It's the awards season, presumably so that the organisers can host the awards ceremony in the autumn, before the Christmas rush. Several clients in different sectors have asked for my help in preparing an entry for their specific industry award.
Here are my 4 tops tips...
Entering an award is little like taking an exam, so remember:
Constantly refer back to the 'questions' (the criteria) to ensure you give the judges exactly what they want
Rather than making vague claims, supply hard evidence in the form of statistics and customer quotes
Keep to the wordcount - judges do notice if you go over! Give enthusiastic colleagues a strict wordcount and ask them to highlight what is and what isn't a 'must include' in their contribution
Don't make any assumptions - avoid jargon, product names and technology references that the judges may never have heard of - easier said than done, of course
Contact me for more help with copywriting a (hopefully) successful award entry.
Good news! The Chartered Institute of Marketing has confirmed my Chartered Marketer staus for another twelve months.
That's good news for me - nice to have one's skills, experience and achievements noted - and good news for my clients, as it helps to keep my marketing knowledge current and gives me insight into top trends and issues for marketers.
One of the really impressive benefits of digital marketing is the ability to measure exactly how many of the target audience have clicked on, opened, read and/or forwarded content.
It's very rewarding when clients can feedback precisely on metrics such as:
The coverage received for press releases posted online
The number of retweets
The number of readers for a white paper
The number of times content appears in Google News searches
For example, one client recently wrote...
"We published the new white paper in our newswires yesterday and we’ve had hundreds of leads - over 500 already, in fact. Great forward rates too so it seems the readers are really valuing the content and either opening lots of times or forwarding to multiple colleagues. All good news for us!"
Good to know that involving M squared achieves measurable results!
I'm delighted to be working with Shock Electrical, who undertake large, prestigious electrical, lighting, communications and renewable energy projects across the South East. Shock Electrical have been successfully operating for ten years and now want to take their marketing to the next level.
First stop: a new website - and enter M squared.
Shock Electrical were referred to me by London-based Livewire Home Integration, for whom I helped to create a completely new website last year. Livewire do amazing 'automated home' installations (audiophile grade listening rooms, home cinema, intelligent security...) and working with them was a fascinating insight into how the other half lives!
Visit Livewire's website at www.livewireintegration.com to see the end product (with some cool design by Oculus Design of Reading).
An inspiring tale for any aspiring entrepreneur...
I was fortunate to be asked to interview the absolutely delightful Shaun Pulfrey by a client. They provide the software that Shaun uses in his highly successful Tangle Teezer business. Shaun was set to present at their annual customer conference and my article was to feature in their pre-event publicity.
Tangle Teezer is a revolutionary ingenious hair detangling tool specially designed to effortlessly and painlessly remove. Shaun drew on over three decades of experience as a celebrity colour technician and spent four years on research and development to create the Tangle Teezer.
Building the business hasn’t been all plain sailing. Back in October 2007, when Shaun sought an investor prepared to take a 15% stake in the business, none of the five Dragons on the BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ could be persuaded to support him.
But all publicity is good publicity and, ever the optimist, Shaun remained resolutely upbeat: “It was valuable experience and gave the product some marvellous exposure. In fact, it made me even more determined to make a go of Tangle Teezer.”
The Dragons’ loss was Shaun’s gain and having the courage of his convictions paid dividends. Growth has been nearly 700% over the intervening three years.
Today, chiefly through word-of-mouth recommendation, the Tangle Teezer has become a phenomenon and Shaun is adding to the range all the time. It’s available in over 1,500 salons nationwide and globally and its following has spread beyond the hair styling community. Even the hard-to-please TV personality Anne Robinson enthuses, “Tangle Teezer is the strongest link!"
There's a message there about 'If at first you don't succeed...'
btw, Shaun said of our interview: "It's not often that I get to work so closely on an article about my business, and it has been been a very enjoyable experience."
I was delighted when, at a major Thames Valley business event, Gina Allsop, MD of Close Protection Angels Ltd, won the prize I’d contributed of marketing communications consultancy.
Gina has had a fascinating career. She set up the Windsor-based security company 2009 to meet increasing demand in an uncertain world for reliable, flexible security services. Her background includes a successful career in the British Special Forces working within, as Gina terms it, ‘the female equivalent of the SAS’ and managing security at Westfield London, Europe’s largest shopping centre.
Since opening for business, CPA’s client base has expanded to include major events such as Glastonbury Festival, commercial businesses such as Cammell Laird, and law enforcement agencies such as Merseyside Police. At any time, members of her team might be patrolling a public event or providing protection to celebrities and other high-profile individuals. Incidentally, ‘close protection’ is the security industry’s formal term for bodyguards.
CPA also provides organisations and individuals with expert consultancy to counter threats such as terrorist attack, organised crime, industrial sabotage and counter-surveillance. Exciting stuff!
I worked with Gina to equip her with professional copywriting for sales letters that would help her to reach out to major prospects in event and retail management. Along the way, we discussed the many issues involved in running a successful marketing communications campaign, among them:
Creating the right first impression – keeping all messaging clear, accurate and simple
Understanding where the customer is coming from and homing right in on their ‘pain points’ and motivations
Establishing a dialogue by offering a ‘fulfilment piece’ of a white paper or top tips
The opportunities presented by the new networking media, such as LinkedIn and blogging
Gina commented that: “This was definitely the best prize I could have picked!” We're now looking forward to working together on the CPA website.
...is the force behind M squared Corporate Communications - and has been for an amazing 20+ years! M squared helps businesses and organisations to get their message across on-line, in print, and in the media.
