Zazou Marketing

Recently I co-wrote a grant: I was hired by an environmental non-profit to write their part of a grant request, while another writer was working on another non-profit’s part of the grant. When I got the other writer’s part of the grant to review, one of the first things I noticed was how different our headlines and titles were. We didn’t have competing tones or topics. The difference was a style issue: We capitalized different words in the titles.

Now, you may say, who cares? But in this case it mattered a lot. Glaring inconsistencies simply make you look unprofessional–which may affect whether you get the grant. Instead of just accepting her way or my way, we decided to go to an official source for guidance, the “APA Style Book.”

According to the guide, in general, “capitalize an article or a word of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in a title.” Also, pronouns of any length are capitalized. Otherwise, a word with fewer than four letters is not capitalized. As an example, here are a few of the titles that we settled on:

• How it Will go Beyond “Compliance and Mitigation” and how it Will Benefit the Bay
• Description of the Specific Activities That the Proposed Grant Will Fund, Including the Timeline
• Description of any Partnerships to Complete the Project

We’re all looking for new and effective venues to get the word out about our company, product or service, right? Well, how about splashing an ad on an abandoned storefront? There are more and more of these unrentable spaces, after all. And they give you a lot of space to catch your client’s eye and make a bold statement.

Check out these examples that ran in the New York Times today:

I got a call today from a client who wants a brochure. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, so I mentioned a few possible topics that we could cover in the marketing material, many of which were a surprise to him. It made me think that it might be helpful if I posted some general areas that are often covered in brochures.

So, as you think about your own brochure, think about which of these will be most helpful in selling your service or product. And that really is the key — don’t just include that you have been in business for 50 years because you think it sounds impressive; only include that information if it’s going to make your clients buy your product or service. And keep in mind that you almost never want to have all of the following topics covered in one brochure!

Also, just because you talk about your services (or some other topic), you should not label the section “services.” Instead come up with a catchy, descriptive header that helps sell your company, product or service.

Possible features to include in your service or product brochure:

• Introduction – Outline what you offer and–of course–what you do for your client.
• Call to action – Ask the reader to act. Do you want a call? Order a product? Or for the client to visit a website? Then let them know what to do and how to do it.
• Services and/or products – Describe the services and/or products you offer (and always focus on how they benefit your customer).
• Business structure – Describe how you do business and why it benefits your client.
• Clients – Include case studies or a list of people or organizations who have hired you or bought your product. Or you can include descriptions of the kind of companies who have hired you.
• Testimonials – Include testimonials that tell how great you or your product or service is, of course, And, if possible, use ones that include numbers that prove that your service or product has improved their life.
• Fees, prices and terms – If you have a set price structure, you may want to include it, in addition to any guarantees that you make. For products, you may want to also include shipping and handling costs.
• Features – Highlight features that set your product apart from your competition. And, of course, include how those features benefit your client.
• How the product works – Describe how your product works and what it can do, including why its superior to the competition.
• Information about the buyer – Sometimes its helpful to spell out who the product or service is designed for. (Even if you don’t have an entire section for this, all of the content should keep this person in mind.)
• Applications – Describe how your product or service can be used and answers the question of what problems it solves.
• Availability – If you sell a product or two or three or more, you may want to list the models, sizes, construction materials, options, accessories, etc. Again, include why these specs matter to your client. Also, you may want to include charts and graphs to help your client select the right product.
• Technical specifications – For products, you may want to include and technical requirements, such as cleaning methods, storage conditions, etc.
• FAQ – This is obviously where you include frequently asked questions (and their answers).
• About Us – Including a brief company description section can show that the service or product is backed by a reputable company. And, if it well help sell your product or service, highlight the credentials of important employees.
• Support – This section can be either who and how to contact support, or it can be information about delivery, installation, upkeep, etc.

Many organizations create websites assuming that the product or service will sell itself… If you can just get people to your website, they’ll see how wonderful what you offer really is. And then they’ll go ahead and buy it, right?! Well, now that you’ve had your website for some time, you have probably realized that simply having a site doesn’t necessarily mean sales.

So, if you want your website to actually generate revenue, you may need to revamp a few important aspects of your site. In fact, there are six things you should update, says an April 28 article in The Washington Post. And since I’m writing about this article here, you won’t be surprised that one of the fixes that the article advises is to “write better product descriptions.” Here’s the article’s sage advice:

Spend some time reading your product descriptions to make sure they’re succinct and filler-free. The formula here can be difficult because, as Amy Schade says, you need to “convince [users] the product meets their needs,” but the verbiage “has to be short and descriptive.” There’s no salesperson available on a website, so shoppers “should be able to see a product and know what it does,” says Schade, a director at the Nielsen Norman Group in New York City and co-author of the second edition of the “E-Commerce User Experience” report. Writing new and better product descriptions, Schade says, “is time consuming but worth it.”

So there you have it. Good writing can equal sales. So, when you are creating product descriptions, remember to make them succint, descriptive, and filler-free, while also ensuring that they convince prospective buyers that the product meets their needs.

Zazou Marketing

A few days ago I wrote about Starbucks’ new advertising campaign. At least one of the new ads addresses the issue of price—warning that “paying less for your coffee comes with a price.” Since writing that I have noticed that a Stella Artois campaign makes a similar warning, “Perfection has its price.”

Starbucks' new ad campaign warns that cheaper coffee comes with a price.

A Stella Artois ad campaign that has been running for a few years claims that "perfection has its price."

As for the two approaches, I find the Starbucks ad to be much more effective. First of all, it is running in newspapers, and the headline is followed by a story of what separates them from their competition–with topics including their use of fair-trade beans. So, if the headline catches your eye, you can read on to find out why they claim that cheaper coffee has its price. And it actually makes me pause and consider paying $4 for a cup of coffee.

But the Stella ad is a billboard, so you only see the headline. The focus here, then, is on the “perfection” claim–a broad claim with nothing to substantiate it. It certainly doesn’t make me want to buy the beer. Rather, it only makes me wonder, “how much more expensive is the beer than its competitors?”

What do you think? Which campaign is more effective?

Zazou Marketing

Whether you are writing a website, brochure, advertisement, newsletter, or email, it’s important to look as professional as possible. That means getting your spelling, grammar, and word usage correct. So, here’s a quick reminder on a few words that we use all the time: “everyone” and “every one.” And remember that there’s a difference between them!

• Use two words when you are referring to an individual item: “We used every one of those sales tips in our pitch meeting.”

• Use one word when you are referring to all persons: “Everyone wants a bonus this year.”

Zazou Marketing

Coming up with marketing copy seems like it should be easy. After all, you’re writing about something you know well – your own business. In reality, we often know our own business too well, so we stumble around looking for the right words to describe it. Even worse, we end up making mistakes that can cost us business.

So the next time you start writing your brochure, newsletter, sales letter or website copy, keep the following pitfalls in mind. Avoiding these can mean the difference between making a sale and sending potential clients running.

1.    Benefits, not features. You’ve heard this one before, but you probably need to hear it again. Don’t get so charmed by your “features” that you forget to talk about your benefits. Don’t just say that your widget is cool because of its bells-and-whistles. Instead, explain how those bells-and-whistles help your customer. So, when you list a feature, follow it with words like, “so now you can… ” (and spell out exactly what problems it’s going to solve).

2.    Not so impressive. The first sentence of your brochure or website should NOT be, “We’ve been in business since 1984” (or whatever year you started). Your potential clients simply don’t care. At least not yet. Hook them by telling them how you can help them. Once they’re hooked, you can impress them with your experience and how long you’ve been in business.

3.    You’re not the only one. Don’t bother including that you are passionate about what you do or that you love your job. Absolutely everyone makes this claim (like everyone claims to give superior customer service). And it simply isn’t a selling point. Stick to telling potential clients how you can help them.

4.    Avoid hype. Don’t use buzzwords like “spectacular,” “incredible,” “one-of-a-kind” and “breakthrough.” These simply alert people to the fact that you are selling something, and your reader stops paying attention. Instead, explain what makes your product or service spectacular. And don’t forget to include what your clients will get out of it.

5.    No one cares about you. I know it’s hard on your ego, but people really don’t care what you do or who you are. They do care how you can help them. Remember to keep the focus off of you and on what you can do for your customer. Instead of saying, “We offer professional guidance to small businesses,” say, “If you are a small business stuck in a rut, we can help you overcome barriers and get new clients.”

6.    You are not a professor. I’ve said this before, I know. Still, it’s important to remember to simplify your sentences! Once you’ve written a draft, go through your document sentence by sentence, and see where you can split sentences into two. Then go through and take out insiders lingo. And take out unnecessary or convoluted words (come to think of it, “convoluted” is a great example of a word to avoid!). Big words and long sentences simply won’t help you to be taken seriously. But easily-grasped words and short sentences will make your marketing materials accessible.

7.    It’s all about sales. Remember that the goal of your marketing materials is not to impress, be liked or even to present a professional package. It’s great if your materials do that too — but the goal is to make sales. So don’t lose sight of your goal. Think very carefully about what your copy is actually doing. Is it acting like your star salesperson? If not, scrap it and start over.

Zazou Marketing

Whether sending a sales letter, memo, newsletter or even an e-mail, a typo or poor grammar can damage your credibility. To avoid embarrassing mistakes, take your proofing to a higher level. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• If you’re providing a phone number or URL, dial the number or copy the URL into a web browser to make sure it’s right.
• Some words need to be capitalized, but with others it’s a style choice. It’s easy just to fall back into old habits, which may or may not be good ones. So, when you are writing, work at paying close attention to which words you are capitalizing and which words you are not. Then make sure you are consistent throughout your document. For instance, if you capitalized one person’s title, make sure you capitalize everyone’s titles. (Or don’t capitalize any of them!).
• This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you mention a brand name, spell it correctly. With the Internet at your fingertips, you have no excuse for not typing the name into your favorite search engine to check the spelling. You’ll be glad you did. It’s much easier than responding to a client or colleague who corrects you!

When you’re writing words like shake up, shape up or set up, do you ever wonder whether to use two words or combine them into one with a hyphen? Well, you’re not alone. Here’s a little rule to follow, use “shake up” when you need to use a verb and ”shake-up” as a noun or an adjective. Others that fit in a similar camp are:

Verb            Noun or Adjective
shape up        shape-up
speed up        speedup
set up            setup
sell out          sellout
stand in         stand-in
tie in              tie-in

Of course, the English language often makes no sense at all. For example, “second hand” is a noun, while “secondhand” is an adjective or adverb.

So, remember, next time you shape up your house, set up a garage sale and get rid of all of that secondhand clothing…

More and more ad campaigns focus exclusively on getting your attention through visuals. While I am definitely an advocate of eye-catching design, I also absolutely believe that to get a good return on your investment, design and good copy go hand-in-hand.

Which is why I was so interested in hearing that Starbucks is running a new campaign: a series of full-page newspaper ads that are loaded with copy. A full-page ad? With loads of copy? This is definitely a different tactic. And it’s one that I am interested in seeing.

Both their website and the senior vice president of marketing’s blog offer a sneak-peak of the ads (I can’t display them here without a password). But from Advertising Age I learned that the ads will tell their story of what separates them from their competition, with topics including their use of fair-trade beans and giving health care to many part time employees. The ads will also address the issue of price—warning that “paying less for your coffee comes with a price.”

Come Sunday, I’ll definitely check out the first ad in the New York Times to see just how much copy there is and to see if it is compelling enough to keep me reading. Then, of course, the true test for this trend-bucking tactic will be to see if the ads have any effect on the company’s bottom line.