Question

Topic: Website Critique

A New Approach To Marketing Comms - Any Thoughts?

Posted by Anonymous on 3/2/2012 at 10:19 AM ET 250 Points
Hi - my partners and I have recently launched a web business, www.freshwordslive.com, which is a subscription-based database of marketing communications (ad headlines, ad & DM openers, presentation point-makers, newsletter names, speech snippets, words for people management, etc.). It's a new concept and one that's quite difficult to explain & market. We'd really value some general feedback from professionals - i.e. whether the concept is clear, whether it's a useful tool, any suggestions on getting the word out... Your thoughts would be much appreciated - thanks in advance!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by mgoodman on 3/2/2012 at 4:13 PM Accepted
    A neat idea.

    I suspect that most marcom folks (your target audience, right?) would be looking for a specific kind of help ... the project staring them in the face at the moment. That means they won't find you by searching for marcom database, but by searching for "subject line for new B2B software solution."

    You'll want to be using (and perhaps advertising to) some very specific keywords, and that suggests you'll need a fairly large set of landing pages so you can be immediately relevant to each prospective subscriber.

    Also, you might consider selling access to address one-off needs, or use your database to actually deliver suggested copy for clients as a consultant/freelance copywriter. I'm not so sure you'll find a lot of marcom pros who will want to subscribe to a broad-based database service on an ongoing basis. (Hope I'm wrong, of course.)
  • Posted on 3/2/2012 at 4:34 PM Author
    Hi there - thanks so much for such an expert, considered response, your time and input is much appreciated!

    You make some very interesting points which we'll definitely consider in more detail. I do agree that lack of specificity is an issue - although we do have a form for requesting new content.

    As a copywriter myself, I often find the site valuable for inspiration. However, marcom folks (marketing managers and creatives) are certainly not our only target audience - it's also small business owners, entrepreneurs, team leaders, HR people, sales people (anyone client-facing)...

    I guess we'll have to try a number of approaches and see what works - but in doing so we'll definitely take your feedback on board. Thank you again!
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 3/2/2012 at 6:46 PM Accepted
    I also like the idea - a place to go for people who are stuck for words for their business communication. Functionally speaking, one concern I have is the same with any database of things (photos, products, etc.) - how to quickly find the right thing. Sometimes keywords are handy, sometimes the categories you've created are good, sometimes it's by reviewers (for example, if someone uses the copy, it would be nice to be able to note that, to find those that are "most popular").

    To get the word out (no pun intended) - you might start with HR people who need to do a lot of internal communication, and normally are an under served market for such offerings (there are lots of swipe file collections sold online). In some ways, you're like a Hallmark card for any business occasion - which might be a nice metaphor to describe your offering.
  • Posted on 3/2/2012 at 6:53 PM Author
    Hi Jay - firstly, thanks so much for taking the time to review the site and for your generous comments!

    It's really hard to know what users' barriers to subscription are, so this helps - maybe a bit more content signposting is required, and a 'Most popular' section is a really good idea.

    I may trial that line - thanks! If we can ever return the favour...
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 3/2/2012 at 7:39 PM Accepted
    Dear Jo,

    A few points that spring to mind are:

    1. The idea is sound and the product seems solid. What might help you more is a change in name. Essentially, what you've got here is an instant sales letter system. What you seem to need is a little more coordination in terms of your SEO: a web search for the domain name you included in your initial question leads to this domain: https://www.presentationgems.com/, which, in its description tag, tells me "People Management Staff performance Interviews & welcomes Recruitment adverts · Presentations Open & Close with impact Build client relationships Make ..."

    For other description tags, use this link: https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sa=X&psj=1&ei=3WBRT9H7L9C50QHHuc3...

    If I'm looking for sales letter writing advice or for some kind of system to help me write better sales letters and better sales copy, with the description tags in the links as shown, I'd have trouble finding you. I've said this numerous times in responses to other posts: it's not a sites keywords that get it ranked, it's a sites key phrases. For the general search term "how to write a sales letter", there are 5,400 searches on Google every month. A little optimization goes a long way. Which leads to my next point.

    2. Links. According to Alexa.com, you don't appear to have any. You might want to fix that. A solid social media presence will help too: build a herd of followers via LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, and put together some simple, testimonial rich videos and get them out, into the world, and your visibility will climb.

    3. JVs. Joint ventures with marketing people with solid, opted in lists will do you a power of good.

    4. Price. Your Sterling price of £75 per year equates to $118 and change here in the US. That's an odd number. To appeal to buyers here, consider bringing the price down to $99.95 per year. Also consider offering a month to month option (for which you could charge a little more). This then acts to drive people towards your annual membership, thereby helping with cash flow. In the UK, consider charging £59.95 per year, again, with a similar rate to the US dollar version for month
    to month subscribers.

    Your product seems solid, it's well presented, and your
    co-founders Chris and Michael seem on the up and up.
    All of which is vital. From a design standpoint, your site is clean, uncluttered, and well presented (although I'm not sure about your logo).

    As for possible JV people, contact me off forum (or connect with me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GaryBloomer) and I'll be happy to introduce you to a few folks in the UK, and here in the US with whom you might find some common ground.

    I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Princeton, NJ, USA

    P.S. I'm originally from Staffordshire.
  • Posted on 3/3/2012 at 11:05 AM Author
    Dear Gary,

    I wish I’d selected 500 points for this question! (Though I’m new to the forum and still trying to fathom what’s what – loving it so far).

    Thank you for another fantastic response. We’ve invested so much energy, passion and time (and money!) into this venture, your positive comments mean a great deal whilst your constructive ones will really help us. To respond to your points in turn:

    1. Presentation Gems was our initial product a year or so ago before we extended it to include other areas of marketing comms, and we do need to sort that issue out – thanks for the heads-up (as we marketers like to say…).

    As you can imagine, the naming in general was a major headache - so little is left these days! - but I take your point. Either way, ‘An instant sales letter system’ is perfect for a DM, and knowing the level of search for ‘how to write a sales letter’ is extremely interesting. (Who knew??)

    2. We do actually have a Twitter account already and I’ve just added the company to Linked In, so we’ll get those linked up to the site. A video would be amazing if we can sort it…one for the ‘to do’ list.

    3. We’re very open to JVs – I think it’s the way forward these days – and I will definitely contact you about potential contacts. What a great offer – thank you!

    4. Agree re price – though we will choose a $ amount when marketing to the US (so far we’ve just focused on UK). Month to month is something we’ve thought about – though it has a few complexities, it may be worth revisiting. Lots to think about!

    5. I’m originally from London but moved to West Orange, New Jersey 2 weeks ago!

    Thanks again,

    Jo (and Michael & Chris)
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