The longer answer is a bit more complex. While I see the importance of keywords for search purposes, I also think a case can be made for value over discoverability. Using smart, targeted keywords to drive those searching online is great—but don’t alienate them with crappy copy once they get to you!

So if you’re blogging about calico kittens, this may get you found, but not liked:

For those of you who enjoy calico kittens, there is a calico kitten discussion group, Calico Kittens Anonymous, every Thursday at the public library. The Calico Kittens Anonymous group spends about an hour each week talking about calico kittens, looking at pictures of calico kittens, and researching the history of calico kittens. If you like calico kittens, contact us for more information about the Calico Kittens Anonymous calico kitten discussion group.

See how much fun that was? Not even a little bit, right? And all that just to show up in a little over 12,000 monthly searches for “calico kittens”. . .

So let’s look at some copy that will still get the point across, but will actually add value for the reader while broadening and increasing search results:

Are you into cats and kittens? What about calico kittens? If so, you’re in luck, because I just found out about a group of pet lovers who meet monthly at the public library to socialize and share pictures of calico kittens. The group, Calico Kittens Anonymous, raises funds for cat rescue and pet adoption non-profits, and they also volunteer at “adopt-a-pet” events all over town. They’re a great group, and are looking to add more members, so contact us if you’d like more information.

With a simple re-write and a bit of creativity, we not only ended up with copy that is much more enjoyable to read, we also used a variety of related keywords and increased our reach from appearing in about 12,000 monthly searches to nearly 70,000,000.

Now of course, this is just an example, and obviously a local cat discussion group has no need to reach 70M global web searchers (Do they? No.). But you get the point.

People who are out trolling the web for information want just that—information. They don’t want to be beaten about the head and shoulders repeatedly by your targeted keywords. If the point is to engage a potential fan or customer, you need to provide value.

A bit of kick-ass copywriting doesn’t hurt, either. 

Today, in my role as a copywriter and content consultant, I still miss deadlines—but for completely different reasons. And what’s surprising is that my clients love me for this.

Whaaaaat? Well, whenever I begin a relationship with a client company, I make one thing super-clear:

Any project deadlines missed will not be due
to my blowing a milestone.

That’s right: I deliver great stuff, on time, no matter what. Any missed deadlines must always come from the client side. Shit happens, people head off on vacation, fire drills drag them away to address emergent issues, and they miss getting responses, raw materials, or feedback to me on time.

When that happens, the schedule shifts, but the most important thing is that they always remember that I delivered on time. And if the schedule shifts due to a client-side missed deadline, guess what? I also hit my new deadline with a velvet sledgehammer. Every. Time.

If your content consultant can’t/won’t/doesn’t do this, are you wasting, time, money—or both?

The Naked Truth About Brands

When is the last time you took a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror—naked?

Not an activity you schedule on a weekly basis, I bet. Let’s face it: Nobody really wants to have to scrutinize and think about every bump and curve over and over again. Other than the quickly abandoned New Year’s Day resolutions we all make each year, we pretty much figure out what our bodies are up to, and let it go at that.

Oddly enough, the same often goes for our branding. >>Read more at http://sparkandhustle.com/takeaway-tips/the-naked-truth-about-brands/

Your web site isn’t really much better or worse than your competition; in fact, just about every player on the field has a pretty weak online presence, so you’re OK for now. . .right?

Nope.

Have you seen anyone under the age of 80 flipping through the Yellow Pages lately? Of course not, because that thang we call the interwebz has superseded it as the go-to place for information on products, services, and who Kim Kardashian is (or is not) dating this week.

A web redesign is a big undertaking, yeah; it’s no mystery why companies don’t get excited over the thought of re-tooling and re–launching their web presences. But, like giving it up to the IRS for payroll taxes every year, it’s just a part of doing business—and one that can come back to bite you in the heinie if you’re not careful.

Web content strategies today have shifted dramatically, no longer focusing just on basic product and service information. Today, a corporate web presence does much more heavy lifting, developing deep-dive relationships, delivering business value, and driving repeat traffic.

How long do you think it will be before one of your equally complacent competitors wakes up and smells the opportunity? If you don’t step up and take the lead with your web presence, someone else will do it―and it can happen literally overnight. And if someone else makes a move before you do, you can kiss much of that comfortable market share of yours goodbye, right on the lips.

That ticking sound you hear? That’s the alarm clock that will soon be going off next to your competitor’s head. So at the moment, the opportunity is yours: Dust off your web site and the standard now. If you aren’t first-to-market with what your customer really needs, you’ll have to play catch-up to your competition. And nobody remembers the company that was second-to-market, do they?

Do those words sound weird coming out of her mouth? Hmm.

Some things die hard, and one of last great hangers-on of the Old-Boy Network years seems to be marketing copy that’s clearly written for those who pee standing up. With the number of women in the C-suite growing every day, maybe it’s time to think about how to talk to the female BDM.

Marketing to women isn’t new; for generations, legions of (largely male) marketers have targeted women with specific types of campaigns. Prior to the women’s movement of the 1970s, major corporations worked to persuade housewives to buy certain brands of floor wax, detergent, and breakfast cereal. When women began emerging in the workforce, cigarettes, panty hose, and designer clothing began popping up.

Today, we have women at the helm of organizations like Yahoo, PepsiCo, and Xerox, with more just like them on their way up. Take a look in your customer database; how many women are you (or SHOULD you be) marketing to?

Need to get started marketing to the women in your (work) life? Here are some tips:

1. Forget about marketing to women. Instead market to your woman. That’s right: incorporate a targeted female decision maker into your audience mix. She’s not just any woman; she’s the specific type of woman you want to reach.
2. Don’t just water down your message and call it good. Your target women do not just want the “lite” version of the messaging you serve up to their male counterparts. If you don’t “get” them, they will know it—and they’ll move on.
3. Quality and value make an impression. When women become engaged with a quality brand, they are willing to pay for it, and they remain loyal.
4. Pastels are passé. Women don’t respond to campaigns splashed with colors and images suitable for a 1974 feminine hygiene ad. Give them a look and feel of strength, confidence, and capability that they can relate to.

Women are a market force today, and if you’re smart, you’ll make sure you’re marketing to all of your customers, not just the boys’ club.

Words were exchanged.

So after I got back to my office and finished being irritated (well, sort of) at the obnoxious window woman, I started thinking about her marketing technique. If she goes all around the neighborhood, insisting on knocking at doors with “No Solicitors” signs near them, how much is she realistically gonna sell?

If you’re selling to people who don’t want to buy, you’re doomed.

The issue here, as it is for many companies, is target market. So many organizations, in their rush to market, completely forget to think strategically. Not about to whom they wish to sell (note classy and correct  use of “to whom.” Thanks, Mr. Georges!), but rather about who actually wants to buy their offering.

Messaging 101: Discover who wants what you’re selling, and determine which of their problems your product or service will solve. Figure out what they need to know about it.

Then speak specifically to those people, in places they congregate (Twitter, Facebook, industry conferences—or in the case of the hot-tub industry, the county fair). Sales are easy, if you’re selling to someone who wants to buy—and there are more of those folks out there than many realize. Big, broad campaigns can waste time and money, and completely overlook the highly targeted group of people standing by with their wallets open.

I just hope she’s not on straight commission.

But that’s what I often hear from companies that have web sites in desperate need of a refresh. They just want something—OK, ANYTHING—new up on their site. Quickly. Like in last week.

They justify the rush by saying, “Oh, it’s just placeholder content, you know, until we have time to get the real content up there.” But both you and I know that once that copy gets published, business-as-usual will take over, and next thing you know, that “temporary” copy has been up there for a year.

Think about it: Your web site is often the first chance you get to make an impression on a potential customer, partner, or employee. And because it’s the first chance, it’s sometimes the only chance you get to engage that visitor in some serious business romance. My point is this:

You wouldn’t ship beta product, so don’t publish beta content.

So hold your horses, and invest the time it will take to work with a writer to get the copy right the first time. Get it right, and it’ll be worth its weight in jolly, happy customers. Remember, it’s on the job 24/7, so you can go to Timmy’s T-ball tournament or Buffy’s ballet recital with the knowledge that your web copy is taking care of business, and presenting you in the best possible light.

Delivering a Campaign Win Amidst Online Saturation

Fifty years ago, the primary platforms used to communicate to customers were print media, TV commercials, and billboards. Given this, large-scale campaigns were pricey, and only a handful of major brands had the resources with which to execute them.

Now flash forward. These days, the results of corporate marketing initiatives are as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. As marketers, we still have the commercials, billboards, and print ads to content with, but now we also have to consider things like search engines, social media, and mobile computing. Beyond that, we must deal with the knowledge that just about anyone with a computer and an internet connection now has the capability to market a product or service online, quickly and inexpensively. >>READ MORE

Startups, mom & pop companies, and other organizations that generally have little-to-no marketing resources at their disposal can be most at risk here. In searching for a bargain, they fall into the trap of trying to get something for nothing, assuming that wizard-generated copy is better than no copy at all. So they give it a whirl.

There are dozens of free downloads of sales, marketing, and ad copy wizards out there. Most are easy to use, and many are based on so-called “proven” algorithms, so really, why NOT use one?

Here’s why:

• Keywords are not everything. Keywords can be part of your copy strategy, but not all of it. They help with online searches, but do nothing to directly impact marketing and sales. Most copy generators put all their eggs in the keyword basket, so beware.
• “Test-tube copy” is not engaging. If your target audience is a computer, fine. But most companies I know are ultimately trying to sell to humans, and processed, clinically correct copy is not going to capture their attention.
• Wizards don’t know jack about branding. If your company wants to project a specific vibe, you need to use a writer that can give some personality to your content—to reinforce your brand, and develop trust.

Still think you can’t afford professionally written copy? Talk to a reputable freelancer and find out if he or she can accommodate your near-term needs at a reasonable cost (can you say, short-term introductory rate?)—or if they can refer you to someone who can. Then as your business grows (thanks to your kick-ass, professionally written marketing copy), you’ll be able to expand and extend your relationship with your writer as you move forward.

You don’t feed your kids processed cheese; why would you feed your customers processed copy?

Davy Jones, the first boy I EVER had a crush on,
died this morning.

Getting that news, in a text that arrived from a friend in Ireland in the middle of a business meeting, crushed me. I immediately reverted back to being the tiny, blonde 4-year-old that fell in love with him at first sight, way back when. I got a bit drippy right there in the coffeehouse, and realized that I never had quite lost my “thing” for him.

Then of course, I came back to my office and spent the morning trying to work, while occasionally jumping onto the web to check out the tributes and watch a few videos of him in his prime cuteness.

Anyway.

It made me think about something that everyone’s parents always tell them when they go into job interviews, or start dating:

First impressions are EVERYTHING.

Yeah, it turns out that they are, and they stick around for years—in some cases, decades.

Davy Jones was in the public eye for all of his adult life, and those of us that loved him from the get-go never lost that love. No matter how many years passed, he always managed to be engaging, entertaining, and interesting to us. His personal brand was fiercely strong, and he protected and nurtured it. We love him today for the same reasons we loved him back then.

So my question today is, how will your customers view your brand in 20, 30, or 40 years? Will it have that same kind of loyalty? Are you choosing your path wisely, and making decisions that support and reinforce that first impression you made with them?

Thanks for indulging me today. I’m going to go pour my 4-year-old self a chocolate milk now.