Foundations in Effective Marketing Writing

Chicago, IL

Wednesday, May 8

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Registration and Hot Breakfast

We’ll kick off the day with a nice breakfast so you’ll have energy for the day. You’ll also be provided with lunch and breaks throughout the day.

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Getting Ready to Write

  • How today’s readers scan
  • Key writing skills and how to integrate them 
  • How to link writing’s core phases: 
    • Planning
    • Drafting
    • Editing
    • Proofreading

Reviewing Broad Range of Marketing Writing

Discuss several marketing writing types. As a group, you will pick 2-3 from the following for your writing exercises.   

  • Ad copy
  • Emails
  • Press releases
  • Presentations 
  • Elevator pitches
  • White papers/e-articles
  • Video scripts/YouTube
  • Blogs
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Refreshing Your Writing Toolkit

  • Improving your drafting
    • Initial tips
    • Hooking scanners with headlines/titles/subject lines
    • Engaging readers with dynamic openings
      • ​​First few words: do they reach (or miss) the reader?
      • ​​Main point: is it super concise and focused? 
      • ​​What’s in It For the Reader (WIFR) and WIFR sandwich
    • Body: sharing details in easy bites
    • Closings and calls to action (CTA) 
    • Improving your marriage of words and images
  • Improving your planning
    • Brainstorming: Picturing audience needs, fears, triggers
    • SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis
    • Personas and reader/audience analysis
      • ​​Formal and informal
      • ​Identifying key reader characteristics

Thursday, May 9

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Hot Breakfast

Breakfast will be waiting for you when you arrive for day two. Lunch and breaks will be provided throughout the day.

8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Refreshing Your Writing Toolkit (Continued)

  • Major writing exercise: crafting and discussing two linked marketing pieces 
  • Improving your editing 
    • Shorter is better
    • Ease of reading
    • Better branding 
    • Better word choices: two templates 
    • Better sentences
    • Punctuation/grammar 
  • Improving your proofreading
    • Why is proofreading well so difficult?
    • Using a tailored approach
  • Creating an action plan for continued improvement
  • Taking a snapshot of reference materials