Too close to your subject to get the message right?
Marketing budgets are tight. Deadlines too. So it’s no wonder that many businesses right now think it’s easier, faster and and cheaper to take a DIY approach to words.
They’re getting their own people to write their own web content, brochures or articles instead of calling in a professional copywriter or journalist to do it for them.
But they’re bumping into a problem. It’s this. The closer you are to your subject, the trickier it is to see your company and what you’re offering as your customers do.
You know you’ve got many USPs. But how do you translate them into the right messages for the right audiences? And steer clear of in-house jargon? And fit the presentation needs of different media too? Everything from SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to making words work at their best on smaller screens?
There are big advantages in getting a sharp new perspective from a writer outside your company to give you the results you want. This sums it up beautifully:
Intriguing product names No. 1: Stoats
Who could resist an offer like this, encountered on a commuter train between Edinburgh and Glasgow? It looks great and tastes fabulous. But the brand name is a weeny bit eccentric.
The company says it’s nothing to do with woodland creatures. Instead, it comes from “It’s a stoater…”, a Scottish phrase for anything of amazing quality. And this breakfast bar certainly was.
Got an unusual product name to share? Or need help in creating the right name for something new? Contact Sharon Floate at Beyond The Square: www.beyond-the-square.co.uk
Are you fit for the smaller screen?
How well do you come across when your website hits an iPhone, Blackberry or Android?
Smartphone sales overtook PC sales in the UK at the end of last year. (Source: Financial Times, 9 February 2011) That means more people than ever are likely to view your site via a much smaller screen. And that means it’s vital to think about re-writing your messages to fit.
Shorter headlines. Shorter sentences. A word-count of less than 150 a page. Intriguing sub-headlines. They’re just some of the tactics to use to get your content read – and acted on.
Need the help of a small screen writing expert? Contact Sharon Floate at Beyond The Square: www.beyond-the-square.co.uk
Marketing on Twitter or Facebook? Watch your words
Are you talking to your customers through social networking sites plus your own website? An advertising watchdog will soon be scrutinising your every word.
Until now, the online remit of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has only covered things like pop-up and banner ads.
But from 1 March 2011 they’ll also be checking the content of all UK company websites. They’ll be making sure that the marketing messages that businesses post on Facebook and Twitter follow their ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’ code too.
Need help and advice? You’ll find it here: www.cap.org.uk/CAPServices/Digital-remit-advice.aspx
Track the usage history of favourite words
When did your forename first appear in English literature? How long have people used words like ‘poster’, ‘tricycle’ or ‘Dickensian? Which is older: ‘sofa’ or ‘settee’?
Find out with this cool new tool from Google:
http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph
Key in any word. You get a graph that plots its usage between the years 1500 and 2008, based on the contents of Google Books.
What startling discoveries have you made with your favourite words?
Quirky fonts make messages more memorable?
Next time you have something important to read and remember, make sure it’s written in an odd font.
That’s the view of neuroscience expert Jonah Lehrer, based on new research from the States. This seems to indicate that switching from cool, clean Helvetica to an irritating font like Comic Sans for your documents makes your brain work harder. And that simple change sharpens your memory so you learn faster and retain the information for longer.
Is there a lesson here for graphic designers and marketeers? Can ugly sister typefaces make your advertising messages more memorable? What do you think?
