#25223
Branding Copy and Web Sites: A Bad Fit
The trouble with using text as a branding tool on web pages is that it gets in the way of what visitors are looking for. Visitors want and expect text to be useful and information. They are in 'active' and 'engaged' mode. They are searching. They want something. Text that isn't useful is disappointing.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing
#15094
Building Blocks for Marketing Documents 
Massa explains several features common to most technical marketing documents.
Massa, Jack A. Intercom (2002). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#26146
Content for Tourism and Hospitality Sites
My worst experiences with hospitality sites have been to do with vague location, online timetables, poor follow-up communication, and out of date information. I have wasted days as a result, which I hate.
McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Writing
#25949
Create Effective Brochures (Paper-Based and On-Line)
In business circles, the value of brochures is a topic of endless debate. Are they effective marketing tools, or a waste of time and resources? The answer is that it depends very much on how they're designed.
#23567
From Technical Writing To Marketing Communication: Growth From Common Ground
If you think marketing communications are written by an entirely different brand of writer—in a version of the language wholly unlike the one you employ— then think again. Marketing and technical communications do share common ground. And by expanding the horizons of this landscape, you can move into marketing writing. To begin, you must explore what the disciplines share, what attributes are peculiar to marketing communications, and how you can go about developing your skills in this field.
Baker, Dina. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Marketing>Business Communication
#28150
Give Your Testimonials More Credibility
I think that the people who give the testimonials do so for the additional exposure they receive for their own names, sites and businesses. I also think they do some mutual back-scratching, and hype each other's products and services. In other words, the testimonials are just additional sales text. They have no credibility as outside, third-party endorsements.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Writing>Web Design>Marketing
#20805
Go from Brochureware to E-Care
Online brochures don't attract return visits or serve your customers, so turn your Web site into a customer interaction center.
Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Writing
#18761
High Tech Marketing Communication: The Method Behind the Madness
The software is tested, the documentation is written, and the training is in place. Now the product has to be marketed. Potential customers must understand what the product is and why they should buy it. Marketing communication for the high tech product is not just fluff or fiction. To attract attention in today’s competitive marketplace, it must be a unique combination of technical information and compelling creativity. As a technical communicator, you have an opportunity to put your planning, writing, and project management skills to work in the marketing arena. From developing a marketing plan to researching competitors and creating collateral copy or Web site content, you can participate in and even lead the marketing process.
Gallob, Beth M. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#25946
Internet Marketing: What NOT to Do (And What Not to Fall For)
Do you sell over the Internet? If you do, and if your goal is to develop a long-lasting, trusting relationship with your customers, here are some things to avoid doing. And if you're buying over the Internet, here are some things to watch out for.
#30522
Marketing Writing for Technical Products
This workshop will examine the types of marketing materials that can give you creative experience. You'll learn how to adapt your skills and subject matter knowledge to these projects, how to plan and develop different types of materials, and how to identify opportunities for new types of communication.
King, Janice M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Technical Writing
#30594
The Merging Work of Technical and Marketing Communications
Increasingly, technical communicators are being asked by their companies to participate in marketing efforts. While most of us have long considered user's manuals and other documentation an important ingredient in maintaining customer loyalty, we have accepted that generally our primary function is to instruct people on the use or repair of products. Our job is to make complex information understandable; if in doing so we also make friends of customers and prospective customers, then we are pleasantly surprised.
Palokoff, Kathy. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Marketing
#20841
Planning for One-to-One Web Marketing
The key to a successful advertising campaign is repetition. The same is true for a successful Web site. Marketing managers know that repeat contact with prospects develops an affinity for your products and services - and therefore, greater revenue.
Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Writing
#28833
Try rewriting your pages with just the benefits or offer amplified. Then try a draft with a much better price or guarantee.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2007). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#13931
A common genre of corporate promotional materials in Finland is a video that introduces a company to various audiences, including customers, shareholders, and visitors to the company's offices. The video uses visuals, sounds, and text to establish the company's identity and credibility as well as informing the audience about company products. The video appeals to deep-seated cultural values to promote its message. This study applied theories of both advertising and semiotics to analyze the first minute of a video produced for a Finnish company that manufactures log buildings and wraps its image around a concept of leisure.
Yli-Jokipii, Hilkka M. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Writing>Marketing>Scandinavia
#25945
Selling on the Web: How Long Should Your Marketing Copy Be?
If you're selling on the web, you want marketing copy that will entice potential customers to buy. There are currently two schools of thought on effective marketing copy: one group advocates 'long, detailed, and chatty' copy, while the other favors copy that's 'short, objective, and to the point.' Which approach is right for you?
#28842
Should Writers Be Held Accountable for Web Page Performance?
Ask print direct response copywriters if they are held accountable, and they'll say yes. That was my own life for 15 years. I wrote direct mail packages and was judged not on my past reputation, but on the performance of each piece I wrote, one mailing at a time.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Writing
#25031
Slogan Slogging for Enhanced Creativity
Here's how to apply simple deconstruction techniques to popular phrases to transform them into viable marketing slogans or headlines for ads. A fun, easy exercise in creativity, with several examples.
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2005). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#22434
Review: Submit Now: Designing Persuasive Web Sites 
The group that would probably benefit most from reading Submit now is marketers, particularly entry-level marketing managers or marketing students. The book does a fine job of connecting basic concepts of persuasion to designing Web sites that will motivate the four different types of Internet shoppers discussed earlier. I could, however, foresee how experienced marketers could find the information contained in this book too basic for their needs.
Coleman, Colleen. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Reviews>Writing>Marketing
#23574
Technical Writers as Marketing Communicators
Although there are important differences between technical and marketing writing, technical writers have some prerequisites that support a transition to marketing writing: in-depth product knowledge, research experience, and strong oral and written communication skills. To develop data sheets, brochures, and other materials technical writers must first understand the goals of marketing communications. By focusing on audience needs and product benefits, by using writing techniques that engage the reader, and by providing appropriate supporting visuals, technical writers can develop persuasive marketing messages.
Bednarz, Martha C. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Marketing>Business Communication
#25944
Writing Effective Brochures: What Goes Where? Part 1
If a brochure is ineffective, it's rarely the fault of an awkward phrase or unexciting adjective. Most paper-based brochures that fail, fail right in the planning stages. This article presents one method of organizing information for a three-panel (2-fold) 8 by 11 brochure.
#25943
Writing Effective Brochures: What Goes Where? Part 2 
If a brochure is ineffective, it's rarely the fault of an awkward phrase or unexciting adjective. Most paper-based brochures that fail, fail right in the planning stages. The second half of this article discusses some common brochure design problems and how to fix them.
#14921
Writing for Different Audiences: MarComm Writing Tactics
How is technical writing different from MarComm writing? Can technical writers be good marketing writers - and vice versa? What should technical writers know about marketing writing? Thea Teich answered these questions in her seminar Marketing Communication: Timing, Targeting, and Tactics presented at April's Writers in the Workplace Conference and Job Fair held in Sacramento. Teich, the current STC First Vice President, noted that basic technical communication (TC) skills must be used differently for Marketing Communication (MarComm). For example, in TC the audience has often already purchased the product, while in MarComm, the audience is contemplating purchasing the product.
Golden, Dara. Silicon Valley Connection (2003). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#30599
The Writing of Marketing Materials as Technical Communication
Writers of marketing materials seem to be stepchildren at best in the family of technical communication. Yet one cannot engage in writing effective marketing materials about technical products or services without being a technical communicator. And the more "typical" technical writer--such as an author of documentation--will perform better when she understand-s the marketing component of her work. We will serve the marketing communicator and his technical writer counterpart well by breaking down the barrier that seems to exist between the disciplines.
Baker, Dina. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Writing
#24795
You Can Create Effective Marketing Materials: A Technique for the Technical Writer
Technical writers can create effective marketing materials by following a six-step process. First, interview your customer to define the audience, usage venue, goal (desired audience action), benefits of the product, any obstacles or competition it faces, and the strategy and means to attain the goal. Next, work with the designer to determine the major elements of the piece. Then write a text that reflects a buyer’s typical mental process. The writer then supports the designer in creating a model or “comp” of the intended finished product. Writer and designer pitch the comp to the customer to obtain changes and final approval. The last step is to let go!
Bradley, Gerald A. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Writing>Marketing
#27778
You Get What You Pay For: What's Your Business Image Worth?
Unfortunately it seems that more and more companies are choosing the lowest price in deciding which white paper writer to engage. Why would a business that would never bat an eyelash paying for a high-quality website, choose the low price provider for a white paper?
Kantor, Jonathan. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Marketing>White Papers
