Creative Collaterals

As a marketing (and sales) copywriter, I’m often asked by perspective clients whether I have experience in their industry. While no writer has direct experience in every business sector; my career highlights include forays in diverse industries including financial services, healthcare, hospitality, high tech/IT/software, real estate/construction and retail. Managing a small advertising agency for three years, followed by consulting for almost two decades, leads to a diverse client base.

But the real crux here is that good writers don’t need to have direct experience in a particular sector to be able to craft compelling copy for a business in the industry. Knowledge, experience and expertise honed over the years through the writing of thousands of pieces (with word counts in the hundreds of thousands); enable marketing copywriters to create captivating content by doing their homework. Most often we accomplish this either online, by talking to industry professionals – or a combination of the two.

While there are a wide variety of writing styles and types - from technical and screen writers to novelists and poets; when you need someone to help you market your business (and get the word out) – turning to a copywriter is the right move. Copywriters, also known as content marketers at times, assist clients with campaigns from blogs and other web content to media releases, newsletters, white papers and informative and promotional emails – all to increase visibility and sales as well as enhance branding.

Written by talented copywriters, content marketing is an approach whereby relevant and useful copy and imagery is used to attract and maintain a qualified audience – informing them about not only the features and benefits of a firm’s goods and services – but how they can address challenges faced by customers and offer viable solutions. The message should contain an appealing “call-to-action” for the recipients, so they are open to the message - and respond accordingly.

Providing informative and relevant content to customers and prospects goes beyond traditional “sales pitch” positioning. Demonstrating that offerings address issues and solve problems faced by customers; shows that your business isn’t just out to “make a buck,” but truly wants to establish ongoing customer relationships. Becoming a reliable business partner/vendor on an ongoing basis leads to great things for both customer and supplier. To quote an overly used phrase, it truly is a “win-win” situation!

The title phrase above may seem extremely obvious, but think about the statement for a moment. After all, our perspectives of things certainly shape our approach to them. Whether we attend an event, purchase a product or sign up for a service most likely depends upon our thoughts or feelings towards the offering itself; or the company making the offer. So memorable and positive marketing is paramount.

Speaking of positive marketing spin, I recently enjoyed Major League Baseball’s 91st All Star Game festivities. The sport (like most) gets the occasional “black eye” from the media and fans, so a well-executed celebration of “America’s favorite pastime” would go a long way towards creating some goodwill for the game - especially after last year’s short season and ongoing tinkering with the rules of the game.

Well I say “mission accomplished.” The players were upbeat and supportive of each other, the young MLB stars shined - notably San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. These young energetic stars bring much needed attention to a franchise that has come to be portrayed as slow in relation to other sports, as well as an older person’s game. Having some players wearing microphones during the broadcast, and also interviewing others in the dugouts, was engaging and entertaining.

Baseball, while a sport, pastime and entertainment enterprise all at the same time; the game is still a business. And as in most businesses, marketing and perception are ongoing challenges that need to be addressed to ensure continued success (again, very obvious, right?). Well, you’d be surprised at the number of companies that neglect their marketing due to the numerous day-to-day activities that consume their time just keeping their businesses’ running.

The solution? Let someone else handle the marketing while you do what you do best – run your business. Writing ongoing content for blogs and other digital/web pages and campaigns is an effective (and cost-effective) way to enhance your online presence and get the attention of prospective customers while reengaging with your current client base.

Ongoing engagement with your prospect and customer base ensures consistent mindshare, sales and revenue. Keeping your offerings ever-present in their perspectives is an ongoing effort that will pay dividends down the road. Or, as they say in the MLB, Play ball!

Using the Right Avenues for Optimal Response

As we’ve said before, marketing really boils down to a couple of focal points: outreach and branding. The former is used to capture attention and invoke a response, the latter to reinforce a firm and its offerings to the audience. And both of these campaign types require ongoing nurturing via compelling copy, imaginative imagery and multiple delivery types including email and social media.

Crafting captivating copy is only half the battle. Delivering it where it will get the best results for your business is the other half. After all, the best content in the world doesn’t do a company any good if no one reads it! Fortunately, there are many ways to reach a target audience in these days of digital technology and connectivity. Marketers can help recommend audience options and best practices to reach them.

From content management and delivery options, to social media and ecommerce sites; knowing where and when to post relevant information to get the “best bang for your marketing buck” is important - both to your marketing efforts and your company in general. Experienced marketers can provide invaluable knowledge and expertise in these areas and more; capitalizing on opportunities and optimizing budgets.

Consultation on marketing campaigns as well as their creation and coordination, may all be handled by an outside agency, internal employees, or a combination of both. However, it is often beneficial to have an agency create and execute marketing campaigns - as that is their specialty and focus for their clients. We frequently work with business professionals who are so busy with the day-to-day running of their businesses, that they have no time to focus on its growth.

And that’s one of the many areas where marketing agencies can provide value. To optimally reach a business’s target audience, marketing efforts need to be consistent and ongoing. Building campaigns and establishing awareness of a company’s offerings needs to be an ever-present, always-on enterprise – especially to meet the challenges of online Search Engine Optimization (SEO) guidelines and rankings.

Targeted messages that speak to prospective customers’ wants and/or needs - delivered via easy to access and discern messaging applications - are the keys to getting the attention of desired consumers. Proactive marketers can help businesses approach and establish these relationships.

Great Marketing is Impossible without Great Content

Long-term contracts are much appreciated by freelance marketers – especially when a satisfied client hires one away to a full-time position. Having just wrapped a three-year stint in digital marketing for a manufacturing firm - it’s time to get Creative Collaterals back in the swing of things…

As a marketing communications firm located in sunny Sarasota, Florida; our group of freelance consultants’ changes a bit, as its members are offered positions at various companies - usually clients looking to keep a valued asset as their own. However, they usually return to the fold to follow their chosen paths - enjoying the diversity of working with a variety of clients, companies and industries.

We’ve been very fortunate to work with innovative forward-thinking people and companies. And we trust that they have benefitted from our years of marketing experience and expertise. We constantly strive to keep up with the latest technologies and industry trends in our efforts to provide our clients a one-stop-shop of the best marketing communications professionals and skills available.

We believe that marketing comes down to two things for a firm - outreach and branding. Outreach consists of the campaigns and tools used to approach targeted markets, get their attention, and provoke a response. Branding is reinforcing presence in those approached business sectors. Our focus to accomplish these goals is content marketing - the strategic creation and implementation of valuable and relevant content delivered to a targeted audience designed to provoke a response.

Great marketing is impossible without great content. Content marketing is designed to speak directly to consumers, not just sell them. It’s about establishing and nurturing long-term relationships with customers and prospects. Anyone can hit upon one-and-done sales tactics, however, relationship marketing works towards a repeat-business model and recurring revenue - since, as most people know, most business comes from your established customers and their referrals.

We here at Creative Collaterals Marketing Communications can help you “Get the Word Out.” Whether your business is an established one looking to expand, or a newly founded firm figuring out how to best define and approach your optimal target market, we’re here to assist you in your marketing outreach and branding efforts. So give us a try. We think you’ll be glad you did!

Creative Collaterals – Contact Us and Get the Word out