The MarCom Strategist: A Free B2B Marketing E-Newsletter

April, 2010
Published by Dianna Huff
Volume 10, Number 4

Welcome!

Which comes first – Web design (the pretty pictures and colors) or copy? Should the copy influence the design or design influence copy? These are good questions – and the answers really depend on the business and its message. Personally, I use cues from many different sources in order to give the designer ideas, which is my topic for this month.

Grasshopper, which provides small businesses with virtual phone systems, listed the 12 B2B blogs every business should read and I’m honored to say that my B2B MarCom Writer blog topped the list. Says Grasshopper, “Dianna’s polished writing style makes her blog very clear and an interesting read, while her unique path and creativity gives her a point of view rarely seen by traditional marketers. She is wonderful!” Thanks guys!

Regards,

Dianna Huff

Think Different When It Comes to Your B2B Website – Go Beyond Stock Photos

I’ve been working hard on a Website overhaul for Veterans Development Corporation in Canton, MA. A Service Disabled Veteran Small Owned Business that specializes in public and government construction and contracting, Veterans Development initially called because they needed help writing content for their Services pages.

Once I began talking with Mark Voner, the CEO, and Mike McGrath, his VP, I realized that the company had a terrific story – one that wasn’t being communicated on its current site.

We ended up completely rewriting the site from scratch. It was during the interviews that Mark and Mike brought up the question of design. An early design based on old copy was heavy on construction images: hard hats, blow-torches, and bricks.

Although Veterans Development is a hard-hat wearing, blow-torch wielding construction company, they were so much more, which quickly became evident as their story unfolded. So how to communicate that in images?

It’s a question I’m frequently asked -- herewith three suggestions.

1. Use original photography if possible.

Stock photo galleries such as iStockphoto or Getty Images allow companies of all sizes to purchase professional photography at reasonable prices. The problem, however, is that these stock images are often clichéd, dull, and over-used.

In fact, you can often find the same image on multiple Websites and blogs, which means that your competitor’s site can end up looking just like yours!

To alleviate this problem, use original photography. Hire a professional photographer (which really doesn’t cost that much) to take candid photographs of people within your company. Stay away from clichéd shots of people sitting at a conference table around a laptop (zzzzzzz) – and instead picture them in other environments (i.e. your production floor or outdoors).

2. Take cues from the company’s environment.

When visiting for the first time, I focused in on Welch & Forbes’ quiet, antique-filled offices right away. It would have been easy to write them off as a white-shoe financial management firm. The company, however, prided itself on its lasting relationships with clients that span generations and that they used the latest technology in order to give their clients the best in financial information and recommendations.

When I arrived back at my office after the initial interview, I immediately shot off an email to Sonora DesignWorks, the Web designers, giving my impressions of Welch & Forbes and its environment.

I explained that the Website needed to marry the company’s tradition and history with current technology.

The resulting design combines original photographs of the company’s location – Boston’s historic Old City Hall – and its antique grandfather clock collection (for which it is known) with pictures of the company’s high-definition, wall-mounted monitors showing financial information. The client loved it. (And yes, the people in the photos work at the company!)

3. Tell a story and then illustrate it.

When working with Cabot Corporation some years back, I had the privilege of hearing the story of how Cabot researcher Jim Belmont invented a process for modifying the surface of carbon -- a huge break-through that changed entire industries.

For a story like this, you can use photographs of the actual people and the project. If original photos aren’t available, or you can’t use them due to legal issues, use stock photos / images that align closely with the story.

For a Website that looks fresh and original, give your designer feedback, ideas, and original stories / photos he or she can use. Not only will your Website communicate your unique message, it will also knock the socks off your competition.

Save Time and Money.
Hire Me to Write Your Next Website

Are you redesigning and/or rewriting your corporate Website and need help incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) and social media – while at the same time communicating your message?

Don’t try to do all of this yourself. Instead, hire me to help you manage your project start to finish. As a professional and experienced results-based B2B marketer, I'll help you:

• Determine your Website's objective (i.e.: what do you want prospects to do once they get to your site?).
• Develop your messages by interviewing key people within your organization and researching your competitors and industry.
• Write clean, energetic copy that compels site visitors (your prospects) to take action.
• Optimize the site so that prospects can find it in the search engines.
• Recommend how to create new content that brings in more traffic and links (important for SEO).

To learn more about my services, take a look at my B2B Website Development Services to see how you can put my award-winning expertise to work for you -- or call 603-382-8093.

“Dianna was referred to us to help write the copy for our new Website. Our goal was to have our company's dedication to customer service and industry experience come through to site visitors, and Dianna accomplished that extremely well. She listened to what we were trying to communicate on the site, organized it, and then put it into black-and-white. Dianna also made excellent suggestions to make sure the site was contemporary. Our copy was also ready when she said it would be! If you work with Dianna you are in for a very professional pleasant experience.”

Laura Soussan
VP Marketing
CommSat.net

Contact DH Communications

Telephone: 603-382-8093
Email: info@dhcommunications.com

Keep up with the latest MarCom news at The MarCom Writer Blog.