Top 3 Content Buys... Does Your Integrated Marcom Program Have Them?

1. Email newsletter
2. White papers
3. Case studies

If your integrated marketing communications program doesn't have them you could be missing important opportunities to generate and nurture leads--not to mention boost search visibility.

The survey results come from a recent combined BtoB Magazine and Junta42 study which shows that custom content spending is up. I see it in my own copywriting business. B2B industrial and technology companies have increasingly been hiring me to write their white papers and case studies. Content is still king!

Does this title suck?...

Whether you're a copywriter, author, or anyone who's ever written anything, you know the importance of a good title. It's what draws readers in. But somehow the importance of the title doesn't translate to web pages.

If you wrote 5 books, would you give them all the same title?

Or if you wrote 5 white papers, would you just use your company name as the title?

Of course not! Yet this happens all the time on websites. I'm talking about the title tag--the part of a website that appears in the blue box at the top of your browser.

(sorry so small... copywriter in a hurry)
It say's Tips and Techniques to Get Better Response from Integrated Marketing.


The title tag tells search engines what the page is about. So your title tag should be relevant to the page content. And you have about 65 characters to work with. That means if you use your company name, you could be sacrificing characters and visitors if you don't get to the point and include a few keywords. What about branding?

It depends on the page. If it's the home page or an upper level page, then it may be appropriate to include the company or brand name. However if the page is designed for conversion or selling, then the more relevant the title the more likely you'll drive qualified traffic... provided the rest of the meta data and page include relevant keyword-rich content.

There's a good article on title tags at MarketingProfs. And when you arrive on the article page, check out the title tag as it appears at the top blue box on your browser.

That's Integrated Marcom!

B2B Lead Generation on a Shoestring Budget...

It never seems like there’s enough marcom budget to accomplish your objectives. But when your marcom budget is really contstrained, syndicating your content through vertical search sites can be an effective way to meet your objectives… even on a shoestring budget. Here’s how it works.

You pay a fee, which can range from a monthly fee, cost per download, or 6 months to one year contract for space on the vertical site. By posting your content on sites such as GlobalSpec, KnowledgeStorm VerticalMarkets and others, you’ll drive highly targeted traffic to your website. In most cases the traffic is not only highly targeted, but also highly intent on buying, giving you a higher conversion rate and lower cost per lead.

The secret to generating high quality leads on vertical search sites is, of course, relevant content. If you’re like most B2B marketers, you probably have lots of good white papers, cases studies and information rich content that’s of value to those searching for your products and services. Vertical sites offer another venue for leveraging your valuable content to drive more leads and sales. (If you don’t have lots of white papers and case studies, then let's talk. I can help you write effective white papers.)

So for B2B marketers who don’t have the media budget for ad space in numerous trade publications common in the B2B technology and industrial markets, vertical sites offer the biggest bang for the buck. In many cases, for the cost of one or two full-page, 4-color print ads, you can reach an online audience that’s every bit as targeted as a trade pub, but since it’s online, has far greater reach, more longevity and is more likely to turn up in search results.

Check with trade publications and media partners too. Some have vertical site or are affiliated with vertical sites such as United Business Media.

As always, do the math. Most of these sites provide metrics on leads generated, conversions, etc. Use the metrics and determine your ROI.

That's integrated marcom...

Top Five Embarrassing Copywriting Mistakes... r u guilty?

I hate when that happens--those silly copywriting mistakes that you know are wrong, but somehow fall through the cracks and get published. Here's a quick reminder from Copyblogger:
"Five Common Mistakes that Make You Look Dumb"

Six Big Mistakes Green Copywriters & Marketers Should Avoid...

Green marketing is becoming increasingly more popular, now that it's generally believed that we're past the tipping point on global warming. Plus, companies including Wal-Mart are pushing sustainable packaging throughout the entire supply chain with their packaging scorecard, which takes effect this month. And with socially responsible investors (SRIs) carrying trillions of dollars of clout these days, green initiatives--or lack thereof--could affect your company's stock valuation.

Environmental marketer, terrachoice, has a list of six sins that B2B copywriters and marcom pros should avoid if they want to appear credible and genuinely green. Here's the short list, but read the terrachoice full text version, Six Sins of Greenwashing.

1. The Hidden Trade-off
   Good copywriters always emphasize the positive, but be careful when it comes to green. If the one positive is really overshadowed by numerous negatives, then you could be opening yourself up for a challenge later. Green is more than a single environmental benefit.
   
   
2. No Proof
   Whether you're writing for green or not, good copywriters back up what they write about with proof. Otherwise it's nothing more than puffery, which won't get a response.
   
   
3. Vagueness
   This is a favorite of copywriters who lack sufficient source material or have neglected to do the research. Clear, concise copywriting works for green and general marketing communications.
   
   
4. Irrelevance
   Clever copy that may trick someone into believing something is a good thing eventhough it has no relevance to the product or service is misleading. A phone company does this when they talk about their upload speeds being 20% faster than cable. How much uploading do you really do? Helloooo... most people are downloading...
   
   
5. Fibbing
   I think this one's pretty self-explanatory...
   
   
6. The Lesser of Two Evils
   Making green claims about known environmental pollutants. That's not to say that copywriters shouldn't emphasize, for example, a product has been reformulated to be more environmentally-friendly, you can't make "green" claims if somethings not truely green.

That's integrated marcom!

Online Video Boosts White Paper Conversions by 76%!

Accela Communications' client, Biomni saw a 76% increase in a white paper download using video versus the typical downloadable pdf file. It's no surprise that video is more engaging. What's important about engagment is that engaged visitors tend toward becoming buyers.


I spoke with Accela rep Kevin Flatley who told me that Accela now offers a video white paper service. "It's a great way to generate leads for clients who don't have the time or resources to hire a production crew and film the video, themselves" said Flatley. He says all you have to do is send them your white paper and Accela will do the rest.



For about $11K, your white paper will be professionally produced--including script, acting talent and video production--into a 5-7 minute executive summary. It's a completely turnkey solution. Accela can also create engaging video banner ads from your white paper.

Check out online video white papers here.
That's integrated marcom!

Five Things SEO Copywriters Should Never Do...

Five Things SEO Copywriters Should Never Do

1. Don’t place too many keywords too close together—search engines will punish you for it. i.e. Workforce automation from ABC company makes workforce automation easier to implement.
   
   
2. Don’t use more than one theme on a single page. i.e. business process optimization and workforce automation. Break down categories and products into separately themed pages.
   
   
3. Don’t use less than 200 words or more than 500 words on a page. Too few won’t be seen as relevant and too many dilutes your keywords and relevance.
   
   
4. Don’t write large chucks of information separated by commas. Instead use bulleted lists—search engines prefer bulleted lists (especially when they include keywords).
   
   
5. Don’t overuse header tags. More than two or excessive use of keywords within a single header will count against you.
   
   
6. (OK, I lied... 5 sounds better) Don’t optimize for more than 3-5 keywords/phrases per page.

Tom Pick's WebMarketCentral Blog has a terrific "Best Of 2007" list for SEO copywriting, including The Art of SEO by search expert Jill Whalen, founder of one of the oldest search firms High Rankings.

That's integrated marcom!

Online Video (Webcasting) Seven Tips to Engage Your Audience

If your 2008 integrated marketing communications plan includes online video (a.k.a. webcasts), here are seven great online video tips to make your webcasts more engaging. And if you're a copywriter, check out tip number one.

Personally, I like the "lean forward 20 degrees"--tip #6.

Read all seven tips from Business Week columnist and former television journalist, Carmine Gallo.