As a copywriter with over 20 years in the business, I got to thinking whether my writing has got better with age (of course it has!) and if so, how. Should companies looking to utilise a good copywriter for their business blogs or feature articles look at how many years’ experience their potential freelance support can bring to the table, or is it null and void?
I think it matters. That’s not to say that people just starting out also aren’t good at the job, but as with many industries (and wine and cheese) writing gets better with age. And here are a few reasons why.
Vocabulary tends to improve the older we get because we have met more people and read more books. Both of which are proven ways to extend your vocabulary.
Self-confidence also gets better with age, which helps in the work environment because you are secure enough to make suggestions, but also have the confidence to listen and take a brief, without feeling the need to prove how much you know.
Experience may be an obvious one to add to the list, but it’s important. The more customers you have worked with, the more situations you have been exposed to, and the more types of writing you have done, the more capable you will be handling incoming work. You may not have experience in a specific field, but perhaps you are well rehearsed in researching topics and knowing where to find the information you need, and how to transform these newfound facts into compelling copy.
Decision making is another trait that improves the older you get. In a study published by Psychological Science, it was found that the insight and life experience of adults led to the ability to make quick decisions. You may think this isn’t relevant for copywriting, but as any long serving copywriter will tell you, writing a piece of copy requires multiple decisions. What is the tone of the piece? Where can I find the best information for this article? How much detail should I include to make best use of this business blog?
Empathy might sound like another odd trait to include in a list about how copywriting improves with age, but employing a copywriter that can truly put themselves in your shoes to understand what you need from them, and more so, in the shoes of the prospects and clients you’re looking to reach with your copy, is invaluable.
Speed is something else a more experienced copywriter can bring to the table. Being able to write quickly, while still delivering on target content with very few if any mistakes, is a difficult skill to foster. It’s something that can only be developed over time as experience helps you produce copy quickly and effectively.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but from personal experience they offer a good overview as to why copywriting gets better with age. I remember when I started writing very basic press releases back in 2001, it would take me quite a long time to put pen to paper, and then I would be so nervous about getting it wrong, I would read and re-read the piece until I couldn’t see the letters on the page! Over time, I have learnt what works and what doesn’t when producing copy, I understand the importance of listening to what clients want and not assuming I know more about their business than they do. I have also learned how to hone the process of writing to ensure I deliver my best work, and I am more confident because of the experience I have obtained over the years.
So, if you’re looking for a copywriter for your business blogs or feature articles, and you want to be guided by someone with a bit more experience, let’s chat!
Visit www.blogwrite.co.uk for more information
We’re delighted to share that Unfold have taken on organising the Smart Cookies meetup group, started by the wonderful Nic & Nat Alpi, previously of Cookies HQ.
Smart Cookies is a quarterly meetup group of over 1,000 entrepreneurs, involved in the Bristol creative and digital industries, passionate about design, development and marketing.
We want to continue the events in the same spirit and ethos as our predecessors, promoting collaboration between disciplines so we can devise better solutions for all aspects of the creative process.
Each meetup will feature either individual speakers or an expert panel, where discussion will centre around a set theme related to building and growing digital ventures.
Whether you’re a tech professional, an entrepreneur, freelancer or student, there will be something for you. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, make connections and join a community of smart cookies.
Come along and be inspired or – if you’d like to share your own experiences – why not contact us about becoming a speaker?
From Amsterdam to London: Olivia’s Incredible Journey to Support Winston’s Wish
BrisTechTonic had the unique opportunity to sponsor the Walk for Winston’s Wish Black Tie Ball in March 2023, an event put on by family members to benefit the wonderful Winston’s Wish organisation.
10 years ago Olivia and Harvey lost their mum, and Russell his wife – Caroline.
For the past ten years in March, Olivia, Harvey, and Russell have planned a yearly walk in support of the organisation called Walk for Winston’s Wish. The family wanted to bring the neighbourhood together to recognise and celebrate Winston’s Wish while also wanting to collect some money for them. Winston’s Wish gave the family vital assistance after their loss.
Who are Winston’s Wish?
A UK-based organisation called Winston’s Wish helps kids who have lost a loved one or are going through a similar situation. The nonprofit organisation was established in 1992 to support grieving children, teenagers, and their families.
Winston’s Wish is aware of how traumatising and challenging it may be for kids to lose a loved one. To assist kids and their families in overcoming their sorrow and accepting their loss, they provide a variety of programmes and support.
Bereavement support is one of the main services provided by Winston’s Wish. The nonprofit organisation has a group of specialised practitioners that work with kids and teenagers to better understand and cope with their sorrow. Individual counselling, group therapy, and family support are a few examples of this.
Winston’s Wish also provides families with practical assistance, such as suggestions on how to talk to kids about death, details on legal and financial issues, and instructions on how to organise a funeral or memorial ceremony.
In addition to these services, Winston’s Wish also undertakes a number of projects and programmes to help encourage good mourning practises and increase awareness of the needs of grieving kids. These include research on the effects of loss on children and young people, community outreach initiatives, and training for professionals who work with children.
Winston’s Wish understands that every child’s experience with sorrow is different, and they cater their support to each child’s and family’s specific needs. The organisation has a kid-centred approach, which means they prioritise putting the needs and desires of the child at the centre of their assistance.
In general, Winston’s Wish is an essential resource for kids and families mourning a loved one. Through the charity’s services and support, families and children can find a way to get through the tough process of grieving and move on with their lives.
2023 – 10 Marathons in 10 days for the 10th Year
To commemorate their fundraising for Winston’s Wish’s tenth anniversary, Olivia, Harvey, and Russell hosted a Black Tie event. Attendees had a great time dancing, seeing entertainment, and raising money at the event, which was a major success.
Olivia and her companion undertook an amazing journey from Amsterdam to London while running 10 marathons in 10 days as a way to mark the event. Their efforts demonstrated that anything is possible with tenacity and endurance and helped generate awareness and money for Winston’s Wish. Some of what they did is visible on their Instagram feed.
The wonderful venue Moor Park Golf Club put on a visually stunning show for the evening, and BrisTechTonic was happy to sponsor the event.
Through Olivia’s efforts, this event raises nearly £15,000, bringing the campaign’s overall fundraising total to £45,000 over a ten-year period.
The Night
A memorable evening was had at the Black Tie Ball. Delicious canapés were provided throughout the evening, and a live band entertained guests with a mix of timeless songs and modern favourites.
Additionally, some of the event’s organisers and Winston’s Wish representatives gave speeches during which they discussed the impact of their organisation and the value of helping kids who are grieving.
However, it wasn’t all serious; there was also a lot of joy, laughter, and dancing. The occasion provided attendees with a chance to mingle, commemorate the fundraising efforts’ tenth anniversary, and express their support for Winston’s Wish.
The legacy Olivia left behind during her 10-day trip from Amsterdam to London was one of the evening’s highlights. Her extraordinary adventure promoted Winston’s Wish, raised money for it, and demonstrated that anything is possible if you work hard and persist. Her trek will live on in the form of inspiration and motivation for others to donate to this vital cause.
The celebration of community, generosity, and the importance of giving back was fantastic.
How can you help?
By using the following link, https://justgiving.com/fundraising/10in10for10walk you can make a direct donation to Winston’s Wish and assist them in continuing their vital work.
At BrisTechTonic, we value giving back to the community and assisting worthwhile causes. We are honoured to have participated in this unique event and anticipate providing Winston’s Wish with further support in the future.
Jeremy Bourton, Armadillo’s Account Director, recently spoke to Little Black Book about building relationships, finding ways to connect and utilising your skills.
LBB: How did you first get involved in account management and what appealed to you about it?
Jeremy: I found my way into account management by accident. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but knew I wanted a fast-paced role that allowed me to have a creative input without being creative. That’s how I stumbled across the idea of working in client services. Once I looked into it more, I knew it was the right direction for me.
LBB: What is it about your personality, skills and experience that has made account management such a great fit?
Jeremy: Building relationships is key to the role. My ability to work with different people and make sure they all feel heard is what I think makes me successful. I like people and finding ways to connect, which is definitely useful in account management!
LBB: What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting their career in account management?
Jeremy: Ask questions. I think you need to question everything in order to fully understand it and help deliver the best work. Whether it’s the internal processes, the client’s brief, how it can be achieved technically… ask questions, listen and absorb. You’ll be working with experts in various disciplines, so learn from them.
LBB: Thinking back to some of your most challenging experiences you’ve had in your career, what do you think tends to lie at the heart of the more tense or difficult client-agency relationships?
Jeremy: Most issues come from not interrogating what it is you’re doing at the start. If you start a project without everyone being clear on what they’re looking to achieve, client-side and internally, then nobody will get what they want from it. And that will lead to a difficult conversation with the client sooner or later.
LBB: And what are the keys to building a productive and healthy relationship?
Jeremy: I don’t think you can build a healthy relationship without being honest and reliable. Clients would rather have a difficult conversation than have you try and tell them what you think they want to hear. If you’re open and honest, you’ll gain the respect of your clients as they believe you’ll deliver.
LBB: What’s your view on disagreement and emotion – is there a place for it and if not, why not? If so, why – and what does productive disagreement look like?
Jeremy: Of course. We’re trying to change consumers’ behaviour, so how can we do that without emotion? If that emotion leads to disagreement, it’s not a bad thing as long as there’s a positive outcome. Focusing on solutions is key, and remaining professional within the emotional side.
LBB: Historically, account management has been characterised as the mediator in an adversarial client and creative relationship – what do you make of that characterisation, is there any nugget of truth in that or is it wildly inaccurate?
Jeremy: Historically this may well have been the case, however I feel it’s changed. At Armadillo, our creatives, developers, and strategists are involved in conversations with clients. We ensure that there’s open dialogue between our wider team and client stakeholders so that relationships can be built everywhere, not just in client services.
LBB: These days, agencies do so much beyond traditional campaigns and as account management you’re pulling together creative, experience, data, e-commerce, social and more – and that complexity can often be mirrored on the client stakeholder side too? What’s the key to navigating (and helping the client navigate) that complexity?
Jeremy: The key to this is teamwork. As I’ve mentioned, there are experts in all these disciplines working within a business. If an account manager is trying to do all this themselves, they’re not utilising the skills around them. We work best while collaborating and all pushing in one direction, drawing on each other’s skills.
LBB: What recent projects are you proudest of and why? What was challenging about these projects from an account management perspective and how did you address those challenges? What was so satisfying about working on these projects?
Jeremy: Rather than one specific project, I am always proud of the way my team works together to get through a campaign.
Regardless of whether there are challenges, the most satisfying thing for me is being able to step back and recognise the effort we’ve all put in to achieving the end goal. As an account director I’m not the one writing the copy, bringing a concept to life in design or figuring out how to make it work in development, but seeing everyone work as a team to achieve something great is what makes me want to get up on a wet Monday morning to do my job.
Article originally published on Little Black Book on 03/04/23
Armadillo Press Release published 12/04/23
Armadillo has opened the doors of its brand-new office in The Distillery, Bristol. The bespoke office space was carefully designed with Armadillo’s hybrid model in mind, creating an environment for flexibility and meeting the key drivers of collaboration, culture, and care.
After two years of carefully researching, consulting, and planning, Armadillo has created a space that is designed to suit different ways of working as well as the needs of employees. Walls have been kept to a minimum to allow Armadillo to evolve their use of the space over time as they test, learn and optimise their approach – but as there’s always a need for a video call, there are a few walls to create light, bright meeting rooms.
The vibrant office incorporates an open plan kitchen that converts easily into a social, event space with a pool table, the expected desks set up ready for use, increased collaborative project spaces, different seating types and configurations, and a wellbeing/prayer room. Plus, a library wing provides a dedicated quiet area for head-down work with no interruptions.
As part of bringing teams back to the office, complimentary lunch is provided three days a week and a variety of social activities are planned to bring the team together and continue to foster creative collaboration.
James Ray, Armadillo’s CEO, said “Our aim with this new space was to provide the best of both worlds, where people always have the best environment for the best work when in the office on some days at home on others. We started with a blank sheet of paper and, following extensive research within the team, industry and beyond, have designed a space that will work for the needs of the business now and in future.”
Hannah Waters, Executive Creative Director added “We chose the striking building for its bold, elegant features. We’ve balanced the beautiful internal concrete feature walls with our range of cool greys and warm vibrant oranges to ensure that, even on the rainiest day or after a challenging commute, our employees can be met with a positive palette and welcoming furniture.”
A launch event will be held at the new offices in April. Employees and guests are invited to explore the new space and learn how Armadillo will use it to continue to deliver exceptional, cutting-edge work for its clients.
The leadership team at Armadillo worked with employees to develop a hybrid space and policy that best fit them. As well as external research among agency peers, one-to-one interviews were held with every employee at Armadillo and feedback was used to create a strategy that can evolve and develop as it’s tested and evaluated over time.
Sustainability plays a key part in the design of The Distillery building, with features including rooftop mounted solar panels, intelligent LED lighting, water saving technology and an important emphasis on creating a healthy environment.
To demonstrate this, it has achieved a BREEAM Excellent accreditation, and an EPC Grade A rating and a Platinum and Gold Certified Wire Score, each of which is a globally-recognised symbol of sustainable achievement.
Armadillo Press Release published 28/03/23
CRM specialist Armadillo welcomes two data heavyweights into its team in the form of Lucy Darbon, Data Strategy Director, and Andrew Sargent, Head of Insight and Analytics. The new hires will help the DMA Award-winning agency drive its data and insight offering further for global clients including McDonald’s, Disney and Carnival UK. Armadillo has doubled in revenue and headcount in the last 3 years.
New data strategy director, Darbon, joins from Zone, where she was data strategy lead, driving acquisition, analysis and leveraging of clients’ data to achieve business objectives. Before that she led a team at BT as senior digital marketing effectiveness manager, having worked at the multinational telco for six years.
At Armadillo, Darbon will bring her skills and experience to bear, helping clients use data to drive businesses forward. Working as a bridge between strategy and data teams, she will use tools such as data visualization and analysis to democratize data, activating first-party data and driving ROI.
Meanwhile, Sargent joins from 12 years at Wood For Trees, the charity and non-profit data insights agency, where he was director of analysis. Fresh from working with major charities such as British Red Cross, Marie Curie and British Heart Foundation, at Armadillo he will focus on getting strong insight through data from its global clients.
Heading up a team of six, Sargent will provide in depth analysis across the agency and will work closely with the creative teams to enable data to inform creative strategy.
CEO James Ray comments, “Intelligent use of data is at the heart of everything we do at Armadillo, and Lucy and Andrew joining will give us a fantastic opportunity to further upweight our capabilities.
“As we continue to leverage first-party data for brands, the appointments will help move creative and data even closer together, allowing insights to inform creative strategy and output, and driving ROI across all our campaigns.”
Darbon adds: “Since my very first role at BT I’ve been inspired to work with data, and this position feels like it fits my capabilities perfectly. I could see immediately that Armadillo had very impressive technical expertise and data science skillsets, as well as the appetite to push things further.”
Sargent said: “I’m joining at such an exciting time for data and analysis – there’s never been more scope, with tech enabling even more access to insights. I also loved the culture of Armadillo from my first interview – it’s agile with a can-do, punchy mindset.”
Mentor Digital has announced the appointment of Dan Watt as its new Digital Marketing Director.
Dan brings a wealth of experience to the Mentor Digital team, having previously worked as a Senior Strategist at Google and Managing Partner at McCann. In these roles, he was responsible for developing and implementing digital marketing strategies for some of the world’s largest brands.
At Mentor Digital, Dan will be responsible for leading digital marketing services and driving growth for new and existing clients. He will also play a key role in developing and executing the overall business strategy for Mentor moving forwards.
Under Dan’s leadership, the digital marketing services at Mentor Digital will increase in scope to become a holistic offering, encompassing all elements of paid digital media, SEO and analytics.
Dan’s team is equipped to provide consultancy across the entire spectrum of digital media: from initial auditing, planning and forecasting through to campaign delivery across paid search, social and display platforms, alongside technical SEO, content strategy and production. As well as paid media and SEO, the team also offers end-to-end analytics services, from auditing and scoping tracking requirements through to tag implementation, data visualisation and reporting.
Dan is a highly skilled and experienced digital marketing professional, and the team at Mentor is thrilled to have him on board. His expertise and leadership will be invaluable as they continue to expand and grow their business over the coming years.
If you would like to get in touch regarding any digital marketing projects, you can fill out a contact form here or call into their Bristol-based office on 0117 305 8900.
You can visit Mentor’s website here: https://www.mentordigital.co.uk/
Working with an SEO specialist can completely transform your company. You may forge a potent alliance that propels your online presence and boosts your exposure by fusing your understanding of the market with their expertise in search engine optimisation. Continue reading to learn more about how to manage this collaboration through effective communication, goal-setting, project management, and other techniques.
Understanding the Role of an SEO Expert in Your Business
Understanding the extent of an SEO consultant’s or expert’s obligations is crucial for maximising your partnership and getting the most out of your collaboration. You can anticipate an SEO specialist to handle the following tasks:
- Finding highly probable keywords and phrases that are pertinent to your business.
- Enhancing the headers, metadata, and content of your website to raise its search engine visibility.
- Off-page optimisation includes controlling your internet reputation, managing your social media profiles, and creating backlinks of excellent quality.
- Making sure your company website is well-built, with quick load times, accurate indexing, and mobile friendliness.
- Analysing and monitoring SEO performance to guide upcoming plans.
Build a Strong Foundation for SEO Success
To get the most out of your engagement with an SEO specialist, a solid base must be in place. You should collaborate to enhance a few SEO-related factors before implementing any new SEO methods. They consist of:
- Website architecture that is user-friendly: Work together to design a website structure that is logical, simple to use, and optimised for both users and search engines.
- Content that is optimised for voice search: As voice assistants become more and more common, optimising your material for traditional search alone is sometimes insufficient. Instead, use conversational language and long-tail keywords to make sure your material is optimised for voice search.
- Working with an SEO specialist, add schema markup to your website to provide search engines more information and enhance the look of your search results.
Establish Clear Communication Channels
Effective communication will always be the foundation of any successful cooperation. There are various things you can do while working with an SEO specialist from Core Web Vitals to develop and maintain open communication and promote future success:
- Plan routine meetings: You can talk about ongoing work, progress, and any obstacles you are encountering at meetings that happen once a week, twice a month, or once a month.
- Employ collaboration tools: To keep everyone in the loop and keep track of activities, use project management and communication tools like Slack, Trello, or Asana.
- Be Available: Ensure that you are accessible to your SEO specialist in case they have any queries or require additional clarification on any responsibilities or goals.
Set Realistic Goals and Expectations
Setting up specific objectives from the beginning will guarantee that all sides are on the same page and pursuing the same aims. There are a few important factors to take into account before beginning to engage with an SEO expert for your business:
- Provide details: Establish your SEO campaign’s key performance indicators (KPIs), such as keyword ranks, organic traffic growth, and conversion rates.
- Set deadlines: Create a schedule for attaining your objectives and check in periodically to assess your progress.
- Prioritise: Pay attention to the tasks that are most important first, and be ready to change your priorities as needed.
Provide Necessary Resources and Information
By ensuring that they have access to all the tools and data they require, you can help your SEO consultant or expert perform their task at its highest level. Offer these to them:
- Give them access to any tools they will require to perform their duties effectively, including the content management system (CMS) for your website, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and any other pertinent tools.
- Provide them with as much information as you can about your business, its goods and services, intended market, and rivals.
- Support for content: If required, make experts available who can assist in developing and optimising material, such as content writers, developers, and designers.
Embrace a Teamwork Mentality
Mutual trust and respect should be the foundation of any successful relationship between your business and an SEO consultant, expert, or agency. You may promote a culture of cooperation and collaborate more effectively in a number of ways, including:
- Respect their knowledge: Keep in mind that you engaged an SEO specialist to assist you with the aspects of SEO that you probably found difficult to complete internally. Respect and acknowledge the expertise of your SEO specialist.
- Be receptive to criticism: If an SEO specialist is competent at what they do, they will tell you what you need to hear, even if it isn’t necessarily what you want to hear. Be sensitive to recommendations for improvement and constructive criticism.
- Promote collaboration: Work to create a collaborative atmosphere where ideas may be openly debated and shared from both sides.
Review and Adjust Your Strategy
Your SEO approach will stay current and efficient if it is often evaluated. Any reputable SEO consultant will inform you that SEO is dynamic and constantly evolving, so it is important to check in frequently to make sure the techniques you have in place are still effective for your company. Think about the following:
- Analyse results: Examine the data frequently to identify what is functioning well and what might need some improvement.
- Get expert advice: Discuss any prospective or essential changes or updates to the approach on a regular basis with your SEO specialist.
- Iterate and enhance: Adapt your approach in light of your discoveries, and keep enhancing your plan over time.
Stay Informed of SEO Trends
As was already mentioned, SEO is a field that is always changing. It’s critical to keep up with the most recent business trends and best practises in addition to updating your strategies. As it is their job to stay current on SEO, your SEO specialist will be able to share the most recent information with you. Here is where the effective communication discussed earlier will come in handy. You can also:
- Follow industry news: Join credible SEO podcasts, blogs, and newsletters.
- Attend webinars and conferences: Take part in business gatherings where you may network with colleagues and pick the brains of industry leaders.
- Share your expertise: To make sure that your strategies are adjusting to the shifting landscape, schedule time to discuss the most recent developments and insights with your team and your SEO specialist.
Invest in Long-Term Growth
Successful SEO usually involves a long-term commitment and strategy, which takes time. By performing the following, you may maximise the advantages of your collaboration with an SEO expert:
- Be patient: It’s important to realise that SEO effects are unlikely to come quickly, and it may take weeks or months before you notice a change.
- Concentrate on sustainability: Implement long-term growth tactics before short-term remedies that can damage the reputation of your website in the long run.
- Be sure your company has the funds and resources it needs to support continuing SEO initiatives before allocating resources.
Leverage Your SEO Expert’s Network
Partnering with an SEO specialist can help you and your company gain access to new contacts and prospects within the sector. You may take advantage of your SEO expert’s network in a number of ways, including:
- Requesting referrals: Ask your SEO specialist to put you in touch with other professionals in the field who can assist you with services like web development, content creation, or digital marketing.
- Collaborating on guest posts: To improve your online presence and create backlinks, work with your SEO specialist to identify opportunities for guest blogging on pertinent, high-authority websites.
- Joining professional organisations: Take into account spending time taking part in online forums, social media groups, and other communities indicated by your SEO expert, where you may connect with like-minded individuals and gain knowledge from their experiences.
Optimise Your Content Strategy
For SEO to be successful, content is essential. In order to optimise your content strategy, work with your SEO professional by:
- Finding content gaps: Consult with one another to identify places where your website could utilise more content or improvement to better serve users’ wants and search intentions.
- Developing high-quality content: Provide interesting, useful content that speaks to the needs of your target audience while also using pertinent keywords.
- Promoting content: To raise the profile of your website and improve traffic, work together on content promotion techniques such as email marketing, social media sharing, and influencer outreach.
Be Adaptable and Embrace Change
Your collaboration with an SEO specialist should always be ready to evolve as circumstances change. By working with an SEO consultant or specialist, you can embrace change in a variety of ways, including:
- Remaining flexible means being willing to change your strategy as new trends, technologies, or adjustments to search engine algorithms appear.
- Encourage experimentation by working with your SEO consultant or expert as they test out new methods and approaches to see what will work best for your company.
- Learning from errors: Although failures cannot be prevented, there are a number of things you can do to reframe them as opportunities when they happen. Examine what went wrong and apply your newfound knowledge to better your efforts in the future.
Working together to develop the best SEO techniques can help you and an SEO specialist ensure that your website is not only optimised for search engines but also stays on the cutting edge of SEO.
Want to learn more about SEO? Check out the services Bristechtonic Bristol SEO Company have to offer
Nowadays, customers have a multitude of options for products and services. Therefore, if your marketing strategy fails to deliver, potential customers are likely to seek out alternatives. Although it’s disheartening, it’s the reality we face. But fear not! There’s one element that can establish a connection with customers, differentiate you from the competition, and foster loyalty. A brand story.
However, creating a brand story that effectively conveys your company’s values, mission, and purpose requires more than just recounting the history of your business. It demands careful consideration of your narrative as a whole. While it may seem daunting, we’re here to guide you through the challenges you may face while crafting your brand story and how to overcome them to build customer loyalty.
So, let’s get started on crafting that perfect brand story!
Challenge 1: Finding the Right Narrative
Your first and greatest challenge is finding the initial narrative for your brand story that resonates with customers. This is no easy task, and it’s not as simple as just creating a marketing message or sales pitch. Your brand story needs to strike a balance between being compelling and authentic, and it must speak to your target audience’s specific needs and wants.
Solution: Research and Listen to Customers
To find the correct narrative for a brand story, it’s essential to research and listen to customers. For example, conducting surveys or focus groups to gather feedback and insights on what customers value about your brand, what they’re looking for in your product or service, and how they perceive the brand’s identity and mission.
By getting down to the nitty-gritty and gathering detailed information from your audience, you can create a powerful and emotionally resonant brand narrative that fosters customer loyalty.
Challenge 2: Differentiating from Competitors
One of the biggest hurdles in creating a brand story is making it stand out from the sea of competitors out there. It’s important to find a unique angle that distinguishes you from similar products or services.
Solution: Focus on a Unique Value Proposition
To stand out from competitors, you need to establish a unique value proposition. This is a statement that clearly communicates your products or services’ benefits and what sets you apart from competitors.
Is there something about your product or service that sets it apart in the market? Does your business have a particular company culture or value that will resonate with your customers? These are just some of the factors to keep in mind as you work to identify and highlight your business’s unique qualities.
Challenge 3: Maintaining Authenticity
Authenticity is a critical component of a successful brand story, and so is maintaining it. Customers are increasingly savvy and can easily spot a contrived or inauthentic brand story, which could damage your brand’s credibility and erode trust with customers. While it’s easy to become enthusiastic about your business and brand, you shouldn’t exaggerate or over-promise your brand story to stand out from competitors.
Solution: Stay True to Company Values
A way to avoid this is to start with a clear understanding of your business’s values, mission and purpose. Your brand story should be a natural extension of these.
In addition, using real, relatable examples in your brand story will help maintain authenticity. By telling real stories of how your business has helped customers or made a positive impact, you’ll build trust with your customers and demonstrate authenticity, ultimately building customer loyalty.
In conclusion…
Overall, successfully overcoming these challenges is crucial to creating a brand story that emotionally connects with customers. To read the full version, head over to our blog here.
If you’re still needing a hand, our team of experts is here to help. Get in touch to learn more about our customer-focused solutions and how we can help you achieve your business goals!
From Midjourney to ChatGPT, AI tools are flooding the internet with exciting possibilities, imaginative new imagery and many a meme – from the inspiring and amusing to the downright gruesome.
Possibly the most accessible and widely tested AI tool yet, ChatGPT has got many marketers thinking about the power of this emerging technology. But AI advancement doesn’t come without its critics and controversies – often generating more questions than answers.
So how can marketers make the most of this powerful technology? And should we approach with caution? UX and UI designer Dan Marek explores.
View image in blog here.
Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT feels like absolute wizardry to use.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm recently, with one of the leading players being the natural language processing (NLP) model known as ChatGPT. In just two months, it set a new record for the fastest-growing user base ever to reach 100 million users.
Tools like ChatGPT have already begun transforming our lives. You can’t go more than five minutes without seeing a news article about it, or stumbling upon AI-generated imagery (albeit mostly more disturbing and amusing than beautiful). But make no mistake, this is the very beginning of a fast-moving revolution. So how can businesses make the most of this opportunity?
This article examines how businesses may leverage AI to solve problems more efficiently and gain a profitable advantage. We’ll also look at some of the limitations of AI tools like ChatGPT, so you can avoid making costly mistakes and stay ahead of the competition.
The AI opportunity for businesses
Imagine generating top-notch product descriptions, social media posts, and even entire search-optimised articles in a matter of minutes. How about 3000% returns on ad spend, automatic meeting notes and summaries, or asking AI to generate spreadsheet formulas? It may not all be possible yet – and it certainly won’t replace your copywriting and UX experts in the near future. But there’s certainly a big opportunity here.
“…It may not all be possible yet – and it certainly won’t replace your copywriting and UX experts in the near future. But there’s certainly a big opportunity here…”
With ChatGPT, businesses can streamline their processes, freeing up time and resources to focus on other areas of operations. It might sound cliché, but the opportunities for companies to leverage AI tools like ChatGPT in 2023 are endless.
Top 10 business use cases for AI tools in 2023
- Eliminate background noise for clearer calls
- Create videos with human voices from text
- Summarise meeting notes and takeaways
- Personalised customer service co-pilots
- Autocomplete for basically everything
- Tag and organise your digital content
- Generate SEO-optimised articles
- Plan strategic marketing campaigns
- Research and brainstorm ideas
- Write emails faster
The limitations ofAI
Hold on a minute – does this mean we’re ready to replace humans with AI? Not yet. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT are not a quid pro quo for genuine creativity and expertise. For now, it’s far more likely that you’ll be replaced by a human using AI rather than the tools themselves.
Think of ChatGPT as the Iron Man suit to your marketing team’s Tony Stark. Iron Man enhances Tony’s abilities, and ChatGPT can enhance your team’s capabilities. But just as Tony still relies on his human expertise and creativity to save the world, your marketing team should continue to rely on their own skills to resonate with the right audiences and create truly effective campaigns.
Garbage in = garbage out
The capabilities of these tools are quite difficult to comprehend as they are only really limited by our potential to ask the right questions.
“…the emergence of “prompt engineers” indicates the importance of creating the right prompts to unlock the full potential of AI tools…”
Just like calculators, they can only provide the correct answer with the right input, called prompts. The emergence of “prompt engineers” indicates the importance of creating the right prompts to unlock the full potential of AI tools.
Bias
AI tools present real risks of biases, such as generating discriminatory content and spreading misinformation. As responsible users of these tools, we must be aware of this and be sure to evaluate any responses provided. The CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, recently acknowledged inherent bias in the tool and assured users that they’re working to improve the default settings to be more neutral.
Plagiarism, relevancy, and factual inaccuracy
AI tools pose a risk of plagiarism and factual inaccuracy. An astronomer recently called out Google’s AI chatbot Bard for making a factual error in its demo. But everyday users may not realise that the output generated by the tool is not original, leading to unintentional plagiarism. You can take measures to avoid this, for example, by including a request for sources of any facts and figures as part of your prompt.
“…everyday users may not realise that the output generated by the tool is not original, leading to unintentional plagiarism…”
The relevancy of information can also be brought into question. While writing this, ChatGPT has only been trained on data from September 2021.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) impact
Google’s guidelines favour genuine, relevant, and reliable content. AI-generated content may struggle to meet these guidelines. This means that sole reliance on AI-generated content might negatively impact your website’s ranking on Google.
Ethical considerations
Using AI tools raises ethical concerns around data privacy, bias, and deception. These tools collect vast data through web scraping – sometimes without explicit consent. So regulations and policies must be implemented to ensure AI tools are used ethically and responsibly.
The future of AI tools
It’s worth remembering that AI tools are an emerging technology, so there are plenty of limitations to consider. But by using them as a starting point to generate ideas and assist workflows, businesses can largely mitigate these drawbacks.
AI is not the enemy. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. As AI technology continues to advance, it’s becoming increasingly clear that tools like ChatGPT will play a crucial role in the future of business, with those early movers able to leverage an unfair advantage over their competitors.
Oh, and if you’re curious whether I used ChatGPT to help me write this…
View image in blog here.
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