Back to School

One of the greatest mistakes one can do is ask a copywriter – or any kind of writer for that matter –  to speak.

But hey, since we are living in abnormal times, I did a little bit of speaking recently in my capacity as a copywriter and content creator.

Content Marketing Training

Close to a hundred participants got my take on Content Marketing for 8 hours a day for two full days, across 4 separate sessions. That’s 64 hours of speaking, facilitating, transferring knowledge and of course reminding participants to keep their video feed on.

And in the end, it was my audiences that re-schooled me of a fundamental marketing premise that is constantly taken for granted:

Great Content is Nothing,
If it’s for the Wrong Audience

Yes, I did speak about content marketing, but it wasn’t for an audience that was very interested in the subject matter. Let me skip the whys and hows of this predicament and get to the matter at hand.

I spent days perfecting the PowerPoint; making it as informative, engaging and structured as possible for beginners to grasp. Do note that my knowledge is a clutter of unstructured information I have amassed over the years that needed to be organised, tweaked and moulded into a presentable form – this was my first time conducting an official training mind you.

Ultimately, I was quite happy with the deck, and thought with my (ahem!) wit and charm can sail through.

And for the most part, I did deliver a solid first performance. All was well.

Then, the second batch came aboard a week later. I could not for the life of me get through to them. Participation was almost nil and they all looked like they rather be watching yet another pandemic PSA.

Same content, different set of audience – but completely different results.

Based on the first session, I knew the training content works. So, it was still the right message, but to a wrong audience.

And we all know that getting the right message to the right audience is the key to effective communication. Somehow, I completely misjudged this and assumed that my content alone would be enough to see me through no matter who is in the audience.

But I did manage to somehow salvage the situation by way of changing tactic. After the morning break I versioned the delivery of the content and not stick to the script.

Needless to say, I was more prepared for the following two sessions by varying the presentation and delivery, yet it was the same deck I prepared initially.

Good Content Wrong Audience

Same content, different points-of-emphasis and delivery based on the audience at hand helped to ensure consistent results.

And this same premise can and should be applied to all marketing communications.

Gone are the days when we used to force the same message across all channels in a campaign. Understanding the target audience, and thereafter customising the message – while keeping the essence – is imperative to engage and compel.

A much-needed reminder in this day and age of long-tail audiences and multi-faceted channels.

Here are 5 tips on how to ensure your main communication message appeals to varying target audiences:

  1. Fail First
    Like how I failed with my second batch of training audience, it was a necessary step for me to analyse the audience I was speaking to, hence forcing a re-evaluation and re-thinking of message delivery.
  1. Test Often

Split and A/B testing is much needed to help fine-tune messages, so it speaks directly to the intended audience. This is also a necessary step that provides valuable insights to identify the characteristics of varying target segments.

  1. Guesswork Out

There’s only so much analysis, studying and tweaking you can do. Nothing is certain until you put your content out there and use the feedback to make versions that target different sub-segments.

  1. Pin-Point Pain Points

Nothing works better in marketing communications than being able to identify the pain points of your audiences. Best part? Each pain point allows for versioning of the message for added appeal.

  1. Be Flexible

There will always be a new sub target segment that you didn’t know existed. That’s lost opportunities by ignoring a potentially profitable subset of the market. Always test new variations to seek out such audiences.

Social Media Marketing Essentials

So everyone’s trying to get on the social media marketing action.

It’s only natural; times are rough and incomes need to be supplemented – for a lot of us it’s about making ends meet.

Truth be told, even I have been dabbling with social media marketing quite extensively for the past few months. Like helping clients strengthen their social media presence to assisting friends to build pages for their home-bases businesses.

One thing I have learned is that this social media rabbit hole is so deep that even the Mariana trench doesn’t stand a chance.

The other thing I’ve learned is that there is only so much reading and researching you can do. You got to get started, tweak and find your voice as you go along.

Otherwise you will be stuck in the rabbit hole with a severe case of analysis paralysis. Done is surely better than perfect when it comes to the social media game.

To ease the pain and get you going, here are 5 essential must-haves to start your social media selling foray on a budget:

  1. Make a Good Logo

Social Logo

A no-brainer perhaps, but I have seen far too many social profiles with scratched-up, Powerpoint-like logos. Branding intricacies aside, a good logo gives your brand (or voice) an identity and acts as a point of differentiation. And make sure your logo is optimised for social media use, meaning having it in hi-res JPEGs and most importantly transparent PNGs for easier overlays onto visuals.

TIP: Use platforms such as fiverr.com or freelancer.com to get your logo done. A lot of upstart graphic designers in these platforms can get your logo done on the cheap and fully optimised. Remember to always ask for the source file, so you can make changes in future.

  1. Have a Daily Theme

Daily Theme

The most common frustration among social media marketing professionals is having to consistently generate content to post. As an admin for 7 social media pages, I often have my pening moments too. One way to ease this process is to have a theme for each day of the week you intend to post. This helps because it focuses your thoughts on developing content based on themes, rather than thinking in general, which can lead to wandering and analysis paralysis.

TIP: List 20 themes you would like to focus on. Let’s say you intend to post 5 days a week, pick 5 themes for each day. And if you run out of content ideas for a particular theme, you still have 15 more themes to fall back on.

  1. Build Your Asset

Social Assets

While some people can get away with posting engaging content on-the-fly, it doesn’t really work that way for the rest of us. Don’t think you will post when an idea pops-up – surely this is a formula for failure. Work on creating your visual assets – be it video or images – so you have a stream of content ready, avoiding last-minute shoots or scrambling for free stock images.

TIP: If you are selling a physical product, photograph your products in every imaginable angle and setting. For service-related sellers, explore platforms such as upsplash.com for a decent selection images that you can use for free, without copyright issues.

  1. Use a Design Tool

Social Design

Between all the sizes, formats, resolutions, watermarks, layouts and optimisation are pains-in-the-ass. And using a designer for every visual you create is going to leave you with a funds-related heartache. Fortunately, there are countless online tools that you can use for free that makes design work pretty darn simple for the average design-handicapped person.

TIP: Check imageonline.com for super easy editing of your images with great functionality for beginners. For even more pro-looking visuals, you can start with a free account at Canva, Crello or Adobe Spark. Paid accounts can be expensive, but lookout for lifetime deals and you could snag a bargain.

  1. Set Aside Some Ad Budget

Ad Budget

Only up to 3% of your page followers will see any of your posts organically. Means if you don’t sometimes promote or boost your posts – especially those that show potential with good organic engagement – that’s a lot of effort wasted. It has become a necessary evil to boost posts – enabling better reach, more exposure and higher engagement.

TIP: Pick a post that shows the best organic engagement and boost it. Start small, Facebook ads start from USD5 (roughly RM25) that can get your post seen by approximately 1,000 new sets of eyes, depending on your targeting. Make sure anything you boost has a clear call-to-action, so people are compelled to click-through.

This post could have been much longer if I went into every nitty-gritty detail of each of the must-haves. But I didn’t, because the key here is to start and fine-tune as you get into it.

I know, it’s a jungle out there and there are new social media marketing trends, shortcuts, cheat-sheets, all-knowing guides popping up almost everyday.

But these fundamentals but will set you on the right direction. Then add your own common sense, ingenuity and authenticity to make social selling second nature.

The ‘Winging It’ Generation of Marketing Freelancers

KUALA LUMPUR: More and more businesses are coming to the realisation that a new breed of freelance ‘marketing professionals’ are just winging it when it comes to ideating, developing and executing marketing plans.

“It’s tiring and counterproductive. We try to give upstarts, freelancers and lesser-know agencies a chance. And they end up delivering utter nonsense,” said Alzan, a disgruntled SME business owner, while repositioning his mask after a nose-scratch.

A quick research online revealed hundreds, if not thousands of agencies and freelancers offering all kinds of marketing services; including social media management, strategic work, SEO, web design and content development, among others.

Social media platforms seem to be inundated with these so-called professionals’ sponsored posts and ads. Just one search for the term ‘marketing consultant’ in Facebook resulted in a constant stream of targeted ads. Our newsfeed is virtually infected, like a bad case of chlamydia that will not go away.

“It’s sickening! A few months ago, I hired a marketing consultant and paid the asking deposit. A couple of weeks later we have a meeting expecting a well-thought-through plan. But he just showed up for the free coffee,” lamented Gina, a former brand manager.

“I threw the coffee in his face. And now he is nowhere to be found, the deposit included”. Gina has since quit her job due to the stress and is now the spokesperson for Flying Coffee, giving talks on the art of throwing coffee.

Such occurrences have diminished the confidence of businesses towards marketing professional for hire, especially those that promote themselves in social media.

Most businesses have become wary about click-bait type ads that claim to do marketing wonders and guarantee uptick in sales.

These ads promise so much, but often only deliver a fraction and even that not within a reasonable timeframe. The expectation and reality are so far apart that they must be learning from our politicians.

“Anyone with a MacBook Air and free Wifi can claim to be a marketer these days”, quipped James while sipping on his coffee, presumably thrown to him by Gina. Nice catch, James!

Fake Marketing Stat

Back in the day, there was a prerequisite that someone work their way up in an ad agency before going out on their own. But now, it’s just one Udemy course for less than RM100, and you can become a digital marketing consultant”.

Continuing his rant, James added, “Agency-experience is an important asset for a marketing service provider to possess. This is where adherence to fundamentals, quality and timelines are honed. Enthusiasm and willingness, while laudable, will not bring you far”.

James who has been a freelance marketing consultant for over a decade is also frustrated that a handful of self-proclaimed marketing experts out there spoiling the market.

“A lot of us freelancers and consultants out there do good work, under the radar to very appreciative clients. But because of the mushrooming of inept marketing professionals hawking their services aggressively, those of us who are legit get a bad rep as well”.

James advised clients to not be fooled by the ‘Winging It’ generation. “Please do your homework before hiring. Check their credentials and ask the right questions”.

“You wouldn’t go to a mechanic that learned the trade doing online courses, would you?”.

All names in this fake editorial have been changed to protect frayed identities. And no one has chlamydia in case you’re wondering.

Marketing Housekeeping During CMCO – 5 Tips for SMEs

So here we are again.

Another lockdown, albeit less restrictive, yet still is a cause for concern for the majority of businesses in the Klang Valley.

The economy is being pummelled with the 3rd wave and quite frankly the numbers are scary. The only positive is that the hotspots are isolated, but only time will tell if they are under control.

It’s strange that less than a year ago we were nonchalantly shaking hands, socialising in packed restaurants and jetting-off on our well-deserved vacations. And now we just sit around wondering if this sore throat was from too much iced water, or something more sinister.

But we shouldn’t wallow in despair. Even in a CMCO, which invariably results in some downtime for most business, it’s important to have a routine – no matter how pointless it seems.

Marketing Housekeeping

If it’s not business-as-usual, perhaps we can take the opportunity to do some marketing housekeeping, especially for cash-strapped SMEs that need to make full use of their resources.

There are countless initiatives that can be undertaken from a marketing perspective to clear the cobwebs, re-direct and refresh. And here are the top 5:

Optimise Your Website
A lot of businesses just build website, launch it, and then forget about it. But serious businesses in the digital age are constantly tweaking and improving, because they know web optimisation is neither an overnight nor finite process. Start a blog, work on backlinks or at least refresh some of the content, lot’s can be done.

Create a Social Content Backlog
In the era of too much content, we often struggle to develop engaging content for our own social media channels amidst chaos of daily demands. Use the downtime to create a stream of relevant content – customer pain points and specific needs are thought starters. And you don’t need to use them right away, it’s a content backlog for future use when things recover

Sync Your Sales & Marketing Teams
If you have a Sales and a Marketing team, then there’s always room to get them working together towards a common goal. The efforts of these two teams need to be aligned; leading to a peaceful, results-oriented coexistence. I have written at length about this in a previous post that you can read here.

Revamp All Business-critical Comms
How often have you received an e-mail – especially in B2B engagements – that felt like it was written by an 8-year old? Audit all your typical outward communications to customers, suppliers and associates and make sure they are all well-written and free of typos. This is important to exude credibility and gain confidence; there are no two ways about it.

Explore an Alternate Customer-base
If your regular leads channel or customer stream seem to have reduced to a trickle, don’t sit around waiting for miracles. No enquiries or orders on your website? Go into social media group and engage in discussions. Walk-ins all but non-existent? Do deliveries, allow to order and pick-up or reactivate dormant customers. Move on, or risk being moved over.

The list above is basic but can get you started right away with little or no outside help. Often it takes just a bit of cleaning-up to help your business de-clutter, envision with clarity and uncover untapped markets.

For now, let’s hope there will not be an extension of this darned CMCO. Happy marketing housekeeping!

 

Why So Emo, Copywriter?

You know, as a copywriter I have always felt that my profession very much resembles our day-to-day, emotion-filled lives.

I mean, the copywriting art of creating intent and thereafter convincing is certainly a skill that is needed in everyday life.

This starts very early in our lives, and right up to our senior years. Some examples:

Asking our parents to let us stay up a little longer
Convincing our siblings that there’s a monster under the bed
Influencing the teacher that it’s the other kid’s fault
Telling your friend that it’s cool to smoke this
Sweet-talk a girl/guy to go out with you
Get an employer to hire you
Persuade the bank that you’re good for it
Warning your kids not to stay up a little longer
Making your kids to get to the bed before the monster does

And these are just broadstrokes. There are countless little acts of convincing that needs to happen every single days of our lives – be it with ourselves or others – to have some semblance of being a functioning human being.

Just like convincing people to purchase, we don’t always get our way. There are failures and rejections to contend with – and most of the time it depends on the emotional connection with other person.

Emotions matter, because we want the recipient to be in a trusting, comfortable and accepting mood if we were to have any success.

Emotional Copywriter
Make the right emotional connection, or it’s eggs on your face!

Think about the last time you willingly agreed to do something.

Let’s say for instance you were asked to dine in a place that you know is average, yet overpriced. But you still agreed.

Did you feel compelled to say yes because you’re such a nice person? Or was it because you were emotionally invested to the person making the request?

Like if my wife asked me to do something I don’t really want to do (don’t get any funny ideas), I’d still probably do it – that’s being emotionally invested, and also so I can earn extra brownie points.

Apparently, being emotionally invested makes you less critical and objectively observant. Love is the greatest emotional investment – think about all the things you did for family, good friends and loved ones… it probably didn’t take too much convincing.

Buying gifts for your nearest and dearest is an emotion-filled task as well, where budget or inconvenience are not prime concerns.

But what if there is no emotional connection, as with life’s other activities? As a copywriter, convincing strangers to purchase a product or service is often devoid of any emotion.

Perhaps chemistry has the answer.

You see, there are a few chemicals we can try to trigger – in our intended targets’ brains – that can alter their emotional state to be more, well, ‘receptive’.

Be it from a copywriter or a salesperson, inducing these chemicals can be the difference between ignoring the message or taking action.

  1. Dopamine
    Improves focus, motivation and memory with an all-round, feel-good factor. Induced by building suspense and leaving things to the imagination with a cliff-hanger. Think teaser ad campaigns and movie trailers as real-world examples. Good e-Mail marketers also use this strategy – where a potent, well-crafted prose leads to a video or landing page. 
  1. Oxytocin
    Builds trust, nurtures generosity and improved bonding. Induced by weaving empathy into the storyline. Those UNICEF, WWF or SPCA campaigns usually take this route, to get you feeling all warm and fuzzy, making you more willing to donate. 
  1. Endorphin
    Makes people laugh and automatically puts them in a good, open and comfortable mood. Think ice-breakers in client presentations or a funny quote to start an e-Mail copy. This funny business is a bit mischievous though, use sparingly or you will end up looking not-so-credible. Great for memes, but not always for marketing communications.

So the next time you encounter a marketing content that spoke to your soul – be it a sponsored post, blog article or video – it’s probably one of the chemicals above at work.

And possibly thanks to a copywriter going all emo to make that soul-warming connection.

The key ideas for this post was based on a TedTalk by David JP Phillips on the science of storytelling. Pretty interesting if you’re into that kind of stuff.

The Sales and Marketing Misalignment – 5 Trouble Signs to Lookout For

Inter-departmental clash of characters in any industry is unfortunately the norm.

In my days in the ad business, we creatives were constantly at odds with account executives. Glorified dispatch riders we used to call them, and some really lived up to the term.

Next up in the list of creatives’ enemies were coders and programmers. They could never understand why proper paragraph spacing was such a big deal. Needless to say, it drove us copywriters (and designers) to the verge of insanity.

Good times!

But these were mainly harmless feuds and competitive banter. Besides, there was a far more vicious common enemy – the client. Ok I’ll stop now.

Sales & Marketing Stat

In a typical company, the lack of synergy between Sales and Marketing departments, however, can have detrimental effects on the bottom line of a business. Misaligned direction and lack of transparent communication between the two teams can result in a nasty work environment and disjointed customer experience.

Until very recently, I was managing a sales team. Don’t ask me how or why. But in doing so – especially with more of a marketing background – I realised that the marketing and sales sync is imperative now more than ever.

A shared vision working towards common goals, along with clear understanding of each departments’ pain points results in peaceful, results-oriented coexistence that can lead to improved bottom lines and customer satisfaction.

If you suspect that your marketing and sales department are not in sync, look out for these 5 trouble signs, along with quick tips to get them back on track.

 

1. They Don’t Hang Out Together

Hey, we all need to de-stress after work. Gathering a bunch of colleagues and heading out for a bit of R&R is a great team-bonding activity that can result in improved empathy, teamwork and patience. But if your sales team does not socially mingle with your marketing team and vice versa, it is a clear sign of an invisible barrier of egos, discontent and misunderstandings.

Team Bonding

TIP: Organise a monthly social gathering that includes all team members across all departments, especially sales and marketing. Make sure it’s out-of-office and with minimal management intervention so they can be themselves and open opportunities for discourse.

 

2. Marketing Work Lacks Insights

Ask marketing and they say not briefed properly. Ask sales and they say it’s not their job. In the end, it’s the business that suffers as marketing communications that lack insight is not optimised to convince and convert.

No Insight

TIP: Include marketing team members in sales meetings – albeit just as observers. Understanding the customer journey – from a prospect to repeat purchaser – along with their pain points will help with crafting more relevant, timely communication.  

 

3. Dismal New Leads Generation

The lifeline of any business is not the products, resources or even sales. You can have all the sales pouring-in now, but what about in the medium to long term? Properly aligned sales and marketing teams work together to create a lead generation, optimisation and conversion system so that every opportunity is given due attention. It’s the recipe for a successful, sustainable business.

Lean Gen

TIP: Make it rewarding – set a desired lead conversion ratio, say 20 customers converted from every 100 new leads. Reward both the sales and marketing teams if achieved. A simple trick to get the team working together towards a common goal.

 

4. Recurring Misunderstandings

Salespersons are relationship builders who like to be in the thick of things. Whereas marketing team members are generally methodological, focused and outcome-driven. Naturally, the differences in mindset and personalities can trigger the occasional clash of characters. But if there is more clashing than problem-solving, then it’s possible there’s a deeper root cause.

Misunderstanding

TIP: Usually there is only one or two persons causing the friction, which unfortunately affects everyone. Identify the ‘troublemakers’ and do an intervention to establish a transparent, respectful culture with open communication.

 

5. Group Meetings are One-sided

Well-synced sales and marketing divisions often contribute, comment, and even disagree equally in meetings, all for the greater good. But if only one side is doing all the talking and the other side look like they rather be elsewhere then this could be a sign of animosity and divisiveness.

Group Meeting

TIP: Let the quiet lead the way – let the quieter of the two sides run the meeting once in a while as an avenue to be heard and add value. This also provides the alpha side a different perspective to things and may lead to increased collaboration and inter-departmental teamwork.

 

According to stats from the Precision Marketing Group, companies with good sales and marketing synergy can expect up to 208% more ROI from marketing efforts. Pretty eye-opening.

Especially now, with the global economy ravaged, ensuring your sales and marketing teams are aligning their efforts could be the best way to get more from existing resources. Every little effort counts, especially when both sales and marketing skills are needed at every stage of the customer journey.

With bottom lines at stake – it’s truly time to sync-up and quite possibly sink the competition. Good luck!

 

Rest or React?

The one lesson that us marketers should learn from this pandemic is this:

Nothing is guaranteed

No matter how well-strategised, thoroughly planned and carefully crafted your marketing efforts are, external elements are only a sneeze away to put a bug in the system.

Over these few unprecedented months, I have personally seen businesses fold, budgets dry up and projections cut. It’s all doom and gloom with lowered optimism and rising depression. I guess the only comfort (in a way) is knowing that no one is spared as the impact is far and wide across the entire world.

Lesson one is learned, yes? Fortunately, there is also another lesson from all of this:

Reaction is everything

Yeah, we’re down. But definitely not out. In this same few months, I’ve also seen businesses (and average folks) rise to the challenge. One of the clients I work with pivoted to a completely unfamiliar territory of selling face masks and PPEs – a reaction that was needed to keep salaries and overheads taken care of.

While most of us were ‘zooming’ during the lockdown, many people began their journey into online and social selling. I’ve been asked to join so many Facebook groups and pages that all I see in my newsfeed now are products that can be delivered to my doorstep. A small price to pay for supporting acquaintances I suppose.

Then there are those with reduced or sudden loss of income that have become e-hailing drivers, food deliverers, personal shoppers, home-based caterers, part-time bakers and the most novel yet – magician turned durian seller.

Such resilience, adaptability and dogged persistence is something that we can emulate as marketers.

Marketing Reaction

But first, you need to have a strong brand foundation, insightful market knowledge and a sound communication strategy that considers every aspect of your business. Because I am pretty sure the ones that are surviving in the face of the current adversity, are those who are firmly grounded and strong in character to begin with.

While click-through-rates or the number of likes and shares do provide great metrics, they are not the end all be all. Building a synergistic and holistic marketing blueprint – though time consuming and tedious – is an investment that all businesses must consider, especially in these lean and uncertain times. I know, budgets may be as slim as the government’s majority in parliament, but there are always methods to do more with less.

Granted, we may not see pre-Covid levels of economic activity for at least a year, or possibly two. So why bother? It may seem logical to take a cautious approach until things somewhat recover and only then start to pay attention to your marketing efforts again.

But while you rest, there may be others in your market segment that are building alternate lead generation, sales and fulfilment channels. They perhaps may be putting efforts into improving page rank by revamping and optimising their websites. Essentially, they could be seizing the opportunities that are abound in the digital, social and interactive ecosystems.

These efforts may not bear fruit now. But once the market is mask-free, those who made a head start will be the ones to reap the rewards first.

One of the largest pharmaceutical companies Pfizer just a couple of days ago announced that they have successfully concluded initial trials for a Covid19 vaccine. In fact, there are 8 other vaccines being developed independently by other countries and pharmas, all showing good promise.

It seems like it is only a matter of time before the pandemic ends – I know, this sound like bold optimism because we have acclamatised to all the doom and gloom.

Nevertheless, the question now is do we rest and recuperate or react and take charge?

 

The Call-ing

I got a call recently confirming a fact I discovered some time ago, something I knew about around the time I set off as a freelance copywriter.

The call I received was from one of the creative talent agencies. Yes, I was being headhunted, even though I have no idea how they have my details in their database.

Anyway, to have a talent agency contact someone who’s not been actively looking for a job for the last 4 years or so means either one of two things:

  1. They have absolutely no idea who they are calling, which from a talent agency specializing in advertising talents is in my book an epic fail
  2. The ad industry is really, really desperate for copywriters and have instructed their recruiters to go all out in search of candidates

To confirm the situation, I prodded the person on the other end of the call. “How’s the market for copywriters these days?” I asked. She replied, and I quote “agencies are looking left, right and centre for copywriters”.

The reply made me feel I had prophetic powers. I knew it, I knew it all along!

Copybox
So many things to write, so little copywriters left…

Yes, the lack of copywriters in Malaysia, especially good ones, has been one of the contributing factors in my relative success a freelancer for the last 3 years or so.

It is a trend that I noticed even when I was employed, gentle winds of change that has now culminated in an imperfect storm.  Imperfect for agencies, perfect for me… I’m actually in demand.

So let’s celebrate, yes? No.

I believe the Malaysian ad industry truly had this situation coming. In fact, a lot of people in the higher-ups knew about the scarcity of good writers, but just didn’t do anything about it.

Here’s some advise ala gratis to all agencies out there. Hey, I’m a 16-year veteran who has written for everything from TVCs to T&Cs, so listen up:

  1. Don’t treat our work as fillers to art. We are not just caption writers spoiling nice images with those ugly words. Yes, nice images attract attention, but solid and sometimes lengthy copy retains interest and helps convert.
  2. We may make it look easy, but it isn’t. While the demands of advertising have evolved, we copywriters still work with the basics; our thoughts and a keyboard. There are no apps, software or tools for us. Give us time, and respect.
  3. Don’t let us fly solo all the time. While there could be an art director and two designers in a team, copywriters are often left to fend for themselves. Dedicate more hands for copy development, two copy heads are better than one… right?

I feel copywriting has always been second fiddle to art direction, at least in the Malaysian context. Much emphasis is given to art; with art directors and designers enjoying better career prospects compared to copywriters.

Then there’s no wonder why the influx of copywriters have stagnated over recent years. Not many people can handle the merciless, under-appreciated and often underpaid nature of the profession.

But no disrespect to the art-based players in the industry. I’ve worked with many exceptional ones and truly believe they are creative wizards given the constraints, deadlines and demands of a fast-evolving ad scene.

I just wish – now that the year is drawing to a close – the decisions makers pay more attention to the development of great copywriting talents.

A rather cerebral New Year wish, but for the good of the game, I hope it becomes a reality.

Cheers to all the copywriters out there – employed or otherwise – you do it because it is your calling.

Happy New Year!

Can Advertising Salvage a Bad Product?

Not surprisingly, politics and advertising are considered to be the two least trusted professions in the world.

Every 4 years or so, these two groups of professionals often team up to create misleading… errr… I mean awe-inspiring ads about how everything is hunky dory in the country.

You may have seen these politically-driven ads recently, which I assume are supposed to instill nationalistic pride and encourage us to support the status quo.

Shouting Man
Advertising a bad product can be a real pain

But more and more people now realise that what these ads are ‘selling’ aren’t that good, sometimes just plain bad.

That’s because the boom in alternative views from independent news sites and blogs often discredit efforts by the mainstream players. And of course social media helps spread alternative news very effectively.

William Bernbach – one of the pioneers of modern advertising – once said:

“A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it’s bad”.

It’s like watching an awesome movie trailer, where a combination of fast-paced editing, a stirring soundtrack and teasing dialogues is delivered in two minutes. And then you go watch the movie and realise you might as well been watching paint dry for the last two hours.

Sure enough, when any of your friends wants to watch the same movie, you’d probably not recommend it. This ripple of ‘thumbs-down’ will almost certainly make this movie a flop.

There are many ‘trailers’ on TV these days illustrating a progressive, modern and united Malaysia, provided our votes are cast to oppose change. While I’m not writing the creators of these ads off, I just hope I’m not forced to watch the actual drama for the next four years either.

Let the mud-slinging begin!

Whoa! Top 3…

A lot of things have been said – by many people – about Search Engine Optimization or SEO for blogs. Now is my turn, and here they are:

  1. Content is really king, especially if it is shareable content. Also, please stick to your context or keywords and never ramble.
  2. Never, ever employ black or grey-hat techniques. Goggle is extremely smart these days, you’ll regret it.
  3. Be persistent… keep those blog posts coming. If you write insightful, relevant and shareable content, your ranking will rise.
  4. Have patience. It takes time to get onto the first page… usually years. And years more to have Top Half presence.
  5. Believe in yourself. A lot of people will laugh at your efforts, sometimes to the point of ridicule. Give them the finger!

Now, I am not an SEO expert. But I have been running a blog close to 3 years. And truth be told this blog has generated more leads that anything else for my copywriting business.

Although I’m not the type to trumpet myself, check these out:

Google Ranking 1
For the keyword 'Copywriter' in Google.com.my - Click to Enlarge >
Google Ranking 2
For the keywords 'Freelance Copywriter Malaysia' in Google.com.my - Click to Enlarge >
Google Ranking 3
For the keywords 'Malaysia Copywriter' in Google.com - Click to Enlarge >

And that’s my 2 cents about SEO. Cheers to micro businesses!