Posts Tagged "Print Copywriting"

Policies and Procedures for Corporate Communications

Corporate communications are messages aimed at creating a favorable image among shareholders, media, employees, channel partners, and the general public. Generally, corporate communications are understood to include news releases, newsletters, brochures, and — of course — the ever-growing range of social media: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the like.

Consistency with established corporate branding and identity is crucial: “Loose cannon” messages can play havoc with a company’s image, costing a great deal of money and time to overcome. Documenting firm policies and procedures with regard to corporate communications and disseminating them company-wide can help forestall embarrassing or damaging statements from misinformed personnel. This is even more important in the Internet era, when employees at all levels have access to a number of online communication tools — and a single post can spread like wildfire across the Internet.

As part of a company’s overall policies and procedures document, a corporate communications subsection should address these topics:

• Goals: The purpose of corporate communications, and the internal and external audiences to be reached.
• Roles: Responsibilities for communications tasks and decisions must be clearly defined by position title. Spokespersons must be designated (again, by position title), and it must be stated firmly that only those designated as spokespersons may speak for the company. All other employees are to direct inquiries to designated spokespersons or to the corporate communications office.
• Activities: What communication channels will the company use? And with what frequency? Once a company launches a newsletter, a blog, or a Facebook page, it’s got to be kept current. A blog that hasn’t been updated for six months is worse than none at all — it can give the impression that the company is poorly managed, or no longer in operation.
• Crisis Communication: Tightly defining roles and procedures for swift development and approval of communications during a crisis before there’s a crisis enables responsible personnel to respond, control the situation, and mitigate the damage quickly and smoothly.

Take control of your company’s messaging! The GlobalWrites team can help you develop a strong corporate communication strategy, along with policies and procedures to help ensure the strategy is implemented correctly.

What’s in a name? Christening Your Company’s Newsletter

Which golf newsletter would you rather read: “Tee Times” or “Golf News”?

Seems to me like “Tee Times” would a more enjoyable, informal read from a source that knows golf and its lingo. No less informative, just more accessible. And I get that impression simply from the title.

Yep, the title for your company’s newsletter is that important. It’s also one of the most difficult processes you’ll encounter during newsletter development. Even a narrowly focused corporate newsletter will (hopefully) have a variety of content in it, and it will be charged with accomplishing so many things — so how do you sum it all up into one compelling title that convinces your readers that the newsletter’s pages are packed with valuable info that they need?

And, of course, your newsletter name needs to straddle that line between professional whimsy and ridiculous.

One common method of naming a newsletter is to ask employees for ideas. They’ll certainly know the lingo, and some of them are likely quite witty. And that’s an extremely effective way to generate interest, enthusiasm, and water-cooler buzz. Maybe you can make it into a contest.

If you don’t want to call for employee suggestions, try these tips for finding the perfect name for your newsletter:

• First determine the theme and focus of your newsletter: The focus will closely mirror the focus of your business, so you can use the main keywords for your niche to explain what the newsletter content will be about. See the “Tee Times” example above.
• Think about your target market. Focusing your newsletter name on your market lets your subscribers know that they’ll be receiving information targeted toward their interests.
• Google different terms related to your company focus and see what you come up with.
• Brainstorm potential names that match your theme/focus/market. Let it fly. Most of your brainstorm ideas will be horrible. That’s OK — I once submitted a list of 25 potential names for a newsletter and only liked two of them; the client agreed that only two were particularly good. Fortunately, I only needed one good one.
• It’s completely OK to be creative, to an extent. Remember, though, clarity trumps creativity. Fun titles are great, but if you don’t make it clear what it is, people won’t sign up.
• Try to be unique. Make sure no one else is using it. (“Tee Times” fails that criteria; several golf clubs use that name, but can you blame them?)
• Make it dynamic.
• Try to keep the name fairly short, usually between two and four words. Brainstorm at least 15 different names.
• Start thinking about your first issue. What articles will be in it? Maybe a name will jump out at you.
• Your newsletter title doesn’t have to have “Newsletter” or “News” or “Times” in the title – or even “The.” “Tee Times” wouldn’t have been as powerful if it was “The Tee Times.” That would have undermined what they were trying to do. But, it’s OK to use those words, and consider your audience — if it’s an e-newsletter and they get a message in their in-box with the subject line “Tee Times,” do you think they’d click on it? As with every tip here, consider your audience.
• Go through your list and weed out the names that don’t really describe your niche and those already being used elsewhere. Narrow your list to four or five, then take a break from it for a while. Maybe come back to it the next day. That way, you’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and an objective mind.
• If you still don’t find one you like, send your finalists around to friends, co-workers and others for their opinion. Ask them what they like about their choice and what impression they get from the various names. It’s likely something will spring out from their mashed-together comments.

Further reading

Ideas for Employee Newsletter Names

How to Name Your Email Newsletter: 14 Creative Examples

The Value of Inbound Marketing

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/
photos/buddawiggi/

No one likes to be interrupted. This is particularly the case with what is known as outbound marketing, which includes the often annoying telemarketing phone calls, spam e-mails, and sales flyers stuffed into your mailbox. With inbound marketing, the attention of the customer is first earned then maintained, vastly increasing the value of the prospect.

Inbound marketing is a term developed by CEO and co-founder of HubSpot, Brian Halligan. The concept is based on the idea that attention is earned. Marketers make their product or service easy to be found, then use the tools and technology to attract potential customers and provide content that is relevant to their needs and interests. Watch Mr. Halligan explain inbound marketing further in this YouTube video.

One of the reasons the concept works so well is that it allows potential customers to first provide their permission to engage with a company. This act helps create a collaborative exchange between marketers and consumers. Says marketing guru Seth Godin (who refers to inbound marketing as permission marketing), “Every marketing campaign gets better when an element of permission marketing is added.” Listen to Mr. Godin explain the concept further in this YouTube video.

A Changing Marketing Environment

Mr. Godin also believes that the days of outbound marketing are ending, which isn’t hard to imagine when a few statistics are examined. According to marketing experts at HubSpot:

• 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they previously opted into.
• 84% of 25- to 34-year-olds have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising.
• Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic.

So the idea is to open a dialogue that attracts potential customers through a mix of social media then give them an experience that speaks to their needs, their concerns, and provides them with valuable information. Customers can then make informed decisions and purchases. Say goodbye to spam.