reynoldswriting.com Blog

So it’s time to create a marketing campaign for your business. You know you need a website, so you put one together. You create a prospect database, you get a logo designed, you make a bunch of business cards, you join the local Chamber….then what?

Print marketing will probably play a significant role in your efforts to reach your target market. But out of all the different types of print pieces out there, which one makes the most sense for which situation?

Let’s take a look at some of the options:

Postcards. The great thing about a postcard is that it’s relatively cheap to mail, and you don’t have to worry about how to make the client open the envelope because there’s no envelope to open. Your message makes its point the instant the prospect’s eyeballs make contact with it. A direct mail postcard must deliver its point concisely and compellingly in a small amount of space, so it works best for specific offers, coupons or announcements. You can also hand out postcards in lieu of business cards if you’d like to make a little extra impact at that mixer or other networking event. Be aware, however, that a postcard can provide just enough extra size and bulk to make it annoying in settings where everyone is handing out business cards, so it may get left behind “accidentally.”

Onesheets. A onesheet is a general-purpose flyer with a strong sales message, some information about your products or services, and a call to action followed by your contact number, website URL and email address. More than a business card, less than a brochure, a onesheet gives readers enough solid data to get excited about your company and want to know more. The great thing about onesheets is that you can create a different sheet for each product or service in your lineup, then mix and match the right sheet with the right clientele. You can even distribute different arrangements of them in the form of portfolio books. If a product in your lineup drops out or a new one comes along, it’s just a matter of adding or omitting a onesheet instad of rewriting an entire brochure or booklet. The downside to onesheets is their full-page paper format. Set a score of them down on a luncheon table and watch them become soggy, stained messes that no one will want to take home. (Put a stack of them near the door instead so people can collect them on their way out.)

Brochures. A brochure offers a more detailed overview of a business than a onesheet can provide, usually assigning separate panels to different products, services, or other information categories. Brochures work better when they can be read instead of skimmed, making them ideal for offices, waiting rooms, or take-home reading. They’re a logical follow-up piece to a onesheet, and they reinforce your professional image as an established company. Unless the content in them is absolutely “future-proof,” however, you’ll find yourself updating the brochure periodically, an operation that may entail redesigning, rewriting and reprinting the thing.

Booklets. Booklets represent the big time. These multi-page guides usually provide in-depth information on a comprehensive suite of services or products, giving prospects a complete set of answers to most any questions they could possibly have. The booklet format is useful for content that just won’t fit comfortably into a brochure. Booklets cost more to design and produce than brochures. They’re intended as long-term marketing tools — but if the information needs updating, get ready to pay.

So which print piece is right for you? At some point or other, maybe all of them. You’ll need to think about how who your prospects are, how to reach them, and how much information they need before they’ll buy. Good luck!

It’s snowing today. It’s been snowing all day, in fact. That fact won’t mean much to the folks up North, but in Central Texas a snow day this close to March merits a raised eyebrow or two. I’ve spotted a couple of people just standing out on the sidewalk, staring up into the sky, dumbfounded. Others have clearly opted not to leave their homes today because of the deadly white stuff on the ground. Mostly, though, people seem genuinely pleased to see the snow here.

Why? What’s so interesting about a simple, explainable meteorological phenomenon? Our reactions will vary, depending on our past experiences with it, but here are some reasons to like snow:

It’s festive. We associate snow with the holiday season, even if we live in a part of the world that rarely sees the stuff. Who doesn’t know the words to “White Christmas” or “Let it Snow?” We’ve associated certain happy feelings with the sight of snow in the air or on the ground. Never mind the fact that the car door is frozen shut and everyone in the house has pneumonia — it’s snowing!

It’s kid stuff. That first snowfall was an event, wasn’t it? Snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights — a good solid snow forms the basis of a child’s version of the Winter Olympics. Snow can return us to childhood, especially if we grew up with it on a yearly basis, by hardwiring itself into early, formative emotional memories.

It’s rare. I’m speaking as a native Texan, of course. Talk to somebody up in Minnesota about snow and see how excited they get. “Jingle Bells” or no “Jingle Bells,” if you see enough snow on the ground, month after monotonous month, not only will you end up half-blind but you’ll also come to hate snow. That guy will be the one who gets excited about a hundred-degree day — like we get down here all summer long. Whoopee.

The three properties that I just touched on have one thing in common — they’re all emotional triggers. They manage, often subconsciously, to evoke feelings and responses. Sights, sounds, smells can all cause us to react in a (mostly) predictable way.

Our marketing content must pull those exact same triggers. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should add snowdrifts and fresh-baked bread and raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens into everything you write, but it does mean that you have to consider what images will work most effectively on the particular audience you’re addressing. Just as a snowy landscape does nothing for the guy who has to shovel his way out of the garage every morning, any given word can fall on a deaf ear unless you know who you’re talking to and what words they want to hear.

Oh, it’s lightening up now. Sniff.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and of course you know what that means — dating advice plastered all over the Web.

People have offered solicited and unsolicited advice about dating since the practice first began. Through the years, certain basic rules have taken hold as common wisdom. One oft-repeated maxim: It’s not about you.”

Examples of a lousy date frequently include participants who talk nonstop about themselves, rarely hold eye contact, fail to show interest when their date speaks, check for phone messages, or perform other blatant acts of disregard. Good dates, we’re told, pay rapt attention, maintain consistent (but not creepy) eye contact, ignore distractions, and communicate their total fascination with and enjoyment of the conversation.

We’re naturally flattered when someone finds us interesting and genuinely wants to know more. And when we send out that new marketing campaign, of course we’re delighted when the requests for more info come in. But if you’re getting nothing but nothing, it’s time to ask yourself — what about your partner in this conversation? Have you been a “good date” for your reader?

When we view marketing, most of us don’t particularly like to be talked to. We want to enter into a kind of dialogue. We want to be asked how we feel.

“Are you tired of that thing that really irritates you?” Why, yes I am, thank you for asking.

“Wouldn’t you love an easy, affordable solution?” Well, sure.

“Did you know that Whiz-O can solve your problem and give you a better lifestyle for much less than the other brand?” REALLY? Tell me more.

“If you’d like more information, let us know and we’ll be glad to talk to you about it.” You want to talk to me? Wow, what a nice company. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again….

Is it silly to equate dating with marketing? I don’t think so. Good marketing creates a relationship between buyer and seller based on trust, respect, and emotional satisfaction. Anyway, we market ourselves to each other every day — not in a manner that would get us thrown in jail by the vice squad, hopefully, but in the sense that we strive to look and behave a certain way so that people will want to be around us and listen to what we have to say.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day, marketers, and good luck in wooing your audience. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

And now another entry in the annals of writing gone wrong — things we shouldn’t do but somehow manage to do anyway, even those of us who know better. Let me add my usual disclaimer that the words themselves don’t necessarily leave me shaking my head, just the way they’re used (and abused).

Without further ado, here are my latest candidates for the Hall of Shame:

“In order to” — Only two of the letters in this phrase matter. Can you find them?

“You should,” “Be sure to,” “Make sure you,” etc. — The imperative that isn’t. If you want to tell the reader to do something, just tell them to do it.

“Very” — This word is like a volume knob with no indicator markings. How much is “very?” Let’s say you want to communicate that a film conveys a powerful message. Does “very powerful” really make the point any better than “powerful?”

“Great,” “Terrific,” “Fabulous,” etc. — More garbage words (see “Very”). “This movie is great!” What the heck does that mean? How is it great? Is it deeply mournful, crackling with dramatic tension, sweet-natured and amiable, refreshingly silly? “Great” means whatever the reader wants it to mean. State what you mean.

End of harangue. Go back to writing. Have fun. And as they used to say on Hill Street Blues, “Let’s be careful out there.”

I’m a fan of the strange and unusual (no jokes about my mirror, please), so I have a strange fascination for those items of popular culture that don’t quite convey their intended message — the “Bloopers, Blunders and Practical Jokes” of the marketing world. You know, the horrendously ill-advised ads and misprinted news headlines Jay Leno is so fond of holding up to ridicule. One of the more famous online shrines to this kind of unintentional hilarity is Engrish.com, where readers submit ads, product labels, etc. from Japan, China, other parts of the world, all sporting jaw-droppingly wrong English usage.

Disclaimer: I have nothing but respect and admiration for any multi-lingual person in any country. However English-challenged these ad writers may be, they probably speak my language far better than I’ll ever speak theirs. They are, no doubt, highly intelligent creative professionals. But they failed to take that simple but crucial final step — checking for accuracy.

Maybe they thought, “Well, nobody here can read it anyway, but the English letters look cool.” On the Engrish.com site you’ll see photos of Japanese consumers wearing hats or shirts proudly displaying a meaningless mishmash of English words. But even if only 1% of the people in a given country can read the language being used, 1% of millions could still equal a lot of egg on the corporate face.

One of my recent favorites is this one. You’d think that a “Branding & Identity” firm would take a second look at this sign….

Okay, so finding and paying overseas proofreaders for English-language materials isn’t as easy as it sounds. But what about those of us who speak, read and write English natively? What’s our excuse for not proofreading or fine-tuning every word and idea until it delivers a precise, powerful, accurate image, either by ourselves or with the aid of a pro?

Take that extra bit of time and care. Outsource the writing/proofreading/editing if you can’t do it yourself. But take any action necessary to avoid creating your own version of Engrish.

Let Leno write his own material!

How To Get Ahead in Advertising
(Director: Bruce Robinson)
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 pens.

An advertising executive confronts his darker side in this oddball comedy from 1988.

Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant) knows his fellow Englishmen like the back of his hand, or so he thinks. His sneering cynicism, coupled with a legitimate creative talent, has placed him near the top of the advertising game, and he claims he can sell anything to anybody. But when he finally meets his personal Kryptonite, it comes in the form of an ordinary pimple cream. Suddenly, inexplicably, he’s utterly blocked while staring at a looming deadline. He can’t even think about the product without cringing at the thought of gigantic, disfiguring boils….

Guess what happens to him next.

Not only does he develop a boil the size of a baseball on his neck, but the thing seems to be talking to him, whispering evil things even as Bagley experiences a change of heart about his advertising ethics. Bagley wants to tell the truth and nothing but the truth about his clients’ products from now on — but the boil has other ideas. Is Bagley mad, or has his unmitigated greed to sell, sell, sell really developed a mind of its own?

I won’t pretend this a great film; it sort of totters to a conclusion (with one final speech from the boil about how it’s the advertising industry’s job to tell people what they want) instead of resolving properly, and the sheer weirdness of a sentient talking pimple will turn some viewers off. (And yes, the special effects people are extremely, er, helpful in this regard.) Aficionados of cult films or offbeat humor will get some good laughs out of it, and the performances of Grant, Rachel Ward as his long-suffering wife, and the supporting cast are committed and energetic.

The most interesting thing about the film, to me, is the question it asks about the nature of human greed versus the sincere desire to help and inform our fellow beings. Bagley is torn — he wants to reform, to advertise ethically and help customers actually make choices, but his corrupt side still lusts for the power that comes from dictating and swaying human behavior. (At one point the boil actually plots to drum up interest in the pimple cream by making acne a popular craze, with the intention of then swerving public opinion so that the horrified victims will rush to buy pimple cream.)

Personally, I’ve had pretty good luck when it comes to writing ad copy for products and services I can believe in, for clients who sincerely care about what they’re offering. But I know in my bones that someday, sooner or later, that zillion-dollar contract will come to my door, with a moral price tag to match. Will I live up to my own expectations — or will I develop a skin problem? Stay tuned.