Don't Let These Copywriting Creepy-Crawlies Haunt Your Halloween

Boo! Okay, I know it's hard to scare people with all the tired old Halloween cliches. These days, October 31st is more about dressing up in goofy costumes, handing out treats to kids, and sharing some laughs at parties. Even finding a genuinely scary movie gets harder as our society grows increasingly jaded. However, I submit that ineffective or self-sabotaging marketing content merits a shudder for any business owner trying to bring in new customers while retaining the current ones. With that in mind, perhaps you should take this coming Halloween as your cue to watch out for the following copywriting creepy-crawlies.

The Mummified Blog

How long has your blog patiently awaited its newest entry? The longer you let it sit stagnant, the more it dried up into a useless, mummified husk as a marketing tool. Readers who enjoyed your previous posts may wonder what happened to you. Did you simply give up on providing engaging content to your target audience? Did you actually go out of business? Are you out of relevant insights concerning your industry or profession? Even people who are stumbling upon your blog for the first time may notice the extreme age of the last entry you posted. A mummified blog isn't just poor marketing; it's anti-marketing.

The Invisible Website

H. G. Well's story "The Invisible Man" has offered plenty of scares for readers and moviegoers over the decades, with its tale of a scientist whose ability to make himself invisible leads to madness, mayhem, and murder. In the world of marketing, invisibility can and should send a different kind of chill down your spine. Take your website, for example. A website lacking properly optimized content will likely get driven to the bottom of the search results pages, made all but totally invisible by your competitors' more relevant content. "Borrowed" content can produce a similarly deadly outcome, since Google slaps websites down for anything it regards as potential plagiarism. Duplicating large chunks of your own content can hurt your website's performance as well. You put a lot of time, effort and money into your virtual storefront, so don;t let it disappear.

The Poisoned Apple

Witches figure prominently in Halloween lore, and few witches are more familiar in popular culture than the witch in "Snow White" -- she of the poisoned apple that can put you to sleep indefinitely, or at least until a handsome prince wakes you with a kiss. Does your current marketing content have the same effect on your target audience? Brochure, website, blog, or sales letter content that takes forever to get to the point or tries to explain every little thing about a business works like a sedative. At best, your prospective clients won't remember what they just read; at worst, they'll stop reading almost instantly and come away with a negative impression. Cut the padding and focus on keeping your audience awake. If necessary, engage a professional copywriter to act as your Prince Charming by creating content that wakes up your marketing.

Reputation Trick or Treat

Trick or treat isn't all candy and costumes. If you've ever had your lawn T.P.d or your windows egged, you know all too well how angry tricksters can turn the holiday into a big, ugly mess. Well, angry or disappointed customers can make a similar mess of your online reputation, especially if you don't respond to their ranting, abusive comments on your social media pages. Don't let angry, bitter Yelp reviews or other destructive feedback soil your online reputation. Always reply to negativity with positivity, responding to negative reviews in a gentle, constructive, helpful manner. This approach will be noticed and appreciated by others who see that you really do care about your customers' experience. If you don't trust yourself to respond with the necessary civility and grace, contact me and let me write those rebuttals for you.

Have a happy (and profitable) Halloween!

Why Your Marketing Video Needs a Script

Video plays a huge role in many brands' marketing strategies, and for good reason. Google owns YouTube, after all, so a viral video on that platform can do wonders for your online footprint. TikTok offers similar appeal in a shorter, more casual format. Unfortunately, too many business owners think that all they need to create the next great video marketing campaign is a decent camera. Even if you invest a considerable sum on professional videography, you can still end up with a meandering, ineffective final product. What's missing, you ask? The script, I answer. Here's why you need to add this crucial piece to your video marketing puzzle.

A Script Communicates Your Message

The last thing you want when making a marketing video is to neglect the actual marketing message you want to communicate. But that's what often happens when you try to improvise your way through the spoken narration. An experienced video copywriter knows how to craft narration that places the marketing message front and center. This specialist also understands how to call for specific visuals at the perfect moments so the words and pictures work together for the most powerful impressions possible.

A Script Provides Structure

What shape will your marketing video take? Without a written framework, you may have no clue until you view the final cut -- and the process of getting to that final cut will be a needlessly messy and frustrating one. When you write the script first, you've got a bird's-eye view of the entire video that lays everything out clearly for you, your marketing department, and your video team. Does the opening feel too wordy? Do the internal points need rearranging? Do you like the transition into the closing moments? When you have a script, you can make those adjustments on paper much more easily than once the cameras start rolling.

A Script Can Save You Money

I know your first reaction to this subheader is, "Wait, hiring a professional to write a script costs money." Maybe so, but I can all but guarantee that you'd lose more money through the cracks of a sloppy production that you'd spend on a scriptwriter's services. Time really is money in the video production world. You're paying your videographer, director, editor, and any necessary crew members some pretty substantial hourly or daily wages -- the more disorganized or difficult the shoot, the more billable hours those professionals will need to put in to create a presentable final result. When they're working from a script, they're all literally on the same page. That means less confusion, fewer between-takes discussions or arguments, and less chance that the team will miss some crucial shot or other and have to schedule an expensive reshoot. Spend a little more up front so you won't end up spending a lot more later.

Now that you see the value of a professional-quality script, you're probably wondering where to find  a professional-quality scriptwriter who also knows marketing inside out. Not to worry, because I've been writing video scripts for business for 25 years. Contact me today, and let's talk about your video venture!