Although brochures and leaflets etc., still hold a valid place in your marketing armoury, you do begin to wonder how long that will remain so. After all, if we look at consumer behaviour, it would suggest they will soon become a dim and distant memory like the humble pound note or vinyl.

The consumer leads the way

That’s where it all started (well, in my world anyway) – with music. I started off buying tapes of my favourite bands or vinyl singles. They were the best as far as I was concerned; that was until the CD arrived.

It wasn’t long before I was seduced by those shiny discs and my vinyl and tapes were consigned to the history books (and our loft). I thought CDs were the pinnacle – nothing could surpass their sound quality. But a few years down the line and I was confronted by the iPod and digital music downloads.

So, you guessed it, eventually I converted to downloading my music.

The same is happening to books.

A staunch lover of an actual book, I have vowed never to go over to the digital side. I love the feel and smell of a book; the ability to thumb through pages. I don’t care how cluttered my house gets (I simply can’t part with my books), I love browsing through book shops and buying books.

But, the other day I really wanted to read. Not having a book to hand (one that I hadn’t previously read), unable to wait for Amazon to deliver one, and certainly unwilling to brave the pre-Christmas crush in town, I did the unthinkable.

I reached for my iPad and, yes that’s right, downloaded a book.

Expecting to hate the experience, I have to say it’s not a bad way to read. Granted, I don’t have the physical book to touch or smell, but I can use a digital book mark, turn the pages almost as I would in real life, and enjoy it

That illustrates how consumers are embracing new technology and paving the way for change simply by accepting it.

We’ve already seen more and more people engage in online shopping rather than hitting the High Street, online banking, video calling, and social media – so perhaps the era of print marketing is drawing to a close.

The online way

Perhaps now companies should be investing more into their online presence. With the search boom continuing, their budgets may well be more wisely spent on search engine optimisation, professional copywriters, mobile websites, video and social media.

It would certainly appear that the effectiveness of print adverts is dwindling. So is this the beginning of the end?

What do you think?

Do you think we’re coming to the end of the print advertising era?

Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your views.

The Advertising Standards Authority will soon be covering marketing communications on your company’s website and other non-paid-for space under your control. It will cover all organisations operating from  the UK.

Basically it will bring online marketing in line with the high standards that have to be adhered to in other media.

The areas it will cover are:

• Your company’s own marketing messages on its websites, regardless of sector, type of business or size of organisation
• Your company’s marketing communications in other non-paid-for space which is under your control. This includes social networking sites line Facebook and Twitter

So what does that mean?

Basically the ASA is looking to maintain and improve the standard of digital marketing communications and build consumer trust. All marketing should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

So if your website promises a guarantee claim of delivery of goods within 2 working day, you must do that. If you offer a product at a specific price, that’s what you must charge. Similarly if you are offering a service, your claims must be genuine and truthful, we all remember the exaggerated broadband speed claims of recent months.

Probably the most difficult part of the remit to understand is that relating to social networking sites. In a nut shell, any claims published by companies on their Facebook pages or Twitter accounts must be adhered to as they will come within the realms of the ASA ruling.

Of course, one of the main aspects of social networking is encouraging user generated content – things like comments and tweets. If these are generated by the public they won’t fall within the new guidelines but if they are adopted by a company and incorporated within their own marketing campaigns, they will. For example if you use photos of customers enjoying your product, they will fall within the remit of the ASA. If you, as a company, re-tweet a comment by a follower on Twitter (e.g. regarding the availabilty of a certain item in store that day), it will fall within the ASA’a remit.

As you can see this could have far reaching consequences for many businesses so it’s well worth taking the time to visit the ASA website for more information to make sure all your marketing communications comply.

Well, a slightly easier question to answer is when should you write your headline? Before the body of your article or after?

Think of your headline as a promise. Through it, you signal to your reader what you are going to tell them. It will identify what the benefit to them will be for reading your article.

If you think about life in general, you always make your promise first. The same therefore goes for your headline. If you write your content first you’ll end up with a rather dull and uninspiring headline that simply won’t work.

Writing a fantastic headline isn’t always easy – it has to convey the essence of your article, it has to be catchy and have ‘read me’ written all over it. Formulating the perfect headline isn’t easy but there are ways you can get a bit of a leg-up from the experts.

Headlines can be a real killer sometimes. I bet you’ve sweated for hours staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration to hit. No matter how hard you screw your face up, that illusive super-sales-generating-headline just won’t pop into your mind.

Shall I let you into a secret?

Most copywriters have a headline creating tool.

It works 100% of the time and helps them produce killer headlines everytime.

Want to get your hands on it? What to know what it is?

It is a swipe file. I hate that name as it sounds rather underhand, but basically that is what it is.

It is a collection of winning headlines, sales letters, adverts, magazine cuttings – in fact anything that uses a headline, phrase or sentence that is a real attention grabber.

But shouldn’t your headline be completely original?

Is there really any piece of writing out there that is 100% original?

Every writer in the world gets their inspiration from somewhere so, consciously or subconsciously, their work is influenced by an outside source.

Tried and tested formula

Headlines that work have been constructed in certain was to be effective. They have followed the same structure for years generating thousands or even millions of pounds. The same formula is adapted and put into different contexts and is used over and over again. So why change it?

Is a swipe file cheating?

No. All it means is that you write great headlines in a way you know will work. As your confidence and experience grows you can try an original approach – although as I said above, whatever you try will never be 100% original (I’m happy to be proven wrong there if anyone has any examples of something totally original).

Starting with these tried and tested templates you can immediately improve your blog post titles which should gain more readership and traffic.

Give it a go – start compiling your own swipe file today and start generating more traffic.

Brand identity is key to gaining your customers’ confidence. If your marketing materials are the same across the board, your clients will be able to instantly recognise you.

• Take a look at your website – do your brochures and flyers share the same colour scheme?
• Is your logo consistent throughout your marketing materials?
• Are the fonts the same?
• Do you use the same tone of voice?

If you get your brand identity right and consistently provide an excellent service, your brand will be immediately associated with trust and credibility.

Review everything

Every now and then it pays to take stock of your marketing materials to ensure the message they are giving is still relevant and consistent with your company’s goals. When you update your website content check your other materials against it – are they still the same style?

Frequently when one item is updated it makes your other materials look staid and out of date. Therefore to keep your image constant update everything together.

Well, it seems a bit daft even asking whether you should survey your customers every now and then. Surely it’s common sense to ask your buyers’ opinions about your products, your service and your sales material.

After all, sitting in your ivory tower brain storming about what you think your customers want won’t give you a true opinion. The only people that can really answer that question for you are your customers.

A good survey can tell you a lot about your market and the perception of your company within that market.

Here are 10 very good reasons why your marketing and sales strategy would benefit from regular surveying:

1. Discover what your readers want to see on your web site to make them revisit and buy.
2. Find out how your products can be improved opening up a whole new market for you.
3. Get an insight into what products your customers would like to be able to buy in the future.
4. Use the feedback to improve your customer service.
5. Discover how you can make your DM and adverts more appealing.
6. Raise your newsletter readership by discovering what type of articles people want to read.
7. Improve the design of your web site to encourage visitors to stay there longer.
8. Identify any non-related products your customers are interested in which could help you expand into different markets in the future.
9. Discover how to optimise the price of your product.
10. Discover the life styles of your customers – places they frequent. This could open up new marketing opportunities for you.

You can learn so much from a survey. Yes they can be time consuming, and yes they normally get pushed to the eternal bottom of the ‘to do’ pile. But I hope this has helped you see the value of the humble survey.

Seize the initiative. Devise and circulate your survey and reap the rewards of enhanced customer relationships.

Sally Ormond is a professional freelance copywriter with extensive experience in the B2B and B2C markets. Her comprehensive range of copywriting services has helped countless companies increase their sales and market visibility whilst saving them time and money.

If you want someone to buy from you, you have to persuade them your product is the best thing since sliced bread and will make their lives simpler, more fulfilling and, quite possibly, richer.

So how to you go about persuading them? Well, there are several techniques you can use that will help them come to the ‘right’ decision.

People want a lot of things, your job is to work out what they are and give them to them. Now, I’m not talking about wanting a physical thing, what I mean here is that people want things that will make them feel better about themselves.

Not sure what I mean? Well, below are 10 things people might want along with a way you could sell your product to meet their needs.

1. To win the approval of others – tell them how their friends will admire them if they buy your product.
2. To associate with like-minded people – give free membership to a membership site if they buy.
3. They are environmentally conscious – tell them you will donate a percentage of your profits to green causes.
4. They enjoy delicious food – give away vouchers for restaurant meals if they buy your product.
5. They want information – give away a free eBook when they buy.
6. They want to get rid of pain – guess what? Your product will take away their pain.
7. People want pleasure – your product will provide them with it.
8. They won’t want to miss a great opportunity – tell them the price is time limited and will soon be rising.
9. People want good health – provide free taster sessions at a local gym or health club if they buy your product.
10. People like to be part of a select group – give away free membership to your associated club when they buy your product.

Obviously you won’t be able to use all of these for your products but hopefully it has given you a few ideas about how you could add the art of persuasion into your sales copy.

Just think – what is it that my customers are looking for? What is the need they want satisfying? If you can identify that and tailor your copy accordingly – how can they refuse to buy?

Sally Ormond is a professional freelance copywriter. Her extensive range of copywriting services has helped numerous UK and International businesses save time and money whilst increasing their sales and market visibility.

However as the main reason for producing an advert in the first place is to make money, it does seem to be rather pointless.

The copywriting on your advert has to perform 2 functions – it has to tell your reader what your product is but it also needs to be persuasive enough to make them buy it. Not always an easy combination to achieve.

Therefore I have put together 7 tips to help you make your adverts more persuasive.

1. Include a picture of yourself. It might sound odd but it will add a personal touch. Your reader will know who they are buying from and also that you have faith in your product.
2. If you are lucky enough to have any famous or well-known clients who have bought your product, mention them (it will increase the want factor).
3. If your product has passed any tests (safety, quality control etc.) write about it. It will add to its credibility.
4. Any positive testimonials from happy clients are worth their weight in gold so make sure you include them. But make sure their claims are credible.
5. Have you had any features or articles written about your product? If so, make reference to the publication in your advert.
6. Make sure your website looks professional – its quality will have an effect on their opinion of your product.
7. If you offer a money back guarantee, tell them – it will show your commitment to them and increase your credibility in their eyes.

They key for your advert is to make your reader want your product and then convince them they need it. Once they have made that transition, the sale is practically in the bag.

Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter who works with business and individuals locally, nationally and internationally. Her comprehensive range of copywriting services have helped numerous clients gain greater visibility in their market place, more targeted web traffic and higher sales.

Many people think it is fairly easy to put an ad together – throw a few graphics or images together, add a splash of colour and a few words and, hey presto, you have an advert.

Well, if that’s how you work, you may not be in business too much longer. To help you out I have listed below 10 tips to help you create adverts that will not only look great but will also sell.

1.      Get ideas by studying the advertising material of similar products to your own. Put together a ‘swipe’ file of good sales letters, adverts and emails etc., which can use for reference.

2.      Be clear from the start what it is you want your advert to do. Is it for sales, lead generation, attract web traffic, newsletter sign-ups…

3.      Before you begin list your products features and benefits. Make sure your leading benefit is used in the headline or first sentence.

4.      Be specific – include numbers, sounds, smells, descriptions etc.

5.      Tell you reader how your product differs from those of your competitors and highlight the areas that your product is better.

6.      Use visuals – show people using your product or before and after shots (if relevant).

7.      Identify your target audience. Who are they, what do they like, how to they think…

8.      If you have proven facts (i.e. surveys, reviews, product tests etc.) use them in your ad as they will add credibility to your product.

9.       If you offer a guarantee, after sales support etc., tell them. This will add to your credibility and your readers’ peace of mind.

10.   Make sure you tell them what you want them to do – buy now, call today, book an appointment etc. If your call to action is vague or non-existent you won’t make a sale.

There you have it. These 10 tips will help you put together adverts that will convert into sales and put money in your pockets.

Sally Ormond of Briar Copywriting, is a freelance copywriter helping local, national and international companies increase their marketplace visibility, web traffic and sales. Her comprehensive range of copywriting services providing powerful and persuasive marketing solutions for all their on and off line needs.

No, I absolutely do not need a copywriter.

WRONG!

You absolutely do need a copywriter because you are in business and a copywriter writes to sell.

Just think for a moment. Every written communication you make represents your company. Every email, newsletter and hit on your website is a sales opportunity.

A freelance copywriter is a professional sales writer. Every word they write counts towards another sale. They know how to craft your website copy to make it interesting and compelling whilst search engine friendly.

As spring approaches now is a great time to review all your marketing materials (both on and off line). Be honest, could they do with a spring clean? Are they looking a bit worn around the edges?

Breathe life into your marketing and ignite your sales with persuasive marketing copywriting.