The Importance of Editing

Having written many business plans, press releases, and other marketing collateral, one thing I have learned is the importance of an edit and review process. It doesn’t matter how good your writing skills are – no one can write anything great the first time.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking there isn’t the time or that it isn’t necessary for this particular communication. Or, maybe you were told the document only had to be a rough draft. Regardless, it is always a good habit to either hiring a third party to review your work or simply save your work and come back to it in 24 hours to have a look with fresh eyes. I am always amazed when I look back at my work from the prior day and reflect “What was I thinking?”

When we speak in a conversation, we typically don’t put much effort into editing what we say, so it is easy to think that writing is the same. But, if you think about it, when we have something important to say, then we will rehearse and practice it … just look at the industry of speechwriters that serve this need. We will edit and re-edit a speech many times before we are comfortable it gets the right message across. Writing is the same way.

Here are five benefits of following a good editing process, or having a good editor:

    1. Ensures your written message matches what you were trying to say
    2. Helps to condense and improve the efficiency of your writing
    3. Questions your flow of thoughts, ensuring there’s good logic
    4. Tells you if your content is too technical or if it doesn’t make sense, at least to the general public; it is very easy to “get into the weeds” about a topic you are very knowledgeable about
    5. Asks questions or presents an alternative perspective that you might not have considered; in the case of a blog, this feedback might be an excellent follow-up for a new post

The best person to edit your work might be someone that is not too close, so as to have the courage to tell you exactly how they feel, or what they didn’t like. A good editor might be someone that doesn’t even work at your company – or even in your industry – so as to focus purely on the content in your article, without the worry of political ramifications.

To be a good writer, one must write in a concise manner (see my prior post on taking the time to write shorter copy). A great way to achieve this objective is to work with an editor. It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing about a topic you are familiar with and forgetting to take into account that your audience may be just learning about this topic for the first time.

5 Ways to Speak to Different Audiences

One of the challenges in getting your message out is that your audience is typically quite diverse, especially when dealing with a technology product. Engineers have one way of talking; Chief Financial Officers have another and end-users yet another. Effective marketing and business communications dictate that you offer a message for each of your targeted audiences to ensure your message is understood by all relevant stakeholders. You need to speak in their language.

Complex software or other technology sales are seldom performed in a vacuum or decided by an individual. Therefore, a consensus must be achieved before a final “buy” decision can be reached. For business communications in high-tech industries, you must address a wide, diverse group of individuals. Finding your audience for a cult movie such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show might be equally difficult!

The challenge is how do you accomplish this task?

First, you need to realize that you can’t speak to each of these different “personas” at the same time, in the same venue. Not only would this be complicated to write, but it would also be difficult to read! Your best course of action is to pick different media or channels to conduct your varying messages.

Here are five different venues for your consideration when speaking to your different audiences:

  1. Write a white paper that offers a detailed explanation of how your product works, how it is used, why it is better than the competition, etc. Point is that this is a venue that highly technical IT or engineering audiences can understand your message or communications
  2. Record a video interviewing your president, speaking to how he/she/they is committed to the direction of your company, the research that has been done to ensure the product is delivering maximum value … busy “C” level executives might have time to listen to a 4-minute video of your president
  3. Get a placement of a contributed article in a publication that speaks to return on investment (ROI, return on assets (ROA), etc., to entice potential senior financial management audiences to read and understand the financial impact of purchasing your product
  4. Post a blog entry for middle management or “line of business” personnel to read, on a topic that concerns actually using your product, or what specific challenges can be addressed … getting more into the “weeds” of what your product does
  5. Be a sponsor at a trade show with a booth, staffed by employees. This type of venue offers a different “slice” of who you can speak with about your product, but one audience that it is quite effective at reaching is your partners, who might also be exhibiting or attending. This is  an important audience to speak with, both from a future partnering perspective as well as to convince them that your product is viable in the markets you serve

Teachers understand this task, as seldom do each of their students learn the same way. Some might be visual learners; others learn by doing and some may learn only by reading. Marketing or business plan writing is no different. Marketers must recognize that quite often a different language and medium must be chosen to communicate with each of these different stakeholders. Business plan writers must know what type of investor they are writing for, to then better understand what level of industry terms and jargon should be included and what should be defined better, for novice readers.

Who do you write for? I would be interested in hearing what other venues have worked for you in the past.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing business plans and marketing strategies.

5 Ways to Shorten Copy

“I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.”

– Blaise Pascal, (1623-1662) Lettres provincials

It would appear the challenge or writing concise communications has been with us for a long time.

Today, shorter copy is needed more than ever. Just look at the success of Twitter, the “ultimate” short copy communications platform. Messages are mostly limited to 140 characters per tweet, requiring a new mastery of short communications.

Upon reflection at my own writing, I probably could do better. So I came up with five reasons why my communications might be too long, to try and write with greater brevity.

  1. Too many examples – When presenting complex topics, the inclusion of examples to help explain a concept is sometimes necessary. If your objective is to teach, then providing more content may be right; in a business communication, perhaps it might better to offer a link or source for an example that already exists.
  2. Too long an introduction – Perhaps your topic or challenge being solved is complex, or there are different nuances to the business challenge, and you need to be sure to explain what variation you are solving, requiring a longer introduction. I can’t think of a shortcut here, other than trying to condense your topic down to a paragraph or less.
  3. Too many industry buzz words – This is tough when seeking to improve Search Engine Optimization. The more industry terms, the better your chance of showing up higher on Google. Links to other web pages might help address this challenge.
  4. Too many editors – This is a tough one. Often I have two or more stakeholders invested in my document with different points that must be included. More time to perform more edits is the solution, but, sometimes deadlines contradict this goal.
  5. Too worried about missing a key point – When tasked with writing an important document, such as a business plan, as they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Considerable care must be taken to be sure all relevant points are included. Keeping a prioritized list can help address this challenge; if a point has already been made, perhaps it doesn’t require duplication in a later section. Alternatively, future communications can be added to address omissions.

In the end, the path to shorter copy is to spend more time … time planning to identify the most concise wording, and time writing more efficiently using shorter phrases that are edited several times. In the end, your goal is to make a lasting impression – getting your content read and understood – which is simply easier with a shorter message.*

*Note the first version of this post exceeded 700 words; final version has 450.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Express Yourself How You see Fit

Like so many of us that have been following the latest political scandals, such as that involving Anthony Weiner’s twitter escapades and resignation, I have been amused at how quickly a new word can make it into our English language. One of the recent AP news headline read: “Weiner to resign over sexting scandal.”

To the best of my knowledge, I have never seen “sexting” used in a news headline before, and yet, a pretty respected journalism outlet has used it in a title of a story. The joint combination of two known words is a great way to build a new word, should the opportunity arise where a new term is warranted. In this case, I would say that it was warranted, and the inclusion of this term was indeed appropriate, and highly descriptive. We all know what they are talking about!

Upon reflection, I would propose that the fluidity and strength of the English language is greatly helped by the fact that it is entirely acceptable to create a new word, based on the writer’s own perspective. If the market fails to recognize the word or doesn’t understand what it means, the simple consequence is that the term won’t be repeated, fading away into obscurity. No harm, no foul.

Interestingly, the French view their vocabulary differently, with a strict process for when a new French word is “approved” for general use, ultimately by the French Minister of Culture. With the recent explosion of IT related terms and technologies, the French “word police” have been quite busy. According to an article posted in the Wall Street Journal, before a word such as “cloud computing” (“informatique en nuage”) or “podcasting” (“diffusion pour baladeur”) receives a certified French equivalent, it needs to be approved by three organizations and get a government minister’s seal of approval, according to rules laid out by the state’s General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages of France. The process can take years!

Imagine if the same set of rigid rules existed here in the United States. I think our IT industry would be at a loss for words as to what we do. One might even argue that our innovation might even be curtailed, at least with regards to how we talk about new products or services. One thing for certain, those of us tasked with marketing communications or business plan writing would be in for a real challenge when talking about a new start up offering a new service.

Fortunately, it is still the “wild west” in America, at least with regards to coining a new word. And, with all the social media outlets today, the opportunity for a new word to be recognized and go viral is pretty good … so feel free to express yourself how you like, without worry that you will be found guilty by a Minister of Culture, at least for all of us living in the land of free speech and writing!

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

The Age of Communications Transparency

Often the true impacts of technology innovations are not immediately recognized or understood. It took decades for the discovery of electricity to widely impact how we live in a world where electricity and light is readily available. The Internet is no different. Still in its infancy, new social behaviors have already been embraced and adopted, including how job searches are conducted, travel arrangements are booked and social networking through sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Another not so obvious change involves the ownership and privacy of information, specifically our own identities and reputation. Today it is much harder to have privacy or lead a “secret” life. A recent example is the congressman Anthony Weiner twitter scandal. Another is the photo showing Michael Phelps taking a bong hit nearly three months after he wrapped up a record haul of eight gold medals in Beijing. The list goes on and on. Today’s social media venues coupled with smart phones that all now include cameras have made privacy more difficult to maintain.

Marketing communications transparency is a smart choice in today’s world that lacks privacy

This lack of expected privacy has a big repercussion for marketing communications, business plan writers and investor prospectus authors, among others. In just the same way that the truth has a way of getting out to the public, unsubstantiated or exaggerated marketing claims will most likely be discovered or revealed. Today it is critical to communicate with complete transparency. Spokespersons for companies and their products must be genuine. Product claims must be documented and proven.

Third party recommendations have always been important to drive sales. The challenge, however, is that it used to take a bit of effort to find someone who has just purchased the product or service you were contemplating. Often the effort didn’t justify the work, so purchases were not necessarily “qualified” by a third party reference.

Today, a referral is as easy to find as going to Yelp or launching one of the many different smart phone applications with an interactive “rate this” or “comment on this” feature. Buyers don’t expect every review to be perfect … in fact, they might suspect a lack of transparency if every review is perfect. They want to see who had what issues, to then make their decision accordingly to pursue the purchase, or not. The point is that there is now a very efficient, active venue for voicing concern or issues with a product … a “horror” story could take on a life of its own and spread like wildfire.

There is still a role for preparing corporate collateral, but its role should not be to try and “sell” the product, but rather, provide details that a company can prepare best, such as specifications, product performance as well as documentation on what can be realistically achieved.

But, it better be accurate and current, as a fair representation of your product’s capabilities. If not, it is now a reasonable expectation that you will be found out, and you will pay the price with a loss of brand integrity for not practicing transparency in your marketing communications.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

5 Questions to Ask Before Writing a Press Release

In the world of marketing communications, writing a press release plays an important press_releaserole in disseminating information about your company or product. Most importantly, if done correctly, a press release will get other websites, news sources and editors to communicate your message as a third party, important from a validation perspective. The more times your message is told, the better chance your target audience can receive your message.

So, before you sit down to write your press release, ask yourself these five important questions:

  1. What is the news I am announcing? There must be something you are announcing that comprises the “news” of the announcement. It isn’t ok to just regurgitate existing content from your website, collateral or brochures. There must be something newsworthy to announce, such as a new product, customer or region, an award or a management change. This requirement can sometimes be a challenge, but, if you don’t have any news to announce, no one will be interested to read your press release.
  2. Who are you writing your announcement to? In other words, who is the target audience or “persona” of your press release? Traditionally, press releases were written for the press; these documents would then become a basis for writing an article summarizing the announcement, or might be a trigger to write a more detailed perspective on the announcement. Today, this is not necessarily the case. Many press releases are now issued directly to the public via news websites. You need to think about whom the person is that you want to read your release. For example, just to name a few, are they engineers, teachers, business leaders or IT programmers?
  3. What are the 3 points of the story? Unless you specifically focus your thoughts on what these key messages are, chances are your target audience won’t get the right message.
  4. What do you want your readers to do next? In other words, once you have identified your topic and audience … in a perfect world … what you would like them to do next? Go to your website? Attend a conference? Purchase your latest book? How is this announcement going to help your business? How will you sell more product or service, as a result of this announcement? Think about what your desired call to action is, and then ask for it, or point readers in a direction so they come up with your desired action as a logical conclusion after reading the announcement.
  5. Could my mother understand this release? In other words, is it filled with industry jargon, abbreviations and other difficult words to understand, or, is your message clearly stated using terminology that is understandable to most readers? This question may appear to be in contradiction to item #2 above … if I am writing for a technical audience, isn’t it ok to write in a technical manner? Yes, and no. It is a reasonable assumption that if you are announcing technical news for technical readers, then some level of technical wording is probably appropriate. But, the flip side is that you also want other editors and websites to host your story. The person in charge of deciding if your press release goes on their site may not be very technical. If your release is too confusing, they will simply elect to “pass” and go on to the next news announcement. In the end, your press release must make sense to the laymen, regardless of target audience.

What do you think? Have I missed any other critical questions?

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

When Less is More

It may seem counter intuitive, but you can often achieve better marketing communications when you limit what you say to fewer words and topics, to deliver a more refined and narrow message. In fact, this concept can apply to other concepts and “walks of life,” such as product management, career strategies or business planning.

The challenge is how to overcome the perception that by limiting your focus you will “miss out” on a future opportunity. There is a natural inclination to expand focus to offer a more comprehensive solution, a wider scope of product functionality or to address a broader range of industry challenges.

The classic case is the start up organization that is inevitably asked by a prospective customer to perform custom work to address their specific needs, when that work veers the company away from their previously chosen direction. On the one hand, a paying customer in the “hand” is worth two potential customers in the “bush.” On the other hand, if you never achieve economies of scale from selling a repeatable product or service, you many never earn a profit, and ultimately go out of business.

A great example of a business that has embraced this concept well is one of my favorite local Southern California burger joints: In-N-Out. Their menu is limited to three combo meals, consisting of various choices of a single or double patty, with or without cheese, and with or without onions. I have learned that if I want a great burger, In-n-Out is at the top of my list.

Simplify with less to tell more of a story.Their message is highly focused. If I am in the mood for steak, soup or salad, I will go elsewhere. In-N-Out is just fine with that. Arrive at 12 midnight and expect to wait in a line on a Friday or Saturday night. They have no problem in getting all teh business they can handle. Staying hyper-focused on their menu has allowed them to master their delivery process of their product highly consistently, year after year after year as a privately held company.

You should use this same focus on your business messaging too. The world is too competitive to try and be multiple things to many people. Pick one. Do it well.

As a marketer, keep this in mind when preparing your communications, writing a business plan or executing upon a marketing strategy. Keep your content and messaging concise and to as narrow a point and message as possible. If you can be relentless in this exercise, your reward will be a highly effective retention factor by your prospective customers, and ultimately, the best chance for a future sale.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

The Role of Pricing in Messaging

“If you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it”

– JP Morgan

According to Google books, the origin of this quote is a conversation JP Morgan had with a neighbor regarding the purchase of a yacht. The quote has been made famous by Henry Royce, when applying it to the purchase of his Rolls Royce automobiles.

Importance of pricing on messaging and marketing communications
If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford this toy.

From a marketing communications perspective, the concept is actually quite compelling – a message that rings loud and clear to your prospective customers. If you must know the price before purchasing, then it is probably too luxurious for you. A purchase decision that falls into this type of classification is clearly high end, something that only the wealthy need consider. As a business strategy, if you are selling a high end product, this type of positioning could be just right.

Pricing plays a critical role in your messaging and marketing communications surrounding not only the quality of your goods or services, but also on your focus on customer satisfaction. Do you deliver consistently superior results that your customers can justify spending more for your product? If so, then you should be charging more, and your customers will pay more, helping you to preserve your brand integrity. It is all part of a consistent message that you, as a marketer, need to convey to each of your current and future customers.

Alternatively, if your product is “me too” (non-differentiated) or if you are the low price leader, then you have no claim to charge a premium and shouldn’t. If you do, your customers will be confused, and will likely not justify the higher price, preferring instead to purchase from your competitors.

BMW is an excellent case study on how to leverage pricing as part of their messaging. Back in the 1970s, the brand was not considered premium, akin to the likes of Volkswagen. In the 1980s, however, they made a decision to dramatically increase prices across all products at a time when their marketing communications shifted towards positioning the brand as premium. It worked.

I had an interesting experience with the AAA club of Southern California about a month ago. I inquired about purchasing their premium service, which included expanded towing coverage. They refused to sell me the service, stating that I must first purchase their standard service for a year and not use it before having the “privilege” of purchasing the premium service, for more money. Needless to say I was infuriated. Here I thought they were eager to offer expanded, higher margin services. They, on the other hand, see themselves as a “country club” of sorts, where I have to pay my “dues” for a year before being considered for an upgrade, like they are doing me a favor. Talk about a confusing messaging strategy!

How does AAA get away with it? Well, it turns out they have a bit of a monopoly in the Southern California market, so there really isn’t a viable competitor. Clearly, not only is their pricing calculated incorrectly, but their view on customer service is that of a monopolistic organization, such as the US Post Office. In other words, it isn’t a priority. Even to a customer of 31 years!

To conclude, pricing plays a critical role in your marketing communications – the story you want to tell. Are you customer friendly? Are you premium? Or, are you a generic product with no differentiation other than price? Pick your story and be sure to set your pricing to support that message.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

Avoiding “Article Vomit”

Q: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?

A: No, if no one is there to hear it.

In the same way, you may have the greatest product or service, but if no one knows about it, then all your work has been for nothing (and your marketing prowess could be called into question). As a marketer today, you must incorporate the Internet in your marketing communications … which means you need to understand Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

As a concept, it isn’t hard to comprehend. Your prospects will typically go to an Internet browser when considering a product purchase, performing a search by keywords of what they seek. Some will already have an idea of what your product is called or what your industry terms are. Some will not, so will search by the challenge they face. It is up to you to know which is relevant, and then build search engine optimization into your marketing communications to match these search profiles.

Search Engine Marketing
Keep SEO a top of mind item when preparing marketing communications

The challenge is that you are competing for these words with often hundreds or even thousands of other sites, many that have dedicated staff working every day to improve their rankings. This is an onerous task to those just getting started. There is a first mover’s advantage. Those building their keywords and search phrases first tend to secure the top rankings and can defend them effectively. The best offense to a well placed competitor is to further refine your keywords to be more specific to a smaller sub segment of the market you are trying to reach. And, create a lot of new content.

There is another angle … game the system, known as “Black Hat SEO.” A recent approach has been to post a lot of content on different sites with links to your site, to help increase your ranking. This is against Google’s policy – it is artificially raising your rankings. JC Penny just got busted for it (read more here), and now their site has been black listed from Google. Just last week Google announced they are changing their search engine algorithms to put a stop to this type of behavior, penalizing sites that really are only comprised of “Article Vomit,” as Chris Knight, CEO of Spark-Net Corp coined, as stated in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

There is really no substitute for continuing to add new content. New information, commentary or announcements – especially with links coming from other websites – is a great way to demonstrate to Google, Yahoo!, Bing and the others that you are an authority in your field. This is one of the biggest reasons why blogs have become so popular. They are a great way to show frequent new content that is specifically tied to the needs of your target market.

So, next time you are writing a press release, web page or piece of collateral, think carefully about how your document might be found on the World Wide Web. What need you are serving and what problem are you helping to address? What words would be used in a keyword search on that topic? Then, go back and finish your piece. After all, if no one finds it or reads it, it might as well have not existed!

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.

What’s the Velocity of Your Marketing Communications Pipeline?

While driving on the freeway during my morning commute the other day, I had an epiphany moment. A stretch that had traditionally been a bottleneck seems to have improved. Interestingly, the number of lanes has been reduced from 3 to 2, yet throughput has increased. My theory is that maybe we drive faster when given fewer choices compared to facing a series of merging lanes and decisions.

I would propose that your marketing communications strategy could benefit from applying my observations on freeway traffic.

How difficult are you making it for people to “find a lane” of what message you are saying and what value proposition you are presenting? Do you make it straightforward, so it is easy to “pick a lane” early, even if that lane is to exit? Or, do you offer many choices that merge at various times, resulting in a cluttered message? Think about the ramifications of a confusing message on your prospects trying to learn what you do, an investor trying to identify your revenue model or a sales rep trying to close a sale. The impact extends across your entire organization, slowing down your throughput of leads or opportunities.

Higher velocity is more efficient on multiple levels, from accelerating sales processes, locating new investment capital and training new employees.

What do you think? Do you have a story on how a simplified message helped you to improve your marketing or sales efficiency? How about for raising capital? I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Gordon Benzie is a marketing adviser and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.