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Consultancy: Editorial definition for publications  
   

Having a magazine or newsletter is a great way of communicating your company’s ideas, both internally and externally. But can you be sure the tens of thousands you spend producing them is actually worth it?

 
   

Unlocking the real value of words

Marketing departments are right to protect their budgets jealously. It’s one of the hard truths about the business world: when it comes to reducing corporate overheads, you can rest assured marketing will be one of the first casualties.

That’s why it’s critical – both at board level and within a marketing department – that a company can ensure it gets the most out of every single penny spent on producing its corporate magazine or newsletter.

It’s simple business sense to account for each and every investment: how much was spent, why was it spent, and how did the company benefit?

However, it’s notoriously difficult to measure the value of an investment in marketing collateral. As a result, many companies end up deciding to produce an internal or external publication ‘just because they should’.

Many of these companies adopt the simple assumption that because it’s so hard to quantify the value of an investment in corporate newsletters or corporate magazines, they shouldn’t bother trying. They simply spend their money anyway – again, because ‘that’s what companies do’.

The result, in the worst cases, is a wide array of external and internal publications that can cost an organisation hundreds of thousands a year to produce and manage.

And yet nobody is quite sure what they’re all for.

It could be that just one of those publications has real business value to the company. But the overall cost combines with a perceived lack of value to mean that when an organisation looks to reduce overheads, it tends to axe its publications budget.

A single gem can be lost, simply because there is no overall publications strategy.

The business of creating diamonds
It’s a real pity when a good corporate publication goes to the wall, and great opportunities are often missed through traditional approaches to corporate newsletters and corporate magazines. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Electronic newsletters, online magazines and printed trade publications can all play a vital role in the marketing mix. What’s essential is that a company knows, from the very outset, exactly what its strategy is.

It’s not enough, for instance, to decide to produce ‘a newsletter or a magazine’. They’re different types of publication and there are specific reasons why one medium might suit your company’s purpose better than the other.

A newsletter, for instance, is the ideal platform for communicating new product release information to existing clients. If your organisation has a lot of new messages to share on a regular basis, or if your client base responds well to regular updates, then a newsletter is probably for you.

If, on the other hand, it’s important that your company needs to present itself as a ‘thought leader’, and seeks to initiate debate, while at the same time wanting to add value to readers by providing content with a less overtly ‘marketing’ feel, then a corporate magazine with regular opinion articles would fit the bill.

Honed and polished
The next question is whether your publication should be electronic or printed. Again, the answer is determined by what you’re trying to achieve and who your audience is. If your company provides an online service and has an extensive list of email customers, then an electronic newsletter could be the perfect way to drive people directly to your website.

However, it could be that you’re offering a brand new service online. If that’s the case, then you might first need to increase the profile of your website. In this instance, you might want to start off with a printed newsletter, combined perhaps with a direct mail campaign.

Your communications strategy could evolve over time – gradually moving from printed to electronic format, as your readership becomes more aware of what you do.

Developing an effective marketing communications strategy involves investigating all these issues. Proper forward planning of this kind can literally save your company thousands.

There’s no such thing as the perfect ‘newsletter template’ or ‘magazine template’. These issues are determined by the way your company does business, and the most successful marketing publications will always be unique, communicating in the best way for an identified audience.

Flawless – from the start
Writing Machine has nearly fifteen years’ experience helping some of the world’s largest companies to develop coherent, cost efficient and, above all, highly effective strategies for corporate communications.

Our writing department has the expertise to assist your organisation in answering some of the key questions when it comes to publishing internal or external magazines or newsletters – both online and in print.

Writing Machine offers a comprehensive consultancy service that enables your company to ensure it spends its marketing budget in the most effective way possible.

  • Who do you want to communicate with?
  • What do you want them to hear?
  • How do you know they’re interested?
  • What’s the best medium for your audience and your message?
  • How will you measure the success of your publication?

There’s just no point spending thousands on a printed magazine if your audience will respond just as well – or even more positively – to a monthly electronic newsletter, at a fraction of the cost.

All of our consultants are professional marketing writers. Through their detailed knowledge of how corporate communications work in the real world, they can help you answer all the relevant questions.

Perfect delivery
At the end of the consultancy process, we will provide you with a unique, detailed flatplan for your magazine or newsletter. The flatplan details the content required for your publication and the kinds of messages you need to be communicating, as well as the recommended style, tone and length of each article. We can even help you set deadlines for content, and give you tips for writing newsletters or magazines.

Creating a publication is a big investment. Through our editorial consultancy service, Writing Machine can help your company target its investment in the written word – so you can rest assured your publications are worth every penny you spend.

It’s simple business sense to account for each and every investment: how much was spent, why was it spent, and how did the company benefit?
To find out more about our newsletter and magazine editorial consultancy service, please contact Claire Fuller on +44 (0) 1962 841250. Or email clairef@writingmachine.com

 
 

A single gem can be lost, simply because there is no overall publications strategy. It’s simple business sense to account for each and every investment: how much was spent, why was it spent, and how did the company benefit?

 

Forget accusations of vanity – your image really is everything. Find out how Writing Machine can help your company sound as good as it looks.

 

 

 

 

There’s just no point spending thousands on a printed magazine if your audience will respond just as – or even more – positively to a monthly electronic newsletter.

 
 
 
 
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