January is the month of resolutions. For many, these tend to be personal: exercise more, eat more vegetables, or one of mine, have more fun. It’s also a good time for businesses to lay out goals for the year. Marketing and communications resolutions could include launching A/B testing on the next email marketing campaign, experimenting with a new social media platform (perhaps Medium or Peach?) or updating a website (some suggestions below).
We saw a lot of annoying trends in 2015, such as the overuse of GIFs, and I hope we see less of those in 2016. You can read "Six trends I don't want to see in 2016" on my blog.
Among my professional goals this year is to become certified in copy editing, and in SEO. I am also adding a new monthly feature to my blog—asking marketing and communications folks their thoughts on writing. The first "interview" will run next week.
What are your plans for this year? What are you keeping and what are you discarding? Are you doing anything new? Let me know. And if your plans include recreating or refreshing your marketing materials, please get in touch!
Warm regards,
.Deborah
Refresh your website
Your website is your digital front office. It represents you to your audience—potential donors, customers, supporters—24/7. How does it look to them? Is it user-friendly? Does it provide pertinent information? Is it an efficient receptionist—getting you the messages you need—or is it the receptionist you should have fired months ago?
Here are five actions you can take to refresh your website without undertaking a complete redesign.
Fact check and update. Pages that absolutely need this include: Staff, Services, Pricing, Contact. You also want make sure all your links are working, especially any "contact us" buttons.
Improve your About Us page. This is where your organization’s personality shines through. It’s also where you prove why you do what you do and why you are good at it.
Analyze social media links. Add or delete as necessary. If you aren’t using a social media property, get rid of the links to it. Nothing indicates a lack of effort as much as a Twitter feed that was last updated in 2014 and has 40 followers. The same goes for your blog. If you aren’t updating it regularly, nix it..
Review your website hosting. Did you know that your website hosting company may affect whether your email gets out and even your SEO standings? You can read more on my blog .
Update your copyright. You should always update your copyright information to reflect the current year.
Communications tip: Develop an organizational description
Every nonprofit or business must have a current organizational description that is used consistently on all marketing materials. It should define what the organization does, why and how it does it, since when, and where it does it. There should be at least two versions, a long (150-200 words) version and a short one (25-50 words). The short one should be a condensed version of the long one. These should be updated at least annually or any time there is a change in the organization.
Let's work together!
Deborah Brody Marketing Communications services:
▪ Writing and copy editing of marketing/communications materials ▪ Communications and social media consulting ▪ Communications and social media audits ▪ Customized blog training and workshops
You are receiving this newsletter either because you signed up for it , we have done business in the past twelve months, or you are a trusted colleague or friend. If you do not want to continue to receive this newsletter, please use the unsubscribe option below.
No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without permission.
