Case study: UK Trade and Investment Effective Marketing Writing - Investing in Words

Investing in people is a key strategy for the vast majority of forward-thinking organisations. And one of the best ways to invest in your employees is to train them. For organisations that produce large amounts of corporate literature, both the organisation and its employees can see rapid and demonstrable benefits from in-house writing training.

UK Trade & Investment was in just such a situation. It is the government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies in bringing their investment to the UK. And as such, it produces a great deal of written communication, both internally and externally.

It is a large organisation with over 2,000 employees worldwide – many of whom are called upon at some stage to write or commission important, client-facing copy, often with little or no experience of marketing writing. And yet, with a high-profile organisation like UK Trade & Investment, it is vital that all communications are well written and consistent with the organisation’s key messages. And, that all communications are produced with maximum efficiency.

With these three key areas of quality, efficiency and consistency in mind, UK Trade & Investment realised that it should invest in marketing writing training for its employees. They turned to the people best qualified to provide in-house writing training – a professional communications agency. “We asked Writing Machine for help because not all of the people working here are skilled marketing professionals, adept at commissioning and writing copy,” said Julie Hatch, Marketing Manager.

Mixing theory and practice with a dose of fun
Writing Machine delivered four one-day Effective Marketing Writing training courses which addressed the key weaknesses within the department. Before any writing project can begin, it is vital to establish the objectives: answers must be provided as to why the marketing project is being undertaken in the first place. Who is going to read the text? What should they do after reading it? And what message do you want to convey.

This module was followed by a demonstration of structural tools, which showed learners how they can develop an appropriate structure to meet their objectives. This included looking at Microsoft Word’s Outline facility that can help during the structuring process.

With the objectives set and a structure devised, the course moved on to explore some of the ways in which these can be implemented within real-life writing, with the emphasis meeting the needs and expectations of the reader.

The day was organised to mix theory and exercises with fun, whilst ensuring the learners had to think on their feet, applying specific writing techniques. To create a friendly atmosphere and avoid ‘information overload’, theoretical sessions were interspersed with activities to test what learners had picked up and to reinforce the ideas in the course. Julie Hatch commented: “The delivery of the course was kept at a high pace, with plenty of variety. Writing Machine’s approach to teaching was highly educational and very entertaining.”

The trainer, who was a professional marketing writer as well as experienced trainer, had in-depth experience of writing which enabled him to address any issues raised. On one particular occasion, for example, a tendency was spotted amongst the learners to overuse exclamation marks. Identifying the need, the trainer initiated an open discussion on the appropriate use of punctuation.

After the training was completed Writing Machine emailed the course notes to all the delegates. As well as containing exercises and examples, the document provided a comprehensive guide to some of the trade secrets of writing high quality copy.

Writing Machine is close at hand
Thanks to Writing Machine’s training support services, delegates can rest assured that further help is at hand. For any given writing project, should they run into difficulties, an expert consultant writer is just a phone call away to assist with the tone or structure of the piece, or even just help finding the word that’s on the tip of their tongue.

Julie Hatch summed up the UK Trade & Investment experience with Writing Machine: “We’re really glad we did this. It’s been very successful. Several people who went on the course actually recommended that everyone at UK Trade & Investment should do it. To me, feedback like this means that the course has far exceeded my initial expectations.”

Find out more about Writing Machine's Structured Marketing Writing training.