How to Keep Your Marketing Positive (Without Sounding Stupid)

If you're like many people who encounter a flood of marketing and advertising content on a daily basis these days, any phrase that begins with "In these uncertain times..." may prompt you to retire to a darkened room or throw a brick at your computer/TV/radio. Businesses are understandably struggling to capture the right tonal mix of sympathy, reassurance, realism, and optimism in their marketing messaging during the current pandemic. How do you keep your target market engaged, positive, and enthusiastic without sounding like Pollyanna or sounding totally ignorant about the current state of affairs?

This question doesn't just apply to the current scenario; it's something that comes up time and time again. From terrorist attacks and declarations of war to epidemics and financial collapses, businesses have to find a way to market their brand, products, or services successfully if they want to survive. So how might you present a clearly positive message that transcends the times without trivializing or denying them? Here are some tips that may help.

Adopt a Can-Do Attitude

People facing tough situations often experience a stressful lack of efficacy, the feeling that they can't fight back against whatever's threatening their well-being, especially during a global challenge such as a pandemic or a world war. But recall famous wartime images such as Rosie the Riveter. A strong, positive, can-do attitude can help your audience feel more empowered to seek answers, solutions, and workarounds instead of falling onto a state of confused helplessness.

Lead by Example

What steps can your organization take to send positive ripples out through your community? Can you sponsor food drives, health awareness webinars, job fairs, or other helpful activities? Can you produce blog articles, email blasts, videos, or other marketing content that offers clever, practical ideas and advice for combating various challenges? By taking action in this manner, you not only provide genuine assistance to those in need; you also show your brand taking strong, positive steps against negative circumstances. People respond to that kind of inspiration.

Pay Attention to Your Verbiage

Your choice of words, phrases, and writing mechanics can affect your marketing tone in subtle but meaningful ways. Want to grab people's attention with a no-nonsense attitude? Use short words and sentences. Want to sound more optimistic? Keep your sentence structures positive, avoiding words like "don't," "won't," can't" or "never." Avoiding opening with well-meaning but Debbie Downer phrases such as "In these uncertain times" or "Times are hard right now." Even if you quickly pivot from there to a more positive place, you've already cast a pall over your marketing content. Tip your hat to the times, yes, but couch the realism in a positive context. ("Do you want to have a fantastic, unforgettable evening without risking public contact?" etc.)

You can excite and inspire your audience in just about any situation as long as you find a clear-eyed but positive way to market what you do and what you're all about. Contact me if you'd like some professional help getting the (right) word out!

3 Reasons You Need More Than One Marketing Content Writer

You've always counted on your faithful go-to copywriter to provide your business with a steady supply of web content, blog articles, video scripts, press releases, sales letters, and print marketing content as needed. Whether that marketing content writer works as an independent contractor or occupies a place on your in-house payroll, you've got all your bases covered -- or have you?

In reality, most organizations can benefit greatly from reliable access to more than one copywriter. Let's look at three compelling reasons why.

1. Your Regular Copywriter Might Not Be the Best Fit

When a business owner tells me that he has a regular freelance or in-house copywriter, I always say, "You do? Great! How's that arrangement been working out for you so far?" You'd be surprised how many times the business owner confesses that not every writing assignment gets done on time or yields the desired results. I had a client who used me for various assignments but resisted asking me for blog articles on the grounds that "We get those for free from our web developer." After the client finally got tired of paying me to rewrite those woefully inadequate articles, he finally starting hiring me simply to draft good ones from scratch.

Even a copywriter who routinely produces high-quality work isn't always the best fit for every kind of job. Some writers naturally excel at short-form marketing content, for instance, while others really hit their stride with marketing plans or e-book manuscripts. When you know multiple copywriters, you can match them up with what they do best.

2. Your Regular Copywriter Might Get Swamped

Most copywriters know how to manage their time reasonably well and churn out decent content faster than the average bear. Even so, any worker (in any field) has a maximum workload, beyond which projects will inevitably get backed up. As your organization expands its client base, products/services list, and marketing reach, you'll work your current copywriter or copywriting team harder and harder. Sooner or later, something's got to give -- and when it does, your marketing suffers.

When you have some extra freelance copywriters in your Rolodex, you can always expand your writing bullpen whenever necessity requires it, such as the preparation of a major rebranding effort or new marketing initiative. You can then go back to your usual writing setup until the next big seasonal push or new campaign calls for a larger pool of creative talent.

3. Your Regular Copywriter Might Disappear

Like other employees, copywriters can come and go. Your staff copywriter might need to ask for maternity leave, take weeks or months off for a medical procedure or family emergency, or even quit altogether to pursue some other line of work. Freelance copywriters can also pull a powder from time to time for whatever reason. What do you do when you suddenly have nobody on hand to keep cranking the marketing content machine?

Even if you have a top-class writer who always comes through for you, it only makes good sense to know another writer, or several writers, who can bail you out when and if a sudden change shakes up your talent roster. A freelance copywriter can leap onto the scene and help you out until you find another in-house writer -- or indefinitely, for that matter.

Do you need to beef up your marketing resources and capabilities? Start up connecting with freelance copywriters like me!