MarCom Professional

As a fellow member of the publishing industry, I’ve been struggling a bit lately to wrap my head around our emerging role on the internet, in the marketplace, and in society.

In that struggle, I hope to point to a few basic and critical issues at the heart of the debate. From what my research is telling me thus far, the primary issue for us—even beyond copyright considerations—is (and I don’t mean to be flip here) remembering how the internet works.

First, on content

On the surface, the issue is that when paper goes away, so does how we’ve been built to operate. More...

As you know, there’s an abundance of horribly written corporate websites out there – with too much back slapping self praise and not enough focus on the customer.

For us copywriters, this presents an opportunity: if you can point out to a company why their website’s copy is ineffective, they might ask you to give it a makeover. Many companies complain about how poor their websites are at generating sales - often weak copy is to blame.

Here are a few classic corporate web copywriting mistakes you might want to point out: More...

I’ve just seen the details for this year’s MIPTV to be held in Cannes April 12 – 16th. 

From the conference agenda – where else would you find Shine Group’s Elisabeth Murdoch and Joanna Shields, News Corp’s Jonathan Miller, Sky’s Jeremy Darroch to name just a few. 

MIP Digital kicks off with a by-invitation executive brainstorming huddle featuring 40 senior leaders from the highest ranks of digital entertainment.

Companies set to attend include YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, AOL, Channel 4, The Walt Disney Company, France Télévision Interactive, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Starz Media, ITV Marvel Entertainment and RTL Group, amongst others. More...

The old cliche about “you’re only as good as your last job” can sometimes seem finding new clients a daunting task.  How can you show off your work when there are client confidentialities involved?  What ways are there to show that you are a really creatively-led agency?

Well the answer is to have a store of case studies.

What is a case study?

A case study is a piece of marketing collateral that shows off the skills of your organisation and demonstrates clearly success you have created for a client.

It’s as simple as that.  Show off your ’smarts’ the work that you want to make you famous and boast about it.  A lot. More...

Based on these two examples, the new era of transparency might not be too far away and has serious implications for the claims you might be occasionally tempted to drop into your copywriting.

‘iPad sucks’ – 644,00 Google hits

Following the success of the iPhone, it’s no wonder people were expecting something special when they heard rumours about Apple’s latest gift to the world of technology. More...

To give it its full name, search engine optimisation is the technique of writing copy text on a web page in such a way that it reads well for the spiders. This can result in the site enjoying a higher ranking in the search engines for the targeted search terms.

It is a discipline that everyone talks about, yet literally only a handful of knowledgeable writers out there, have any idea of how to write this type of copy well.

And this is why…

I am convinced that to be effective at writing SEO copy, you have to be a direct marketer first – and an SEO copywriter second. (The best in the world at it, is a good chum of mine, Ian Dewar, who is an old DM ligger like me and ran one of the first DM agencies in London in the halcyon days.)

The reason is very simple: More...

Just think of the rest of the pages on your website, as the rooms of your house.

You need to make them warm, friendly and comfortable. Make them look inviting and interesting – not cluttered like Uncle Billy’s house.

Never forget, that the sales message is paramount. This means your copy has to SELL.

Use all the proven copywriting techniques, I have been writing about for years. What works off-line, will pretty much work on-line. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Here’s some proof…

Using proven offline copy techniques to improve the performance of your website As with any other copy challenge, you have to structure your message delivery. More...

Well, first you have to be clear about a number of key points:

Ask yourself these questions. If you can’t answer each one instantly and in a 30 second description that is clear, concise and very understandable, then you have problems. Because if any of these are unclear to you, they will be like dirty water to your visitor.

1. What exactly are you selling?
2. What is the main feature or USP?
3. What is different or better about it?
4. Have you delivered the benefits clearly?
5. Why should the visitor be interested in it?
6. What do you want your visitors to get out of the visit?
7. What do you want the visitor to do?
8. Have you made it easy for them?

Try it yourself. More...