Justin Rubner

Archive for 2009|Yearly archive page

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Why Acronyms are FUBAR, part I

In copywriting on 06/13/2009 at 2:02 am

Pop quiz!

Guess what these business acronyms stand for:

  1. MAC.
  2. SMR.
  3. DSS.
  4. TEM.
  5. BI.
  6. DMS.
  7. VMS.

I’ll stop you. Because there are no right answers. MAC can mean “media access control.” It can also mean “move, adds or changes.” And there are limitless entries for what SMR means. (I saw it recently as a “social media release.”)

The moral of this quiz?Acronyms and marketing copy go together like Sarah Palin and David Letterman. Or the NRA and PETA.

Acronyms are copy killers.

Yes, I hate acronyms.

I can’t hammer this home strongly enough. You obviously can’t avoid all acronyms; some are crucial to your industry and others have become part of our lexicon. But most acronyms are completely unnecessary in marketing, PR (yes, I’m aware that’s an acronym) and editorial copy. Even business-to-business technology marketing copy. In fact, more often than not, they make your websites, press releases and other marketing materials appear second-rate.

You might be saying, “Acronyms make me sound sophisticated.” No, they don’t. Sophistication is explaining your complex technology or business process in a way that anyone understands. Sophistication is not mucking up your copy with capital letters.

CAPITAL LETTERS ARE NOT NICE ON THE EYES. THEY CAN ALSO CAUSE HEADACHES. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GIVE YOUR PROSPECTS HEADACHES?

Acronyms are copy killers

Acronyms are copy killers

Worse, some–if not many–of your prospects might not understand what you’re saying, at least at first. And that can make them feel unsophisticated. Perhaps even stupid. Do you really want to make them feel like this? Well, if your marketing copy is laden with acronym soup, then you are doing just that. I promise.

Want another reason to substantially lessen your use of acronyms? When we read words, there are certain processes our brains go through in the nanoseconds it takes to read the words and comprehend them. When we read acronyms–they’re simple ciphers, really–it is yet another process our brains have to go through to decipher the gobbledygook that is so common in business-to-business copywriting today.

One of the biggest goals of marketing content, and news copy, is to get your point across without making readers (and their brains) work to much. Acronyms can really make a reader stumble.

Don’t make your readers stumble. Don’t make them feel stupid. And certainly don’t give them headaches!

Well, that’s enough for now. I’ve got to work on a new SOW. You know what they say, right? ADAD.

Oh, and please standby for part II of this blog post.

B4N.

-Justin

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Yes, Social Media is Also For B2B Companies

In business communications on 06/02/2009 at 1:25 pm

Did you know that B2B advertisers are expected to nearly triple their spending on social media from 2008 to 2012?

If you didn’t, or if you’re wondering how B2B companies can start their own social media marketing campaigns–and keep them running–then you should read this free whitepaper. In it, which I co-authored with Carabiner Communications, you’ll find information such as:

  • What you should ask before starting a social media campaign.
  • The benefits of social media for B2B companies.
  • Case studies.
  • Best practices.
  • Using rich, or “new” media.
  • Info on return on investment.

I hope it helps!

Justin

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The Satellite-Cable Ad Wars Have Gotten Dirty. Dirty Good, That Is

In business communications on 06/01/2009 at 7:27 pm

Today, I opened some mail from DirecTV. I usually throw these adverts into the “circular” file. But something about the envelope made me want to read what was inside.

DIRECTVThe first thing I noticed was a stamped-on statement saying “CHARTER CABLE BANKRUPTCY.” In the letter, DirecTV, a satellite TV company, said the recent bankruptcy of Charter would make it impossible for the cable TV provider to bring me the latest technologies. The letter also offered some pretty amazing deals. Almost too amazing.

(Charter, by the way, has filed for bankruptcy protection, which I’ve written about before.)

My initial reaction was that DirecTV seemed desperate attacking its rival and offering such low rates. Desperate times, after all, call for desperate measures, right? Talk about low blows and dirty advertising!

That reaction lasted about 5 seconds.

DirecTV, I realize now, has a valid point. How on Earth can Charter work on bringing you the greatest technologies when it will be head down for the next year paying back creditors? For the near future, Charter will be focusing on survival…not innovation.

True, the ad is a little dirty. But it’s dirty good. Let me clarify. Dirty bad is corking your bat. Dirty good is a first baseman pretending to give the ball to the pitcher, only to keep it hidden in his glove…and tagging the base runner out when he takes a lead.

In advertising, dirty bad would be saying you offer something when you really don’t. Dirty good would be Apple‘s brilliant campaign against the PC. 

The DirecTV campaign is some pretty aggressive advertising. Especially given the financial times we’re in. Bankruptcies and bailouts are all the rage right now.

But it’s also convincing. So much so that Charter has filed suit. In the lawsuit, recently filed in the U.S. District Court in Missouri, Charter claims the advertisements are “false and deceptive.”

I’m no attorney, but I don’t think Charter has much of chance here. The only words that could be under debate are the following: “As they focus on their problems, there’s no way they’ll be able to bring you the latest technology…”

While it’s true DirecTV can’t prove there’s “no way,” I do believe the spirit of the ads are accurate. And effective. This is a great call to action for consumers looking for the most up-to-date technologies for the lowest price. Most important, it is true.

There could be a downside, though: Some consumers might see this campaign as too negative. However, I think these consumers will be few and far between. This is a cutthroat business. As politicians need to clamor for your vote in close elections, TV service providers are also clamoring for your subscription. This business is so competitive, I firmly believe strong advertising will be what separates the winners from the losers.

I’m curious…what do you think? Is this campaign spot-on–is it effective marketing? Or is it just plain dirty?


The No. 1 Rule in Blogging…

In business communications on 05/15/2009 at 6:17 pm

Is to update your blog frequently. Simply put, the more you write, the more people will come back. If you wait too long in-between posts, you could lose readers! Frequent blogging is also good for SEO purposes.

Well, I have clearly not followed my own advice, as you can see from the date of my last post. Worse, I give this advice all the time to clients. My pal Sherry Heyl, a blogger and social media expert, recently ranted about several bloggers who she stopped subscribing to because they weren’t updating their posts enough. That was all I needed to get back to my site, even if it was only for a quick entry.

I must admit, there’s nothing worse than finding a great blogger who you’ve been following only to find that week after week he or she doesn’t write anymore.

So, if you find yourself swamped like I have lately, just take a deep breath. And take eight minutes out of your busy day to write a quick post. Eight minutes–that’s like an average Pink Floyd song. Certainly you can spare that much time, right?

Bottom line, every entry does not have to be a home run. A couple of paragraphs on an interesting news story you read about will do. Or even just a few sentences on an exciting project you’re working on. That way, with minimal effort, you can keep your content refreshed…and (hopefully) give a reason for your readers to come back.

An interesting aside, I have just co-authored a white paper with Carabiner Communications on how B2B companies can embrace social media. I’ll let you know when it’s out.

Until next time…hopefully real soon.

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Are You Going to Quote Me On This?

In copywriting on 04/14/2009 at 1:15 am

quotation-markI have a plea to marketing, PR and news writers everywhere. It isn’t my first. It won’t be my last.

End your mindless love affair with quotes.

What do I mean by this?

Take this quote from a random press release I saw today on PR Newswire:

‘ “(Company X) is the premier distributor of sports and news content for the world’s top broadcast and media platforms,” according to (hot shot exec).’

This quote breaks so many rules–real rules, the kinds that make sense–I can’t even mention them all. But the most important rule will do:

Quote feeling, not fact.

The premier part of the sentence, you could argue, is feeling. No. It’s puffery. Mushy puffery at that. Puffery shouldn’t be used, even in a press release. You’re not fooling anyone by saying you are THE premier anything. If you are, prove it. And if you can prove it, you don’t need to say it.

Let’s look at some more examples. I’ve taken out company names and some other particulars to protect the guilty. And note, these quotes truly are random and have been selected from the most recent submissions. I didn’t spend much time at all searching for badly-written releases. I didn’t have to; the majority of them are some of the worst copywriting around.

How about this one:

“We are delighted to have (Mr. X) as an independent member of our Board of Directors and as Chairman of our Audit Committee,” said (Mr. Y,) the Company’s CEO, “The Company’s product is an emerging and creative brand in China, with innovative product concepts and sales models. Further, the Company was developed with well-trained dynamic personnel with innovative thinking. I strongly believe that (Mr. X) will bring something innovative and fresh to the Company. His previous experience in the financial field and business operations will definitely support the Company, while we are working as a team.” (Mr. Y) continued, “(Mr. X) also serves as the chair of the Company’s Audit Committee. Together with our increasingly strengthened corporate governance, I am confident that we will meet the standards and requirements of a senior U.S. exchange in the future.”

Holy Mother of Lazy Writing!

A third of the release was filled with this declaration of nothingness. I hope the Company didn’t pay anyone to write this. (The word “company,” by the way, despite what your lawyer says, should not be capitalized. And yes, even if there’s a “the” before it).

Which brings me to the second most important rule of quotations:

Quote diamonds, not rocks.

Rocks are everywhere. The diamonds are harder to find. And well worth the search.

When it comes to stupid quotes, news reporters are also not exempt. Take this example from a newspaper in metro Atlanta, the Marietta Daily Journal:

‘ “(Sunday) night, we had a report of a bear hanging around Blood Mountain shelter,” said Ryan Davis, an employee at the Mountain Crossings hiking store.’

Not exactly a riveting quote, is it? Just paraphrase this already. There is absolutely no reason why the reporter should have quoted that statement.

So not to pick on this paper, a former employer of mine in another life, here’s a fine quote from another piece. The story, which caught my attention from lead to last sentence, was about a Georgia millionaire whose will was in dispute.

“The very thing that made this man great in the end killed him,” he said. “There were no rules with Harvey. He built car dealerships on Highway 41 when everyone else told him not to. But he was battling a demon that he couldn’t beat.”

Yes! This is how humans–real humans–speak. It reads like a novel. I want to read more about this Harvey fellow…

And yes. You can make CEOs sound like humans. Even real humans.

Here’s an example of an OK quote from PR Newswire:

“These stories are a wake-up call for distributors and users of illegal software,” said Robert Holleyman, BSA’s President and CEO. “Don’t take our word for it; just listen to these software pirates explain how they made money by duping thousands of people into purchasing or downloading illegal software from the Internet…”

Note that it does seem Robert is talking directly to you, not through a corporate-speak filter.

I’m sad to say, though, that after searching through an entire day’s worth of PR Newswire releases on the technology industry, I didn’t find one exemplary quote.

But that doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

Here’s what you can do today to make your copy, and your quotes, pop:

  • Don’t write using a template. Ever. If you see “Insert quote here”, run the other way. Every situation, every release, every e-mail, every sales pitch, is different. If you have to write using a template, you probably shouldn’t be writing external copy for your company. You should hire somebody to do it for you.
  • Quotes, despite what you’ve heard, don’t have to be two sentences. (Like “Bla, bla, blah,” said Joe Smoe. “Bla, bla, blah.”) You can use partial quotes. Or just one sentence. Or three. Actually, if every quote you write has two sentences, your writing becomes boring.  Just one word of caution: Don’t make it too long. You will lose the reader. See the “Holy Mother of Lazy Writing” example.
  • Quote the subject’s actual words. This should go without saying. But the PR and marketing industries have made it a habit–a bad habit–of making up quotes. I know that many times the person doesn’t have time to be interviewed. But try to schedule 10 minutes. That’s only one-sixth of an hour.
  • Let me preface this by saying I believe making up quotes is cheesy at best, borderline unethical at worst. Yes, I’ve done it. And I felt weird doing it. If you must make up quotes, and I know you won’t have access to everyone, try to make the quoted content sound like the person. If you don’t know how your subject talks, you should try to spend some time, on the phone at least, with the person. At least once. Basic nuance is all we’re talking here.
  • Reporters, of course, are held to higher standards. But most reporters, in my mind, still take too many liberties with “polishing” quotes. I’m not saying you have to put in the “uh”s and “uhm”s. But if you’re going to quote somebody, quote them! If what your source says isn’t quotable, paraphrase. When you polish, you sanitize. Sanitization is good in the operating room. Not in the newsroom.

Last but not least:

If you can’t find any diamonds, don’t use any quotes. That’s right. Who made it a rule that you had to put a quote in a press release, e-mail announcement or news story? If your marketing manager or editor says you need a quote, regardless of the situation, he or she is misguided. There are plenty of circumstances when quoting is just silly. Bad quotes–long ones, fake ones, mushy ones, lawyer-speak ones, jargon-filled ones–trip up readers.

Unless your goal is to have readers quotes22not read your copy, no quotes are better than bad quotes.

You can quote me on that.

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Spiders and SEO: Strange Magic They Are Not

In copywriting on 03/16/2009 at 5:05 pm

I’ve always been amazed at the increasing amount of companies looking for “SEO copywriters.” SEO, or search engine optimization, is important. But the content behind that SEO still needs to inform, persuade…and provoke buying decisions. After all, what good is attracting a few more readers to your site if it’s full of garbage?

I’ve always thought of SEO as a stand-alone practice as, well, soulless.

Others, I know, see it as some strange magic. After all, aren’t you tricking Google, the smartest company in the world?

Google spidersWell, after attending a class with Peacock Marketing Group and Carabiner Communications on how to optimize press releases, I’ve seen the light.

Good copy and optimization can co-exist.

Here are some high-level tips on luring more spiders to your releases:

  1. Rustle up the smartest marketing minds you can find, brainstorm, and come up with key phrases you think people will be searching for. Note I said “phrases” and not “words” because the more descriptive they are, the more likely your release will be on the first page as opposed to the 30th. In other words, “security” isn’t going to get you anywhere. But “social media security” will: Google came up with only 3,450 hits on that. And “copywriting” yields 7.5 million hits. But “high-tech copywriting” yields a much more palatable 239 hits. I can deal with that.
  2. Validate those phrases by testing them on search engines.
  3. Set up a Google Analytics account. This program, among other things, shows you where your visitors come from and how they interact with your site. You can find out everything you need about this simple-to-use–and free–service here on Google’s Analytics‘ page.
  4. When writing the headline, make sure you include a top key phrase. Google places higher value on headlines.
  5. Pepper your copy with key phrases and hyperlink them to relevant parts of your website (not your homepage). Google spiders love hyperlinks. I don’t have a magic formula for the number of key phrases to use; everybody has a different opinion. Just don’t go crazy. The placement must look natural. Readers–the analysts, customers and reporters you’re attempting to reach–are smart. Don’t insult them by spamming them with out-of-place key phrases.
  6. Incorporate bullets, bolded text and subheads. This formatting attracts spiders. It also makes your copy easier to read. Don’t go overboard, though.
  7. Add “alt attributes” to photos. Google really doesn’t search for images. It searches for words. That’s why you should add descriptions to your photos.
  8. Make sure you choose a press release vendor that accepts XHTML formatting rather than just HTML. XHTML, in a nutshell, shows bold, formatted and hyperlinked text.
  9. Bonus Tip: Did you know that PDF documents can be optimized too? If you have an online PDF document, the same principals apply. In addition, when naming the file, make sure you put underscores (_) between words. For some strange reason, spiders love ‘em.

As soulless as it may be, press releases are as much about SEO as they are about press coverage. Keeping your company on a regular basis high up on Google and Yahoo! is essential in today’s information saturated world. Regular publishing of press releases is a good way to do this.

Let me also say I’ve seen plenty of releases–and other online marketing materials for that matter–that are supposedly optimized but written horribly. Language that doesn’t even inform in plain English let alone persuade. And content that is full of jargon and mushy corporate speak.

SEO can work wonders. But let me be clear: The most important thing about writing a press release is to attract people, not spiders.


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How to Get People Talking About You

In business communications, social media on 03/10/2009 at 2:25 am

Today, I sold myself out for some lasagna: I shamelessly plugged another company, and pimped out my Twitter account, for the potential of winning $100 in Italian food.

And yes, it was worth it.

lasagna_gansonWhile surfing the Web today, a Maggiano’s Little Italy Twitter promotion caught my eye…and appetite. If you tweeted “Follow @Maggianos by 5pm CST to be entered to win $100 in Maggiano’s gift certificates” by that deadline, you would be eligible to win $100 in mouthwatering angel hair with Joey Z’s Pomodoro sauce, gnocchi with tomato-vodka sauce, or any other concoction that suited your taste.

So why was turning my own Twitter account into an advert for another company worth it? As social media news site Mashable says, the potential reward for spending five seconds advertising for the restaurant far outweighed the cost of sending a tweet. Which, of course, was zero.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t win. But I am craving Italian food right now. I bet others who participated are too.

And that’s a win for Maggiano’s. The restaurant has 2,396 followers as of this writing. I checked the Twitter account of a restaurant chain that has a near cult-like following–@Five-Guys (a burger joint)–and it has only 352 followers. Imagine if they were offering one year of free meals? Five Guys followers would come out of the woodwork.

So, for simply the cost of the time spent managing a social media campaign and $200 in free food, Maggiano’s got thousands of people talking…and probably eating. Now, for the record, I’m a little peeved that only two diners won–@IssueTrak and @sheabeck. (Maggiano’s didn’t make the number of winners clear from the get-go). And I also think there are more creative things you can do on Twitter than just have people re-tweet something.

But every restaurant–and every furniture store and online retailer for that matter–should be testing innovative social media campaigns like this one right now to get people out of their bunkers and spending money on the economy once again.


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Why Your Company Should Be on Twitter

In social media on 02/26/2009 at 10:26 pm

The other day, I saw a news story that caught my interest: Charter Communications, the cable company, was planning to file for bankruptcy protection. Being a Charter customer, I thought I would post my thoughts on Twitter.

My tweet, verbatim:

“My cable co. to file bankruptcy. I told them I was planning on going to AT&T and Charter could have cared less.”

twitter1For those of you a little sketchy on what Twitter is, it’s basically a “micro” blogging site that allows anyone to publish statements in 140 characters or less.

I have a love-hate relationship with Twitter. At best, it’s a collective brain trust–an interactive think tank if you will–that you can draw off of. My life has personally benefited from the ideas that I’ve read on Twitter.

At worst, though, it’s a high school cafeteria–full of meaningless drivel about everyday experiences…and noise. As Tino Mantella, president of the Technology Association of Georgia, once said, and I’m paraphrasing, “I have no interest in reading tweets on eating ice cream.”

But I must admit I have a new-found respect for the power of Twitter. Within two minutes of my Charter tweet, I received a message from a company rep, “Umatter2Charter,” saying that Charter does care about me. Intrigued, I “DM”d him. (That’s a private e-mail, virtually meaning “direct message.”) I told him I’m never at home and that the AT&T U-verse guy was knocking at my door…

Umatter2Charter called me that day.

I told him I had called another rep about lowering my monthly service because I knew people who had U-verse who were paying less than me and had more channels, a better user interface, and a digital video recorder. (DVRs rock, by the way). The rep, I told him, really could have cared less.

Well, there’s a happy ending. Umatter2Charter knocked off $30. That made me happy. It made me not want to go to AT&T.

Moral of the story? You–yes, you–should be on Twitter. If you manage a brand, any brand– B2B or B2C–you need to be monitoring what consumers are saying about you. And trust me, Twitter users are talking about you, whether you’re a start-up or a Fortune 500 consumer products company. Twitter users tweet about everything. What they’re working on. The software they’re using. The delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream they just ate.

They even tweet about tweeting.

Let’s face it, we aren’t affectionate toward our TV and Internet service providers; we just want a cost-effective service that works. So if a cable company could win my affection, then you could win the affection of wayward customers, too.

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The Essence of Fine Writing is…

In copywriting on 02/22/2009 at 5:54 pm

Good storytelling.

This AP story is what everyone should strive for. It tells–it shows actually–in riveting detail what medics witnessed following the horrible chimp attack last week in Connecticut.

storytelling-bookThe lead doesn’t say the victim’s hands were damaged. Rather, it says her hands “looked as if they were wrecked by a machine.” Her face wasn’t just bloodied. All the blood “obscured whatever parts were left.” These visceral images appear–they sear– in our heads. Much more than a normal, boring hard news lead. Another reader told me it “read like a fine novel.”

The storytelling doesn’t end at the lead, though. The reporter places you, the reader, at the scene. And despite the content, it’s not sensationalistic.

Web copy, sales letters, press releases, Op-Eds, news stories. Good storytelling still applies.

I know what you’re probably thinking. The story, about a violent animal attack, tells itself; everyday news stories and marketing copy can’t read like this.

Wrong.

We can all tell better stories.

Don’t say the legislators were tired after spending hours debating a bill. Tell readers how one representative held her head in her hands out of frustration. How another senator’s normally neat hair was disheveled. Make readers feel as if they’re there.

Don’t say your software provides analytics solutions. Tell prospects how it can help…in real language. Give real-world examples. Anecdotes. Make them understand, without having them work at it, how your technology can change their businesses.

Unfortunately, very little marketing and PR copy outside of advertising does this. Even worse, not much more news copy does this either.

I wish I could go to companies’ websites and not have to work to figure out what they do. Ditto for press releases. Good storytelling can solve this.

ap1I also wish I could go to my local newspaper everyday and read fine writing like this AP story, whether it’s an animal attack, a hostile corporate takeover or a battle at the state capitol.

We all know most newspaper writing is boring. However, I remember when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a series of blogs in the first person from its war correspondent during the Iraqi invasion. His frank observations had me going to his blog routinely. For a few minutes everyday, I was in Iraq. That is what newspapers can do, in part, to save themselves.

Actually, it’s what they must do.

We all know how competitive it is right now in the business world. Good writing is a powerful weapon to differentiate yourself from the masses. All too often, we fall into the trap of trying to sound like our competition.

Further, we all know the tremendous challenges the news business faces. Metro dailies nationwide are cutting back. Some are downright closing. The AJC, for example, just reported it was folding its business section into the A section and combining three Sunday sections into one.

We can talk all day about emerging media business models. And newspapers can brag all day about their scoops. But powerful writing like this AP story–writing that’s alive–is what keeps ‘em coming back.

And prevents them from going to your competitors.

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Copycation is Live!

In Uncategorized on 02/20/2009 at 10:48 pm

Glad you found this site. I’ve been wanting to start a blog like this for a long time. Enough procrastinating, already…

This is Copycation. Epiphanies on media, communications and copywriting. Uncommon analysis on what the news media are up to and how companies are communicating. Your source for tips on becoming a better communicator.

My name is Justin Rubner, a message development strategist and corporate writer. As I say in the “About” section, I hate corporate speak, tech speak, meaningless jargon, acronyms and otherwise obtuse messaging. As a former journalist, I was inundated everyday with this garbage–press releases, websites and written pitches.

I hope to rid the world of this insanity.

Please take a few seconds to sign up for the Copycation RSS feed. See you soon!

-Justin

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