Category: Content marketing

Move with the times

Julie Kenyon

In this ever changing world, it pays to review our messaging, and positioning, to ensure we remain relevant and are indeed meeting the needs of our clients and customers. Even traditional industries and sectors are being challenged to change, to go greener, to be more efficient, more high tech, more tailored to their target markets, and to communicate differently, using a vast choice of channels.

I’ve been working on a number of projects recently that have required focus on exactly where the business is, and what in essence it has to offer. For both start up businesses and those that are well established, we started with a strategy session to examine what it is that the market needs right now, and how my clients are able to meet those needs. This is not just about attracting customers, but taking a step back to think about what the environment, stakeholders and even the world needs and how my clients can answer those demands.

It’s not simply about setting out your stall and hoping people will buy – it’s about showing a thorough understanding of what your customers are experiencing, and how you can help them transition in an ever changing world.

For startup businesses, our strategy sessions involved focusing on how to turn experience and expertise into something people would want to buy. How could we commercialise a set of skills? How could we put this into context, so that potential customers would understand the benefits, and what exactly it was that they could buy? This takes time, discussion and some creative thinking away from the office, to let the ideas flow and a vision for the business to form. It’s a huge step starting out on your own, but it’s fun, exciting and rewarding too.

For established businesses, our strategy sessions focused more on existing websites and marketing collateral, to establish what needed to change, why, and how we could make the most of this opportunity to update the messaging, and ask our customers, and potential customers to look again, learn more and understand the true value of the product and/or service.

Set yourself a simple task

Take a look at your website and other marketing materials – when were they last updated? Are they still relevant? Even your privacy policy and GDPR statement should be updated from time to time, along with security updates on your website to ensure it is protected and running smoothly on both desktop and mobile.

Check for terminology – if Roald Dahl books are being updated, perhaps it’s time to review your own language, tone and intent – be sure you’re pitching correctly to your audience.

Check product descriptions – have you improved or changed products or services, what are their latest USPs, are they better for the environment, cheaper or do they do more than they used to?

Check your team information – remove old staff members, update with new

Check the About Us page and contact details on your website – what additional experience and credentials have you gained in the last year or more? Have you moved or opened a new office?

For an independent audit on all of your marketing collateral, or to get started in your new business please contact me, I’d be happy to help.

Website pain – where does it hurt?

Julie Kenyon

Hands up if you’re happy with your website!

OK, so the majority of us will make excuses for our website (me included) and say it needs work, it’s on my list of things to do, or my clients’ work must come first.

Hold that thought for a second. What if you were to bring ‘website development’ to the top of your list for just an afternoon – what changes could you achieve?

I’ve critiqued a number of websites in my time, and the good news is, there are lots of small adjustments that can be made to help move the game on. Small adjustments can turn into bigger changes over time, and when you start to see the results, the momentum has a habit of gathering speed.

It’s worth noting here that a website is never really finished – it’s best to consider it as work in progress. Google likes lots of lovely fresh content, so think of it as is an ongoing work of art. It’s not your company brochure, far from it. Your website is like a journal, detailing everything that’s going on in your world and most importantly in your customers’ world.

So, start by asking the question: Where does it hurt the most? Is it the cover image, the words, the navigation? Is it the fact that your call to action is almost non-existent? Are there internal links to help keep people interested and on your site for longer? What is the bounce rate? Is it too high? …the list goes on.

An independent view

If you’d like an independent critique of your website, complete with strategy and plan to make things a whole lot better, I’d be happy to help.

From corporate ID, through to web design and build there are lots of ways improvements can be made. I’ll look at the content too, to make sure it’s resonating with your audience.

We’ll start with one key objective – to create a website you’ll be proud of and from thereon in, things will only get better!

The No1 staff training tool? Marketing content!

Julie Kenyon

Think about it for a moment – it’s your marketing communications that tell your customers what to expect if they have dealings with your company.

So, shouldn’t your staff be singing from the same hymn sheet?

There’s a lot to be learned from the content writers you employ. They put themselves in the position of your customers, and ask themselves “what is it that will encourage me to buy from your company?”  It’s how they’re able to create copy that resonates with the target audience.

The copy they produce answers all the right questions, it reassures potential buyers, educates them and may even entertain them too along the way.

Above all, it instils an expectation about the exact experience, service or product they can look forward to when they transact with your business.

And here’s where it all goes wrong…

The words themselves are meaningless if they are not backed up by actions. Every copywriter portrays an optimistic view of how a business operates. The spanner in the works is reality!

Which his why it makes perfect business sense to use marketing content as the number 1 tool for staff training – covering company ethos, competitive advantage, customer service, product information, delivery expectations and so on.

It’s time to take an honest look at the quality of your service – and if your people are not mirroring the image created in your marketing, you’re failing your customers.

There’s a lot to be learned from marketing copy. It’s not just about paying lip service to the notion of good customer service; it should accurately encapsulate the real substance of your business. It’s about creating an authentic reflection of who you are and what you deliver on an individual, one to one level.

And consider this, a good independent content writer will deliver valuable insight into how the market works, what your customers expect and how to join up marketing with deliverables. Food for thought indeed.

Bridge that gap!

Julie Kenyon

It’s summer and I’ve had a little more time than usual to browse websites, do some research into the latest trends in content marketing, and go off piste to expand my mind beyond the norm.

I’m conscious that some websites often miss a trick when they have got me interested – they fail to reach out and engage.

When overhauling a website for a client recently, we added lots of calls to action – newsletter sign ups, express an interest form for courses, and clear instructions on how to buy from the site. We added more internal links from blogs to videos, and back again to the website from the YouTube Channel.

Google analytics informed us which pages were the most popular, so we added links to those pages to take visitors deeper into the site, and give them more of what they were interested in. We also used this data to make intelligent decisions about what to promote on social media, to improve click rates and further engagement.

It has made a huge difference. Courses have consistently sold out in good time, we have grown our list of warm contacts, and given customers and prospects a much better website experience.

Review your website and bridge that gap!

Summer is a great time to step back and take a look at your own website, to see where updates and improvements can be made. Browse other sites, especially ones that you like – what is it that attracts you about the site? Can you replicate their ideas for your own?

How easy is it for customers to buy from you, or to let you know that they are interested?

If you’re stuck for ideas, or not sure how to go about updating your content and adding new and enticing calls to action, perhaps we should have a conversation. I’d be happy to spend a little time with you to get you on the right track.

Email me at j.kenyon@insidermarketing.co.uk and we can have a chat.

1st priority for 2019 – Deliver on expectations!

Julie Kenyon

As a writer and marketer, I put myself in the seats of the audience I am writing for. It ensures that I stay focused on customer needs and create a desire for a product or service because it is exactly what they are looking for. By identifying with their pain, and demonstrating that the pain can indeed be taken away, they’re right to feel confident about making a purchase.

Where it goes wrong however, is when the reality doesn’t live up to expectations. That’s why I’m a huge advocate of joined up communication between sales and marketing. If sales people do what the marketing communications promise, then everyone is happy.

And it shouldn’t just be the sales people – every person in a business should be part of the marketing vision, from administration to despatch, from quality control to HR. The most successful businesses are those that understand the importance of good customer service and share in the responsibility for its delivery.

A challenge for you

Take a look at the content on your website and on your other marketing collateral. Does your company do what it claims to do or is there a gap between the words your customers are reading and reality? Be honest with yourself, because if there is disparity, the first ones to notice will be your customers. Yet they may not tell you if they can’t find what they are looking for, or their first conversation with you leads to disappointment, they may simply go elsewhere, and you’ll never know where you are going wrong.

Of course your marketing content has to be right too – is it meeting the needs of your audience and answering the questions they have before they are able to make a purchase? What you think is important may not be important to your buyers, and their top priorities may not, in your eyes, seem that relevant.

Find out what is hurting your customers right now, demonstrate that you understand their issues and are there to help. It’s a simple formula for success that will work – so long as their entire experience of interacting with your company meets their expectations.

Have a happy and successful 2019 – it’s there for the taking!

I wanna tell you a story…

Julie Kenyon

For those of you too young to remember Max Bygraves, this isn’t gratuitous use of slang, more a reference to an old phrase of the past, used by a once famous singer – yet it’s a phrase that has considerable relevance to today.

Because marketing people talk a lot about telling the story of your brand. It helps to promote buy-in, loyalty and understanding of what your company is about.

And I’d like to reference a couple of instances in pop culture where story telling has won the day.

The 1st and 2nd best selling singles in the UK of all time relate to real life events – Candle in the Wind by Elton John and Do they know it’s Christmas by Band Aid, they’re kind of real life stories. The 3rd best selling single is Bohemian Rhapsody, it tells a story of a guy that just killed a man, you might remember it!

And in a poll by Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine to find out the best song lyrics of all time, listeners voted for Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon.

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walkin’ through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was lookin’ for the place called Lee Ho Fooks
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein

Do these words conjure up a picture for you, set a scene, even give you a tangible feeling? They take you on a journey, and that’s the point I’m trying to make.

These words are clever, and they work, and songs like these appeal to our human instinct to want to know more.

The people that love these songs are highly likely the same people that you’re trying to sell to. So, now you know what they like, use this as a guide to help you create your next blog or website content, promotion or presentation. Tell a story and you’ll have a captive audience.

The Innocent brand famously tells the story of their start-up. The founders sold their new smoothie fruit drinks at a London music festival, and asked customers whether they should give up their day job and make their smoothies a full time commitment.

Customers voted with their empties – filling the ‘yes’ bin (yes they should give up their day jobs) in vastly more quantities than the ’no’ bin, giving an overwhelming thumbs up to the product.

It’s a twee story, some might say, but it’s worked wonders for their profile.

So what’s your story? Think Richard Branson selling magazines at school, to Alan Sugar selling car aerials and electrical items out of a van with an initial investment of just £50. Do you have a start-up story that explains how to got to where you are today?

And my story? From my first job in an advertising agency I started writing copy. I didn’t even have a computer then so I’m not sure quite how I did it. Then I got a computer, and several models later, I’m still writing and still helping clients to articulate the features and benefits of their product or service, with some business wisdom and advice thrown in for good measure!

Stories take people on an emotional journey. They help consumers engage with your brand. If you’d like a chat about how we can create a story around your brand, I’d be pleased to help.

Balancing expertise with readability

Julie Kenyon

It seems that more and more, we are all striving to be ‘experts in our field’, better than and more informed than the rest.

But in our quest to be the best, are we in danger of being boring or even irrelevant? Sharing knowledge is a common element of a content writer’s brief. “Show my customers how much I know, that I’m a thought leader and the go-to person for help and advice”.

So, my challenge is to balance this drive for ‘showing off’, with ensuring we’re not talking over the heads of our target audience, but giving them the information that they really need.

Yes, it’s important to show knowledge and expertise – but it’s how these skills benefit our clients that readers are interested in. So my approach is to take the in-depth expertise and spin a commercial angle onto it.

It’s all about the outcomes – what’s the answer to that ‘so what?’ question.

Take a look at this example:

“So you have the most advanced technology in the UK but how does that benefit my company? Oh, so you can cut traditional production times in half? Now I’m interested!”

By addressing the pain points suffered by customers, (in this instance, a lengthy production time) you’re more likely to strike a chord. It puts your product or service offerings into context so that customers instantly grasp how it is that you can help them.

We acknowledge that we are all time poor, that we have just a few seconds to capture and engage with website visitors. Offer answers to your customers’ problems, talk about the issues facing them right now and they will respond in a positive way.

 A place for ‘heavy’ content

There is of course a strong case for serious, knowledgeable copy and for including it on your website. Perhaps though just not right at the front. ‘More reading’, ‘knowledge hub’ etc, however you want to call it, signposts your more considered, detailed and thought-leading pieces to those that are interested in the finer points of your knowledge.

White papers, e-books and other publications are the perfect resting home for in-depth content, and are very valuable in proving your prowess, and positioning your business as a leader in its field.

So please take a look at your website and be sure to look at it through the eyes of your typical customer. Ask yourself if you are giving them the information they need in a friendly, palatable way, and whether your content needs a re-shuffle, to deliver the best possible online experience.

The power of targeting your content

Julie Kenyon

If your business is one of the majority whose product offering can appeal to many, how do you pitch your content to attract audiences from different target markets?

If you were selling oranges for example, it might be helpful for the orange buyer to understand why they should choose your oranges rather than someone else’s.

To start with, you need to understand who your orange buyers are.

One group could be an athletics club for example, who are interested in the re-hydration qualities of your fruit. Another group could be a health club, keen to find the most nutritious oranges they can buy. Then there are parents looking to buy oranges that their kids can easily peel.

Essentially, you’re selling the same product, yet your buyers have different needs that must be satisfied if they are to decide it’s right for them.

Hence the power of target marketing. Generic content risks being ‘vanilla’ i.e. with little by way of interesting ‘hooks’ to reel your buyers in.

In the marketing industry we talk about business verticals – different market sectors that have different needs and priorities yet happen to be in the market for the same product.

So, how can your copy reflect those different needs?

By talking directly to your audience, using a language they understand, and hitting the specific pain points of each sector, you’re showing those buyers that you appreciate their needs, and that you can provide exactly what it is they are looking for.

With content, very rarely does one size fit all. And the more that you can pitch your content to specific target groups, the more likely it is you’ll receive enquiries.

Time for a little more sophistication

It’s good to know who your customers are, and where they are in the buying cycle. Have they bought from you before, enquired but never bought, or do they need educating about all the wonderful reasons why they should buy from you?

Existing customers may appreciate news from you about new products or add-ons to the products they’ve already bought. And they may like to receive a voucher off their next purchase as an incentive to buy again. Or you may wish to include an early bird discount to recent enquirers to push them towards a purchase if they are procrastinating.

New customers may be easier to convert if they are eligible for an introductory offer.

You get the idea. And hopefully get the gist of why targeting your content can add a strong commercial advantage to your business.

Who would you like to do business with?

It might sound like an obvious question but if you’ve an ideal client in mind, check out your online resources to see if they are pitched to attract interest from this group. Perhaps you’d like business from abroad, from a particular sector such as charities, retail or online businesses only.

Take a little time to think about which clients could award contracts that would really make a difference to your business, and create specific content that will draw them in.

Use blogs to target your different markets too, and signpost to those blogs on Twitter using the sector hashtag that’s relevant to the content. It will start to put you on the radar of the businesses you’d like to have a conversation with, whilst showing them that you’re a serious provider in their field.

Who needs content marketing anyway?

Julie Kenyon

It’s a bit of a buzz expression I know, a bit like social media and the like. So do you really need to pay attention or will ‘content marketing’ go away in time?

Here’s a quick heads up – we’re all making our buying decisions differently today to how we were just a year or so ago. Continue reading “Who needs content marketing anyway?” →