A success story

Well it might not feel like it but we definitely are in the middle of May but one thing that is warming up nicely is the amount of pre summer activity that still needs to be done.

So to give you a little inspiration, this month we wax lyrical about the lifeblood of all marketing activity – words! We firmly believe that it is words that make the world go round and really hope you enjoy reading our article on how to tell your story effectively.

It’s never been easier or more affordable to get your story out there and spread the word.

Yours, Fiona, Janice and Fiona

Whats your story?

Do you believe that action speaks louder than words?

Well to a certain extent that might be true but in business you can run the risk of being a best kept secret. You might know what a fantastic business or product that you have but are you telling your story and getting your messages out there to potential customers?

Or perhaps you feel you are trying to but aren’t doing it justice – maybe you visit a shop, buy from a company or use a service and know that your own business is even better but you simply aren’t getting the message out effectively. It takes a lot of hard work, money and sheer guts to develop and run a successful business; you invest heavily on the bricks and mortar, employing and training good staff, buying expensive equipment and stock as well as continually developing your products and services for the future. So that is why it is absolutely essential to also market your business in the most effective way that you can. And that doesn’t mean just sticking a general ad in the local paper and printing some fliers, you need to be much more creative and targeted than that.

We believe passionately that the key to marketing is strong communication and in today’s world there are numerous ways to get your message out there. But whatever platform you use it still boils down to words and telling your story in an engaging and appealing way so that you make a connection with your potential customers.

 

So when it comes to promoting your business, don’t be shy!

Copy cats

Not everyone can express themselves in words as effectively as they would like and as a result can fall into the same common traps.

You might write copy for an advert or leaflet and feel the need to list every product and service but with copy less is definitely more. Be bold and focus on specific themes and products, this is much more interesting and engaging for the customer. You don’t have a lot of time to get noticed and there’s a lot of competition out there so be brave if you want to stand out from the crowd.

And avoid using jargon and clichés, this is a real turn off and you assume that your customers understand the terminology – well chances are they won’t! Better to use language they understand that clearly spells out the actual benefits to them in a human way.

Be confident and friendly in tone, just as if you were speaking to someone person to person, but be honest and don’t over promise something that you know you can’t deliver. And be prepared to have a little fun with the copy that you write because it will get you noticed – safe can be boring and boring is invisible. In business this is not an option.

Use clever and creative copy that grabs the attention of the customer and is clear about what is on offer to them and then invest in good graphic design and photography to bring it to life. Remember advertising, print and postage costs are the same no matter how you use them – so do it right and spend your marketing budget wisely. This professional approach will get you noticed and more importantly generate business for you.

If you are prepared to step out of your comfort zone you will be amazed at the results.

A bloggers guide

A blog is a good way of driving traffic to your website and also making you more interesting on social media thereby increasing your likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter, aswell as establishing your expertise on the likes of LinkedIn.

Stuck for ideas for a blog? Look at the news and follow particularly news articles that are applicable to your industry and then write a short article about them. Blog articles do not need to be long essays, 500 words will take up a page and are more likely to be read. Other key things to bear in mind are to try and add content to your blog at least twice a month, think of a catchy title for the article that will grab people’s attention and like any promotional tool people won’t necessarily find your blog articles so you need to promote them.

 

Talking shop

And the simplest way of promoting your blog and indeed your website is to use social media to do so. Add your blog article to your Facebook business page, tweet the article and don’t do this once do it over and over again over the course of a couple of days and once you have built up a library of articles you can regularly choose one to tweet about. Look and see what time traffic is highest  on your blog and this means on a day you have less time you know the optimum time to tweet it. Also in the tweet, test different titles for your blog and see which works best for you. You will find different people will be drawn to different titles. LinkedIn is also a great way of promoting your blog and your expertise particularly for business to business.

Aswell as promoting your blog, social media is a really effective way of getting your business noticed again and again on a daily basis and there are not many things that do that for you. Just be interesting and relevant, talk about your business and your expertise, things that interest you and the location of your business and also other businesses around you. Link back to your website to also highlight your products and services. Social Media won’t just get your business noticed it will also bring you business. Two examples from our client’s last week - we added a photo of a bag for a retail client and a customer asked for a photo in another colour and style. We obliged and the next day the customer went in to purchase the bag travelling half an hour to do so. A client in the service industry who wanted people to know about the whole range of different services they provide has found that by using Facebook and Twitter and creatively talking about their business they have not only got new clients but have found that exiting clients are using them for different services. All it took was a few creative words.

Bright Light Marketing live and breathe words and know how to use them to great effect for all our clients. To find out how we can help you to tell your story contact us on 01750 505053 or fiona.drane@brightlightmarketing.co.uk.

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