City-based marketing specialists, Handmade Marketing, have published a booklet which contains 10 cost-effective marketing tips to help SMEs promote themselves and generate new business. It takes just 10 miniutes to read so its ideal for entrepreneurs and business people to scan for inspiration when on a train or waiting for an appointment.
...especially where the web is concerned.
Imagine you are tasked with shortlisting a handful of potential new suppliers by checking the credentials of dozens of prospects by visiting their websites. You have a list of boxes to tick and after speeding through a few you come across a site and after several minutes (an absolute eternity in cyber time) you still haven't found the information you're looking for. Do you show admirable conscientiousness and continue the exhaustive search through page after page of content or click away to the next site?
Me too.
People just don't have the time, or patience to rummage around your website looking for boxes to tick. They want information clearly signposted and served up in a format that can be digested in seconds.
Creating content for the web is not about dumping offline content onto html. Its about distilling only the salient information and then presenting it in a layout that can be easily scanned.
Remember to incorporate the 5 key principles when creating copy for your website. Make it 1 concise 2 objective 3 punchy 4 scannable 5 Accessible
For more information visit: www.handmademedia.co.uk/services/content_management.php
The blogosphere is an ideal medium for raising awareness of your brand or story as it offers independent endorsement, boosts search engine optimisation and overall web traffic by linking back to your site/blog.
However, it would be a mistake to simply apply the standard processes of PR practice to distribute information.
Bloggers are unlikely to respond to a standard press release sent to their Inbox. As their blog is a much more personal form of publication than a magazine so your relationship needs to be a bit more intimate than those you may have with editors/journalists.
Here are a few tips:
* Build a relationship with the blogger first before pitching stories to them
* Read their blog first! Read previous posts and become very familiar with the subject matter they blog about. Introduce yourself in an email or on their blog
* Be polite - ask permission to send news
* Make the story interesting and relevant
* Be more conversational than usual press release style i.e. us natural sounding language like you were talking to a friend
* Be opportunistic - try to associate it or 'ride' it on other current news topics * If possible, create a strong call to action or incentive for the blogger and their readers to click through to your source content e.g. free guide, report, e-book or discount
* Make your content HTML-friendly
* Don't include attachments - do include hyperlinks. Try not to use fancy styles or images that will give the blogger extra work to use the content in their blog
* Supply news via RSS if you can
You may have read this week that consumer brands Lucozade (fizzy drink), Maplins (electronics) and Horlicks (hot beverage - I didn't know that it was still going!) have commissioned a specialist online agency to handle their digital public relations. They join a number of forward-thinking brands that have taken the 'leap-of-faith' and actively engage their consumers and customers via online media such as blogs, forums and social networks.
I say 'leap of faith' because so many brands that we have spoken to are, at best, reluctant, at worst, downright resistant to engaging with their customers in the kind of open discussion that social media allows. The main objection is that they are fearful of generating negative comments that will harm their brand.
Its an understandable reaction but the consequences of burying ones head in the will almost certainly result in gradual disengagement with the customer - a recipe for disaster.
So how do we get them over the initial barrier?
A useful first stage will be to encourage brands to monitor what is being said about them on existing social media. Although there are some services available that automate the process (i.e. Market Sentinel and Onalytica) these can be prohibitively expensive, especially for the skeptical client.
There are however a plethora of free tools that will allow you to identify and quantify your brand's existing 'buzz' in social media from Google alerts and bookmarking sites (e.g. digg, reddit, technorati) to more in-depth analytics that track blog comments and forum posts. By educating sceptical brands about what their customers are saying online you may be able to persuade them to take the next step and start participating in the debate.
For advice about setting-up a system to monitor social media buzz or information about Handmade Media's online PR services call us on 0845 397 4017.
