News and advice from the team at Last Word
Viewing entries by
Fraser May
Social media is big business for marketers these days, but it’s only part of the picture. A good e-newsletter can complement your efforts, enabling you to connect with readers and market your products on a wider scale.
But what makes an amazing e-newsletter, and how do you get started? Here’s some advice gleaned from our experience in setting up and distributing a multitude of e-newsletters across many different industries.
The work behind a quality website has many facets, ranging from domain hosting and web development to search engine optimisation and web content. There are a lot of different approaches and it can be hard to know where to start to achieve the best result.
Here are some of the basics for creating a great website in an affordable way, starting with a quick description of who does what.
As a business, how do you know your marketing and public relations contractors are working hard to get results for you rather than draining your hard-earned cash?
The answer is measuring return on investment.
Good communications should be considered as an investment. If you do a good job of telling people the benefits of what you have to offer, the results should bring reward.
The future-focussed Work in Progress conference took place in Wellington earlier this week, covering the impact new technological and societal changes have on the way we communicate, and how businesses can future-proof themselves for change.
Underestimate the power of strategic communications at your peril. Whether you’re running major events, creating a brand, or looking to build a social media audience, a coherent strategy can keep your messaging consistent, ensure everyone is focussed on the task at hand, and maximise your return on investment.
Here are the basics for developing a communications or marketing strategy. Work them into your next project and see how taking the time to set your strategy helps you reap the rewards of good planning.
Getting new clients takes a lot of time and effort, as any business knows. So it pays to keep your existing customers happy and coming back for more.
Here are a few ideas to keep your customers engaged and to help ensure you stay at the forefront of their minds.
Mastering the art of search engine optimisation (SEO) can be a steep learning curve. There are countless theories on how to make sure your website ranks highly when people search for relevant terms online, but while some SEO strategies are on the money, others are so far wrong that they can end up harming your business.
Fortunately, there are some tried and true basics you can use to improve the visibility of your website in online searches. I thought I’d share a few SEO basics learnt from experience (and hours of reading).
Being slow off the mark is a recipe for being ignored or criticised, especially as far as the media is concerned, so it’s no surprise that everyone wants to be ahead of the game.
Immediacy and timing are critical to successful public relations. But basing communications solely on timing without proper fact checking can lead to embarrassing mistakes and damage to reputation, as demonstrated by the Republican Party and media organisation Newsweek in the recent US election campaign.
I am in search of an ambiguous news headline.
Not just any ambiguous news headline, such as "Missing woman remains found", "Red tape holds up new bridge" or "Squad helps dog bite victim", but an ambiguous news headline where all meanings are actually correct.
I find myself drawn to ambiguity in creative writing, particularly in poetry. It can allow for subtlety in writing, and there’s something about knowing your readers can interpret your message in their own different ways.
However, in journalistic writing, ambiguity can be dangerous.
