Our top tips

Here are some basic principles to think about when writing content for websites:

• Use simple language and don't complicate the content.
• Think carefully how your content should be organised. It's much better to have short sections of text that link to other pages for more information if they want it.
• Don't write a story. You shouldn’t be thinking "start, middle, end"; you need to write your conclusion first! That’s all they might read, so you need to get your main points up front.
• If you have a long paragraph try splitting it into a list of bullet points. Long pieces of text are off putting on a screen and may not even bother to read it. It’s much easier to scan-read a list of bullets.
• Never forget spelling and grammar - this is always important.
• Regularly revisit your copy, keeping it fresh and updated. This is one huge advantage of the web.

A website should be a living document. It should reflect where your business is today, not where it was 3 years ago! Keep it updated with a blog or news items. Add new products and services and remove old ones. Put new testimonials and case studies on there.

First Impression has been writing content for website and email marketing campaigns for many years. Give us a call on 01457 857111 to see how we can make your website more effective.

So you’ve set yourself a marketing budget and you’ve decided to have some leaflets printed- that’s great. Do they give out the right message about your company? If not they may not work for your business. When producing leaflets, or any marketing material for that matter, you should use the AIDA model. AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action- all of which are hugely important if you want to have an impact on your audience. Increase the effectiveness of your leaflets and potential sales by using the AIDA model. Find out how here;

Attention

To have an impact on your audience you must first grab their attention; this can be a hard hitting headline, a special offer or even a captivating question. Keep it brief and keep it simple. Your customers will decide in about 3 seconds whether or not to read on so be honest, if your leaflet landed on the doorstep would you pick it up and read it?

Here are some examples of good attention words that sell:

Absolutely, Announcing, Amazing, Bargain, Big, Breakthrough, Direct, Discount, Excellent, Exclusive, Expert, Famous, Free, Guaranteed, Huge, Introducing, Magic, Miracle, New, Now, Revolutionary.

Interest

Now you have their attention you need to keep it, so create an interest in your product or service. Show them why they might need it and how it can help them. It is a common mistake to simply list the features of your offering; instead you should think benefits.

Take a look at the differences between these benefits and features for an office printer, which appeal to you more?

Desire

You have grabbed the readers attention and hooked their interest, now you need to create a desire. The visual look of your leaflet is really important here, a professionally designed leaflet can make a product much more desirable, if your leaflet looks amateur, why would the customer want to buy from you?

Creating desire can be a little more difficult if your product isn’t tangible, so make sure your words are specific. Show potential customers how your product can benefit them, how convenient it is to get it and how much better off they will be once they have bought it.

Action

So what does your customer do next? If you don’t tell them it is likely they won’t do it. Don’t assume that someone knows what to do next, make sure you make it clear.

Simple statements are all you need, for example:
Log on to www.firstimpression.co.uk to find out more
Email us to register your interest
Show this voucher at the checkout to receive your discount
Call us today to book your place

Top tip - when planning your leaflet or brochure remember what it is you want to achieve, who your audience is and what you want to say. If you want more help call us on 01457 857111 or email us to discuss.

1. Give the account a person’s name, rather than the organisation’s name. For example we’ve opened an account in Helen Duncan’s name, our MD, rather than First Impression. First Impression had already gone anyway…another good reason to get in there quick, user names are going fast!
2. Be polite and help people. It’s a bit like networking but online so just think of it in those terms. If you can help someone, it is likely to be reciprocated. And you never know who someone knows!
3. Use your page to post a mix of advice, opinion and interaction.
4. Build a network of targeted followers. Unfollow people who don’t update their accounts, don’t follow you back or don’t interact. Download Tweetdeck to track people who are using your keywords, then follow them and see if they follow you back. If they don’t, delete them and follow other people instead. You should aim to follow no more than 10% more people than are following you.
5. Mind your language. Twitter is more casual than other forms of business networking and it’s great to put a bit of your personality into your posts but remember you are online and being too personal is not professional.
6. Post links to your blogs and press releases. If they’re interesting and well written people will retweet them, comment on them and share them on other social networking platforms.
7. Stick to a common theme. It can be quite broad – we want to use it for discussions about marketing in general. Remember that most of the time people don’t click through to your profile; they just look at their home page feed of everybody’s updates. Therefore you want to stand out as having useful things to say on a particular topic.
8. Write what your followers want to read. It’s the same principle as blogging: your content will be far more ‘sticky’ if you write about topics that actually interest other people rather than simply posting mini sales pitches for your company as this will get really boring.
9. Promote your Twitter account. Link to it from your website, your email signature and any industry forums you belong to. Twitter is free, it’s easy to use and if you stick with it you can generate new customers through it and keep in touch with your existing customers
.
10. Post updates regularly- but not too regularly. Logging in two or three times a day for a few minutes is enough.

• Keep it brief
• Keep it simple – no jargon
• Know your proposition – benefits, benefits, benefits!
• Put yourself in their shoes
• No sensationalism – don’t make wild claims you can’t back up
• Ensure your copy is appropriate for different mediums – web copy is different to advertising copy
• Be consistent
• Check it, check it again and again