How to Gain Online Recognition by Writing about Your Customers
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Free Download - How to Gain Online Recognition by Writing about Your Customers By Claudiu Geanta |
There are several steps when designing and creating materials for creating good Case Studies and Press Releases. Simply follow them closely and you’ll have awesome promotional material for your web site as well as other marketing materials you plan on displaying on your marketing panoply (i.e. brochures, newsletters, etc.).
Case Studies & Press Releases These 2 types of materials are not only the most powerful in your marketing panoply but they are also the most time consuming. This is, in part, due to the fact that the customer is involved in the process and believe it or not you’ll have to sync with his schedule. Nevertheless the end result can and will deliver very high returns for your website rank, company prestige and ultimately for your bank account.
Steps in Producing Case Studies & Press Releases Select a Happy Customer Go over your list of clients and select the easy going ones; the ones you know you won’t waste your time. Select the client that has a good story, an experience that needs to be shared. Just selecting the first ones that agrees to your interview doesn’t necessarily mean that’s also the best choice.
Once you selected the client ask yourself these 3 simple questions:
- Will this client sign off on the final draft of your material and be willing to put his name on it?
- Does the story carry an interesting streak or the reader will be bored to death with yet another off the wall example of corporate robot behavior?
- Is this the story you need or maybe there is someone else out there you’d rather buy coffee for and write theirs instead?
If you answered “yes” to all 3 – then you got yourself a winner.
- Establish a time to meet and the amount of time reserved for the interview. This way everybody’s schedule will be free and unobstructed.
- Always tape the interview. I don’t care how fast you can take short-hand or that you have the memory even an elephant would be proud of – the reality is that you’ll miss a lot of important details. Let the client know in advance about your intentions. He/she might not like the idea of going “on-record”.
- Prepare open-ended questions and do not assume the client has all the answers. Plus you need to be in charge when conducting the interview.
- Select a place where both you and the client are comfortable but in the same time away from interruptions, emails, friends or colleagues dropping by, etc. Make sure you check that with your client beforehand.
For Case Studies use at least 2500 to 3500 words. Press Releases are less than that – somewhere around 500 words. The Press Release should target media’s interest and it should contain plenty of facts, numbers and other details.
Seek Client’s Approval When the material is completed, contact the client and present it; ask for their approval. Please use a clean material and not some flimsy piece of paper even it’s only a draft. You still need to show the client you are serious about this and most of all appreciate the time he/she spent with you to produce the material.
Before showing up, contact the client and make sure the interviewee still works there. In this “dynamic” economy, it’s not rare to find out that one might not be there a couple of weeks past the interview. Hopefully he is still there… Now – make sure they agree with the accuracy of the quotes they provided. Same for the statistics, certain details about the business, etc.
Once the client approves you are good for publishing (either print or online). If it’s online (your website or blog) make sure the text has plenty of links to your site or blog, wikis, etc. If you put all the work into this and the whole purpose of a case study is to promote yourself as well as the client, then take advantage and produce a link rich material that can give you plenty of brownie points with Google.
Next step – Testimonials Now that you wrote about the client and she/he is very content with the outcome, ask for a testimonial from them and emphasize the fact that you’ll publish it on your website, on brochures even. In fact you are advertising for free and that should make them very happy.
A testimonial usually will come in the form of an email (at least that’s what I ask my clients to do so I don’t have to sit there and retype it all over again. Cut & paste is a wonderful thing). Just make sure that your request for a testimonial follows the below rules:
Indicate where and when the testimonials provided by the client will appear (type of publication, what exactly will the copy include, etc.).
Point out other similar testimonials so the client will not think you are starting with them first. For some reason no one is willing to take that place.
Once you publish the Testimonial, send an email to the client thanking him/her again. Provide the link if the published material is online or send a snail mail letter with a copy of the offline material (brochure, newsletter, etc.). Clients love to see their names in print.
Conclusion:
All the elements described above can bring superb value to your company’s website. You are in fact promoting your brand while writing a happy story about one of your client’s experiences with…you. What can be better than that?
In the same time you are giving comfort to new web visitors showing them you are appreciated and looked after by other business owners just like them. The end result – more traffic to your site, more clients for your business and finally more money in your coffers.
How to Gain Online Recognition by Writing about Your Customers - To learn more about this author, visit Claudiu Geanta's Website.
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