Words carry emotion. Words like hope, freedom, desire, sale and cheap inspire emotional reactions deep in the limbic system. Given the power of these emotion associations, it’s no surprise that copywriters use them to propel people to action. Yet, there are potential pitfalls. Let’s look at how different companies are using emotional language to see what’s working and what’s not.
We all know that B2B marketing differs from B2C. B2B’s longer and more complex buying process has implications for marketing — and your web copy. Here are some tips to get your B2B web copy right.
Humour is a great way to sell. It catches people’s attention, engages them, and injects an element of humanity into otherwise static information. People love to be entertained, and if you can keep them amused while promoting your products or services, then all the better (nice job, Old Spice). What’s more, humour can be a great way to distinguish yourself from the competition (take a bow, Groupon).
Good marketers and copywriters alike know the more you understand your target audience, the better job you can do writing and delivering your message. Sure demographics help — age, location, marital status, ethnicity and religion. But you’ll have a much richer understanding of your ideal customer if you get to know their psychographics — their lifestyles, behaviors and attitudes.
Does your website content confuse visitors or inspire them to take action?
The single most crucial function of any business website is to get people to act, whether it involves calling you, emailing you, buying your product online, or getting off their butts and into your store. Writing in the passive voice is often awkward and confusing, and does not induce desired action.
Some companies post fluff on the web as a marketing strategy. We’ve all seen it: “helpful” articles written without the benefit of a decent encyclopedia by writers paid pennies per post. Until recently, Google’s preference for content-heavy sites rewarded these content farms with improved search rankings.
In February, Google took steps to downgrade the search rankings of high volume, low quality sites by making a significant adjustment to it’s algorithm. In April, Google expanded its algorithm change from just U.S. sites to all English-language sites. By some estimates, visibility of some of these sites fell as much as 94% after Google’s initial adjustment.
But fluff isn’t just limited to content farms. Could your site get caught in Google’s fluff reduction efforts? How much of your website is fluff?
FAQs are questions your website visitors and customers frequently ask. But sometimes you need to ask yourself: “Why do they keep asking these same questions?”
The answer could mean there are problems with your website content. What message are you not getting across? What information do people often have problems finding?
In this inaugural edition of Are You Really Gonna Search That?, Opticon makes a peculiar discovery while conducting keyword research for a snowmobiling company in Whistler, BC.
Did you forego your venti half-sweet hazelnut soy latte habit to experiment with a pay-per-click ad campaign this month? We’re offering some tips to help you get started, so you can sleep tight knowing you didn’t renounce your coffee princess throne for nothing.
Dear business owner,
We know vision, mission and value statements make you feel warm and fuzzy. They may even make a few of your keenest employees feel giddy. But inflicting them on your website visitors is cruel, and it’s time to put a stop this sleep-inducing torture.
