Much of our marketing thinking these days has been segmented and targeted. And while that’s absolutely necessary in terms of making the most of our marketing dollars, giving readers a personalized offer, and increasing our return on investment, it unnecessarily makes us think our approaches to marketing through different formats have to be different, too.
Luckily, many of the same strategies and principles we use for marketing in print also work for marketing online and vice versa. Here are three of them:
· Think like a journalist. In particular, we mean focus on the most important stuff first and place it front and center. Reporters learn to write articles for readers who likely will start but not finish an article, so they place all the key information—answers to the Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? questions—at the beginning of their copy so that readers don’t miss out on key information, should they choose to jump ship before getting to the end of the article. Highlighting key benefits or news first on a web page, in a direct mail letter, or in a brochure will ensure your readers know your #1 reason for reaching out to them and the benefit of them reading more.
· Format for scanners. That means using more lists instead of paragraphs when possible, keeping paragraphs short, leaving plenty of white space, and using headings and subheads to not only highlight key topics, but also to direct the eye. You want to give your readers a reason to invest their time and attention in your marketing. Giving them quick, scannable, and condensed bites of your key topics will highlight your content and your offer and encourage readers to read more.
· Include a call-to-action. On every page! We don’t always think about giving our readers instructions on every panel of a brochure or on every page of a website, but we should. Something as simple as “Keep reading to learn how this book can simplify the way you do business” is enough to pique readers’ interest and keep them going. And while you may not think there’s anything to “act” on on an “About Us” page, you would be missing an opportunity to connect with a prospect if you didn’t add an “I want to save now” button with your text.
Changing technologies and consumer preferences keep us on our toes and have us learning new skills and approaches all the time. It’s nice to know, however, that some strategies still work and work in a variety of settings.