Content Cavern

Honest tales from the content marketing climb

  • About
  • Blog

Who Are You in This Common Marketing Scenario?

22nd July 2017 by Rob Leave a Comment

Marketer First - Radioman SecondThe Lieutenant jumps first.

He lands behind enemy lines, checks his equipment (which has gone missing on the way down) and scans his moonlit surroundings.

The Private lands nearby – awkwardly, and loud.

“Flash” says the Lieutenant.

“Shit” says the Private.

“That’s not the correct reply, trooper. l say ‘flash,’ you say ‘thunder’.”

“Yes, sir. Thunder, sir.”

“Leg bag?”

“Prop blast got it, sir. And my radio and batteries with it. Do you have a weapon, sir?”

“Just my knife.”

“Do you have any idea where we are, sir?”

“Some. So, you’re a radioman?”

“Yes, sir. l was until l lost my radio on the jump. l’ll get chewed out for that.”

“If you were in my platoon, l’d say you were a rifleman first, radioman second.”

“Maybe you could say that to my leader. When we find him. If we find him.”

“lt’s a deal. First, l need your help. …”

I rewatched this scene from Band of Brothers a couple of years back. And that line stuck with me:

“If you were in my platoon, l’d say you were a rifleman first, radioman second.”

It stuck, because it matched a realisation I had around the same time.

See, I’ve always identified as a writer. More recently a copywriter. But, until taking on the position as “Head of” at Latitude, I never saw myself as a marketer.

That was a mistake.

I’m a marketer first. So are you.

And I’m a copywriter second.

This applies whether you specialise in graphic design, paid search, web development, programmatic, and so on.

But what does it mean, to be a “marketer first”?

 

Who Are You When it Comes to This Problem?

 

Let’s say you’re freelancing as a graphic designer.

Your new project is to create a suite of banner ads.

The client gives you the objective.

The client gives you the deadline.

The client gives you the budget.

If you’re lucky, the client gives you the brand guidelines.

If you’re really lucky, the client gives you a handful of target media placements for the ads.

And if you’re some kind of wizard, the client might even give you the customer profile.

As a professional, you set to work and deliver on time. Ahead of time, even – because you KNOW the client’s gonna show the ads to his wife … and you KNOW she’s gonna have some “slight amends” to request.

Or …

Before starting, you might ask for the client’s wider marketing objective.

You might ask what other marketing activity they’re running right now.

You might ask if they’ve tried banner ads in the past. And, if so, you might ask to see the results.

You might ask how their customer profile was created in the first place.

And you might realise – banner ads are a waste of time and money for this client.

If you do these things, you’re thinking like a marketer.

If you advise the client to invest into an alternative and more logical tactic (something like a paid Facebook advertising campaign), you’re being a marketer first … and a graphic designer second.

I know who I’d rather have working on my team.

 

Is the “Marketer First” Approach Always the Right Move?

 

I get it. Sometimes, it’s better to keep your head down, do the work, take the money, and run a mile.

But sometimes, you have a rational client (they do exist). And the marketer-first attitude secures you a position of total trust. These relationships can last a lifetime.

After all, it’s the same approach used by the most advanced level of copywriter – so it won’t hurt for us to try.

Filed Under: Copywriter, Marketer Tagged With: copywriter, marketer

Not Writing

1st May 2017 by Rob Leave a Comment

Not Writing

Do you agree that you can be more than one thing in life, at any given time?

To flow in one area – and stumble elsewhere?

More importantly, is it allowed?

When a composer spends the afternoon with his defence solicitor, is he capable (and permitted) to play another show in the evening?

When an architect misses her son’s football match, is she capable (and permitted) to finish her plan before bedtime?

When a poet loses his job, is he capable (and permitted) to free-write at sunrise?

I submit to difficult days. And use them as alibis for not writing.

Until I write.

And there’s nowhere left to hide.

Filed Under: Challenge Tagged With: inspiration, writing

Are You Writing Without the “Springsteen Method”?

15th September 2016 by Rob 1 Comment


Spring

We were dropping like flies, wasting away, getting all kinds of weird diseases like Kaposi’s Sarcoma and PCP Pneumonia. We died, sometimes in horrible agonizing pain, sometimes slowly drowning from the fluid in our lungs. And nobody cared. Nobody gave a damn.”

For me, the scariest part of that paragraph is the ending. The loneliness of it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Copywriter, Empathy

How to Write an Ad that Sells More Cocktails (and Almost Anything Else)

7th September 2016 by Paul Leave a Comment

copywriting sales

Imagine you’re the barkeep.

The solid oak bar is your contact point. It’s your website – your social media hub. Your handshake.

The chalkboard above the bar – your ads.

Every adult in town – a prospect.

You’re here to sell cocktails until you run out of ice.

The secret ingredient? It’s coming up …  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Copywriter, Empathy, Research, sales

5 Simple Ways to Write an Explosive Blog Intro (and Avoid Publishing a Dud)

1st September 2016 by Rob Leave a Comment

Blog Intro ExplosiveBaghdad.

Several US riflemen have cordoned off the area.

The roadside bomb has been isolated.

And Sergeant J.T. Sanborn seems a little too relaxed, as he remotely controls the disposal robot.

This is the first two minutes we see in The Hurt Locker, a movie that went on to win six Academy Awards in 2010.

Its opening scene is a prime example of irresistible storytelling – starting in the thickest of the action.

You’ve seen this approach a hundred times over …

Think of Troy, which starts with Achilles in a one-on-one battle. Gladiator, with Maximus leading the fight against a barbarian horde. Or 300, with its now infamous THIS IS SPARTA introduction (yes, I’ve got a tickle spot for swords and shields).

As viewers, we’re given a truckload of credit by the director – who knows we’re gonna build a fast story around the action in our heads.

Learn how to do this with your blog intros and you become a more explosive writer over time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging

How to Write a Persuasive Landing Page: My Favourite 3-Step Formula

24th August 2016 by Rob 2 Comments

2869299380_2d5c5f8720_oSomething happened to me when I was 20 years old.

It happened to more people in that year (2009) than any year before, or after.

Blindsided me. On an average Thursday, just before teatime. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Copywriter, Empathy, sales Tagged With: copywriting, empathy

15 Copywriting Tips from the Salesman You Thought was a Con Artist

3rd August 2016 by Rob Leave a Comment

copywriting tipsLast weekend me, Jen, and the kids zipped into Morrisons to get some fried chicken, and pick up some bin bags.

An announcement crackled through the overhead speaker, inviting over 21s to collect a “free gift” by the fruit & veg section.

I’d usually walk in the other direction, thinking it was a con.

But we were already right next to the “free gift” pedestal. And there was no queue.

A notice on the pedestal read: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Copywriter, sales Tagged With: copywriting

Can Your Copy Pass the “Pre-Flop” Test?

28th July 2016 by Rob Leave a Comment

copywriting testTime for a copywriting challenge … [Read more…]

Filed Under: Challenge, Copywriter Tagged With: copywriting, Test

4 Underused Research Techniques that Can Set Your Writing Apart

21st July 2016 by Rob 2 Comments

copywriting research techniquesImagine you’re choosing between holiday parks for your summer break.

Is a flat surface important to you?

Turns out, it’s important to parents who want to keep their buggie wheels from rattling loose, and give their calves a rest, for once.

I never empathised with that until having kids. Actually stepping into the shoes of the customer for my client (nationwide holiday operator).

Still, I could have absorbed insight like that (without committing to parenthood), just by waking up to these simple research techniques: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Empathy, Research Tagged With: copywriting, empathy, research

What is a Copywriter? (The Cold-Blooded Truth)

14th July 2016 by Rob Leave a Comment

What is a copywriter

Wikipedia tells you a copywriter “writes copy for the purpose of advertising or marketing”.

Correct … to an extent.

First, the word ‘copy’ refers to the text on a page.

And marketers often refer to the words of a page as ‘copy’ … with little thought to whether you know what it means or not.

The text you’re reading right now is ‘copy’, or ‘copywriting’.

More specifically, it’s landing page copy – written by me to keep you reading, all the way through, so you learn everything you need to know about what a copywriter is – in the simplest way possible.

You’re not going to get the one-line definition for copywriter here. So if that’s what you’re after, best jumping over to Wikipedia now.

Stick around, though, and you’re going to learn what most websites won’t tell you about [Read more…]

Filed Under: Copywriter Tagged With: copywriter

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

FREE MEMBERSHIP

Become a better writer with the Content Cavern ...

Join to get your free copy of our ebook: How to Use Empathy in Your Writing.

You also get invitations to our free editing service, along with the odd copywriting tip (also free).

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in