when it comes to winning the trust of your audience ... · when it comes to winning the trust of...

VOLUME 1.3

■ GREEN TALK■ WRITING GREAT CASE STUDIES■ CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINTS

CONTENT IS KINGWhen it comes to winning the trust of your audience

It’s GREAT to be King !!!

Willow Printing Group Ltd., 90 Edilcan Drive, Concord, ON L4K 3S5 T905.660.1515 F905.660.0733 [email protected] www.willowprint.com

Being “King” means having instant access to everything the kigdom has to offer - all at your fi nger-tips!

At Willow, we have built an online resource that’s fi lled with valuable tools and information you can use to help your organization achieve its goals.

Check it out, this online resource includes:Marketing InformationTechnical ResourcesOnline Access ToolsSpecial PromotionsMailing Information

and, of course ... Printing!

TO SEE FOR YOURSELF GO TOm y . w i l l o w p r i n t . c o m / c o n t e n t m a t t e r s

Beyond Print

Editor: Karen Brouilette, Marketing Manager

Art Direction: Ian Broomhead, VP Sales and Marketing Karen Brouilette, Marketing Manager

Contributing Editors: Linda Whitehead Karen Brouillette, Marketing Manager Ian Broomhead, VP Sales and Marketing

Production: Yuval Gurr, VP Operations Bill Wright, Operations Manager

Publisher: Jeff Ekstein, President

Beyond Print is published four times a year. It is designed to serve the interests of the clients and prospective clients of Willow Printing Group Ltd. Every effort has been made to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate, however, errors and omissions are not the responsibility of Willow Printing Group.

Emails:

Jeff Ekstein [email protected]

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Production Notes

Paper: ChorusArt Gloss

Copyright 2010 Willow Printing Group Ltd.

Privacy Policy: Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of Willow Printing Group Ltd.

Six ways that together will make a mountain of diff erence to your copy’s appeal.

SUGGESTIONS FOR A BETTER READ

CONTENT IS KING

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

CUSTOMERS TOUCHPOINTS

GREEN TALK

And why is it good for me and my business ?

A roundup of updates and proud moments from under the shade of the willow.

FROM THE WILLOW TREE

WHAT IS A QR CODE ?

Sustainability, Post-Consumer Waste, FSC, PEFC, VOC. What does it all mean?

Have you ever really thought about the varied interactions prospects and customers are having with your business?

One area generating a lot of interest with regard to improving the relevancy of marketing eff orts is “Content Marketing”.

Six related mini-articles with links to essential marketing savvy.

CONTENTS

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These are interesting times for marketers. Th e face of marketing as we have known it is changing

forever. Marketers everywhere are looking for new ways to reach clients and prospects, and are realizing that a strategic approach to content is becoming the key to achieving this objective. Th ere is a lot of talk about engaging with your audience.and it’s easy to get drawn into all the hype about social media and other online forms of communication. Th e simple solution to engaging lies in your content – content drives conversations and conversations lead to engagement.

Th is marketing approach is most commonly referred to as “content marketing”. In this article we are going to explore various vehicles for content marketing in the context of the bigger picture of how to formulate your content marketing strategy. Th e goal is to acquire and retain customers using content marketing and there are numerous case studies out there of companies who have done just that. We will reference one such study found online at Marketing Profs (www.MarketingProfs.com), which clearly demonstrates just how successful content marketing can be as a strategy for lead generation.

CONTENT MARKETING DEMYSTIFIED

As renowned content marketing gurus Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett put it in their book Get Content, Get Customers: “Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what your customers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way…” On their marketing site Junta42, content marketing is defi ned as “a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defi ned and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profi table customer action”.

Here are some questions you’ll want to resolve with your team as part of establishing your content marketing strategy:

1. Set your business objectives - Ask and answer “why are we doing this? ”Is your goal lead generation, retention or both? Clearly defi ne your business goals and marketing objectives and determine your target, budget and metrics.

2. Consider your brand positioning - What do you stand for and how will that translate to and be represented consistently by your content? What will your “voice” sound like and how will you ensure that it translates consistently across all distribution channels and formats?

3. Establish the value of your content to your audience - Find out what your target audience is interested in--ask them, talk to them, and survey them. Content marketing is not a self-serving platform or a thinly disguised way to sell your product or services. You must genuinely deliver on a commitment to “give them what they want”, if you want to succeed.

4. Map out your content production - Decide who is going to produce your content and don’t be afraid to look at both internal and external resources as potential candidates for relevant content production. Industry colleagues and vendors may be interested to participate at no cost as a form of PR for their organization. And in certain circumstances it makes sense to invite your target audience to participate in creating the content they are knowledgeable and passionate about.

5. Distribution channels - How are you going to get your content to your target audience most effi ciently? Th ere are several avenues to consider, depending on audience preferences. Some examples:

■ Live events- seminars, conferences, lectures, events

■ Print media- newsletters, books, magazines, newspapers

■ Online media- email, website, blog, social networks

6. Distribution formats - Th ere are so many ways to present your content that it is mind-boggling. Understand what your audience will be most comfortable with and experiment with diff erent formats to see what works best. Mix it up to keep interest levels high and your content looking fresh. Just a few of the endless possibilities include:

■ Printed Newsletter Articles

■ Bulletins

■ Web Content

■ Video presentations

■ Webinars-live and on-demand

■ Podcasts

■ Blog posts

■ Newsletter articles

Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what your customers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way...

■ Whitepapers

■ Virtual events

■ Tweets and Facebook posts

■ E-books

And so on. Get the picture? When considering which presentation formats make the most sense, be sure to consider “ability to share easily” and opportunities for re-purposing the content and maximizing its usage. For example, you can take a blog post and translate it into an e-newsletter article, a more detailed printed newsletter article or a whitepaper.

7. Publication Schedule - Now you probably get the concept that you are really a publisher. To do this right, you have to map out a schedule with deadlines for all associated tasks and assign the appropriate resources to ensure that you meet your publication dates. Th e presses must roll when they need to roll and you can’t miss a promised publication date. Ensure the right fl ow of the right content to your audience consistently.

8. Get Feedback - Provide all the appropriate mechanisms for those who are consuming your content to let you know if it meets their needs or not. And be sure to set up the appropriate tools so you can hear the online conversations about what you are putting out there.

COMPELLING RESULTS WITH CONTENT

As alluded to above, Marketing Profs has published a great B2B content marketing success story for their members. Intellitactics, a provider of security incident and events management solutions software, had a goal of increasing lead generation. Th ey recognized that more and more, B2B

prospects are researching perspective vendors on-line prior to major purchases and saw an opportunity.

Goal - Increase lead volume and quality and help partners and internal sales improve their productivity by providing them with qualifi ed leads.

Campaign - Using noted experts in the security fi eld, Intellitactics produced fact fi lled whitepapers, podcasts and other types of content format to reach out to prospects looking to educate themselves on industry issues and solutions during the early vendor research stage. Email campaigns made prospects aware of new content every 6 to 8 weeks. Using lead scoring software, leads were qualifi ed and passed onto the sales team when the timing was right.

Results:

■ 171% increase in qualifi ed leads year over year

■ Conversion rate increased from 42% to 75% year over year

■ Revenue increased 38% year over year

Lesson Learnt - Eff ective Content Marketing requires a superior understanding of the specifi c information needs of your audience

INTEGRATE CONTENT MARKETING INTO THE MIX

You already know the benefi ts of targeted direct marketing as a measurable method of reaching your audience cost-eff ectively with relevant messaging.

Properly targeted and relevant Direct Marketing combined with Content Marketing is a powerful and meaningful way to reach out to your audience.

With the ability that variable print technologies provide for specifi cally honed personalized messaging, both consumers and B2B clients now expect content that provides value to their lives and are “turned off ” by generic messaging.

MarketingProfs agrees: “Th e key is to fi ne-tune your targeting tactics to grow your customer database with those individuals who have a true interest in your products or services. Adding 50 new and engaged customers or prospects can have a better positive net eff ect on your bottom line than adding 500 prospects who might not be as interested in what your organization has to off er.”

Consumers and B2B clients now expect content that provides value to their lives and are “turned off ” by generic messaging.

IN SUMMARY

Content Marketing has tremendous value as an integral part of your marketing mix. But remember...the content must not be self-serving – it is all about meeting the information needs of your clients and prospects in a genuine, reliable and trustworthy way. Helping educate your target audience will establish your organization as a trustworthy business partner and set you apart from companies who are only looking to pick up scraps of business from wherever they can without full consideration as to how they can provide value back to their customers. Th e real benefi t to your organization-- content providers have the opportunity over time to become known as knowledgeable and helpful long-term partners.

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Content must not be self-serving – it is all about meeting the information needs of your clients and prospects...

CREATING AN EFFECTIVE ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

An eff ective Online Marketing Strategy will contain many diff erent online elements – all

designed to electronically deliver your message to your target audience and, in return, to drive interested audience members back to your organization.

Initially you may choose to include all or some of the available components depending on your business objectives. As a starting point, you should examine each possible choice individually then determine the most suitable combination of components.

If you’re just beginning to develop an Online Marketing Strategy, it is important to understand what options are available to you and easy ways to begin the implementation process.

While the list of online tools is continually evolving, we’d like to suggest a few you might want to incorporate into your own plan.

To read more go to:www.willowprint.com/contentmatters

“SMART GREEN” IS THE NEW GREEN

One of the primary (yet often overlooked) considerations in ensuring the printing you do is

as “green” as possible, is to ensure you aren’t printing more than you need.

Let’s face it, if we went out and purchased 10 computers for our personal use at home – just in case something happened and we needed an extra few...and then, when they became obsolete, tossed them into some landfi ll – we wouldn’t consider that to be very environmentally (or fi nancially) responsible either.

So, to the point, print what you need. Take the time to clearly defi ne your target audience not only makes good “marketing sense”, it also makes very good “environmental sense”.

Creating a “Smart Green” plan is easy if you know the steps to take.


SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETERS: MIND YOUR MANNERS

It seems that lately companies, large and small, are thinking social media marketing might be the “magic pill”

that will cure the ills of small marketing budgets and limited marketing expertise – with little or no eff ort. Well, think again!

Social Media Marketing is about building relationships – an age-old marketing concept that requires much just as much thought, planning and perseverance as it ever did!

Social Media Marketing is about interacting with people to create relationships that develop trust and the kind of real understanding that can potentially lead to opportunities to off er solutions.

Understanding the protocol of how to use this tool is an important fi rst step to ensuring you use it successfully. Using manners and common courtesy in the social media arena is just as important as in any other social situation.


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WHATYOU SHOULDKNOW...

www.willowprint.com/contentmatters

When we surveyed our audience back at the beginning of 2010, we found specif c topics appeared in the preferences of over 80% of survey respondents. The six articles below will provide you with some important information on these subjects. Be sure to check out the full content at www.willowprint.com/contentmatters.

incorporate into your own plan.

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Print only what you need. Take the time to clearly def ne your target audience not only makes good marketing sense, it also makes very good environmental sense

HOW TO PRINT LESS AND INCREASE RESPONSE RATES

If you’ve been printing more or less the same items, same bulk quantities, same mass distribution

for as long as you can remember, it’s time to STOP!

Printing less, means starting with an honest audit of the printing and mailing you’ve been doing. Th e biggest challenge won’t be printing less – anyone can do that. And simply reducing the quantity without being able to maintain or improve the results will, ultimately, lead to failed marketing campaigns.

Th e real challenge is to identify ways to improve the response rate so your marketing eff orts become more eff ective – allowing you to reduce the amount you print.

When you factor in how much you might be spending on mailing or otherwise distributing your marketing materials, you’ll realize your marketing budget is likely larger than you imagine. By reducing the amount you’ll be paying for postage, you can redirect those marketing dollars to creating more targeted and relevant variable pieces to deliver your message.


THE “INS-AND-OUTS” OF EFFECTIVE EMAIL MARKETING

Saying that SPAM killed the eff ectiveness of email marketing is like saying that email

marketing killed the eff ectiveness of direct mail marketing – neither is completely true!

It is true on the other hand that doing either mass email blasts or mass direct mail campaigns – without any attention to detail; forethought regarding content; or planning for proper distribution – is likely to yield, somewhat disappointing results.

In isolation, email marketing, is moderately eff ective in distributing a message to anyone with an email address at a relatively low cost.

Th e problem has become, however, that there is so much unsolicited email being distributed that people don’t know what to read and what to discard. Often the SUBJECT line is the only guideline used in making the decision and in many cases even what might have been deemed an eff ective subject line a number of months ago now garners skepticism or worse, anger. Trying to “fool” recipients into reading your message is NEVER a good idea. Instead, there are ways you can help ensure your emails have a better than average chance of being read.


TRACKING RESULTS OF YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS

Organizations spend a large amount of time and money planning and running their

marketing programmes, but unless they have ways to track the results of these programmes, they can never really be sure which, if any, are actually working for them.

Depending on the resources you have available, tracking can be a challenging task that many, unfortunately, choose to conveniently overlook.

Measuring results means understanding and defi ning up front what the current situation is as well as what you want to achieve through your marketing eff orts.

Marketing Objectives are varied and can include such things as:

■ Increasing revenue

■ Targeting a new audience

■ Increasing awareness

■ Increasing website traffi c

■ Generating leads

■ Re-capturing customers

Depending on what you are trying to achieve and the resources you have to work with, there are a number of simple ways to track and measure Marketing Results.


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The real challenge is to identify ways to improve the response rate so your marketing efforts become more effective – allowing you to reduce the amount you print.

8

Have you ever taken a real hard look at the total experience with your company or brand from your customer’s perspective? How

about a detailed analysis of all the various customer touchpoints? Have you ever really thought about the varied interactions prospects and customers are having with your business?

A touchpoint can be defi ned as “the interface of a product, service or brand with customers, prospects, employees and other stakeholders

before, during and after a transaction.” Source: Wikipedia. Each individual touch-point conveys a particular impression to a customer or prospect, and paying attention to ensuring a consistent “encounter” with your brand or organization each and every time can reap dividends both in revenue and Customer Life Time Value (LTV). Below are suggestions for ways to go about conducting a “Customer Touchpoints” review with a “Touchpoints Checklist” to help you get started.

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Touchpoints Review – How to Get it DoneTo get the ball rolling, you may want to consider forming a small committee of managers from Sales, Marketing, Customer Service and HR and following the recommended 5 Step Process described below. Th e example used here is for a B2B organization but this review process applies just as well to B2C marketers:

Survey your customers (refer to www.willowprint.com/surveys

article for surveying tips!) for their feedback on their experience with your company or brand. Be sure to gather their assessments of how you measure up against your key competitors.

Clearly defi ne (or re-defi ne) the ideal customer experience and look at where you may be falling short based on survey results. Decide what you need to do to close any gaps between actual and desired perceptions based on touchpoints.

Identify every stage of the sales and marketing cycle from pre-approach to prospects through to repeat customer. Your list could look like this, depending on the nature of your business:

■ Pre-Approach

■ Initial Communication

■ First Call

■ Follow-up Phone Call(s)

■ Initial Appointment

■ Subsequent Appointment(s)

■ Purchase

■ Purchase Follow-Up

■ Repeat Purchase/Business Expansion

■ Ongoing Communication

■ Ongoing Customer Support

Once you have identifi ed the stages of the Sales Cycle, identify the following for each stage:

■ Identify which department has ownership

■ Th e objective

■ What information you are gathering

■ What tactics are you employing

■ What tools (touchpoints) are being utilized

■ How you are measuring and monitoring activity

Th e owner of each stage is responsible to gather all the touchpoint documentation and samples for review by the group. Th e committee needs to ensure that the messaging of each touchpoint item and all items taken together should be as cohesive as possible for best and lasting impressions. Make decisions about changes that need to be made to ensure a holistic and consistent approach to each touchpoint; and then get it done!

Warning – continuous review and revision is required – this is not a one-time exercise. Remember, you are responsible for shaping your customer’s perceptions and touchpoints are the key.

Touching up Your Touchpoints

For your reference we have compiled a list –which is by no means exhaustive – of several diff erent types of Customer Touchpoints. We thought this could act as a helpful checklist for your Touchpoints Review; and we have compiled it from the customer experience point of view.

Researching Your Company

■ Your branding

■ Your mission and vision statements

■ Your website

■ Your blog content

■ What company employees are saying on social media platforms and forums

■ Your press releases

■ Your brochures

■ Your annual report

■ All advertising*

■ Your charitable involvement and community support

■ Tradeshow- booth, materials, personnel

■ Product or service demonstrations

■ Product packaging

Being Contacted by Your Company

■ Telephone calls/Sales scripts

■ Letters/emails

■ Automatically triggered emails

■ Surveys

■ Educational materials-newsletter, podcast, webinar, whitepaper etc.

■ Promotional off ers

■ Invitations to sponsored events

■ Promotional items/gifts

■ Invoices

■ Holiday or special occasion cards

Calling Your Company

■ Receptionist or voice mail greeting

■ User-friendliness of voice mail system

■ Employee helpfulness, manner and problem-solving

Visiting Your Company

■ Building/Reception area appearance and consistency with brand image

■ Receptionist (is there one?) manner, appearance and greeting

■ Appearance of meeting rooms, offi ces

■ How are customers treated by front-line employees?

■ Experience at company and company sponsored events

*Advertising includes space advertising (magazine, internet), direct advertising (postal, email), telemarketing, personal sales (sales people, reps), media advertising (television, radio), billboard (highway signs, hallway posters, blimps)

In Summary...

It’s important to make a conscious eff ort in managing your customer’s experience with your company or brand through your touchpoints. Once you’ve tackled the “Touchpoint Review”, be sure to engage the help of experts in creating marketing pieces that will provide the right visual and messaging consistency to eff ectively build the desired customer experience across all company touchpoints.

A touchpoint can be def ned as “the interface of a product, service or brand with customers, prospects, employ-ees and other stakeholders before, during and after a transaction.”

Wikipedia

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Here are a few of the frequently used...often misused...green printing terms you might need

to understand.

Vegetable-oil based ink

Vegetable-oil based inks can be made from a variety of vegetable oils including soy-bean, corn, and linseed oils. Replacing mineral oil with vegetable oil means that you can reduce or even cut out VOC emissions.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Th ese are carbon-containing gases and vapors that are released from solvents used during the printing process.

Th e most signifi cant environmental impact of VOCs is their formation with vehicle exhaust to form photochemical smog. However, in liquid form VOCs can eff ect water and soil quality.

Th ey also have an eff ect on the health of pressroom workers and have been linked to breathing diffi culties, liver and kidney damage.

Elemental chlorine free (ECF)

Th is term is used to mean paper that is made from virgin or recycled fi bre and bleached using alternative chlorine compounds as a substitute for elemental chlorine.

Processed chlorine free (PCF)

Th is is used to mean paper that is made from recycled post-consumer waste (PCW) and bleached without chlorine, or left unbleached.

Totally chlorine free (TCF)

Th is term is used to mean paper made from 100% virgin fi bre that is bleached without chlorine, or left unbleached. It isn’t applied to recycled papers, because the source fi bre cannot be determined.

Post-consumer waste

Th is is when the end product has reached the consumer, been used and then recycled.

Pre-consumer waste

Also known as post-industrial waste, this describes printers’ waste such as off -cuts and unused copies which may have been over-ordered.

PEFC

Th e Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certifi cation Schemes is an international forest industry initiative that acts as an umbrella for many smaller national forestry schemes.

GREENTALK

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Chain of Custody

If a printer holds the FSC Chain of Custody and the paper being used in a project is FSC certifi ed, the end product can be labelled as FSC certifi ed. Th is certifi cate is about the fi bre tracking process only and ensures that there is no contamination between FSC and non-FSC material. It is not about environmental standards maintained within the factory.

Th e Forest Stewardship Council is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests and is the only certifi cation scheme endorsed by NGOs worldwide.

Th e number of FSC-certifi ed forests is growing rapidly, covering 84 million hectares worldwide – about 10% of the world’s production forest.

Forests are inspected and certifi ed against the 10 principles and criteria of Forest Stewardship, which take into account environmental, social and economic factors.

In addition to forest management and certifi cation, the FSC Chain of Custody tracks the timber from the forest to the paper mill and then to the printer.

SUSTAINABILITY POST-CONSUMER WASTE FSC PEFC VOC…

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K

There are three types of FSC Certif ed paper:

FSC Mixed Sources

Th e Mixed Sources label states that at least 50 per cent of the virgin fi bre must come from FSC certifi ed forests with the remaining percentage from ‘controlled sources’. Recycled waste can also be included up to a maximum of 90%. Th e majority of FSC certifi ed materials featured on Lovely as a Tree carry this label.

Controlled sources exclude:

■ illegally harvested timber

■ forests where high conservation values are threatened

■ genetically modifi ed organisms

■ violation of peoples’ civil and traditional rights

■ wood from forests harvested for the purpose of converting the land to plantations or other non-forest use

100% FSC

No explanation needed!

FSC Recycled

Th ese papers are made from 100% post-consumer waste by FSC accredited mills.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

IDEA 1: Do More with Less

The over saturation of advertising in the market has desensitized audiences to bold type and large

logos. Doing more with less is not only a great money saving practice, but also a great way to utilize resources without producing excess waste.

As part of an Integrated Marketing Strategy, the internet has given print designers a wonderful opportunity to deliver the core message with print work and leave the details for the web – delivering a powerful 1-2 punch. Remember...Bigger isn’t necessarily better! Th ere is no need to print a tabloid sized fl yer when a 4×6 postcard will do. If you can deliver your message in 16 pages, why use 24? Making the most of a little is not only eco-friendly, but will keep your print and mail costs down. Keeping your message short and memorable is best practice in any media. Use your printed materials to generate interest and your website to educate and go in-depth.

IDEA 2: Print with Eco-friendly Materials

Th is is one of the simplest ways to go green in print design. Utilizing post-consumer, recycled and/or biodegradable materials to print enables you to execute the design you want without limitation. It is also a great tool to demonstrate your corporate responsibility.

IDEA 3: Make the Most of Your Resources

Th e best way to make the most of your print materials on a project is to work with your printer and take advantage of their expertise. Ask your printer to recommend dimensions that will maximize what is printed per press sheet. Th is will minimize paper cutting, prevent unnecessary waste and reduce energy usage.

A case study by design students at the University of Illinois, adjusting the dimensions of a book by just 1/4 inch saved around 1,000 press sheets.

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While writing copy is as much art as science, there are strategies you can employ to

make readers embrace your words. We compiled a set of six areas that together can make a mountain of diff erence in your copy’s appeal.

While there is no one way to write the perfect headline or the paragraph guaranteed to woo the reader into taking action, here are some suggestions that, when taken together, will work toward making your copy more eff ective.

Focus on Benef ts, Not Features. Th e fi rst rule is a fairly basic one: People buy based on benefi ts, not on features. Th is is admittedly a basic point of copywriting, yet it is one of the most common mistakes you will come across when reading marketing copy.

Use a printer for example. Th e fact that a printer has been in business for 20 years is nice, but the fact that during that time when surveyed, customers have expressed satisfaction with over 99% of the jobs printed during that time, well that’s more than nice. It’s compelling.

Now the question becomes, is your take on the benefi ts of your product or service consistent with that of your

customers. How about the relative importance of each benefi t? To answer that question, make a list of the top fi ve benefi ts and then survey your customers, or ask your sales force to inquire casually when interacting with customers. You might fi nd your perception of what’s important doesn’t always fi t the reasons customers fi nd most compelling to buy from you. Th is in turn can drive emphasis in the copy used to create a compelling story around your product or service.

Use Copy To Create Images. When describing your product or service, try to do so in a way that creates strong visuals in the mind of the reader. By creating a visual, you leave an imprint that will linger beyond the time the customer actually spends reading your marketing piece.

Create Strong Visuals. Try using anecdotes of the positive impact of your product or service, copy that speaks emotionally to the challenge or problem being solved and testimonials. One aspect of each of these is that the message tends to be more specifi c, rather than general or vague.

Be Specif c and Relevant. Th ere is no doubt about it: Specifi cs power your benefi ts. Your copy will be much

stronger if you can identify ways to replace general claims or descriptions with more specifi c details that the audience can relate to. Specifi city makes copy compelling. Th ere are three techniques that will help your copy be more specifi c. Th ey are:

■ Use specifi c nouns

■ Use specifi c verbs or gerunds (a gerund is a noun formed from a verb, ending in -ing)

■ Avoid the passive voice (Th e dog was bitten by a fl ea... vs. Th e fl ea bit the dog...)

As an example of how much more powerful specifi c language with an active voice can be in creating a lasting visual, consider these two phrases:

Th e dog was sitting in the car by its owner. Compare that to: A yellow retriever, in that clumsy stage between puppy and adult, sat in the passenger seat of the blue 1967 Corvette convertible, looking as proud as the teenager sitting beside him who had painstakingly restored the automotive classic.

Of course, the second version creates a visual image that is stronger and more lasting.

Keep both your f rst sentence and your f rst paragraph as brief as possible. Keep the entire f rst paragraph at three lines or less. You are much more likely to engage the reader and have him or her continue reading the rest of your piece.

Make a Strong Offer, Def ne a Clear Action And Create Urgency. When these concept - off er, action and urgency - work hand-in-hand, they can have a tremendous impact on the results of your piece. Th ink of them in this way:

■ Off er: Th e impetus or stimulus to the action you want the reader take

■ Action: Th e one thing you want the reader to do to take the next step in your sales process

■ Urgency: Why it is important that the reader should take the action now, rather than putting it off Create urgency with a strong off er to take a clearly-defi ned action. If your copy does this, it will be far more powerful and compelling. As you apply this concept to your copy, remember that there are certain words that are proven to drive results. Th ese words are:

■ Discovery, Easy, Free, Guarantee, Health, Love, Money, New, Proven, Results, Safety, Save, You

Keys to a Better Headline. Th e best headlines speak to the reader, clearly communicating the benefi ts of your product or service. Th ey are not about you. As you evaluate your piece’s headlines, consider these rules of thumb.

■ Strong. Does the headline conjure up a visual? Does it evoke an emotional response?

■ Simple and straightforward. You have a few seconds to grab the reader. Will they continue reading or throw your piece away?

■ Specifi c. Use a specifi c number rather than a generalized one. For example, ‘six ways’ beats ‘many ways’ every time. 83% is far better than 80% (as an aside, odd numbers have been proven to draw better than even numbers; they seem more specifi c, and therefore credible).

■ Absolute. Look for ways to communicate your headline in absolute, rather than relative, terms.

‘Eliminate’ is far more compelling than ‘decrease’.

■ Deadline driven. Providing a deadline is a proven way to create the urgency required to get readers to take action.

Copy to Keep Them Reading. Keep both your fi rst sentence and your fi rst paragraph as brief as possible. Keep the entire fi rst paragraph at three sentences or less. You are much more likely to engage the reader and have him or her continue reading the rest of your piece.

While you are at it, make your copy to appear more inviting by limiting paragraph lengths wherever possible. Long paragraphs look hard to read and time-consuming. Finally, mix it up a little by making sure that your paragraphs are not all the same length. Paragraphs of varying length create visual variety.

Th e more interesting your piece looks, the more likely it will be read.

13

Case studies are a powerful tool for print fl yers, Web pages and of course print and email

newsletters that can help your audience see the value you can add while telling a short, relevant and compelling story. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

1 Keep your decision-maker in mind. Remember, you are writing for customers and prospects. Th ey may not completely familiar with industry jargon. Or, alternatively, they may resent a narrative that is too simplisticistic and below an implied level of understanding on their part.

2 Practice your short-story writing. Th e more your case study has fl esh-and-blood characters, the better it will be. In other words, humanize your case study. Each character to whom you refer should move your story forward.

3 Th ink of your case study as a short study with three main parts: Th e opening or set-up; the story details that engage the reader; and the benefi tsand justifi cation the customer achieved. If you plan to promote your own product or service, the middle section is the place to do it. Relevant details and challenges (and how they were overcome) can help you look good without sounding overly self-

promotional.

4 Utilize as much dialogue as possible with your characters. Rather than relying on straight narrative which may sound like your or your company’s biased opinion rather than read with third-party credibility, use the voice of a happy customer.

Conclude with those project benefi ts and any lessons learned by your characters that may involve them increasing the integration of your organization and theirs. Th is will help encourage readers to seek further integration with your organization as well.

Keep your decision-maker in mind. Remember, you are writing for customers and prospects. They may not completely familiar with industry jargon.

A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. Th e code consists

of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. Th e information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the initialism of Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or on just about any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR Code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the phone’s browser. QR Codes can be used in a number of ways, to display text to the user, to add a vcard contact to the users device, to open a URL or to compose a text message or email.

WATCH FOR THE NEXT ISSUE OF BEYOND PRINT FOR WAYS TO PUT QR CODES TO WORK FOR YOU

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14

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FROM

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15

GREEN

TIP OF THE DAY:If you’re not using it, turn it off .

Content is KING!As our feature article talks about, content is king and as we continue to build our online resource library, we hope you’ll take the opportunity to give us your input on the subject matter of most interest to you.Simply go towww.willowprint.com/contentmatters/input and tell us what information is importantto you and your organization.Our library is continually being updatedso come back often to see what’s new www.willowprint.com/contentmatters/

Quick Response...You bet!Scan here to fi nd great content...FAST!

Congratulations to Willow’s President, Jeff Ekstein!Printing Industries of America is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Ekstein to the Offi cer position of Secretary for 2011. In addition to this most recent appointment, Jeff is also the current co-chair of Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council, Director of the Board of the Canadian Printing Industries Association, the Chair of the Printing Industries of America Education Committee, and a Premier Print Awards judge. Jeff was also voted one of Canada’s Top 20 Most Infl uential Printers of 2010.

Good CatchTh e “Good Catch” program continues to reward our employees whenever they “catch” a problem before it happens. Th e “good catcher” gets rewarded on the spot and is entered into a quarterly Grand Prize draw. Recent winners include: Roco, Brent, Anna, Brian, Radmillo.

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We have grown from a storefront printshop, to a multi-shift pre-press, press room and finishing operation. From a 1,200 square foot facility employing three, to a modern 22,000 square foot building with over 30 professionals to service your needs.

Ink on paper has been our livelihood and passion for over fifty years, but we’ve always kept a close eye on our clients’ needs and developed our services accordingly. With the acquisition of Print & Post Digital Communications, we’ve expanded our in-house lettershop and mailing capabilities. In addition, Willow now offers expanded digital printing capabilities. We proudly offer a full range of business solutions to take you Beyond Print.

What Can We Do For You?Committed to innovation in both client service and technology, we offer a full spectrum of communication solutions. We have the technical expertise, business acumen and creative muscle to deliver results at every step in the process. Leave it to us to manage the following:

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