Me or You - make your marketing copy effective by David Hassell
Author: David Hassell, DLH
Last Updated: 3/27/2011 8:49:38 PM
Summary
Many SME’s will pay a significant amount to ensure that the design of their marketing collateral looks professional, but how many, I wonder, happily pay the same sort of money for the right content?
Article
After all, you know your company, you know what it can do, how
it works and its experience in providing a particular product or
service.
For this reason, many senior executives will take on the
responsibility for writing the copy that appertains to their
department. This is fine except that more often than not that is
just what is written -
'we can do this'
'we are proud of our'
'we can help by'
'I have experience in'
Your copy, whether in letters, direct mail, brochures, web site
or company profile, should be written with the recipient in mind
that way you will focus on their needs.
As an experiment go through all the different pieces of
marketing material you use and in one colour mark each we, us, I,
me, our, my etc. and in another colour mark each you, your's, your.
Then count up each colour. You should end up with a ratio of around
5 you to every 1 we. If your ratio is the other way around your
copy is focussing more on what you want to say rather than what the
reader may want to read. Changing this emphasis will make a big
difference.
The Author
David Hassell is the Managing Director of DLH.
whose services include production and collateral management
through media planning and buying to market research, PR and
strategy planning.
David established DLH almost two years ago, just at the start
of the economic downturn. Having worked in the advertising and
marketing industry for 30 years he felt that as companies looked at
costs his expertise would particularly benefit those organisations
who do not need or cannot justify a dedicated marketing team.