We all have. He crafted some text for a website, brochure, ad, or direct marketing piece on the fly and then edited it into the layout to make it more appropriate for the vehicle. Sometimes this is necessary due to time and other resource constraints, but ultimately it can be a deciding factor in the effectiveness of your marketing communication vehicles, much more expensive and time consuming.
I’ve said it before, but it’s important enough to say it again: In marketing messages, you have to live by the “repeat, repeat, repeat” tirade. If you say the same thing, in the same way, over and over again, eventually your audience will be able to repeat your message in exactly the way you want it to be told. And then they tell two friends about it, and so on. Now, among many other positive results (such as efficiency), your brand not only gains notoriety, but relevance.
So how can you tame the content beast?
Writing effective marketing copy for websites, brochures, and other marketing communication pieces efficiently requires not only talent for copywriting, but also the ability to create a structure that can be reused across all vehicles consistently. Over the years, I have helped many clients update their marketing materials to reflect a clear, compelling and consistent message, ending with the only tool needed to reuse their content in new materials consistently and efficiently: the Specification of content. The truth is, taming the content beast takes a bit of effort at first, but it can be easier if you follow these steps:
- Audit your materials. First review all your business marketing materials (direct mail, brochures, website, press releases, media kit, etc.) and conduct an audit. Take note of what content is used, inconsistencies you find, and content gaps that may simply be missing or inaccurate in each piece.
- Identify “Reusable Content”. Once you have completed your audit, you should now be able to identify or create the content that will be reused across all vehicles in a Content Specification. I recommend that you document your specification in Word, as it is easy to copy and paste into all kinds of design applications. At a minimum, your content specification should include your company and product positioning (in 25-, 50-, and 100-word versions), brand history (the background to how it came to be), brand identity (logo , slogans, etc.), and contact information. These elements must be present in every piece of marketing communication. Be sure to store the Content Specification somewhere where it can be located and used by anyone responsible for content creation.
- Enter your content. The final step is to take the content from your Content Specification and incorporate it into each of your existing marketing pieces, taking great care to ensure that any edits you make in the process are reflected in the master spec.
Now that you have a structure for your marketing content, you can quickly put the copy of the new pieces together and make sure your marketing pieces work better together as a system.
During this process, you may discover that your company messages are no longer relevant and must be updated before proceeding. If this is the case, you may want to hire an outside resource to help you develop the consistency you need. A third party brings an outside perspective and objectivity that are essential to creating clear and compelling messages for all types of audiences.
With a comprehensive approach to content creation and execution, you can put the power of replay to work for your business. Creating a content specification enables you to cost-effectively create consistent marketing messages and ensures that your team can use it efficiently at all times.