Marketing Writing Resources for Creative Copywriters

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Your direct mail package clears a major hurdle when your prospect opens the envelope. The moment of truth has arrived. The next 3-5 seconds will largely determine whether your marketing effort is a success or failure, because it's during those critical first few seconds that your prospect decides whether to continue reading.

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One way to increase your conversion ratio is to make sure your Web site is easy to navigate and information is easy to find. In other words, ensure its "usability." Often, search engine optimization and marketing principles benefit a site's usability with people as well as search engines. Here are some tips on how to improve usability and improve your conversion rates.

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Customer acquisition directly contributes to your bottom line. Use the following five strategies to help you improve subscriptions to your content—print or online.

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Direct mail remains a successful way to reach customers. The trick, of course, is getting customers to act on the mail. How can a marketer increase response rates?

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German Chancellor Willy Brandt once said, "If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying from you, dann müssen Sie in meiner Sprache sprechen." (Translation: then you must speak my language.) Local-language content can help deliver a more culturally relevant experience to your site visitors. It not only optimizes the selling of products and services but also contributes to an organization's bottom line in many important ways.

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A case study provides the opportunity to communicate the benefits that your product or service delivers, in the form of practical experiences of a user organization. This is so much more powerful and persuasive than any theoretical arguments you can muster. So why isn't every organization churning out case studies? A few do; but, for many, generating case studies is a real battle.

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In today's increasingly post-literate culture, the idea of a 10-plus page linear narrative may seem out of date. But not so. The role of the marketing/technical whitepaper is on an upswing as companies recognize their effectiveness in communicating with audiences that demand authenticity and detail when making business decisions. The big problem with whitepapers, however, is that their length and complexity make them vulnerable to delays and budget overruns, usually in the late phases of the document review process. Here's how to avoid Death by Review.

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For many organizations, 'tis the season to shop for talent, especially copywriters. But it's awfully hard to look beyond the exterior to identify the talent who will really work for you. And while there are no fool-proof formulas for finding winners, you can take measures—right at the start of your relationship—that give you a much greater probability of success.

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The Web is not a great place to win hearts and minds. It is not a great place to convince people to do something they did not come to the Web already intending to do. Traditional marketing techniques, such as brand name repetition and the use of images to communicate brand attributes, don't work as well online. What works well on the Web is a useful Web site that wastes no time and gets straight to the point for your customers. Do you know what your customers want when they come to your Web site?

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You've heard it many times: If you want your marketing materials to do their job, you have to stress benefits, not features. Ultimately, your target readers don't care about what your product does. They care about what your product does for them. But with all the focus on "benefits," it's easy to forget that benefits don't work in a vacuum. Whenever you write copy, there's more you must always keep in mind.

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Content management has been a fuzzy, poorly respected discipline within many organizations. Its related discipline, communications, is often seen as peripheral and non-strategic. But the truth is, there are quantifiable benefits that a quality public Web site or intranet can deliver.

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What's wrong with most blogs? They're too chatty. Too rambling. They lack passion. If you're going to blog, become an expert on something. This is especially important for blogging in the business world. Think content, not rambling comment. Get the full story.

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How can marketers write "human" email messages, that truly speak to the hearts and souls of your clients? The first step is to figure out a way, by hook or by crook, to say something. Get the full story.

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If there has been one constant in the ever-transient paradigm of marketing on the Internet, it is that "content" is the key to attract a steady stream of the uninitiated as well the converts. Good white papers serve to generate awareness about a product/service/organization, and more importantly, cause people to inquire and potentially buy the product/service in question. Get the full story.

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Every year Steve conducts a survey of his subscribers to identify ways that marketers are squeezing more sales out of their direct marketing. Here are some learnings from this year's report. The 10 tips offer new inspiration for direct mail campaigns.

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Mark Twain once said the rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated. The same may be said for the press release. It's not dead—but its mission has evolved.

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If your company sells complex products or services, you may want to take a page from the high-tech marketers' book. Continue to use conventional collateral to differentiate your solution and demonstrate value. Then, see if you can create independent demand for your unique methodology or business processes. Like with white papers, for example.

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High-tech suffers from terminal seriousness. It's an insidious problem, and it means that most tech companies fail to take advantage of opportunities to stand out. Over 80 percent of everything we hear daily is filtered, and humor helps you to be heard in a crowded market. Get the full story.

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This week, read your answers to the previous challenge: What are the top secrets to creating great online content? Also this week, solve this problem: How does a speaker go about getting more engagements including meetings, conventions, seminars and tradeshows? Join the conversation! Get the full story.

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In competing for a piece of business not too long ago, the author's public relations firm was asked to supply three samples -- of recent clips, bylined articles, and press releases. For two of the three requirements, the issue was an embarrassment of riches. But for press releases, the firm was hard-pressed. These days, it writes fewer and fewer press releases. It just doesn't see them as being as important a tool for PR as they once were. Get the full story.