The profession of corporate writing is broken, and we have no one but ourselves to blame. True, we’re charged to do more work than ever before, in less time and with fewer resources. But our response isn’t working. Instead of creating solutions, we’re taking shortcuts. And along with way, forgetting many of the guiding principles of our craft.
We’re allowing ‘content’ to replace copywriting. And copywriting to replace thinking. Content mills plague the online world with five-dollar articles. And far too many copywriters churn out endless tactics with no strategic foundation. In other words, copy without an underlying message to guide its creation.
Fortunately, those who see the problem are in a perfect position to solve it. All we have to do, is do it.
My contribution to the solution? For several years, I’ve been developing what I call Sales Message Marketing. It’s a discipline that requires me to identify and articulate a clear, concise and compelling message before I ever write the first word of actual copy. By following this discipline (since 1999), I’ve discovered seven insights, which I’d like to share with you now:
Introducing The 7 Insights of Sales Message Marketing:
- What you say is more important than how you say it. Message (what you say) guides copy (how you say it).
- The simpler you say it, the more you will be believed. Intuitively, you know it’s true. The science of cognitive fluency proves it’s true.
- Your message should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. Think a problem through all the way to end. Once you’ve found the simple answer, get out of its way. Don’t embellish it.
- An effective message improves your marketing ROI. The right message reconnects marketing with its original purpose: to communicate business vision and support sales goals. Messaging quantifies marketing’s value.
- An efficient message saves 30% of your time, effort and money. Never start a marketing communications project from scratch again. Even better, start with the most effective message every time.
- Messaging skill is more valuable than industry experience. In fact, the discipline of Sales Message Marketing is a proven way to uncover the most relevant, high differentiated story in any industry–regardless of the corporate writer’s level of experience in it.
- Managing your Corporate Messaging Platform is a process, not a project. There are always new audiences to add and messages to tweak, based on what’s currently relevant to each audience.
If you believe like me that corporate writing needs a fresh approach now more than ever, I urge you to adopt some or all of these insights as well. Try you hand at developing a Corporate Messaging Platform, based on these seven insights. Join this community. And become a voice for improvement in a profession rife with incremental thinking and mediocre results.
9 Comments for this entry
-
It will always remain true for written copy that the “matter” will always trump the “manner.”
I agree with you there, and I think that the glut of “content” bots and copymills may have made us more important, but it hasn’t made our lives easier.
Thanks for offering to clear some clutter, Andy. Consider it reposted!
-
As a relative newbie in the world of freelance copywriting I’m finding it very annoying to compete with empty $5 copy. I’m doing my best to learn everything I can about marketing so that I can market myself as something more than just a “content writer.”
Thank you for the helpful insight. -
Mike Pascale
September 3rd, 2010 on 11:33 amThanks for articulating what many of us have been thinking, Andy. Though the main question remains: What good is all that wonderful insight if your clients only dole out five-dollar articles and have no desire to be educated?
Thanks,
Mike
Andy Bartling
September 1st, 2010 on 3:38 am