Scary mistakes agencies make and how to avoid them

by addacomma | Oct 31, 2019 | Branding, Creative, Marketing, PR & Comms

Scary mistakes agencies make and how to avoid them.

Just in time for Halloween, there is plenty of horror around at the moment; Brexit and a general election looming for a start. We can’t do anything to fix that but Alastair Burns and Jayne Runacres, the partners at Comma, share their tips on finding the right agency for you.

“It can be scary to know where to start in finding the right agency to work with” says Jayne, Comma’s PR and Comms Partner. “You’re entrusting someone else with something precious, you want them to care for it as you do but also bring the extra skills, experience and creativity to take your organisation even further.”

“We have worked both in-house and at agencies so we know the benefit of finding the right balance to propel your brand forward” adds Alastair, Comma’s Creative Partner.

“A big mistake many designers – especially those who are newer in their career – make is to design for their portfolio instead of their client.” Says Alastair. “The right approach is always to design for your client. Doing that will mean effective design, which should definitely end up in your portfolio. Plus it will give you a more varied portfolio. A win-win for all involved.” Alastair concludes.

“Agencies are renowned for taking on more work than they can really handle. It often makes people wary of involving an agency. It happens in lots of industries and it’s an

understandable temptation when you’re running your own business. But often it can lead to not being able to give your clients the time and support they really need. This is basically a problem of how agile the agency is. And also how committed they are to their clients” adds Jayne.

“Another thing to avoid is choosing an agency which is a trend follower.” reveals Alastair. “It’s very easy to fall into the trap of following a style or trend that you want to replicate. But any designer worth their salt will start with research into your target audience. They will spend time considering what will engage and resonate with your customers. They will be working to create something which fits your brand, not just something trendy which is bolted on and in five to 10 years you won’t look back on fondly.” Alastair adds “By following proven research, a messaging process and development stages, the work produced not only is successful for the organisation but stands the test of time”.

“People can have the view that what we’re doing is some sort of dark arts, mystical activity” laughs Jayne “they’re afraid that the wool will be pulled over their eyes or that they just don’t understand design, marketing, communications and PR enough to know what questions to ask or how it should be measured.” “But” she adds “a good agency will explain all that to you. They should build a relationship with you.”

After the horror of Halloween, tomorrow for all saints day we will be looking at how to find the right agency for you.

Photo by Toni Cuenca from Pexels

Why asking why is the most important question

by Jayne | Oct 21, 2019 | Marketing, PR & Comms

Why asking why is the most important question.

Years ago in a job interview, I was asked “Would you be happy to send out a spoof or funny press release?”. My initial response was why? What would the strategic value of that be? What would it add to our relationship with journalists? How will it help the business?

These are still questions I would ask today. Asking why is still my go to question – annoyingly for my husband, mother and business partners. When I am asked to help “raise awareness of an organisation” or “help a brand go viral”, I always ask why? What do you want to achieve from it? How will it help your organisation meet its mission?

Asking why is also a professional requirement, in my view. As an accredited practitioner, member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) I am not just here to persuade journalists to write about your organisation, I am a critical friend. I will ask why you want to do something and how it fits with your organisational values. Being curious is one of the key attributes for a PR professional.

Asking why helps to define what your objectives for any communications are. It’s only once you have clear, SMART objectives that you can start planning your communications strategy. I’ll come back to elements that should be in your communications plan in later post.

In case you’re wondering, I got the job but while working for the organisation I never sent a spoof [read: time wasting] press release.

Tips for writing better emails

by Alastair | Sep 25, 2019 | Marketing, PR & Comms

Tips for writing better emails

With an estimated 247 billion* emails sent daily and the average UK worker receiving at least 121** of those, improving the chance of being read is paramount. Even if those emails are required to be read, ensuring that they follow best practise can help create exactly the right impression.

Below are nine tips to help yours make the cut rather than the basket.

Send emails Tuesday morning (10–11 am).
Personalised subject line – shorter the better (many viewed on phone) – between 6–10 words.
Be absolutely clear and keep it short – we scan emails for detail quickly.
Don’t use the word “just” – it downplays the importance of the task.
Avoid the use of emoji’s in business emails – questions about (work) competence.
Email étiqueté depends on the country – eg South America like pleasantries first/Germany prefer simple and to the point. Silence or not replying is taken as a sign of respect in South East Asia.
If email is really short put it in the subject line and add EOM (End of Message) at the end.
If you don’t require a reply add NNTR (No need to reply).

The BBC recently made a short video outlining these (and other) key points.

https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/how-to-write-better-emails/p07n0xn4

*Jeremy Taylor, 20 Email Marketing Statistics for UK Businesses, constantcontact.com

**campaignmonitor.com, The Shocking Truth About How Many Emails Are Sent, March 2019

Three reasons why literacy is important for your organisation

by Jayne | Sep 5, 2019 | Copywriting, Marketing, PR & Comms

Where to turn

Today, Sunday 8 September, is International Literacy Day. The issue of literacy is a key component of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Adopted by world leaders in September 2015, the goals promote universal access to quality education and learning opportunities throughout people’s lives.

We are fortunate in this country to have free, universal education and most people leave school able to read and write. So it’s easy to think that we can all write to promote the organisations we work for. But no doubt you can think of an example of poor writing in a professional context. An apostrophe in the wrong place, a key word that’s missing or a spelling mistake. All these things make an organisation seem unprofessional and leave us wondering if they’re competent. This is why it is important to make sure your writing is professional. First impressions count.

After first impressions have been made then the next thing is to get across your message. Clear writing makes sure your readers know what you’re offering and how you can help them. While you know your organisation inside out and can probably think of a dozen ways you improve your clients’ lives, you need to take a step back when it comes to promotion. Potential clients won’t remember all 12 ways you could help them – so what’s the most important one thing for them to take away? Don’t forget your clients may not be au fait with the industry language, they may not know the hundreds of acronyms which make your working life easier, so keep language simple. You need to get your message across clearly so clients can understand how you can help them.

Once your have covered the first two points you will be on your way to winning new clients, donors or volunteers. But to really close the deal you will need to persuade them to join you and convince them of the benefit of working with you. These two really are the holy grail of good business writing. They take time to be cultivated and refined. But of course, if you don’t have time to cultivate and refine, or you want to make sure your message is simple and your writing is professional then that’s how Comma can help.