The Marketing Magazine For Smart Businesses
Today, I would like to discuss the senseless, often absurd and regularly contradictory use of quotation marks in advertising, product displays and marketing in general, so your marketing does not become as senseless as others who have transgressed against reason.
Bill Gates wrote the original “Content Is King” article in 1996. Love him or hate him, he was correct. He said people “must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information that they can explore at will” and “those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences and products – a marketplace of content.”
When you read a blog, a business letter, an email or a web page, do you wish for more text? Only rarely. Yet we mistakenly think people reading our marketing communications will make time to trudge through our complicated thought process and figure out how it applies to them.
A few years ago it was all the forward-thinking rage to have a business blog. Some people wrote books about it. Other people bought those books. Talking heads explained what a “blog” was. Some people called it a fad. Other people called it a trend. Now that it’s a few years later and blogging is standard practice, there are still plenty of businesses out there that do not blog.
It doesn’t matter if someone is reading, viewing or listening to your marketing, or having a conversation with you or one of your employees. One of the best ways to lose a potential customer’s interest is by using clichés. I’ve compiled a list of the 10 Worst Marketing Clichés that I still see and hear every day.
Your product or service is top notch. But alas, you toil in obscurity. You’re not alone. Business writers are inundated with pleas from people clamoring for coverage for their business. Only a tiny fraction of press releases become news. Unfortunately, the story you want told is rarely the same story the media wants to tell. Why not?
Whenever I discuss marketing and copywriting in particular, I always say it’s a science, but it’s not rocket science. That includes your call-to-action. The anatomy of a call-to-action isn’t very complicated and it doesn’t take an MRI to diagnose the problem, but a poorly conceived and executed call-to-action can throw a serious monkey wrench into your marketing.
Ever surf to a website where the page seems to scroll down infinitely – you can’t find the information you’re looking for and you have no idea what to click? Then what happens? Most likely, you’ll leave the website for one that is easier on the eyes and brain.
Many business owners make the mistake of thinking of their marketing copy as a DIY project because they know more than anyone else about their business and they can type. There are dozens of reasons why this is a bad idea, but I’ll focus on six reasons why business owners should avoid donning the big red cape.
In honor of barbecue season, a season held sacred by this writer/grillmaster, let’s take a look at your marketing copy from a completely different perspective. Put away your red pen and grab your grilling fork and tongs. Metaphorically speaking, are you working with filet mignon or sausage?
