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Technology Marketing Tips

Issue 2

A personal message from David Rosam

Hi

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me after the first issue of Technology Marketing Tips. I'm glad you liked it, and for the ideas for forthcoming issues.

But I'd be even more pleased if you'd let me know what *you* want from Technology Marketing Tips.

People often ask me what they should put on their Home page, or what should go in their corporate brochure. I'm sure I'll get round to that sooner or later, but this time I'm going to start off by looking at what you shouldn't do.

Read on for why you should never lead with stuff about your company.

Best regards

David

People are not interested in you or your company

Does your Web site talk about your company? Yes, I know, it's your company Web site! But the last thing it should talk about is your company.

Yes, I'm sure you're all cool, interesting people, with fantastic skills, but trust me, that's not what you need to lead with on your Web site - or mailing or brochure.

The bigger the corporate, the less likely they're even going to blink an eyelid

There's a lot of truth in the picture of corporate person under siege. I probably don't have to tell you how difficult it is to get through to people in companies any more. But they're not just hiding behind voice and e-mail because they can. They're often just too busy to respond.

So the same applies to your mailshot or brochure, or when they visit your Web site. They don't have time to wade through reams of material that doesn't tell them how you can *ease their pain*. How you can solve their problem - or the one their boss has placed in their hands.

Tell them something they need to hear

Telling people 'we're the leading Megacorp Platinum Reseller in the South West', doesn't cut the mustard. Hit your prospects with what they need to know right away. What problem can you solve? How quickly? And - *if* it's relevant - how your product or service does it.

I was taught to think of most prospects as being like car buyers. They want the glamour and good feelings, but aren't interested in the gudgeon pins!

So you should be clear in your own mind how much you have to say to move the sale along. Later on, if they're really interested, they'll want to know about your company. So put corporate information near to last.

Your prospects will read about you and your company when the time is right.

Writing tips

Learn to revise whatever you've written. Most professional writers will tell you they spend more time polishing and revising than actually writing.

So make time for revisions. Rushed copy is almost always bad copy.

About David Rosam

Hijacked some time in the 80s by a Paris-based advertising agency, David Rosam cut his teeth on writing for IBM's EMEA division. Since then, David has written copy for small and medium enterprises through to global brands such as Microsoft, Oracle and Hewlett Packard.

His direct mail experience rolled itself on to the Web a decade ago, and now he writes online copy, Search Engine Optimized copy, direct mail, brochures and newsletters as well as consulting to a number of individuals and companies.

Need some advice?

Chamaeleon Marketing Communications
IT Copywriting and Marketing
Tel +44 (0)870 3210 262
Fax +44 (0)870 3210 263
Web http://ITcopy.com
E-mail enquiries@ITcopy.com

Technology Marketing Tips copyright (c) Chamaeleon Marketing Communications, 2005

Subscribe to Technology Marketing Tips

Technology Marketing Tips

Issue 1

A personal message from David Rosam

Hi

I'd like to welcome you to the first issue of Technology Marketing Tips, an e-zine that will be interesting reading whether you're working for a start-up or a global brand.

If you like what you see, don't forget to subscribe.

And, in case you're wondering, I promise to send you The IT Copy Newsletter between 10 and 20 times a year.

Best regards

David

Who are those people you're selling to?

Most marketers are keen to profile their prospects. For some products and services, these may be 'people with a large lawn', 'married couples over retirement age' or 'students living away from home'.

What about your targets? Perhaps 'businesses running Microsoft Exchange', 'people running an e-commerce Web site that require more advanced visitor analysis' or 'telcos offering an increasing diversity of services'. In each case, you almost certainly have more than one type of person to talk to within your target groups - the tecchies and the business people. Those who bite first, and those who control the budget!

Be careful to say the right things to the right people

Whoever you're talking to, they need to be excited by your copy - as someone in the advertising business once said, said 'no-one was ever bored into buying anything'. And different people are respond to different things. Broadly, you should talk technology and technology benefits to technical people, and business benefits to the budget holders.

If you're reading this newsletter, there's a good chance that you come from a technical background - even if you wear a marketing hat - so interesting fellow techies is probably less challenging than figuring out what to say to business people.

Look at it this way

You need to really put yourself in their shoes and understand what matters to them. As a contact of mine would say - where's the pain? What are the pressures on the enterprise, department or even the marketplace as a whole?

Can you present a persuasive Return On Investment? Can you show how your product or service removes the pain?

It's all about identifying with your audience.

Writing tips

Get in the zone. Put time aside to write, close the door, put the telephone on to voice mail, make yourself invisible on Skype, switch off IM and close down your e-mail client.

If you can't shut the world's demands out, you have little chance of writing the words that will make all the difference.

About David Rosam

Hijacked some time in the 80s by a Paris-based advertising agency, David Rosam cut his teeth on writing for IBM's EMEA division. Since then, David has written copy for small and medium enterprises through to global brands such as Microsoft, Oracle and Hewlett Packard.

His direct mail experience rolled itself on to the Web a decade ago, and now he writes online copy, Search Engine Optimized copy, direct mail, brochures and newsletters as well as consulting to a number of individuals and companies.

Need some advice?

Chamaeleon Marketing Communications
IT Copywriting and Marketing
Tel +44 (0)870 3210 262
Fax +44 (0)870 3210 263
Web http://ITcopy.com
E-mail enquiries@ITcopy.com

Technology Marketing Tips copyright (c) Chamaeleon Marketing Communications, 2005

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