Three Reasons Why Copywriters Should Always Check the Finished Product. Always.
By Tom Chandler on Mar 1, 2007 in Copywriting, Underground Entertainment
When you’re busy, it’s tempting to write copy, ship it and forget it.
It’s a bad idea, especially when response mechanisms are involved. You have to dial the toll-free numbers, click the buttons, visit the landing pages, and fill out contact forms.
Or risk letting your client down. Even if it’s not your fault.
A recent project illustrates the dangers beautifully. A client rolled out a new product–with all the online/offline projects that entails.
One of the smallest–but most critical–bits was a small, 120 x 240 pixel online ad.
I was happy with the final result–until I visited the portal ad site.
Uh Oh.
Directly beneath our ad was a huge button. It used similar colors and a great big response tag. Anyone responding to our ad could easily (and mistakenly) click the button beneath our ad.
Simply put, a big chunk of our hard-earned response was probably headed somewhere else.
Luckily, we caught it. It’s not resolved, but the client is contacting the portal site to resolve the problem.
The fact that I flipped out a little might even speed the process.
You labor over the concepts, sweat over the words, and try to cram more meaning in one sentence than is truly possible.
If you don’t follow up, you can throw it all away.
Even if it wasn’t “my fault.”
It’s Your Responsibility
Years ago–while working at an ad agency–an art director mis-typed a headline. Four of us read the piece before it was printed and mailed prior to a trade show.
At the end of the show, a prospect walked up to the client and pointed out we’d misspelled “cryopump”–one of five words in the headline.
The great, big, monster headline.
Ouch.
It’s funny now, but back then–after we lost the client–I don’t recall much amusement among the creative staff.
Double Ouch.
Later that year (it wasn’t a good year), we shipped two ads to the film house, who promptly swapped the images. (If you’re counting, that’s two big screw-ups spawned by one simple error.)
And sadly, after a big error, the client isn’t much interested in explanations about the random nature of the universe.
A failed project or low response rate reflects badly on everyone, but the freelancer almost always takes the biggest hit.
Even if it’s not your fault.
Any other stories about mistakes?
[tags]copywriting, copywriter, freelance writer, marketing, mistake[/tags]
Years ago, when I worked for a political consulting firm, I was laying out the design for a piece of voter mail that included pictures of significant political figures in the state of NC who were endorsing a client. Fairly new to politics, I didn’t know all the faces that went with names I’d heard and read about.
Long story short, the piece was about to be shipped when our printer noticed that a former governor had been misidentified. OOPS. Thankfully, we got the correct version out the door - in the knick of time and the client won the race. But phew - it was a close call!
Nathania Johnson | Mar 1, 2007 | Reply
Good. You got lucky. Mistakes like that are embarrassing and expensive…
Tom Chandler | Mar 2, 2007 | Reply
Last summer I inverted the 800/866# prefix in a series of Who’s Calling response numbers for five versions of newspaper advertorial for a client selling homesites. Dumb. Careless. It resulted in a suspension without salary. On the bright side, I was soon inspired to write a short story based on the experiences of a disgruntled valet.
(ugh)
Craig Mewbourne | Mar 6, 2007 | Reply
Ouch.
I don’t want to duck responsibility for accuracy, but as deadlines have accelerated and projects come thick and fast, the opportunity to get smaller gigs proofread has largely disappeared.
And with the online world mainlining content, the production process provides fewer checks and balances.
I guess we’d better get used to it.
Tom Chandler | Mar 7, 2007 | Reply