Month: February 2021

How to Create Seasonal Marketing Campaigns with a Difference

Keeping your brand fresh and up to date can sometimes seem difficult. Running seasonal marketing campaigns can seem repetitive, boring and very unoriginal. Even if you aren’t a seasonal business, it’s important you adapt your marketing strategy to keep up with the holidays. 

It’s also important you stand out from the crows when it comes to seasonal campaigns, such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, New Year, etc. Today’s post is going to walk you through our top tips to creating a seasonal marketing campaign with a difference, to ensure you stand out from the rest this holiday!

Make it centred around your unique products

If your brand has a unique product that is specifically focused on a holiday, showcase it. Make your campaign centred around this product. Display its unique selling points, explain and push why your customers need this product. It’s also super important you pick the right seasonal opportunity, and this will largely depend on the product you plan to focus on. Do your research, collect data on when customers are most likely to engage with a product like yours and make the right choice. 

Avoid the common one-liners and phrases of the season

I mean, this one goes without saying. Customers are sick of hearing overused one-liners such as “place our product under your tree this Christmas”. BORING. We’ve all heard it before. As a copywriting marketer, you should ALWAYS be thinking of new, catchy lines to use in your marketing campaigns, and to really make a difference, you want something unique to your brand and your product.

Give the campaign a deeper story or meaning – not just about the holiday

The most effective seasonal campaigns tell a story. They don’t just focus on the holiday itself. It tells a story, engages their viewers, draws them in, makes them relate… you get the gist. To really make a difference and stand out, give your campaign a deeper meaning. Map the customer journey and tell the story you want to tell. 

Enlist a charity or partner brand

Over the years, we’ve seen many successful brands partner with charities for their seasonal campaigns, particularly Christmas ones. Enlisting or working with a charity can set your brand apart. By showing that you care about more than just making a sale, will ironically, surely increase your sales. Customers will see you as more than just a company. They will connect, relate and engage with your story and will feel encouraged to purchase. 

Provide an incentive or deal to the customer that’s better or different from the rest

We see seasonal campaigns all the time offering incentives – but in order to make a difference, you need to make your offer unique. Giving a percentage discount on products is extremely overused. To make a difference, you need to do something outside the box, such as, free gifts, competitions, free subscriptions for a year. There are multiple areas you can look at here, but you have to make sure it’s a better and different incentive to your competitors. 

Feeling excited about seasonal marketing again? So are we! We hope this post has provided you with some inspiration to smash your next seasonal campaign but if not, we’re always here to help.

Book a free strategy call with one of our team to find out how we can help your business today!

Why Every eCommerce Business Should Choose Shopify

Jargon in Writing – Should You Use Jargon in Your Copy?

Wondering whether or not to use industry-specific jargon in your copy? Where is and isn’t it acceptable to use jargon in advertising copy? Find out the ins and outs of using jargon right in today’s blog. 

When it comes to copywriting, one of the first rules we’re taught it to get rid of complicated language, aka jargon. People respond to simple words. Don’t overcomplicate things. That’s what we’re always told right? 

When you look at using jargon objectively, is it really all that bad? Well, for the majority of the time, using jargon can be detrimental to your copy. However, in some exceptions, it can be acceptable to use it and it may even maximise your sales. Let us explain.

What is jargon?

Jargon is defined as “special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand”. Naturally, you would assume NOT to use jargon as a copywriter, as making your copy hard to understand defeats the whole purpose of writing copy. 

However, jargon CAN be used to create a sense of enhanced value. You can make the ordinary seem extraordinary by playing with words. We’re not saying over complicate your copy for the sake of it. But if you’re writing about a technical topic, there are lots of industries that have their own language. Being aware of your target audience is super important here so knowing your terminology and using it correctly is an effective way of using jargon in your copy.

When to not use jargon in copy

So when do we not use jargon? There’s a fine line when it comes to using jargon. Steven King even called it the copywriting equivalent of the dandelion. One is fine, but if you’re not careful, you can get covered in their little flowers. You then won’t be able to see your lawn or tell the difference between grass and flower stalks. See the analogy we’re going for here? 

It goes without saying that if you’re writing for a broad, open audience that doesn’t have specialist knowledge, using too much jargon immediately renders your copy unreadable. You won’t be able to relate to them and persuade them to purchase. However, if you know your audience does have this specialist knowledge, go for it. Don’t overdo it, but you can definitely afford to sprinkle a bit in here and there, simply to create a sense of enhanced value. You can use it to build trust and make your copy more compelling.

For example, let’s take coffee:

Avid coffee drinkers will know what a latte is and if you’re a fan of Starbucks, you’ll know that grande means large. To give your customers a sense of enhanced value, change a ‘large coffee’ to a ‘grande latte’. Sounds a lot better right? Your customers understand this jargon which makes them feel important and therefore, more likely to convert.

So, in conclusion, when in doubt, ditch the jargon. As a strong copywriter, you should always try and establish your audiences beforehand. This will allow you to form a supported decision about whether or not you should be using jargon. If you know your audience will understand it, use it …but still, use it sparingly. 

Our Top Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns

Valentine’s Day – the day of love and romance, but for us marketers, an opportunity to create a smashing campaign with a compelling message. Today, we’re going to share with you some of our favourite valentine’s day campaigns from all over the world.

1. KFC and Deliveroo (Singapore)

Last year, KFC and Deliveroo coupled up (get it?) for their Valentine’s Day campaigns. “Will Deliveroo be my Valentine?” was their campaign name and allowed couples to pre-order home delivery of the KFC love meal combo, which included a chicken dinner and a limited-edition KFC bucket ring.

It’s the perfect combination and brought together two strong brands. They really played off the fact that their businesses go hand in hand and that by joining forces, they could provide customers with a deal that was too good to resist. 

Image credit: www.marketing-interactive.com 

2. Coors Light

In 2020, Coors Light beer called for singletons to abandon finding their true love and to instead, adopt a dog! This campaign was particularly powerful as they created a fun and playful campaign whilst also promoting an amazing cause.

They offered $100 towards dog adoption fees to the first 1000 people who qualified. They used this Valentine’s day campaign to boost sales and promote a good cause. Great marketing.

3. Ted Baker 

In 2016, Ted Baker hit the nail on the head with their Sole Mates campaign.

Through their clever use of puns and the creation of a playful campaign, Ted Baker invited fans to an interactive game of “hook your solemate” where they could win up to £1000 on a shopping spree.

Their sales rocketed and fans were also encouraged to share the game with friends and family – the perfect bit of shareable content to boost brand awareness. 

Image credit: www.behance.net

4. Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains Valentine’s Love Carriage campaign of 2016 promoted their £42 million re-vamp of trains. Fred Sireix was the face of the campaign, championing both the train service and his belief in true love. The campaign offered singletons a matchmaking train journey from King’s Cross to York, exclusively on the 14th of February. Watch their ad to see just how powerful this campaign was.

5. Hooters

It’s no secret that Valentine’s Day doesn’t go swimmingly for everyone. Hooters played on this with their Twitter Campaign of 2020 with the phrase “Shred em and forget em”. Hooters offered 10 free boneless wings with the purchase of 10 wings when customers shared a photo of an ex to dispose of in the “best possible way” so that the “healing can begin”. They shared this on Twitter and received a great response.

So, what does it take to create a great Valentine’s day campaign? 

✔️ Offer unbeatable deals

✔️ Be relatable

✔️ Work with a charity or a good cause where possible

✔️ Be playful and fun

✔️ Play on people’s emotions and pain points (not everyone has a valentine!)

If you’re the mind behind an EPIC Valentine’s Day campaign this year, share it with us and maybe it’ll be in our top 5 next year!