In the recent UK election the Conservative Party tried to sell the electorate on a vision for a ‘Big Society‘.

Despite their best efforts, it failed to grab voters and the resulting mess is still being negotiated in shady deals conducted in the proverbial ‘smoked filled rooms’ of Westminster.

From a marketing perspective, it’s interesting to speculate on why the voters didn’t get excited by the concept.

The Labour Party wasted no time dubbing it a plan for a ‘DIY State’. And that gained plenty of media coverage. In fact – I first heard about the ‘Big Society’ via this very slur. That fact alone highlights the problem the Conservative Party faced in trying to get its message out to the people.

It also shows the Labour Party enjoy people with far more political and marketing skill than the poor old Conservative Party. The phrase ‘DIY State’ conveys far more emotional impact and meaning than ‘Big Society’.

For a start, the term DIY State implies capitalism. And that’s a dirty word for the majority of UK voters at the moment, thanks to the banking fiasco that the Labour government actually made possible.

The term also implies self-reliance, unlike the anaemic term ‘Big Society’. And yet that’s exactly what the Conservatives were trying to communicate. In essence, the Conservatives chose a catch-phrase that is devoid of any useful meaning from a marketing perspective.

Their chosen headline ‘grabber’ lacked even the ability to polarise the electorate.

This implies a lack of confidence on the part of the Tories, and they are seemingly unwilling to stand behind their own ideas. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a DIY State. I suspect many tax-payers would respond likewise.

It’s also interesting to note that the Conservative Party’s last election winner had no trouble speaking her mind.

Everybody who writes marketing copy can learn from the Conservative Party’s mistake. The words you chose to describe your vision play a vital role in how it’s received.

Weasel words chosen specifically to avoid upsetting people never work. They fail to inspire the faithful. And they provide the opposition with the means to upstage you by using forceful language in opposition.

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Unless you’re a word nerd, it’s likely you’ll occasionally write wrong but right, as far as your spell checker is concerned. It may be that you don’t know the difference between one way of spelling a word and another. It may be that your brain/finger coordination was taking a nap. Or you may have been hoping the spell check would help you out. What am I talking about? Words that have another meaning when wrongly spelt. It matters. On a website, there are those who will decide not to do business with you, if they think your spelling is sloppy.

So here’s an A-to-D list of words that are often confused (more on another day) with just one definition of the meaning of each, and an example of correct use. Take care that it’s not your site that confuses words and confuses customers.

Accept/Except
Accept – to agree. Except – to exclude
I’d be happy to accept this award and everybody is welcome, except politicians.
Warning: If your spell checker automatically corrects misspellings, and you meant to type expect, but didn’t, it might correct it to except. And vice-versa.

Access/Excess
Access – a way to enter. Excess – too much
When they accessed the storeroom they found a shortage of bread and an excess of  butter.

Advice/Advise
Advice – that which is given. Advise – the act of giving advice
I’d advise you to accept her advice.

Affect/Effect
Affect – to influence or alter in some way. Effect – the result of being affected
We have been badly affected by heavy rain, the effects have been local flooding.

Aid/Aide
Aid – to help. Aide – a helper
I was able to come to her aid, and send her my aide.

Already/All Ready
Already – something that has already happened. All ready – everything is ready
We have already received the new price list, and we are all ready to introduce the new prices.

Alter/Altar
Alter – to change. Altar – a piece of church furniture
The cabinet maker altered the altar.

Altogether/All Together
Altogether – in total. All together – assembled
There were eight of us, altogether, and we were all together in the kitchen when the fire started.

Anecdote/Antidote
Anecdote – a story based on experience. Antidote – a way of negating, especially illness
He told an amusing anecdote about his detox diet – the antidote to Christmas excesses.

Baited/Bated
Baited – loaded with bait, ready to attract. Bated – suspenseful
We baited the hooks with strips of mackerel then waited with bated breath to see if the  fish would bite.

Bare/Bear
Bare – naked, unadorned. Bear – to carry
He gave us the bare bones of the story about three wise men who came bearing gifts.

Boarder/Border
Boarder – a lodger. Border – a line delineating one territory from another
Dominic, her boarder for nearly a year, was held up in a passport queue at the border.

Brake/Break
Brake – an object used to retard progress. Break – damage to an object
If you brake hard when carrying eggs in the car, you might break them.

Buy/By/Bye
Buy – to purchase. By – close to. Bye – to progress in a competition without playing a match
I’ll buy the cottage by the village green. Federer progressed to next round after being given a bye when Nadal injured his shoulder.

Cache/Cachet
Cache – objects stored for later collection. Cachet – status, respect
The expedition left food caches along the route, for their return journey; after all there’s a certain cachet about eating caviare after reaching the summit.

Canon/Cannon
Canon – a member of the church heirachy. Cannon – artillery
In the siege of the city, even the Canon fired a cannon.

Capital/Capitol
Capital – the main city of a nation or state. Capitol – a building serving as a seat of government
The capitol building is in the nation’s capital.

Carat/Carrot
Carat – a weight measurement for gems. Carrot – a long orange vegetable
A one carat diamond weighs 200 milligrams but one carrot, though worth a lot less, weighs considerably more.

Checker/Chequer
Checker – something which verifies. Chequer – a pattern of repeating squares
The baggage checker wore a yellow and black chequered jacket .

Cite/Sight/Site
Cite – to quote. Sight – something seen. Site – a location
In his defence, he cited the fifth amendment. This is the site of the new building, which at 37 storeys, will be quite a sight.

Complement/Compliment
Complement – a ship’s crew. Compliment – saying something nice to someone
They sailed with a full complement and the Captain complimented them on their smart appearance.

Confidant/Confident
Confidant – one in whom you place trust. Confident – being sure you can achieve something
He was confident he could rely on absolute discretion from his confidant.

Continuous/Continual
Continuous – without pause. Continual – repeating at frequent intervals
The conveyor belt should maintain a continuous flow but there are continual interruptions because of power outages.

Days/Daze
Days – periods of 24 hours starting at midnight. Daze –  bewildered
After the accident, she spent days in a daze.

Defuse/Diffuse
Defuse – to remove a fuse. Diffuse – something spread thinly
Cooler temperatures and weak, diffused sunlight helped defuse the tension that had built during the heat of the day.

Desert/Dessert
Desert – arid lands. Dessert – a sweet food course
After their desert picnic, they enjoyed a cooling dessert.

Die/Dye
Die – cease to live. Dye – to colour
I nearly died when I saw how they had dyed my favourite shirt.

Discrete/Discreet
Discrete – separate, individual. Discreet – capable of retaining a confidence.
There were several discrete parties to deal with, but our lawyer was very discreet about their interests when negotiating a settlement.

More to come, and as our slogan says, you won’t go wrong when you work with Write.

Copywriting, grammar, grammatical errors, spelling, web, webcopy

No sooner had I completed the ‘grammar’ article below, than along came this press release. Directed at journalists who, still, generally know their apostrophes from their assonance, any coverage the release generates is likely to major on ridicule, rather than the marketing message.

Only the first para has been pasted-in, to spare too many blushes:

“November 23, 2009 — GPS navigator and GPS System sale’s are booming more than ever say’s My New Cheap Director’s. This year 2009 not including the Christmas rush a staggering one billion and over GPS navigation devices including, car GPS, bike GPS, GPS aviation, Marine GPS and handheld GPS have been sold worldwide. This does not include types of GPS software and mobile phone GPS which will double the market in 2010. My New cheap “MNC Group” only have a small percentage of the market but in a fast growing market like GPS, its all MNC need. Customer are also benefiting from Eco Routes for saving fuel and not being caught by naughty speed camera’s. Its a win win for everyone.”

copy, Copywriting, grammar, press release., webcopy

Turning a visitor to your website into a lead (or a client) requires 2 things…

1. An offer
2. A conversion strategy

The offer and conversion strategy are intimately linked to the target audience, and it’s specific needs. In this article I’ll show how a lead generation offer and conversion strategy can be created once the target audience is understood.

The Objective:

A company wants to sell small cars to young single women living in cities. They see the primary concerns of their market as follows…

• Easy to drive
• Easy to park
• Plenty of storage for shopping
• ipod compatible sound-system
• Eco-friendly
• Good income, low savings

In online terms, they believe their target market will typically be found on social media sites, and surfing online versions of magazines aimed at this group.

From a lead generation perspective, the company thinks this group view cars as a fashion accessory, and otherwise have no interest in the product. The challenge the company faces is figuring out how to get their target market interested in a test drive.

Shaping the Offer to the Market:

In purely practical terms, a car costs too much for this market to consider it an outright purchase. Financing will be required, and a low monthly payment is likely to increase conversion.

As this is a fashion purchase, it will be essential to associate the car with influential fashion gurus (e.g. an upcoming designer).

As a lifestyle item, it will be essential to associate the car with the kind of activities the target market enjoys.

Pushing Conversion:

This target audience isn’t likely to respond to an offer to test-drive the car, or read an in-depth review in a car magazine. That sort of offer isn’t pleasurable in and of itself to this audience (a sure sign a marketing campaign is likely to fail).

Via the media their market consumes, they offer to provide the car along with a day’s shopping at well-known malls in key cities. Their market is invited to come to the mall, try the car in the parking lot, and even drive one home if they like it.

If they buy on the day, they get $300 in cash to go shopping. What’s more, they encourage their market to bring their friends and make a day of it.

The prospect must book a session, and select a colour. This is done in real time (i.e. online), with an on-screen confirmation message. A email ticket is then sent, which explains where the prospect needs to go, and confirms the time, date and colour of the car they’ll try.

In other words, to take a test-drive. The difference is the offer has been adapted to its target market. The company’s prospective customers get a day of shopping, and the chance to check out a desirable new car while they’re at it. This greatly increases the pleasure involved for the prospective customers.

This offer is designed from the ground up to fit into the lifestyles, needs and wants of the target market. The conversion strategy is part of the offer itself. Once a person turns up to see the car, s/he can confirm it does everything they need it to…

• Look great
• Hold all their shopping
• Easy to drive
• Easy to park
• Plenty of room for friends
• Work with their ipod

The sales person can then explain the low monthly fee, and has an opportunity to close the deal. Assuming enough desire for the car is generated, and the prospect has the ability to pay the monthly fee, the deal can be done right there in the parking lot.

Lead Generation, offer

Social networkers will recognise the New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2009, unfriend.

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site.

It’s fun to spot new words – although often they are uglier than three-week dead haddock (‘scrappage’ for example) – but be careful about their use in web copy.

The prime job of commercial web copy is to tempt your readers into a profitable relationship with you. The second priority is to get your site near the top of search engine listings.

While Google won’t care a whit about you unfriending scrappage, human readers quite possibly will. So don’t risk upsetting them. Keep your language simple, open, everyday, approachable*. And non-upsetting. It’ll stop people unfriending you.

*Errrrrr – one exception. If you’re just addressing a technical audience that’s on your wavelength, go ahead and use as much jargon and as many TLA’s as you need. They’ll be flattered to be thought of as part of an exclusive community.

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Copywriting, web, webcopy, writing