What are your superpowers?”
I’d like to get an idea of your superpowers, your ok powers, and what you don’t do as well. This will help me work out who best to refer you too, and whether you could be a supplier to me too.
I was challenged to write a decent answer.
From a Slack channel introduction automation.
Rebecca’s Superpowers
Clearly a lovely Americanism – but hey, who doesn’t want to believe that wearing a cape will “enable the user to fly”?
Business to business marketing – does what it says on the tin. From strategy to tactics. For your Board, for your internal team, for your agency suppliers and subcontractors.
Subsidiary superpowers
Supporting the big one….
Marketing strategy – what is the big picture of what you need to achieve and the (likely) tactics which will get you there?
Customer relationship management – the strategy to build long term relationships with people who buy from your business.
Building a team who understands what is needed and collaborates effectively to get work done.
Briefing – ensuring instructions are clear and understood, delivered within brief and on budget.
Copywriting – explaining complex things in suitable language for the audience.
Teaching marketing – helping others understand the big picture and where each detail fits into the overall plan. PLUS how to do marketing.
Knowing about new tools, techniques and services. I scan the outside world and am frequently an early user / adopter of new things e.g. Blogging since 2006; Twitter since 2007, Podcasting since 2013.
OK Powers
These are competencies.
Website management – using different CMS interfaces
Search Engine Optimisation – the words that get you found and the software that ensures your site is indexed regularly.
Customer journey mapping – how do customers find you, where and when and how to engage with them.
Sales – finding the right prospects, engaging with them and starting the sales conversation.
Pitching – when you need to present the best face of your business for a very important deal or contract.
I am a Facebook for Business group administrator and I’m delighted that they just added back an old feature.
When FB introduced the new interface for Group Admins about 9 months ago, the “Invited by….” feature was missing.
I sent my feedback that this is really useful and I wanted it…. Today it reappeared.
Why is this helpful? We have screening questions for the group and if you don’t answer them, we don’t let you in. BUT if introduced by an existing group member, that allows the applicant to bypass this step and still get accepted. Without knowing if they’d been invited or not, I couldn’t work out who to refuse or accept.
Now I wish they’d allow me to filter group applicants by “have they been invited”.
No related posts.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Invited-by.png108358Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2020-07-27 09:00:392020-07-24 16:56:03FB Group tips - invite a friend
I write a lot. Words, words, words. Each project is designed to fit into a particular desired outcome within a marketing strategy and tactical framework. I say that so you understand context.
Context in writing is both important and valuable – but more about that later.
My actual pen and notes for B2B copywriting
How I write marketing copy
Getting a message across using printed words (as opposed to audio, images or video) is a giant challenge. Knowing how long humans have been writing, you’d think that everything that could have been written has been. And yet…. we know that’s not true. The imagination and skill of mankind to innovate is immense.
My writing is usually business to business copywriting for marketing purposes. That’s my area of expertise. And so the steps I take begin with the outcome. What do I want to happen as a result of a prospect or client reading what I’ve written?
End goal is to click through to website
End goal is to understand how to write B2B copy
End goal is to reply with a question
These examples are all valid outcomes and each requires very different copy treatments.
The first version is always factual
What are the true, inalienable facts that support the end goal? I list these in a brain dump document. Frequently these are the result of conversations with the client, the internal team and existing customers.
Then I supplement this with some desk research. Reading ‘around the subject’ can come from many sources – newsletters, online magazines, blogs, books. Interestingly, I rarely search social media for this information. My choice – it may suit your needs. The amazing Knowledge Hunter, Geoff McDowell, taught me so much about this subject.
Adding more copy material
From the wider reading I copy/paste and add in more themes, concepts, nuance, examples, phrases and keywords. I also look out for no-nos. These are things I want to avoid.
Sometimes images, colours, layouts and other visual elements present themselves from this research too. That can be very helpful as my brain often leaps forward towards the end result WAY earlier than it’s supposed to. To avoid distraction, I save and note these ideas back in the research document. By noting them, I have preserved the idea; but I’m not focusing on them at this stage. It means I don’t lose the inspiration – I can revive that thought later just by re-reading my notes.
This all contributes to a second draft. This is when I decide the overall frame for the project and HOW does this translate into the copywriting. This could be storytelling, it could be demonstration, case study, questioning, educating. There is a lot more information added, there are more concepts and overall I just write freely incorporating the research information and framing arguments, emotions and logic into one long piece of writing.
This is the place where context comes to the fore. How will the message be delivered, what will the recipient be doing or not doing? Where in the customer journey will they be? What is the outcome or next step goal in this campaign?
Editing and refining copy
This is the part I love.
Precise and concise are watchwords which I hope any client applies to a testimonial about my business copywriting.
Taking what I wrote and simplifying, cutting, removing extraneous information and honing it down into a tight, precise and well-organised message is a repetitive task and it gives me so much pleasure. Sometimes I use a technique of adding in sub-headings (as in this blog) because it helps me to organise and find the big messages in the very long copy.
Often I leave the first opening paragraph until last because it’s so hard. Sometimes I switch the first and last paragraphs – try it!
Headlines and calls to action are a separate challenge and I may do a couple of different versions or give options and let the client choose. This is because they are mostly better-informed about their product or service than I am. Teamwork helps work out what will resonate and achieve the goal.
And then I sleep on it
Yes this is really the final step before showing it to the client, adding it to a mock-up or an EDM. This is important and is one reason why planning at the first step needs to include deadlines and allowances for sleep time.
7 things I’ve appreciated after sleeping on my work
My brain is fresher in the morning
I process ideas while resting
Better re-writes are (nearly always) possible
I can check that I haven’t missed anything out [done this MANY times – but rescued the situation before the client read it]
Reflect on alternative approaches which I earlier discarded
Opportunity to print it onto paper and read out loud
Check grammar, punctuation, capitalisations and links all working and correctly placed
And that’s it. The whole creative writing process for B2B copy.
About the picture illustrating this article.
That’s really my pen and my notebook, photographed this morning as I got a tiny bit of inspiration for a client as a result of doing some research for a different client. It’s odd the way my brain works. And I have learned to respect my brain process and to always seize the moment and make the notes when they jump into my mind. I don’t have to use them – but I’m sure I will lose them if they aren’t captured.
I do not have the neatest handwriting, yet using blue-black ink in an old-fashioned fountain pen gives me both pleasure and the chance to read my words again without guessing what I meant to write. Someday I’ll photograph some of my notes which turn out to be illegible even to me. Generally when I rush to write, legibility suffers.
The unknown part of writing inspiration
The pen also lives in a leather case. My ritual of opening the case flap and flicking back the long cover, unsheathing the pen and unscrewing its lid before writing still gives me a frisson. I never know exactly what will come out of the inky nib onto that pristine sheet of paper, onto the next empty line, or inserted between the paragraphs of print.
And the pen – a birthday gift chosen with care while on holiday. I got the nib re-surfaced by this amazing pen expert who recommended not using ink cartridges. He also explained a lot about the issues of ink/paper and my unique hand/pressure and what a converter is, not a bladder. There is a distinction between them.
So now you know my B2B writing process. What will you do with this knowledge?
Marketing perception versus reality
/0 Comments/in Strategy /by Rebecca CaroeI love my profession. Marketers come in all stripes and sizes. Some are shysters and others are hard graft honest workers.
We use a lot of techniques to advantage the brands we are working for. Some are sly and dishonest and others are honourable.
And today I am focusing on two different ways to influence the customer’s perception versus the reality.
Pricing perception & reality
You may know that there is a “Left Digit Bias” which is well documented in the psychology literature.
This means when we read a price, the numbers before the decimal point get more attention from us than those to the right. And so if a price is slightly below a threshold number like $29.99 as opposed to $30.00 our perception of good or best value goes with the lower left hand number, 29 in this case.
Marketers advise on pricing. And it’s worth reading this recent research about when to use the left digit bias tactic and when not to use it.
If your product is normally priced $2.00 and your net margin is 9% and the price is lowered to $1.99 the net margin drops to 6%. That’s a lot of profit left on the table just for one cent of discount.
A better tactic is to show the Before and Now price. So the relative prices are known by the consumer.
By playing with the pricing you can advance a marketing perception which is less obvious than the reality and which delivers a better outcome for your client brand’s profitability.
Data visualisation perception & reality
I have a tiny obsession at the moment with water. We have a local hose pipe ban – it’s the middle of winter and has been
Auckland Watercare data
raining heavily most days this month. So why the ban?
I investigated and found the local water company publishes daily updates on the water level in local dams, the volume of water consumed per week and the weekly rainfall compared to the long term mean.
We are currently at 64.95% water storage compared to a historical average level of 88.77% at this time of year. And they illustrate this in a handy graphic, updated daily.
Now I know why there’s a hosepipe ban.
Marketers could use images and data visualisations more often. They offer an easy way to explain things quickly to your customers and prospects.
Geeking out on data summaries isn’t everyone’s hobby of choice. Yet I was drawn into a very detailed analysis of what “good” actually looks like in data visualisation and ways to use this to advance your marketing reality compared to customer perception.
Define good data imagery
Avinash is a data geek – he works for Google. And he shares his expertise in a wonderful weekly email.
Here is a comparison of 4 data visualisations about Covid19. Timely, yes – and each trying to convey a lot of information to the public about what is and is not “safe” to do.
Which of these 4 do you prefer? Which can you ‘understand’ fastest? What is each trying to explain?
Is there a perception and reality gap in these four images? Which is best at showing Covid19 risk?
Comparisons of 4 data visualisations for Covid19
Avinash writes a detailed analysis of his personal scoring system to appraise each image against 8 criteria.
He creates a weighted scoring for each so that a total score is out of 66.
The scoring is on a three point scale “Perfect” scores 3; “Could be optimised” scores 1 and “Reboot” scores minus -2. As you can see the weighting he applies rewards perfect far more than the midlevel score. But hey, that’s his choice. When you do well your score easily out-strips the others.
Which image got which score? [ For answers scroll down.]
How were they so different? Isn’t Avinash’s judgement seriously wrong? They all look great to me.
First understand the qualities he is seeking to appraise.
And now we can better understand the relative effectiveness of the designs against these criteria.
Read the full article – warning, it’s 6000 words long.
[Scoring – list top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right.]
Copywrite a marketing brief
Briefing is everything.
If you ask the right questions you get the brief right. Then you’re most likely to get the best answer / output to suit your goals.
Knowing your success criteria and metrics are important and also defining what ‘success’ looks like. This is a great methodology of writing the brief from the end back to the beginning. Try writing the ‘conclusion’ statement as your opening paragraph.
One of the things I admire about Avinash is his consistent support for people in the same line of work – how to impress your boss is a key theme. Hence item 8 on his list above.
As a marketer, it really MATTERS that you get noticed for doing good work. Learning some of these things I’m writing about could help your career.
If you would like to know how I would copywrite a marketing brief for this job – just email me. Happy to share.
No related posts.
Tips on Getting Things Done
/0 Comments/in Strategy /by Rebecca CaroeGetting things done is the difference between the successful and the rest.
Book on Objectives and Key Results
I like to prioritise tasks for myself on a grid or importance and urgency – but this is just a short term day task management tool. If you have big projects that will achieve your goals, you need a better system.
A workable workflow
Introducing OKRs – Objectives and Key Results – a toolset that will help you align focus, engagement and get the team aligned.
Working within a team is challenging because each person can contribute massively as either an accelerant or a brake on progress.
I’m a rower and the sport of rowing is often used as a metaphor for workplace teamwork. The lessons I learned from sport carry through into my working life. I’ve enjoyed hiring sportspeople because they understand many of these techniques already.
Pick a toolset that works
Rebecca’s rowing business Faster Masters Rowing
Having a hierarchy of tools helps you both in the day to day and also in the longer term. The bigger a project the easier it is to lose focus and direction as you dive into detail, it’s hard to see the bigger picture of your overall progress…. or lack.
An important feature of OKRs is pacing. Setting the speed of work that is manageable.
This book explains what OKRs are and also a detailed example of ways to set them up which you can copy in your business.
Now, get going…!
No related posts.
The new Covid – a battle not the whole war
/0 Comments/in Recession /by Rebecca CaroeThe announcement of a renewed Covid lockdown to Level 3 in Auckland – which affects me and many of my clients seems to be a mixture of ‘here we go round the mulberry bush’ and ‘once more into the breach, dear Friends.’
I can’t decide if it’s Shakespeare or a child’s nursery tale.
Be obedient and diligent
I was reminded this week by Trish Love that Churchill didn’t know how many battles it would take to win a war. And neither do we.
She wrote
Covid is our modern day battleground.
Our goal is survival, thrive if possible, and adapt and renew.
All big ‘asks’ for a business community under pressure.
What we learned already
From the last lockdown we all learned fast. Take a look back at the recession marketing video articles I wrote if you need a refresher.
No related posts.
Please NOT another covid email
/2 Comments/in Email /by Rebecca CaroeI just sent this message to my clients.
There’s an overload of businesses sending unnecessary emails about the New Zealand Covid-19 alert level change.
May I suggest we simply put something on the website home page?
And telephone anyone who’s coming in for a meeting.
And maybe the team add a note to their email signatures….
Covid Alert Email – is it necessary?
The customer is SMART
Interrupting with email is not respectful of people’s time… they will probably guess what you’ll be doing because, let’s face it, compliance has been exemplary through lockdown.
Virtue signalling emails are self-serving and easy to see through. Do you really need to send that message?
Our clients and customers aren’t stupid.
The Exception
One of my clients sells PPE gear – for them this email is useful – because they can communicate product stock levels and ordering information to bulk-buying customers who are probably already working on stocking up.
Be sensible, just think it through from the recipient’s point of view.
One thing to DO NOW
Update your Google Business Listing status. There’s already a Covid notification “post” option.
Good. Sorted in 10 minutes work.
No related posts.
Data – you need to understand it
/0 Comments/in Data /by Rebecca CaroeData – love it or loathe it, we get it served up everywhere we look. But do you know enough to judge and make up your mind? What is factual, what is relevant, where are devious presenters hiding the truth?
The answers to all these questions requires modern marketers to educate themselves.
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World. By Carl Bergstrom and Jevin T West
The The Economist called this book “Dodgy Data – the sum of all fears” and opened its article with an expose of the State of Georgia’s Covid19 count – which I tweeted on 18 July. See if you can spot the deliberate mis-information as presented in their map illustration below.
July 2 on left July 18 on right. Covid 19 cases growth.
I think this book will be as influential as Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science was in 2010 – exposing what is and is not a scientific process and a robust outcome.
I’m buying this book (pre publication) if you’d like a copy pm me and I’ll add it to my order. If you’re in Auckland – I’ll hand deliver….. saving you the postage.
Oh, I’ve also reached out to one of the authors….. we will see what happens.
No related posts.
Hacking brand colours
/0 Comments/in Email, Marketing ideas /by Rebecca CaroeMy logo has a beautiful gradient of colours in the design.
This gives me a huge number of subsidiary colour elements which I can add into customer communications and marketing.
I did an analysis of the key colours and the “colour palette” of associated shades. You can do this by uploading your logo or using a digital colour selector tool.
Creative Agency Secrets colour palette tool
Then I made a ton of work for myself
This was a mistake – certainly.
I wrote down each colour hash on a post-it note and had it above my desk. Every time I was writing or designing, I manually wrote out the colour hash. My copying skills are all right – but the potential for a single digit error was high – particularly when I was in a rush.
And so I decided that a change was needed. Electronic copying rather than visual copy-typing was needed.
But again, having a document I had to find and open and copy and paste was a bore. You get the idea. Time consuming eh?
My big insight
I realised that my emailing programme was the place where I used these colour hashes most frequently.
And so I edited the newsletter template to include a segment where each and every colour and its associated hash is listed.
Creative Agency Secrets logo hex colours
The time saving design outcome
Now whenever I need to get the colour shade I want, I can copy it from the template block into the area where it’s needed. Remove the hash text and bingo!
The only thing to remember is to remove the block from the final email design before sending.
No related posts.
Your marketing superpowers
/0 Comments/in B2B /by Rebecca CaroeSelling consultancy is hard. And selling a professional service is doubly hard.
Niche selling is the best way to be – create a tight brief of detailed information what you do and for whom. Stay focused and don’t deviate.
All easy to say and hard to do.
When a contact asked me “What are your superpowers?”
I was challenged to write a decent answer.
From a Slack channel introduction automation.
Rebecca’s Superpowers
Subsidiary superpowers
Supporting the big one….
OK Powers
No related posts.
FB Group tips – invite a friend
/0 Comments/in B2C, Social Media /by Rebecca CaroeInvited by option for group memberships
I am a Facebook for Business group administrator and I’m delighted that they just added back an old feature.
When FB introduced the new interface for Group Admins about 9 months ago, the “Invited by….” feature was missing.
I sent my feedback that this is really useful and I wanted it…. Today it reappeared.
Why is this helpful? We have screening questions for the group and if you don’t answer them, we don’t let you in. BUT if introduced by an existing group member, that allows the applicant to bypass this step and still get accepted. Without knowing if they’d been invited or not, I couldn’t work out who to refuse or accept.
Now I wish they’d allow me to filter group applicants by “have they been invited”.
No related posts.
My copywriting process explained
/60 Comments/in B2B, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Email /by Rebecca CaroeI write copy for a living.
I write a lot. Words, words, words. Each project is designed to fit into a particular desired outcome within a marketing strategy and tactical framework. I say that so you understand context.
Context in writing is both important and valuable – but more about that later.
My actual pen and notes for B2B copywriting
How I write marketing copy
Getting a message across using printed words (as opposed to audio, images or video) is a giant challenge. Knowing how long humans have been writing, you’d think that everything that could have been written has been. And yet…. we know that’s not true. The imagination and skill of mankind to innovate is immense.
My writing is usually business to business copywriting for marketing purposes. That’s my area of expertise. And so the steps I take begin with the outcome. What do I want to happen as a result of a prospect or client reading what I’ve written?
These examples are all valid outcomes and each requires very different copy treatments.
The first version is always factual
What are the true, inalienable facts that support the end goal? I list these in a brain dump document. Frequently these are the result of conversations with the client, the internal team and existing customers.
Then I supplement this with some desk research. Reading ‘around the subject’ can come from many sources – newsletters, online magazines, blogs, books. Interestingly, I rarely search social media for this information. My choice – it may suit your needs. The amazing Knowledge Hunter, Geoff McDowell, taught me so much about this subject.
Adding more copy material
From the wider reading I copy/paste and add in more themes, concepts, nuance, examples, phrases and keywords. I also look out for no-nos. These are things I want to avoid.
Sometimes images, colours, layouts and other visual elements present themselves from this research too. That can be very helpful as my brain often leaps forward towards the end result WAY earlier than it’s supposed to. To avoid distraction, I save and note these ideas back in the research document. By noting them, I have preserved the idea; but I’m not focusing on them at this stage. It means I don’t lose the inspiration – I can revive that thought later just by re-reading my notes.
This all contributes to a second draft. This is when I decide the overall frame for the project and HOW does this translate into the copywriting. This could be storytelling, it could be demonstration, case study, questioning, educating. There is a lot more information added, there are more concepts and overall I just write freely incorporating the research information and framing arguments, emotions and logic into one long piece of writing.
This is the place where context comes to the fore. How will the message be delivered, what will the recipient be doing or not doing? Where in the customer journey will they be? What is the outcome or next step goal in this campaign?
Editing and refining copy
This is the part I love.
Precise and concise are watchwords which I hope any client applies to a testimonial about my business copywriting.
Taking what I wrote and simplifying, cutting, removing extraneous information and honing it down into a tight, precise and well-organised message is a repetitive task and it gives me so much pleasure. Sometimes I use a technique of adding in sub-headings (as in this blog) because it helps me to organise and find the big messages in the very long copy.
Often I leave the first opening paragraph until last because it’s so hard. Sometimes I switch the first and last paragraphs – try it!
Headlines and calls to action are a separate challenge and I may do a couple of different versions or give options and let the client choose. This is because they are mostly better-informed about their product or service than I am. Teamwork helps work out what will resonate and achieve the goal.
And then I sleep on it
Yes this is really the final step before showing it to the client, adding it to a mock-up or an EDM. This is important and is one reason why planning at the first step needs to include deadlines and allowances for sleep time.
7 things I’ve appreciated after sleeping on my work
And that’s it. The whole creative writing process for B2B copy.
About the picture illustrating this article.
That’s really my pen and my notebook, photographed this morning as I got a tiny bit of inspiration for a client as a result of doing some research for a different client. It’s odd the way my brain works. And I have learned to respect my brain process and to always seize the moment and make the notes when they jump into my mind. I don’t have to use them – but I’m sure I will lose them if they aren’t captured.
I do not have the neatest handwriting, yet using blue-black ink in an old-fashioned fountain pen gives me both pleasure and the chance to read my words again without guessing what I meant to write. Someday I’ll photograph some of my notes which turn out to be illegible even to me. Generally when I rush to write, legibility suffers.
The unknown part of writing inspiration
The pen also lives in a leather case. My ritual of opening the case flap and flicking back the long cover, unsheathing the pen and unscrewing its lid before writing still gives me a frisson. I never know exactly what will come out of the inky nib onto that pristine sheet of paper, onto the next empty line, or inserted between the paragraphs of print.
And the pen – a birthday gift chosen with care while on holiday. I got the nib re-surfaced by this amazing pen expert who recommended not using ink cartridges. He also explained a lot about the issues of ink/paper and my unique hand/pressure and what a converter is, not a bladder. There is a distinction between them.
So now you know my B2B writing process. What will you do with this knowledge?
Brief Rebecca on your copywriting project
Join the newsletter
No related posts.