Storytelling. (Yeah, I gagged too. We’re all storytellers these days.) But my version isn’t Reading Rainbow. It’s the structure that sparks strong, effective creative, and it starts nowhere near the actual copy.
Does your client need every skill? Not necessarily (although I generally recommend that every copy project include some sort of strategy behind it). But for those wicked smart clients who demand all things strategy, it looks something like this.
No surprises here. Every firm/freelancer/five-year-old knows to case the joint first.
I will say, I come from a journalism background. I ask good questions.
I determine the position clients can own in the market, honing in on the sweet spot where their best offering meets the cravings of their most lucrative audience.
Then, I develop a brand guide that sets parameters for how their brand will act, speak, and look. That’s never to make a client into someone they’re not. It’s to make sure we stay true to who they really are—consistently.
Ads need ideas behind them. I cook up concepts that act as the creative backbone for media ranging from radio to catalogs to print campaigns to websites.
Content strategy is how a story unfolds. I arrange key messages so they appear to an audience when that audience is most receptive to hearing them.
Content strategy usually refers to websites, but structuring messages will make catalogs, campaigns and displays more powerful, too.
For full-blown web content strategy projects, I develop user personas, behavioral modeling, content audits, and most importantly, content outlines. I also like to collaborate with developers and designers on UX and UI considerations and wireframing.
I write to suit the medium, the messenger, and the audience. I specialize in clear, human language with humor and warmth, but can do a range from smartass to sexy to serious to silly. The only voice I won’t do is super-salesy. When a brand sounds like someone the audience trusts, there’s no need.
—Jason Alley, Principal, Jackalope