Many businesses, and technical translation companies handling many languages are no exception, fail when it comes to writing marketing texts. How is this possible? Should technical translation companies and translation services in general not be aware of the dangers of (multilingual) publishing?
In this article I’d like to look at some typical mistakes people make often when they are writing marketing texts. I would like to offer 5 creative writing tips for marketing material, particularly in digital marketing, because information on a website is your presentation card nowadays. Let’s see how your online and printed promotional material is what you want it to be: fresh, relevant and engaging!
1. Make It Interesting – it has to sell!
There is only one worse thing than reading boring marketing content and that is writing marketing material which is full of self-promotion and tastes so… irrelevant and dry.
Out of the 5 creative writing tips for marketing, the number one is that it has to be readable, even attractive and also written “for the rest of us” even if it is about gas generators (OK, that link is just a short news from 2003, not particularly sexy marketing). But if your sentences are too long to read and you don’t use subheadings to guide the reader, they are going to lose interest very quickly.
It is always a help to have somebody who is really interested in your product write your marketing material. Testimonials are priceless: their enthusiasm and knowledge will shine through, plus you are showing happy clients, a powerful reason to attract even more clients. Ask for a short testimonial, even if they don’t express themselves in the best English, do not worry, it can always be checked over later.
And people always like being mentioned if it means also a referral for tgeir company.
2. Speak Good English
Obviously I introduced the subject above! When you are writing marketing texts, it is paramount to check and proofread carefully every paragraph going public. This was true in the old “paper” days and it is so much so when dealing with digital media. Who likes to read news, an article or brochure full of bad grammar and spelling mistakes? Readers will lose confidence in you and your processes.
A technical translation company offering “tanslations”
And this is also true for translation processes. Think about it, thet are just like publications. If you’re not fully confident or, like me, you are not a native speaker, seek an experienced proofreader to go through your documents. Translators often make excellent proofreaders.
3. Be customer-centric: clients come first
Let’s face it, only lovers enjoy hearing other people talk about themselves. If your marketing material just talks about how great your products and services are but not how you are going to help them… readers are going to get tired pretty soon.
You shop around for offers online and compare prices and opinions. Don’t you think visitors to your website will check what your competitors do and what users say about you? If readers are going to invest some minutes of their time on your site, they will want a unique experience. If you are writing marketing texts about your products, readers will expect facts and figures, use cases, numbers and why dealing with you is going to benefit them over dealing with the competition.
Writing about your experience is fine, as it proves expertise in your area of knowledge, but boasting is another matter. Keep texts factual. Be in the shoes of the client.
4. Contact
Every person who lands on your website and reads a page is a potential lead. Therefore, your potential customers must find it easy to get hold of you quickly. A contact form on the web must be nearby on every page of your website. Put relevant contacts with a public photo in your marketing material. Who doesn’t like to see a face behind the email or telephone number? People like to deal with people, not with anonymous email addresses, and a company website showing a strong team where each member adds a skill is on a winning start.
So direct telephone numbers and direct email addresses are a plus. When customers engage with you on social media, be as responsive as (hopefully) your website. Engaging regularly with existing clients will bring recurrent orders as you will be seen as a source of relevant information and knowledge. Target customers and leads will come to your site because you will have information ready for them, and through interaction, you will get to know what they prefer so much better.
5. Engagement
Never forget to point your audience towards relevant data sources and related content – even if it provides a conflicting opinion or point of view.
Contact and subscription channels must be easy (check our blog, for instance) My suggestion is an option to subscribe to all your online content, and clear links to your all social media platforms you use.
If your client is a priority from the moment you start and from the moment they land on your website and they begin to deal with you, you have taken your first step to gain their trust, confidence and respect… and more business in future!
