Tips, news and views from Green Light Copywriting

Seven copywriting signs of change 1 January 2012

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012. As the New Year dawns, it’s interesting to think about what it will mean for business copywriting. What changes should companies be aware of in the year ahead? Here are just a few possible signs:

1. Companies invest more in marketing?
Recent research has shown that businesses spent more money on their marketing in 2011. It’s interesting to see that this change accompanied a general decrease in market confidence. But, as the old adage goes, companies that continue to market in tougher economic times tend to do better than those that don’t. This is backed up by other recent research, proving that companies that are bold will do best in the long-term. It’s also telling that the research shows that companies are spending more on newer approaches rather than on the traditional marketing strategies. Are you reviewing your copywriting approach in the face of these changes to stay ahead in your market in 2012?

2. Marketing still not close enough to sales?
When you plan your copywriting and marketing approach, do you align it with your sales plan? Not enough companies did in 2011, according to recent research – and it’s not great news for business for the year ahead. It seems that many companies continue to see sales and marketing as separate entities rather than interconnected assets. This is a risk to your future development in the New Year. It applies whether you’re trying to link your copywriting approach more closely to your customers’ interests – or aiming to create a more streamlined flow from copy to creating a sale.

3. Email loses its status?
Europe’s largest IT company recently banned its employees from using email. While it isn’t wise to read an entire trend into the decision of one business, it does suggest a shift. Is this the start of the decline of email alongside the rise and rise of social media in the year to come? If so, it has implications for the way that companies communicate both internally and externally. Will communications and copywriting approaches need to be adapted to meet this change in culture in 2012? Will business be conducted in 140 characters only? Either way, this change is a sign that companies recognise the impact of employee communications. Recent business disasters with Twitter also point to an increased emphasis on the way that companies communicate in the months to come.

4. Companies still aren’t communicating effectively with customers and prospects?
Communication equals relationships equals business. Yet a 2011 survey showed that many companies recognise that they do not communicate adequately or effectively with their prospects and customers. More than half of the companies surveyed said that they thought they needed to improve their overall communications in this area. The companies that I speak to about copywriting regularly tell me that their issue is time (or the lack of it). The other is strategy. Perhaps one benefit of a tougher economic climate in 2012 will be that companies have more time and more drive to create a long-term and commercially focused communications and copywriting strategy.

5. Content becomes more complex?
Content seemed to become a more complex issue in 2011. This looks set to grow in 2012 – how we distribute copy, how we manage it, how we share it and how we use it to help customers get to know us. The copywriting process has increasingly had to adapt to these shifts in the way that we communicate with prospects. From 140 characters to 1400 words, copywriting has to fit the form – not fight it. But how will businesses adapt to the barriers preventing them from reaching their customers in 2012? Ironically, while we can self-select our own online content and communities through social media, the email inbox is still a relatively open forum (as my own inbox shows). Copywriting has to evolve to stay ahead of the changes and challenges that 2012 is likely to bring.

6. Opportunities to share content are growing?
Linked to the point above, technical and digital leaps forward mean that opportunities to share copy and ideas for content are growing all the time – and are likely to grow even further in 2012. Here are just three outlined by Mashable. The implications for copywriting are for the need to keep on evolving. This means looking out for fresh ways to use content and copywriting to engage, whether they are purely online – or offline to online. These new options look likely to give companies more innovative ways to use content and to connect with people in the year ahead. But fresh copywriting approaches still need to fit the medium, not the other way around.

7. Words increase in value?
This point may sound rather obvious, coming from a copywriter. But with the growth of the internet and social media, it’s likely to matter even more in 2012. Get a snapshot by taking a look at this view of the words that can increase or decrease your Twitter following. It’s a small, but telling insight into the impact of individual words. It looks very likely that in 2012 there will be an even closer connection between the technical (the science of applying specific words and terms) – and the commercial-creative (the art of copywriting to connect powerfully with your target audience).

Happy New Year!

Camilla Zajac, Green Light Copywriting, January 2012