LCCI L2 Certificate in Copywriting and Content for Marketing

Pearson LCCI Level 2 Certificate in Copywriting and Content for Marketing

Sample Michelle Hannon

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Author: Michelle Hannon Edited and Reviewed by Joel Cable

ISBN 978-1-78764-401-4

Sample CHAPTER 1 MARKETING PRINCIPLES

Learning Objectives

1.1 The core marketing mix Knowledge of the 4Ps and 4Cs of the core marketing mix, the factors that are considered for each and their relevance when developing copy and content.

1.2 Core marketing activities Knowledge of the core marketing activities when developing effective copy and content.

1.3 Consumer groups Knowledge of the core consumer groups. Sample 2 LCCI LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN COPYWRITING AND CONTENT FOR MARKETING

1.1 The core marketing mix

A market is any place where customers interact with brands, products and/or services. A business or organisation can strengthen its marketing efforts by examining customer interaction with, and response to, its brands, products and/or services. The marketing mix is a tool that an organisation uses to determine how its products and/or services behave in a market. The core factors of the marketing mix, the 4Ps and the 4Cs, help organisations analyse each part of this behaviour.

The 4Ps The 4Ps is a set of actions that an organisation uses to promote its brand products and/or services to the customer. The 4Ps are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Product represents the brand, products and/or services offered by an organisation. In order to successfully market these, an organisation should first identify and understand the key features and benefits that make them unique and stand out within the market. Price refers to the cost of products or services against the profit they generate. An organisation should consider price while being realistic about how much customers are willing to pay. If the price is too low, the organisation will not profit; yet if it gets too high, the customer will not buy. Both the organisation and the customer must be satisfied with the price. Place is about product distribution and customer access. The product or service needs to be in the right place for the target market to have access to it. The organisation should agree where the products or services will be made available geographically, how they will be delivered, and where marketing will be placed i.e. through traditional and/or digital channels. Promotion involves specific consideration ofhow and when an organisation will get marketing messages to their target market. An organisation should agree the marketing strategy and channels of promotion they will use to reach their customers most effectively. For example, messages may be communicated in print format for publication and distribution in national newspapers, or they may be communicated in digital format for direct publication and distribution via email.

The 4Cs The 4Cs is a method of understanding the 4Ps from a customer’s point of view. The 4Cs are Customer value, Cost, Convenience, and Communication.

Product-customer value When developing copy and content, it is important to understand the product or service range and offering through the eyes of the organisation and the customer. The customer’s perceived value of a product or service not only includes Sampleits price, but also factors such as its features and benefits. In order to effectively promote a product or service to the customer, an organisation should first determine the features and benefits of the product or service. Whereas features are the essential characteristics of a product or service and define what it can do, benefits describe how features can make a difference to the customer. In order to determine the benefits of a product or service to the customer, an organisation should identify customer requirements. Copy and content is used to highlight how a product or service meets or exceeds customer requirements and provides benefits, encouraging the customer to buy. Marketing principles 3

It is important to bear in mind that an organisation’s selection of branding and packaging can also impact how the customer perceives a product’s value.

Price-cost One of the key factors an organisation considers when deciding the price of a product or service is market position. Market position focuses on customers’ perceived value of a product or service in relation to its competition. An organisation should have a clear understanding of a product’s market position in order to determine prices that a customer will view as good value for money. Selecting price proposition and tactics will influence how cost is perceived and can motivate a customer to purchase a similar product from a different brand at a different price. For example, as a promotional pricing tactic, a mobile phone provider might launch an email marketing campaign informing potential customers of a discounted price on a top-of-the-range phone. The copy written for the email might aim to justify the time and effort the customer will spend switching provider, convincing them of the overall value they will get from buying a top-of-the-range phone at a discounted price.

Place-convenience The right product at the right price should be found in the right place, and by the right customer. This means that an organisation should choose the right product distribution channels (traditional and digital) to make the product easily accessible and convenient to buy for the target customer. For example, if an organisation is selling baseball hats for very young children, they should consider customer preference and access when deciding whether to distribute traditionally in a store, or digitally through a website. Due to the parental controls often placed on children’s Internet access, a child might be less likely to see the hats online than in store. As they will also have an opportunity to try on the hats in store, they might be more likely to ask their parent to buy one. However, parents might still consider the convenience of buying online to be a benefit. It is equally important for an organisation to select appropriate geographical locations for the sale of their product or service – is the target market global, regional or national, or based in rural, suburban or urban areas? An organisation will define market coverage by agreeing how broad its geographic coverage should be, and by identifying which places customers should be able to buy the product within the area covered. If the product is physical, the organisation may need to plan transportation. Transportation can be by sea, rail, road or air, and can include product delivery from distributors to retail outlets and/or from online retailers direct to customers.

Promotion-communication Traditionally, promotion has involved one-way communication from organisations to customers. By contrast, modern communication involves two-way engagement between the organisation and the customer. The Internet allows organisations to gather data and insight on their target market, and to create copy and content that specifically appeals to them. The result is more direct engagement between an organisation and their target market. The Internet also provides customers with faster and more effective ways of contacting organisations and giving feedback, facilitating a two-way conversation. Organisations will often consider this when agreeing communication strategy and tactics. For example, if a particular target market spends a large portion of time on social media, the copywriter may be asked to publish blog posts with links to products or services, encouraging customersSample to add comments. When developing copy and content, it will be necessary to select media channels. These will be print or digital, or a combination of both. In today’s digitally driven marketplace, a customer can be engaged through specific digital channels at a defined time, benefiting organisations trying to reach a very specific target market. An organisation may also try to reach customers who choose to access information more traditionally (due to their age, geographic location or interests) through print channels such as a newspaper or magazine. 4 LCCI LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN COPYWRITING AND CONTENT FOR MARKETING

Using the 4Ps together with the 4Cs allows an organisation to consider important questions, particularly in relation to how their target customers are likely to interact with their brand, products or services.

provides Product Customer value

represents Price Cost

provides Place Convenience

enables two-way Promotion Communication

Figure 1.1 The ideal relationship between the 4Ps and the 4Cs

Product (including brands, products and services) – Customer value • Does the customer need/want the product? • How will the customer use the product? • Does the copy and content highlight product features and, more importantly, benefits? • What is unique about the product? • Is the product’s branding and packaging appealing?

Price – Cost • What is the cost to the customer? • What is the product’s perceived value? • What is the price proposition?

Place – Convenience • Where can the customer find the product e.g. in store, online? • Where can competitor products be found? • Where is the customer located geographically? • Has market coverage been defined? • Have transportation/postageSample options been stated in copy and content? Promotion – Communication • What is the best way to get messages to the target audience? • What media channels are used by the competitor? • Will the target audience engage with print and/or digital media channels? • When is the best time to reach the target audience? Marketing principles 5

Adidas’ customer-focused Case Study 1.1 content development

Many brands now develop digital content as a core part of their marketing communications strategy. Adidas is an example of a big brand that develops social media content to communicate and engage with customers. The sportswear brand has a strong social media presence on platforms that facilitate two-way communication like Facebook. Customers are encouraged to engage with Adidas in relation to new products by leaving comments and asking questions. Adidas replies directly, providing information on pricing, responding to comments and generating enthusiasm about various products and events.

The brand also has a mobile app called ‘Adidas Confirmed’ which alerts customers of new product launches, and prompts them for feedback when they make a purchase. By analysing feedback on both social media and the mobile app, Adidas might build a profile of their ideal customer, including their age, geographic location, preferences and opinions on products. This information might be provided to the copywriter or content developer, allowing them to write further communications to appeal more specifically to the ideal customer.

Examination Tip You will need to be able to match the 4Ps with the related 4Cs and know the factors of each. When developing copy and content, you should be able to apply the marketing mix with particular focus on the customer’s point of view.

1.2 Core marketing activities

Developing effective copy and content involves effective core marketing activities. These activities can be categorised as: • developing a strategy and plan to target markets • attracting new customers • satisfying and retaining existing customers • creating an advantage over competition • identifying changing market trends • identifying market opportunities • selecting appropriateSample market segments to align with business capabilities • measuring outcomes against objectives. Developing a strategy and plan to target markets can improve the method and processes that an organisation uses to achieve what it wants. For example, an organisation may want to improve a product’s online sales in a particular market. If there is a clear strategy and plan in place, the copywriter or content developer can work in a more systematic and effective way to target the copy or content to the intended market. Attracting new customers and satisfying and retaining existing customers through reach and engagement can improve an organisation’s product sales and potential to expand into new markets. As part of their core marketing 6 LCCI LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN COPYWRITING AND CONTENT FOR MARKETING activities, an organisation will gather information about their customers in order to build a target customer profile. This information can include age, geographic location, interests and opinions. The more detailed the customer information, the greater the chance of reaching and engaging new customers, and satisfying and retaining existing ones, through targeted copy and content. The copywriter or content developer should aim to create an advantage over competition by drawing attention to those elements of the product or service offering that provide benefits to the customer. They should review competitor copy and content alongside their product offerings, to determine if the competitor is posting copy or content that is valued by customers, whether it attracts comments of a positive or negative nature, and what customers say about their products and services. Once competitor strengths and weaknesses are identified, the copywriter or content developer will be able to build on strong areas and avoid weaker ones when creating their own copy or content. Market analysis is used to identify changing market trends. A market trend is a tendency of a market to behave in a particular way based on customer habits. When developing copy and content for a product or service, it is important to understand market trends relating to it in order to identify market opportunities. A market opportunity can be described as a way of improving or expanding a product or service offering based on changing market trends. This can be done by monitoring customer enquiries, online forums and social media comments for feedback; and by gathering data on customers’ online search behaviour and their habits when visiting a website that features the product or service. This information can also help an organisation to select appropriate market segments to align with their capabilities, targeting those market segments that are most likely to need or want the product or service offerings that they are able to provide. Measuring outcomes against objectives can allow an organisation to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing efforts like copy and content. An objective can be described as a measurable action taken to achieve a certain result, and an outcome can be described as the end result of the action taken. For example, the copywriter might set an objective of increasing social media engagement by 10%. They might then publish a social media post, including a link to the brand’s website. If the post only achieves an outcome of a click-through rate representing a 5% increase on previous customer engagement figures, the objective should be reviewed.

Develop strategy Measure and plan to outcomes target markets Attract new against customers objectives

Satisfy and Identify market retain opportunities Core marketing existing Sampleactivities customers Identify Create an changing Select advantage over market appropriate competition trends market segments to align with capabilities

Figure 1.2 The core marketing activities Marketing principles 7

Examination Tip You should know the core marketing activities and be able to identify them. By thinking about how the core marketing activities might influence copy and content relating to a product or service, you will improve your ability to write your own copy and content for specific purposes and target markets (see Chapter 7).

1.3 Consumer groups

Although the terms ‘customer’ and ‘consumer’ are often used interchangeably, it is important to understand that a customer is the person who purchases a product, whereas a consumer is the person who uses the product. As a consumer will not always be the one to have paid for the product, a consumer will not always be a customer. However, as a customer will often also use the product they have bought, a customer can also be a consumer. Needs and wants may differ between customers and consumers. For example, consider a child and its parent. As the customer, the parent makes purchasing decisions based on their child’s needs, whereas as the consumer, the child focuses on what they themselves want. The parent may feel the need to feed their child healthy food, but the child may want to eat sugary snacks. The parent is therefore the customer buying healthy food for the child, while the child is the consumer of healthy food. The two core consumer groups considered when developing copy and content are Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). B2C marketing involves goods or services being sold directly to external consumers, typically individuals. The B2C market is often referred to as the retail market and includes a diverse range of goods and services made for personal use or consumption, from soft drinks to clothing. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are particularly effective for reaching a B2C market, as they are mainly used by individuals. Copy and content for a B2C audience should provide basic product or service information and aim to gain an emotional response. B2B marketing, by contrast, involves marketing goods and services to external organisations, typically companies or commercial organisations. The B2B market is often referred to as the business market and includes goods and services that other businesses need, ranging from raw materials used to manufacture products to financial services to business software. Email, trade publications and professional social media platforms like LinkedIn are often used to communicate with B2B audiences. Copy and content for a B2B audience should highlight the benefits of a product or service for a business audience, for instance, how it might contribute to cost reduction or increased productivity. Some businessesSample may market to both B2B and B2C consumers. Depending on their marketing strategy, they will adapt their copy and content to appeal to each audience specifically, or they will broaden the appeal of their copy and content for the combined market. 8 LCCI LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN COPYWRITING AND CONTENT FOR MARKETING

Examination Tip You will need to know the difference between B2C and B2B consumer groups and be able to define each term. Considering examples of the types of product and services typical ineach consumer group, and how marketing is used to appeal to them, will help you as you progress through the examination.

Chapter 1 Summary

What you have learned: • The 4Ps and the 4Cs are tools that organisations use to understand how their products and services behave in the market from the customer’s point of view. • The core marketing activities that are used when developing copy and content. • How customer and competitor analysis is used to inform the core marketing activities. • The difference between Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) consumer groups.

Activities

1.1 Write the correct C for each of the Ps below. 1 Product -> C ______2 Place -> C ______3 Price -> C ______4 Promotion -> C ______

1.2 Draw a line connecting each core marketing activity to what it might involve in relation to copy and content (the first one has been done for you).

Activity Involves

Developing strategy and plan to Evaluating end result target markets

Attracting new customers Monitoring customer enquiries MeasuringSample outcomes against objectives Gathering data and insight Identifying market opportunities Improving methods and processes

Creating an advantage over competition Building on competitor strengths and weaknesses Marketing principles 9

Practice questions

1.1 (a) Which one of these is about providing an easier consumer experience? (1) □ A Cost □ B Convenience □ C Customer value □ D Competitor analysis

(b) Which type of consumer group describes a building goods supplier selling materials to a construction company? (1)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1.2 Give two factors a business considers when deciding the price of a product. (2)

1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….