We are very proud to announce that Rosie Hamilton, our Managing Director has been awarded the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Professional Practice Diploma. This is a Masters’ Level qualification which covers advanced understanding of professional practice, including PR strategy and planning, content management, media and engagement, measurement and evaluation, and PR leadership.

During a recent meeting with a client I was reviewing some of their marketing literature. They were already aware that their leaflets weren’t working i.e. not  having the desired effect on their target audience. So I started asking them some questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• Where are they/how old are they/which other brands are they engaging with?
• What is your call to action?
• What are the 5 key points you’re trying to get across?
• Are the pictures you are using appropriate for your target audience?
• What’s your distribution strategy for these leaflets?

As it turned out the this client’s previous marketing agency hadn’t asked them any of these questions which is why, 3 years later, they were having to rewrite them all over again. Whether it’s for newsletters, direct mail campaigns, leaflets, brochures, social media content, blogs, case studies, annual reports you need to think about these key marketing objectives before you start writing. It does seem to me also that many companies both large and small write copy that’s all ‘me, me, me’. This is what I do, sell, produce, make, provide. The most successful brands turn the whole situation around and make it all about the customer and manage to do so in a funny and entertaining way that engages the audience from the get-go. Brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Pret and Innocent are prime examples.

If you would like to chat about how Bees Knees Marketing can help with your copywriting and marketing communications please give us a call on 0777 9299860

What makes a good copywriter? Being able to write well is the obvious answer to the question but beyond that, having good listening skills would definitely be at the top of my list.

Ultimately, whether you’re writing copy for an article, case study, blog, advert or website, any copywriter worth their salt needs to start by asking the right questions. Questions such as ‘Who’s the target audience?’ ‘What makes your company different?’ ‘What’s your tone of voice?’ First person or third person? ‘Do you use humour as part of your brand?’ (Who can forget KFC’s brilliant FCK response to the chicken crisis, courtesy of advertising agency Mother?)

Another favourite question of mine is ‘What’s the call to action? If it’s an advert and you want the respondent to call a number, have the reception team been briefed? Do they have a call script? Are they recording the number of enquiries/sales? If you want people to go to your website, is there a specific URL for this project? Or a dedicated area of your website? Are you set up with Google Analytics so you can measure traffic/ecommerce? You would be amazed how many companies get this so wrong and yet it’s a key part of the campaign metrics!

I’ve found from experience that the answers to these questions form a really useful framework for the project, save time and significantly reduce the chances of the client wanting to make major changes to the copy.

This week I was proof-reading some terms and conditions for a client and I came across something that made no sense at all. It referred to a set of clauses which were non-existent within the document and I was really confused. The client hadn’t spotted it and asked if I thought it was important? My response: ‘Yes I think it’s important to clarify this because if the customer reneges on the contract and extricates themselves because of that particular point you’ll be kicking yourself.’ So it went back to the lawyer and lo and behold, they had left something out of the terms and conditions.

To be clear, proof-reading is just one of the services I provide, along with PR, copywriting and digital marketing, but when a client asks you to edit and tidy up document before they send it out, it makes sense to read it through carefully. Hopefully I’ve saved them a lot of hassle and money!