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Creating Effective Sales and Marketing
Materials
Good Communications
Starts at Home
Customer Testimonials
Publicity on a Shoestring
The News Release - or
Is It?
Newsletters
– The Direct Hit
10
Steps to an Effective Communication
Program
Custom
Postcards - Fast, Effective Marketing
Tool
Spread
the Word...through many channels
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Creating Effective Sales
and Marketing
Materials
Too often the content of company literature is ego-driven,
little more than puffery, when to be effective, it must address the needs
of potential customers. They want to know, "What can you do for me?"
Therefore, it's important to step around to the other side of the desk
and think like the customer when creating sales and marketing materials.
Customers need to feel confident that you understand their
businesses and their industry. They want to know how you can solve their
problems and, depending on your product or service, if you can increase
their productivity and save them money. They also want to be sure you
can deliver high-quality products / services on time and at the quoted
price.
The Content
Decision makers are busy people. They don't have time to plow through
pages laden with rhetoric. They want to quickly grasp the information
they need. Just the facts, man. Don't overload the text with jargon or
'tech talk' unless you're targeting engineers or scientists, who thrive
on such language. (Data sheets, manuals, and other technical literature
obviously need to be heavy on facts, statistics, research data, or product
specifications.)
The tone of the text is very important. Keep it friendly;
talk directly to the reader, being careful not to sound condescending.
Be absolutely sure the text is 100 percent accurate and grammatically
correct and there are no misspelled words and typographical errors. Have
several people proofread the material before it's sent off for printing.
It's fine to include a company mission statement in literature,
but limit it to a simple statement...not paragraphs. Certain literature,
a brochure for example, can start with promotional text as an introduction
to entice the reader to continue into the piece, but don't get carried
away. Get to the meat of your message quickly.
The Design
When it comes to the literature's design, leave it to the pros. Your literature
needs to project the image you want for your company, and nothing can
ruin a company's image faster than a 'homemade' design. The look needs
to be eye-catching, but the layout of images and text mustn't confuse
the reader. And as when writing the text, know your audience. Don't use
a design fit for Xtreme sports when targeting an older audience or conservative
industry, for instance.
Executives often want to include photographs of the company
building, manufacturing floor and employees. If your company is located
in a landmark building or you have equipment like no other company in
your industry, fine. But even then, you have to be careful not to give
the impression you spend more money on fluff than substance. Customers
are more interested in what you can do for them, not where you do it.
As for using photos of the company's employees, it's nice for employee
relations, but workers leave, new ones are hired, and soon the photos
and literature are outdated. Basically, when considering what photos to
use, keep in mind that some things are better left to a customer's imagination.
If you have a question regarding communications that we
can answer here, please e-mail it to info@limelightpr.com.
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Good
Communications Starts at Home
An informed employee is a happy, loyal employee. Unfortunately,
however, employees are often the last to know what's going on in a company,
outside of the departments in which they work. It's not uncommon for them
to hear more about their place of employment — whether management
actions, financial health, product developments, or something else —
through rumors, newspaper headlines, customers and suppliers, than from
their managers or the company's communication channels.
Employee communications needs to be a part of a company's
overall communications mix. The more workers know about their company,
the more committed they are to being a part of it and helping to make
it successful. An informed employee is also a valuable goodwill ambassador,
not only in the communities where they live, but in the business arena,
interacting with customers and vendors.
Employees want to know the company's history — who
and what made it what it is today. They want to know who the key players
are within the company (from security guard to CEO, cafeteria cook to
payroll manager) and the roles they fulfill. They want to know the policies
and procedures, and the reasons for them.
Employees want company news — what's happening on a
daily, weekly and monthly basis. And they want to know about the company's
plans for the future — growth, product development, new services...even
downsizing. Most of all, employees want the truth.
There are several ways to communicate with employees. Here
are common ones suitable for a cross-section of workers with a variety
of job functions:
- Bulletin board postings
- Departmental and company-wide memos
- Paycheck stuffers
- Letters mailed to employees' homes
- Company-wide e-mails from management
- Regularly published newsletter
- Section of company web site for employees only (password access)
- Closed-circuit television
- Department meetings
- Company-wide meetings
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Customer
Testimonials
If you, as a potential customer of a company, were to read
a claim by the company about its product or service...in an ad, a brochure,
or on a web site, for instance, would you believe it? You'd like to, right?
But that claim's coming from the company that makes or sells the product
or service of interest to you.
What if that claim instead were made by a customer of the
company? Now how would you feel? More comfortable, most likely.
Customer testimonials are powerful sales tools. Because
they are opinions based on a third party's experience with a product or
service, they can carry more weight or credibility with potential customers
than any direct statement a company can make in its own behalf (as unfortunate
as that may seem). If the person making the claim is considered an expert
or the customer company is well-known, then the credibility statement
is even more believable.
Customer testimonials can be statements, or quotations,
that are used in an advertisement, brochure or sales sheet. They also
are full-length articles detailing a customer's experience with a product
or service, the benefits the company realized, or the problems resolved
as a result of the purchase. These articles are ideal for newsletters,
sales kits and web sites or as contributed pieces for magazines.
When writing a testimonial, interview the person who is
the best authority within the customer company to address the matter (owner,
design engineer, plant manager, etc.). Once it's written, ask that person,
as well as any other who has authority for approving information written
about the company (e.g., president, public relations manager, attorney),
to review the article, correct errors in information or quotations, and
give their final approval. Also, use photos, drawings or graphs, either
supplied by the customer or your company, to illustrate the testimonial.
A note of warning: don't ever make up a customer testimonial.
If you're "found out," your company's credibility will fall
faster than a 400-pound bungee jumper...and there won't be a quick rebound.
Further, you don't even want to think about what lawsuits could do to
your company.
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Publicity on
a Shoestring
A tight budget is no excuse for not obtaining publicity
for your company or keeping in touch with customers. What you choose to
do depends on your business and the audiences you want to impress. Here
are some ideas to get you started.
- Compile an e-mail database by group of audiences important to your
business (customers, associates, media, etc.). Then whenever you have
news on your company, products or services, or announcements of special
offers, or whatever else you want to tell these special audiences, send
the news directly to them via e-mail.
- Write letters to editors of magazines and newspapers that your customers
read. You can use this vehicle to show your expertise by providing more
information, an argument or correction to a previously published article
or letter to the editor, or open a dialogue by raising an issue or topic
of interest to readers. Just be sure your letter is timely, relevant
and accurate.
- Call community, business and industry organizations and offer to speak
at a meeting, participate in a workshop, give a demonstration, or provide
a tour of your company’s facility. The organization will publicize
your participation and if what you’ll be doing would make a photo
op, the media should be invited to attend.
- Call producers of radio talk shows in your region and offer yourself
as a guest if you’re well-versed in a business, educational, political,
environmental or other topic that would be of interest to the show’s
audience and positive for your business’s image.
- Participate in a fund-raiser or community event. Donate a raffle
or door prize, make an in-kind donation, participate with another business
in a co-promotion, offer your facility as the site for an event activity,
or offer yourself as an event MC.
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The
News Release - or Is It?
A news release, aka press release,
is a means of disseminating news as
a company wants to tell it. If a release
is to have a chance of being picked
up by the media, it must be bona fide
news of interest outside the company:
industry in which the company operates
or into which it sells, business or
financial leaders, special interest
groups, or population of a geographic
region. Otherwise, put it in the company
newsletter.
Writing the release
A news release must be printed on company
letterhead and follow a basic format
and style. The name, phone number and
e-mail address of the person the media
should contact for more information
or to help them set up an interview
goes at the top of the release.
Write an attention-grabbing headline
that tells the reader in less than
a sentence what the news is. Follow
with body text that makes the announcement
and succinctly gives the details, putting
the most important information in the
first paragraph. You have only a few
seconds to make a good impression and
get your point across. (See samples
of news releases in Headlines on this
site.)
Correct grammar and spelling are musts
or you’re dead in the water. Keep
the length to two pages maximum. An
exception is when your release announces
a new high-tech product or scientific
breakthrough, for instance. Then, you
need to give all the data the industry
editors would expect.
Distributing the release
First, determine to what media outlets
the news release should go: magazines,
newspapers, radio, television and/or
news services. Then identify the particular
media outlets within those categories.
Be realistic. Although you’d like
to see your company on the front page
of The Wall Street Journal, the news
may bring you more attention and sales
if it’s printed in a monthly industry
trade magazine.
Next, pinpoint the editors, writers,
reporters, columnists, etc. who cover
your news topic or would most likely
be interested in it. At the same time,
find out how they prefer to receive
releases. Editors are bombarded with
hundreds of news releases a week; the
larger or more popular the media outlet,
the more releases they receive. Most
prefer fax or e-mail and done have
the time to take phone calls, letting
voicemail do the answering.
Alternatives to all this effort is
to hire a public relations agency to
do this work for you or contract with
a wire service such as BusinessWire
or PR Newswire to handle the distribution.
Don’t forget to post the news
release on your company web site and,
when appropriate, send copies as FYIs
to customers, vendors and associates.
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Newsletters
– The Direct Hit
There's no doubt that the Internet
is a viable business tool. However,
companies can't wait for potential
customers to come looking for them.
They need to go after customers, "be
in their faces" with the information
they want customers to have. Furthermore,
people still like to read off paper.
That "technology" isn't dead.
Our clients have found that newsletters
are a very cost-effective vehicle for
getting their companies' news and marketing
information to the individuals who
are the decision-makers and key influencers
within the companies who buy or could
buy their products or services. After
launching a company newsletter, they
noticed an increase not only in phone
calls, but also in e-mails and visits
to their web sites.
Newsletters can be simple or complex
and produced in many shapes, sizes
and colors from a black-and-white single
sheet of paper to a four-color magazine.
It all depends on the budget, the image
needed to be conveyed to the market,
and the amount of information to be
disseminated.
Before launching a newsletter, consider
the following:
– Think of the image you want
to project for your company and commit
the proper resources for producing
a quality newsletter.
– Spend the money to have it
professionally designed, written
and printed. Even a basic newsletter
can say "quality" if designed and
written well.
– Plan a distribution of no
less than quarterly (more often for
maximum exposure and especially if
your information is time-sensitive).
– Stick to the planned distribution
schedule. Think like a customer:
if they can't produce the newsletter
on time, can they produce products
on time?
– Provide a mix of information:
company news, product news, customer
features, Q&As, tips, industry briefs,
photos, line art, games – whatever's
indicative of your business and helps
to sell your products or services.
A newsletter that's all self-promotion
and has no substance is a turn-off
to busy people who will consider
it to be junk mail.
– Develop an accurate mailing
database of current, past and prospective
customers, business associates, vendors,
and the media, if appropriate. Be
personal: use names, not simply job
titles or departments. And keep the
database up to date.
– Include employees in the
distribution who may have direct
contact with customers: management,
sales, marketing, customer service,
repair technicians, etc.
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10
Steps to an Effective Communication
Program
- Plan and manage the entire
program.
- Determine your objectives
(what you want to accomplish with
the program).
- Establish the budget (percent
of company sales; based on importance
to company's goals).
- Identify the target audience
(internal, external, regional, customer
base, general public, demographics,
etc.).
- Determine the message (what
you want target audience to know;
how you want your business perceived).
- Decide on the communication
mix (public relations, advertising,
marketing communications, sales promotion).
- Select the communication
channels (print media, broadcast
media, electronic media, display
media).
- Create the communication
materials (news releases, advertisements,
brochures, newsletters, direct-mail
pieces, etc.)
- Execute the program.
- Measure the program's results
based on pre-established objectives
(increase in inquiries, sales or
attendance; change in public opinion).
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top
Custom
Postcards - Fast, Effective Marketing
Tool
Custom-designed postcards are an easy,
inexpensive and effective way to grab
attention. Unlike much of the direct
mail we receive, a postcard is a marketing
tool that busy recipients will stop
to look at and read because it only
takes a minute of their time. No overstuffed
envelopes to wrestle. Or complicated,
maplike brochures to unfold. No long,
boring letters to read.
However, for your postcard to stand
out in the stack of mail your target
audience receives, it must feature
a bold, colorful, eye-catching photograph
or graphic design on the front. This
could be a graphic treatment of your
company logo, building, products or
home page of your Web site to generate
instant recognition by the reader.
Or it could be an unusual or unique
design created just for the postcard.
The text on the backside should be
a short, promotional message packed
with punch. It needs to request the
reader take action: call for more information,
make a purchase, attend an event, or
become a sponsor, for instance.
The standard size postcard is 4 1/4"
x 6". For added drama and visibility,
consider creating an oversize postcard
such as 5" x 7", 6" x 8 1/2" or whatever
size you desire, as long as it meets
with postal regulations. Be aware that
oversize postcards require added postage.
You also can use your postcards as
handouts for trade shows, meetings
and sales calls. Like reminder advertising,
the more your target audience sees
your materials, the more likely they
are to take the action you desire.
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Spread
the Word...Through Many Channels
Today, people are busy, hurried and
harried, and only half paying attention
to what they see and hear in the media,
whether it be print, radio, TV, or
signs along the highway. Because of
this frenetic lifestyle, companies
need to use more than one channel of
communication to advertise and promote
their products and services.
Before you begin your communications
campaign, however, be sure to do your
homework so that your efforts will
be most effective and your money well
spent. To maximize the potential that
your target audience will see or hear
your message, use a mix of media -
print, broadcast, direct mail, outdoor,
transit, point of purchase, World Wide
Web and more. You may not need to use
all of these, but do consider several.
Know what channels are best for your
purposes and select the particular
media outlets carefully. For instance,
which of the approximately 31,000 magazines
published today are most appropriate
for targeting your potential customers?
And, remember, once is never enough,
especially if you're planning advertising
or direct mail. Repetition is vital
for being seen and remembered. When
you place an ad in a newspaper, readers
may glance right past it if something
else on the page attracts their eye.
Or, they may be daydreaming when your
commercial comes on the radio. On the
other hand, they may see or hear your
message, but not be familiar with your
company or at that particular moment
not have a need for your product or
service. Be consistent...and patient.
If you've chosen your channels correctly,
your audience eventually will react
as you had desired.
If you don't know where to begin,
don't gamble with you company's money,
image or reputation. Hire a competent
agency or consultant - someone who
can advise you and help you plan your
campaign, as well as create effective
advertising and promotion materials.
A well-planned and executed campaign
is money well-spent.
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