member

I want to bring some balance into the message/media mix. I would also like to offer some words of advice for start-up enterprises based on my own business experience.

Social media has transformed the way that we communicate, as individuals sharing with friends and as businesses building a customer base through trust and recommendation. Little wonder that so much blog space is filled with ‘route to market’ advice. But, hang on a minute, what is it that we are sending on the chosen route? Content of course.

Communications Technology and Data Management are specialist fields that have changed forever the way that advertising agencies and their related services work. An over-emphasis on media channels however can confuse and overshadow the keystone of your marketing activities – content of course.

There are only two things that we can see on a website, facebook page, brochure or tablet of stone: words and images. It’s the content that sells, not the delivery system.

Now, don’t get me wrong – it’s vital that we get our messages to our target audience through channels which will maximise the ROI. We content creators must shape our copy style and structure to suit the intended platform. An integrated approach twixt message and media is clearly essential, but, putting media before message is like sourcing transport before the goods are ordered.

Whatever your business, whether you offer products or services, think hard about your target customers and your competitors. What sets you apart and will make you the chosen one? Define your USP and you have found your core message. This is particularly true for start-up enterprises. You need to sell yourself from the get-go. Don’t let anyone persuade you that advertising is a waste of money. Only bad advertising is. Good content is your best salesman and he should always return more than he costs.

You’re an expert in your business but don’t hesitate to talk to experts who know how and where to sell your offer. Beware of advice that confuses and jargon that is used for cool effect. And beware the myth-makers…

Myth 1: “Advertising is dead.” Good advice from those who believe Elvis is alive.

Myth 2: “The medium is the message.” Wrong – no message, no medium. But this from Marshall McLuhan who famously was paid a handsome fee by General Motors only to tell them that automobiles were a thing of the past.

Myth 3: “Marketing creates brands.” Truth – customer experience creates brands.

If you are a start-up business wanting to get your story read, (and why would you not?) my advice is to make sure it’s worth reading. Stating the obvious, yes, but attention spans are short in the digital age. You need content that says exactly what you do, (so many fail to do this with absolute clarity) and tells your reader what’s in it for them. Your target customers are not interested in you, only in what you can do for them!

Never talk down to your audience. As advertising guru David Ogilvy said, “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.” Using the right tone of voice to address your target customers and to be relevant to the chosen medium is critical.

When your prospects become customers do everything and more to keep them. If content is King in the marketing realm, customer service is Queen. You have done the hard work to win a customer – don’t lose her through shoddy after-sales service. Positive word-of-mouth is good news but in an age of universal critics the reverse can do untold damage. Negative comments on sites like TripAdvisor demonstrate this point perfectly.

Writing styles and language usage are continually being re-shaped in the rapidly changing world of communications. Social media and website structure can impose tight disciplines on the copywriter. Without discipline however, copy can lose focus, and the reader’s attention. Effective content is concise and targeted. Above all it involves the reader emotionally and calls him to action.

From a very different genre, Ernest Hemingway showed us in his shortest of short stories how much could be said with minimal content: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Six brief words that conjure up a wealth of imagery in the reader’s mind.

Finally, when you’ve said what you want to say, stop! .

Under Pressure

We’ve all experienced it – that feeling of dread as the ‘to do’ list gets longer and time ticking by at an alarming rate. It can feel as though there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. And, in today’s difficult climate when budgets are tighter than ever before, it’s easy for this feeling to become a daily occurrence.

But worrying constantly is a symptom of stress – a condition that while many of us choose to accept as a ‘normal’ part of working life, can take a major toll on your health and wellbeing.*

Stress can affect your appetite, cause you to smoke or drink more and lead to physical problems such as headaches and dizziness, breathlessness and muscle pain.

Sufferers may lose their temper more easily and find it difficult to concentrate – bad news for employers who need a productive and happy workforce now more than ever.

And long term stress can cause a range of serious health complications including depression and insomnia, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Just this year, figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) revealed that hospital admissions for stress had risen by seven per cent in just one year in England, soaring to 6,370 in May 2012 compared to 5,960 the year before.**

So, what can be done to help ease the pressure?

The findings of a study carried out by wellness solutions provider Vielife suggest that improving your diet could have a positive impact.***

The research found that working adults who have a poor diet are more likely to suffer from stress, low productivity and low job satisfaction. Those with good nutrition achieved a six per cent higher job satisfaction score, as well as a 15 per cent higher mood score.

Additionally, almost 40 per cent of people with a low nutrition score had high stress levels and 50 per cent more sickness absence than those with good nutrition – the equivalent of an extra 576 days off for every 1,000 people employed.****

Exercise can also play a part in alleviating stress according to Dr Cary Cooper, an occupational health expert at the University of Lancaster.*****

“To deal with stress effectively, you need to feel robust and you need to feel strong mentally. Exercise does that,” he said.

In addition to lifestyle changes, talking therapies such as counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are widely renowned for helping people suffering from stress, anxiety or depression to deal with negative thoughts and feelings and make positive changes.

Westfield Health’s Chamber Primary Health Plan, which is available to all members of Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, offers employees a full confidential counselling service, which includes a 24 hour counselling and advice line, as well as up to six face to face counselling sessions or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions.

The Government’s ‘No Health Without Mental Health’ strategy emphasises the importance of talking therapies such as counselling and CBT in helping treat stress, anxiety and depression.

For more information about the Chamber Plan, visit www.westfieldhealth.com/chamber or call 0845 602 1629, available 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The majority of people know about Twitter but unless they use it, most are unsure how it works. There are many people who sign up to Twitter because everybody is on it and they feel they should be but again don’t understand how it works. We’re here to tell you it is simple, easy and very powerful in the right hands. Whereas Facebook is only really suitable for businesses who want to reach the consumer, Twitter should be used by all businesses big or small. That is until the next big thing arrives and we all have to start again.

The key to Twitter’s success is its simplicity. No fancy graphics, no adverts, no images, no waffle, just 140 characters of lingual simplicity. Really there are images, links and other content on Twitter but they are contained within the 140 character limit and if you want to view them you choose to click through. That is the beauty, you are not bombarded with the normal social media rubbish and you choose what you view and what you don’t.

Let’s go over a few little Twitter facts*.

• Twitter has over 225 million users and around 50 million of them log in every day.
• On average 190 million tweets are sent per day.
• Around 40% of users don’t tweet but instead use Twitter to gather news and information on the things they are interested in.
• More than half of the people on Twitter use it on a mobile device.
• Twitter is growing by around half a million users per day on average.

So you can see why Twitter is a big deal and we believe it is the most important social platform to be on.

Now you know why Twitter is worth being on, let’s go over the basics of general usage. Let’s assume you’ve set up an account (easy to do straight from the www.twitter.com homepage) and you’ve gone through the step-by-step Twitter guide that greets you. First you need to fill out all empty information fields on your profile (found under Settings). A short Bio, Location and Web Address being the most important parts. You can, if you want to, change the colour of your profile page (also found under Settings) to match your company profile or upload an image for the background. Then you need to upload an image, this needs to be something that represents you are your company well. For businesses I would always suggest you use your logo and it is best to use a square image as that is how it will be displayed when you tweet.

Now you’re up and running and you are ready to tweet. Don’t worry about followers just yet, you need to get a few basic tweets on there to show you are a real tweeter and not a spammer. Write 3 or 4 to get going, maybe a welcome post and then something about your business and so on. Something friendly about your company and an introduction to your business is fine to start with but remember this is a social network so try to avoid sales talk. This way your profile page will have something on it and look credible.

There are many ways of gaining followers but for the sake of this article we’ll keep it simple. The quickest way to get followers is to follower other people. Not just anyone but people who may be interested in following you. Find someone who is like you or in your field and follow their followers. The more you follow the more will follow you back but don’t go overboard here as you run the risk of becoming an ‘agressive follower’ in the eyes of Twitter. From there you can use good content to get your numbers up. Another simple way to get yourself known on Twitter is to engage with people. Find someone similar to you and spark up a conversation or respond to one of their tweets. Their followers will see what you have been talking about and may choose to follow you.

Now you’re getting the hang of Twitter and how it works we can look at what you actually put in your updates. Links to new products, services, courses, blog posts, newsletters etc. are always going to be good for driving traffic back to your website, but you also need to post things that are going to keep peoples interest in you. You don’t always have to stay on topic but try not to stray too far. Talking about Pancake Day is fine but try not to post anything that could alienate your readers. Also if you come across anyone who has posted something interesting and you want to pass it on to your followers then you can retweet it with a simple click of the mouse.

Hashtags (#) are a must use tool. Let’s say you are tweeting about Norfolk and you want to link to all the other tweets about the same thing . To do this you simply add at the end of your tweet #Norfolk (Remember not to add spaces between words). Remember you only have 140 characters so choose your words carefully. This will then group your tweet with all other tweets featuring your chosen hashtag.

Now you are ready to go and take Twitter by storm.

*These facts were believed to be accurate when the article was originally written in February 2012.

What is a Pre-Header?

Answer: In short a pre header is a fantastic way to get your emails opened!

On your Smart Phone or Email browser you may have noticed a small piece of text after the From Name and the Subject. This is often reffered to as the Pre Header. On a normal written email this text would be the first line of the email but your beautifully designed HTML emails may start with an image or the common ‘view this in your browser’ text.

A pre header is another opportunity for you to engage with your recipient and encourage them to click and open your message. It should ideally be different to your subject line and should not include your click to view in browser link.

Pre headers can be used on email newsletters to give a taster of an exciting artice, in sales emails to draw attention to a special offer or in any type of email campaign. Ultimately the aim of the Pre Header is to ensure the user wants to open the email rather than ignore it.

Use your pre header wisely!