If you’re not sure what Pinterest is, think of it as a bulletin board perfect for sticking up pictures and inspirational fluff without the risk of standing on one of those painfully sharp drawing pins, then imagine carrying around said bulletin board and whipping it out to show all your friends and you’ve got the idea.

Like all good ideas, it’s so simple you often think ‘why the hell didn’t I think of that?’, and its growing success saw it recently ranked as the fifth most visited social media site for the week ending 24th March (beating Google +).

A number of companies have already made use of the creative opportunities Pinterest holds for content marketing strategies – showing their products in a new light and confirming their position as an opinion former in their relative sectors (hell, even Liverpool Football Club has one). But before you hop onto your laptop and sign your company up to Pinterest, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

Does your brand lend itself to visual representation?

Pinterest is basically a big collage of pictures, so it’s perfect for brands that already use images to showcase their products, services and knowledge. Fashion brands, major retailers, high-end grocery companies and aspirational or luxury brands have reaped the rewards of Pinterest, but don’t be too quick to discount your business just because it doesn’t fall into these categories – there are plenty of ways to utilise if you get creative!

Will Pinterest help you drive traffic to your site?

It’s all fun and games pinning pretty pictures to your virtual drawing board for all to see but the main reason you’re doing this is to get customers visiting your website and returning time after time, thus strengthening your brand’s reputation.

Have a sit down and think about ways that your Pinterest board can improve your traffic and take a look at other companies using Pinterest in your sector to work out how they’re using the new social media site.

Does your target audience use Pinterest?

The majority of Pinterest users are currently female, often between 25 and 54 years old, so consider this before spending too much time on creating an account. If this isn’t your audience then your time and effort may be better spent elsewhere, but ask your customers if they use Pinterest and make a decision based on how many like the idea.

Pinterest is the ‘next big thing’ and can work wonders for your content marketing strategy, as long as you answer the above questions and use a bit of creativity to represent your brand on this newest of platforms.

The value of a well-structured content marketing strategy cannot be overstated. An effective method for building brand awareness and loyalty, and consequently drive sales, content marketing is a useful tool no matter the size of your business; however, creating the perfect strategy can be tricky. Here are our top five ways to fine-tune your content marketing strategy:

1. Call to action

Your content needs to be engaging; you need to position your website, blog and Facebook and Twitter pages as reliable sources of compelling, authoritative and relevant information.

This alone is not enough, though – nine times out of 10 you should include a call to action, encouraging readers to interact with your content. This will ensure that your content stays in the public sphere for longer, and could take the form of:

• A question, encouraging readers to leave a comment
• A link, pointing to further information
• A competition
• A request for readers to like or share a post (if on Facebook)

High quality, engaging content, which encourages interaction is a quick, effective way of promoting your brand.

2. High-value links

The content you create represents a good opportunity to build backlinks to your site, further optimising your site for search engines – a good example of the crossover between content marketing and SEO.

However, while it’s important to include links to relevant pages on your own site, there is a fine line: include too many ‘self-promotional’ links and search engines will begin to disregard your content. To avoid this, include links to third party sites.

When deciding on which third party links to include consider which ones will add value. Build loyalty and trust among your readership by utilising links that complement your content.

3. Credibility

To attract clients or customers you need to position your brand as an authority. Spelling and grammar mistakes are a sure-fire way to lose credibility and authority. Similarly, even the smallest mistakes can make you appear amateurish. It’s highly recommended that you triple check all copy before publishing.

A useful rule of thumb is to imagine standing in front of your audience: if you’d happily read your post/blog/update out loud in front of all those people it’s probably safe to publish.

4. Purpose and direction

Many brands fall into the trap of publishing reams of ‘directionless’ content, both on and offline, in the hope some of it will hit the mark and achieve their overall aims. It is far more effective to carefully consider what you want to achieve with each piece of content before you begin – better to throw one carefully-aimed dart rather than six or seven with your eyes closed.

Try creating pieces of content around specific calls to action rather than tacking calls to action onto the end of existing content. If you have a clear vision of the action(s) you want your readers to take before you start writing (for example download an ebook, buy a product or sign up for a newsletter), you can easily create content with purpose and direction.

5. Over-sell = overkill

It’s tempting to constantly promote your products or services by making adverts or offers a central part of your content marketing strategy. While this type of content is important, it’s easy to go overboard. Over-selling can lead to overkill and your readers being driven away. Avoid this by drip-feeding select ‘titbits’ of information to your readers: the goal is to keep them coming back to your site.

***

Content marketing is a powerful tool in your armoury but it does require careful management. Contact us to find out how Snack Media can help you get the most out of your content marketing strategy.

Beginning on Friday (20th April), Snack’s editorial team will manage and produce copy for the Hertford-based company, which consists of three brands: the flagship Freedom Australia and New Zealand, Freedom Africa and Freedom Asia.

In addition to daily news stories, which will be published across the three Freedom Destinations sites – with a focus on Freedom Australia – Snack will produce a number of featured travel articles each month. These will consist of travel guides, event guides and suggested holiday itineraries.

Snack Media’s managing director Niall Coen, said the Freedom Destinations account comes at an exciting time for the content team as it looks to build on an already well-respected reputation in the travel industry.

“We’re really looking forward to starting the project,” he commented.

“Having successfully completed copywriting campaigns for a number of travel clients, it’s a sector we already have expertise in. We can’t wait to work alongside such a respected brand as Freedom Destinations.”

Check out Freedom Australia’s new-look news feed from Friday by clicking here.

EmptyLemon’s Elemonator, which allows gamers to assume the role of a young IT professional battling against the false promises of recruitment agents, has climbed to fourth in memecounter.com’s Advergames Chart.

Snack Media has worked alongside EmptyLemon, an IT jobs board, to devise the Elemonator’s online marketing campaign, with the title having attracted over half a million hits since its release at the beginning of March.

In the past seven days alone, the Elemonator has received more than 21,000 visitors, which amounts to approximately 3,000 visitors per day.

The game’s hero is armed with a box of lemon grenades, which can be thrown at the crooked consultants en route to securing that dream position in the IT sector.

Andrew Kelly, EmptyLemon’s development manager, said the game’s objective is to take a light-hearted approach at an often frustrating situation.

“IT jobseekers often get swamped with calls from recruiters, especially after submitting their CVs to certain jobsites with agencies, so the game is allowing them to get their own back,” he commented.

In addition to trialing the game in the development stage, Snack Media’s editorial and marketing teams have been busy writing and publishing copy across a range of platforms, which has gone some way to boosting the Elemonator’s profile.

Sample the power of the Elemonator’s grenades by playing the game for yourself.

Now this may well sound like the sort of copywriter you need to help grow your business, but how do you sort the wheat from the chaff? Here are five things to look for in a technical copywriter:

1.    Expert knowledge

For certain businesses, a jack of all trades copywriter or a beginner in the field is all you need, but when it comes to technical projects someone with an expertise or at least good knowledge of the subject is integral to their success. Many copywriters will have started off elsewhere, so look for someone with prior knowledge of the sector or someone who has a degree in the right area before judging their writing ability.

2.    Research and analysis skills

Your copywriter could know all there is to know about your business sector, but the ability to analyse data and research effectively is just as important. The ability to collect information from the client and other sources, collate them and then form them into a well-written and informative technical piece of copy is a must-have, and good technical copywriters should be able to turn the most advanced ideas into great content.

3.    Good communication

Being able to communicate a complex idea to a novice is often part of the job as a technical copywriter. If they can turn something for an expert into a readable piece for a customer then you know you’ve got the right person for the job. Someone who can ignore jargon and use analogies and other tricks to get your business’s point across is the perfect copywriter to take you and your company forward.

4.    What you see is what you get

A clear and concise writing style is one of the first things you should look for in a good technical copywriter. Long, wordy content will lose the reader after a while and rambling blogs or website copy is a waste of time for everyone involved. Short, simple sentences and succinct wording is the best way to get the most out of your copy, so a writer who does this while still producing interesting pieces is the perfect addition to your business.

5.    Marketing knowledge

Having the instinct of not only what the reader wants to read but what will receive a reaction from them is an excellent attribute to have as a copywriter, and this should be reflected in their work. Dry copy is hard to digest and will lose even the most ardent of readers, so taking a complicated subject and turning it into a must-read article that will be passed on by others is what you’re looking for.

Technical copywriters have some very specific skills and finding the perfect addition to your team can be hard, but use these five points as a reference and when you find them you’ll realise what a benefit they can be.

If you’d like to find out more about Snack Media’s technical copywriting services, please contact us for further information.

Writing your own website content, corporate emails, press releases and promotional copy is often seen as the perfect way to save some money, but you’re probably not a professional copywriter and that’s the problem. You’re probably asking yourself how hard can it be? Well the answer is actually quite difficult, as the nature and content of your online and social media presence is integral to your business’s success and you may not be able to fully take advantage of the opportunity.

With this in mind, here are five reasons why you should spend the extra money and bring in a decent copywriter to handle all your content needs – trust us, it’s worth it!

1.    Mistakes make your business look unprofessional

Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos are easy to make when you’re not a professional copywriter and any of these cardinal content sins makes it very hard for your customers to take you seriously. Print hundreds of flyers with a spelling mistake and you look shoddy; have a badly-worded and difficult-to-understand introduction on your website and you’ll lose visitors at the first hurdle – any mistakes, however small, mean you won’t be taken seriously and that’s a big problem.

Even if you are a pretty good writer, your content might be too long, too boring or not specific enough for your target audience, so get an expert in to do it for you and concentrate on the other areas of your business that need your full attention.

2.    Traffic is key

If you don’t want to miss out on driving traffic to your site then employing a professional copywriter with search engine optimisation (SEO) experience is key. They know exactly what keywords to use in order to encourage more visitors, so someone with this knowledge will help your business grow.

3.    You need layman’s terms not expert opinion

If your business is technical, then you are probably an expert in the field but often your customers are not. You and your colleagues will understand every word of the complicated content you produce but most visitors to your site will be scratching their heads with a puzzled look on their faces. Having a professional copywriter to simplify your website and promotional content is an excellent way to make your company accessible to all – however complicated the subject matter is.

4.    You can focus your efforts elsewhere

Having your own business can sometimes feel like spinning a number of plates at the same time. Take your eye off one and it may come crashing to the ground, so isn’t it better to trust your content plate with a copywriter? This way your blog can be updated regularly, your website copy changed whenever you need it to be and any flyers or promotional material can be knocked up at a moment’s notice while you concentrate on other parts of your business.

5.    Copywriting services = flexibility

A freelance copywriter can do as much or as little as you need, so when setting up your business they’ll be there for all your content needs and when you are in the swing of things, they can be in the background waiting for the next bit of work you send their way.

Copywriters needn’t be expensive and the benefits they’ll have for your business far outweigh the costs, so next time you think about writing your own blog or adding to your website, remember the people that can do it for you and to a greater standard.

If you’d like to find out more about Snack Media’s content and copywriting services, please contact us for further information.

Over the last week the number of fans has now hit 20,000 as more mums and dads are starting to share tips on sport and home life.

To coincide with that, Beko received some great coverage during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Beko Mums United was on the boards for a couple of the goals and as a result featured in imagery in the Belfast Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Sun, both online and in the newspapers.

36,174 were in attendance at the Lane as Emmanuel Adebayor netted twice and Rafael van der Vaart scored the opener in a 3-1 win for Spurs.

While Tottenham’s players and fans were celebrating on Sunday evening, mums are celebrating every week on the Beko Mums United Facebook page as they are the lucky winners of the weekly competitions.

A washing machine is being given away every week on the Facebook page, as well as new kits for kids’ football teams, places at Official Soccer Schools up and down the country, luxurious pampering days and lunches with the Beko Mums United ambassador Kirsty Gallacher.

Check out the Beko Mums United Competition Page.

Social media and sport are a natural fit, but brands have to find innovative ways to provide fans with an enriching experience.

One man who is an industry expert is Josh Robinson, the Director of Creative and Integrated Solutions for Snack Media’s sister company Sports Revolution.

Josh spoke to Campaign Magazine about how the passion that sports fans have for their teams can be redirected commercially via social media.

Click here to read the article

I have returned from the fiery abyss of writing my first eBook and uploading it on Kindle, and I bring you this message:

It’s not that bad.

But why write and publish an eBook? If you’re an online marketer, entrepreneur, writer, blogger, or maybe a chef, what’s the point? Here’s what I’ve found:

• It’s time to prove your authority. You have an incredible, life-changing idea? You won’t find a better time for your words to spread like wildfire to inspire and empower, if executed correctly.
• eReaders nearly doubled from December 2011 to January 2012. 1 in 4 Americans are now using some kind of tablet (iPad, Nook, Kindle) that is capable of reading eBooks (The Kindle reading app is also available on nearly every smartphone, more on this below).
• If you already have an established platform — or want to build one — this eBook will fortify all your other online marketing efforts.

The opportunities to grow and expand your business or ideas through publishing an eBook are limitless. With an insightful, compelling eBook, your words can instill valuable wisdom, actions, stories and ideas that can build trust and relationships with your audience.

If you follow the seven steps below, you’ll never have to read another article on publishing to Amazon’s Kindle platform ever again.

Let’s get started …

Step 1: Define your target audience

This is business and marketing 101, baby.

Without a target audience, an eBook is useless.

Ask yourself:

• Who is my target audience?
• What do they like? Feel?
• What will they learn?
• What am I offering them for their time?
• How can I make this eBook build a relationship with my readers? Is it a character they fall in love with? A story? Are you motivating or inspiring them with ideas and examples? What is the main purpose?

When Stephen King wrote, he wrote to his wife.

When Steven Pressfield wrote The War of Art, he wrote to writers and creatives alike.

When John Locke wrote How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months, he wrote to most of the people reading this article right now.

Before you even think about putting a letter on that blank page, stop and ask yourself: Who am I writing to?

Step 2: Do you have a platform?

Writers have an obligation to their audience — to respond and listen to their feedback, to build a relationship, to keep them as readers forever. Why would anyone want to miss that opportunity?

Let me fix that: That’s why you should be publishing to your own blog and using Twitter.

• Your blog can benefit you and your eBook in many ways:
• Your readers can find you, support you, and give feedback.
• You can build … and build … and build, to the point where you have thousands of subscribers waiting to read your next eBook.
• You can continue the conversation. Say your eBook was motivational and inspiring; you could provide blog posts on that topic and have your readers coming back for more. This can get big … it might even get fun.
• A blog is your portfolio: it has your work, your info, credibility — almost all of you. Coming from someone who used to be on the other side of the fence, it’s really wonderful how reader can now connect with author; it makes the entire experience feel … special.
• Now that your blog has a face and examples of your work, you can meet like-minded individuals; networking is fruitful and the lifeblood of growth.
• Guest posting for other blogs allows more visibility to your eBook, or at least, your blog. From there, your newfound readers may be interested in your writing.

Twitter is a great platform for your eBook and yourself:

• Your readers can follow you; and you can respond to them.
• Find people with similar passions and interests.
• Hashtags help brand your eBooks; then, when fans click on the hashtag, they will see other people giving feedback about your eBook and that may spark interest.
• Promote your eBook amidst sending relevant, valuable tweets.

You’re ultimately shorting yourself by not having either platform. It doesn’t matter what genre you write for, your audience needs a place to find you, get to know you, and stay updated.

Just remember … don’t be a digital sharecropper.

Step 3: Write your eBook

You have your target audience in mind, and you have a blog and/or social media platform of some kind. Good.

Do you want to know how I started my eBook after I delayed it for a few months? I woke up one morning, opened Pages for Mac, typed the title that I had in mind, and wrote.

That’s what you need to do. Just start.

A few things you will have to keep in mind when writing:

• Create a Table of Contents (TOC).
• Insert a page break when you’re finished with your chapter to eliminate unnecessary white space so your reader can immediately scroll to the next page. Finished with your TOC? Page break. Finished with your copyright page? Page break. (To insert a page break go to “Insert” at the top menu bar, then find “Page Break”).
• Do not use headers, footers, or any sexy font because it will not translate on the Kindle; they have standard fonts.
• Bold, italicize, and headings translate well.
• Images are allowed and should be inserted as .JPGs (more on formatting your eBook below).

Once you have finished writing the eBook, start the formatting process.

Step 4: Tools to download before formatting

You will need to download a few things to preview and format your eBook.

Kindle Tools & Resources
You will see four options: KindleGen, Kindle Previewer, Kindle Plugin for Adobe InDesign, and the Kindle PC/MAC application.

If you haven’t downloaded the app already — and you don’t have InDesign — you will need both KindleGen and Previewer.

KindleGen is a program that will convert your saved file into a format used for the Previewer (.mobi); when you have that file in place, just drag it into the Previewer.

You have two ways to format:

1. Do it yourself
2. Pay someone to do it

In order to format your own eBook, you need a good understanding of HTML.

Most people I spoke to about formatting their own eBook said it was tedious, so here are some eBook conversion services to think over if you wish to save yourself the hassle. (I used 52Novels, paid $100 for both Kindle formatting and an ePub format. The price will vary depending on service and the amount of words.)

The final format of the eBook should be a PRC.

If you wish to format it yourself, use Kindle’s Simplified Guide to Formatting Your eBook or Publishing for Mac Users.

Step 6: Before you upload, think this over

By this step, you should have your eBook finished, formatted, and ready to go.
All you need to do is upload it, but before you do, you have two ways of uploading:

1. Go the KDP Select route
2. Or don’t

What is KDP Select? (Kindle Direct Publishing)
When you enroll in this program, your eBook is locked in for 90 days. During these 90 days, you have 5 free promotional days to give your eBook out for free. After those 5 free days, your eBook will be back on the market for a price. During this 90-day period, your eBook will be available in the Kindle Owners’ Library.

What is Kindle Owners’ Library?
This option is exclusive to those who are Amazon Prime Members. Borrowing eBooks is only available on Kindle devices, not Kindle reading apps.

Members of Amazon Prime can borrow a eBook for free for a whole month with no due dates. When someone borrows your eBook, you earn money. (Note: Only eBooks enrolled in KDP Select will be available to Kindle Owners’ Library.)

How is it calculated?
For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000, the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 300,000, and if your eBook was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 0.5% (1,500/300,000 = 0.5%), or $2,500 for that month.”

If you don’t enroll to KDP Select
You can still upload your eBook to Kindle, but it will not be in the Kindle Owners’ Library.

If you enroll in KDP Select
First, lets get this out of the way: Your eBook cannot be free on Kindle.

But there’s more.

• If you decide to enroll in the KDP Select program, these are the restrictions Amazon places on your eBook:
• It cannot be on your blog as a subscription or email newsletter opt-in bonus
• No iBooks
• No Nook
• No PDF version with your specific formatting and sexy fonts
• It cannot be distributed anywhere else for 90 days. Keyword: Exclusive.

You may, however, opt out of the KDP Select program before your 90 days are over. When you do opt out, and the 90 days are over, you can distribute your eBook anywhere you like. Your eBook will still be up on the Kindle market — you just won’t have all the promotional tools.

If you do enroll, and stay opted-in, your 90 days will renew and you will be given 5 more days of free promotion.

So you have a few things to think over …

Not everyone has a Kindle. That’s true. But the Kindle App is free to download and is available on the following systems:

• Windows PC
• Mac
• iPhone
• iPad
• Blackberry
• Android
• Windows 7 Phones

And, they have the Kindle Cloud Reader, which acts as an app but enables you to read eBooks on your browser: Safari, Mozilla, and Google Chrome.

So is it possible to mix this pervasive and free app into your strategy for marketing your eBook? Possibly.

Step 7: Upload your eBook

You made your choice. You have your eBook. It’s time to upload.

Watch this simple video to guide you through the process.

After hitting Save & Publish, it will take about 24 hours for it to be on the Kindle store. Within 48-72 hours, the remaining details will be visible on the detail page, such as product description and links related to the physical edition.

Your eBook cover
Your cover is everything. If the cover is gross and lacks a clear message, the readers’ eyes will scroll right over it, and your opportunity may be lost forever.

In order to receive 70% royalties for your eBook, you must meet the following criteria:

• The price of your eBook must be between $2.99 and $9.99.
• This list price must be at least 20 percent below the lowest physical list price for the physical book.

You can read more about it on the Pricing Page.

Do I need an ISBN number?
No.

An ISBN number is not required when publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing; what you will receive is a 10-digit AISN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), which is unique to your eBook and found on Kindle Amazon.

If you have an ISBN number, you may enter it in the publishing process.

Congratulations, you’re finished!

You defined your target audience and have an idea of how to market it. You wrote the eBook, formatted, and uploaded. You have a great cover, detailed product description of what your eBook is about, and now it’s on the market.

Congratulations, you self-published your eBook; you should be ecstatic.

Enjoy, I hope you found this insightful.

Snack Media content division.

Credit for this article must go to Paul Jun. He is a great writer and self-published author.

Client: Terrapin

What they do: The UK’s leading provider of modular buildings, with over 60 years of experience in modular construction.

Why they came to us: The client wanted a content provider with news expertise to bring their website’s news section up to date.

What we did: One of our journalists spent the day with Terrapin learning about its recently-completed projects and conducting interviews with project managers, planners and the managing director. We subsequently wrote and published the news stories to Terrapin’s website.

What were the results? A revamped, expertly-written up-to-date website news section.

MAP and Terrapin install bedroom and bathroom pod in disabled Gloucester girl’s home

An innovative pod consisting of a bedroom and an inbuilt wet room has been installed by Modular Adaptation Pods (MAP) for a disabled girl in Gloucester.

Gloucester City Homes (GCH), which manages the property occupied by six-year-old Terri-Anne Taylor and her family, asked MAP to develop suitable accommodation for the girl after her needs were evaluated by Gloucestershire Care Services children’s occupational therapy team.

Working alongside manufacturing partner Terrapin, MAP delivered the pod to Terri-Anne’s home in the Coney Hill area of Gloucester on Monday, 19th December. The accommodation was delivered on a lorry before being hoisted into position behind the property.

The pod, which is fully furnished internally and externally, will allow the six-year-old to live more comfortably and have more independence during her time at home.

Ray Philpin, MAP and Terrapin’s managing director, explained that the pod was specifically designed for Terri-Anne’s circumstances.

“It was developed especially for the customer’s needs, as all our pods are,” he commented.

“The unit was constructed at our base in Milton Keynes in one week. A team of 12 designers, electricians and plumbers were involved, although only three people could work on it at any one time.”

Mr Philpin went on to say that while this is the first modular adaptation pod that Terrapin has been involved with, the company will be working on a further similar project in Gloucester and separate developments in Ipswich and Wrexham.

Because the pods are constructed off site, the units are particularly suitable for projects where restricted access would otherwise be a problem. This guarantees exceptional quality as workmanship can be undertaken and completed in purpose-built surroundings before the unit is shipped to its intended destination.

After the foundations were completed by a team of contractors in one week, Terri-Anne’s pod was lifted into position and installed in a matter of hours. This ensured disruption to the six-year-old and her family was kept to a minimum.

Had the bedroom and en suite bathroom been built using traditional construction methods, the project would have taken a number of months to reach completion.

Lisa Howarth, GCH’s head of housing services, said the pod will have a positive impact on “the health, independence and dignity” of Terri-Anne.

“We are delighted to be able to deliver an innovative solution that ensures Terri-Anne and her family can remain in their family home,” she commented.

Dawn Taylor, the six-year-old’s mother, told the Gloucester Citizen that the modular adaptation pod will “make our lives and Terri-Anne’s life a lot easier”.

Please contact us if you would like a more detailed case study.