Ten steps to being found online – an internet guide for SMEs
Ten steps to being found online – an internet marketing guide for start-ups, SMEs and those that got left behind takes the rookie website owner through the necessary steps to rise through the search rankings, raise brand awareness and increase website visitor numbers. If your internet marketing strategy is rather wanting, this free website marketing guide may well be worth a read.
In: advertising, brand, copywriting, design, internet marketing, marketing, public relations, search engine optimisation (SEO), website design · Tagged with: Business, business start-ups, copywriting, internet marketing, marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Marketing strategy, public relations, search engine optimisation (SEO), SEO copywriting, Small and medium enterprises, Small business, social media, sole traders, Website
Now THIS is viral marketing at its best
Viral marketing is a damnably tricky thing to do right. Trust Volkswagen and its ingenious ad agency to teach us the lesson that straddles the fine line between inspiring creatives to throw themselves from the nearest precipice and inspiring them to do greater work.
It makes me want to buy a VW just so the car manufacturer can continue to invest in such fantastic marketing initiatives.
And who DOESN’T want a little more fun in their everyday lives? You surely know how it is – you can be feeling a little glum, watching a drear world carry out its mundane Groundhog Day-style existence, when something touches you, and your mood is immediately uplifted. Sometimes you can barely force the smile away; you stroll instead of walk, that spring in your step suddenly free of restrictive rust. Could be a baby gurgling with delight, could be a chance encounter with one of those can’t-help-but-like-them-do-they-talk-to-everyone-or-am-I-special strangers, but a musical staircase will have the most beautiful music playing in your ears all day long I suspect.
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In: marketing · Tagged with: advertising, brand, internet marketing, marketing, social media
How to protect your brand
Brand is not just a logo, not just a visual identity. Sure, it’s where the concept came about – branding irons marked livestock with a sign that identified each beast as the property of an individual. But brand means so much more. It’s how you want to be perceived. It includes every possible visible facet of your company. Ultimately it’s a feeling you wish to invoke. And feelings, we all know, can be volatile, unpredictable and irredeemably damaged.
So how do you maintain the brand you were aiming to create, its identity and integrity? With rules, I’m afraid. Rules and a robust system of procedures to enforce them. Above all, you need the buy-in and support of the company’s upper echelons and the support for and from a team dedicated to reputation management.
At a minimum there are four sets of rules you should have in place – a checklist of policies which ensure brand protection and reputation management.
- Press policy
- Social media policy
- Corporate identity guidelines
- Style guide
Press policy
‘No comment’ can do more damage than silence. It carries the whiff of guilt. Equally you don’t want staff, and that should include Board-level personnel, chatting to the press at will. Every company should have a press policy in place, directing all press enquiries to a PR department that’s skilled in dealing with the wiliest or most persistent of journalists.
PR gets a bad name – some regard it as spin, hiding the truth, an excuse for news, and worse besides – but without the benefit of a sound press policy your company can miss out on the chance to pass on positive news, and carry out damage limitation on negative news. Your PR department protects your brand, your investment, your clients, and the livelihood of all your employees.
Social media policy
Like it or loathe it, social media is more than a passing fad. According to a UK Global Web Index survey conducted in January 2009 people trust the opinions of their online social network, and even bloggers they’ve never met, more than television news presenters, and only marginally less than colleagues. Around 40% of UK adults use social media at least once a month, and that number is predicted to increase. Ignore it at your peril; embrace it to control it.
Quite a few companies have suffered adverse publicity through the internet. It’s word of mouth on a global and instant scale. Construction companies have had site staff film dangerous and foolish antics and published their footage on YouTube, complete with company name emblazoned on seemingly ironic safety gear. Elsewhere staff have used social media to deliver damning verdicts on their employers and colleagues. Bad news folks, on the web nothing is truly private. A zero-tolerance attitude towards social media won’t protect you and can even generate negative publicity in itself. It’s time to take social media seriously.
Corporate identity guidelines
The original meaning of brand still matters as part of a whole. Designed well, a logo and rules about its application can influence public perception. Beyond the use of such established psychology, a company’s visual identity is a statement of professionalism. Consistency is sacrosanct. Any change should be undertaken with a specific aim in mind, and carefully timetabled and introduced. Shoddy use of your visual brand smacks of a ‘don’t care’ attitude, and even at a subconscious level your customers and clients may react negatively.
Think about it – when you receive mailings from Virgin trying to convince you to take up their latest broadband offering – every word, every colour, every instance of logo is positioned just so. If global firms place such importance on corporate identity, why should you be any different? If you want clients to respect your brand, you need to do the same.
Style guide
A style guide might be built into your corporate identity guidelines, but should be available as a standalone document. It should go without saying that both style guide and corporate identity manual are distributed to every department and available to every individual. Of particular importance are bid teams, marketing, PR/comms teams, secretaries/PAs, print & graphic design departments, as well of course as any external PR, marketing, creative or design agencies you engage.
Your style guide isn’t just about when to use a capital or when an abbreviation is acceptable, although these are vital components. It outlines your corporate tone of voice and increases consistency across your communications channels. And as with visual identity, consistency is the essence of a professional image. Why would you want your clients, or even your own staff, to receive anything but the impression you wish to convey?
And why am I, a copywriter, telling you these things? Two reasons. With a background in corporate communications and public relations I’ve seen first-hand how everyone from salesman to Board member can put a foot wrong. I’ve also seen how useful an external perspective can be and how important it is to have your policies worded in such a way their contents are not just understood but embraced.
You’ve spent time and money, sweat and tears creating a brand of which you can be proud – now don’t overlook protecting it.
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In: advertising, brand, copywriting, corporate communications, design, marketing, public relations, website design · Tagged with: brand, brand protection, copywriting, corporate communications, corporate identity, corporate identity guidelines, press policy, public relations, reputation management, social media, social media policy, style guide, visual identity
giveamonkey.com goes live!
It’s been a little while in the making, but social life tool www.giveamonkey.com is now live and active.
giveamonkey is a website allowing users to create wish lists for any occasion, plan parties and events, shop online, and share any celebration with friends. Most importantly, it’s completely free to use. Personally I think the really clever aspect, and one which I’ll be making use of first and foremost, is the Giftermonkey tool, which allows a user to grab the details & photo of any item on the entire web and add it to their wish list. Genius.
I was contracted to carry out all copywriting for the website, brainstorm concepts and development ideas and help with social media aspects of the launch. Pretty obvious then that I’m pleased as that big-nosed feller to see the site go live. Get along there and start party planning and getting your Christmas gift list sorted…
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In: news · Tagged with: copywriting news, news, social media
