When you’re in the process of creating a marketing plan for your copywriting business, it’s a good idea to have a look at what other businesses are doing. You can use this as a benchmark and as an example to work towards. You can also consider this an informational kit that you’ll want to give out to new clients, potential new clients, and existing clients who are interested in what you have to offer.
Why An Information Kit?
An informational kit is basically a simple collection of information that you think might be helpful to someone in your target audience. You can think of these as ‘freebie’ products that you’re giving away for free with the hope that they’ll be useful. You can create an informational kit for pretty much any niche or area of business. You just need to set your target audience and then think of what would be useful for them. One good thing about informational kits is that they’re generally fairly easy to create. Even beginners or people with no prior experience whatsoever can do this. You’re essentially providing them with information that they might be interested in. It’s a win-win situation.
The Four Stages of an Information Kit
The four stages of an informational kit are as follows:
- Stage one: Brainstorming
- Stage two: Product Testing and Review
- Stage three: Product Research
- Stage four: Promotions
Each stage has its own unique purpose and you’ll want to work through each one in turn. The first stage is all about throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks. This is where you brainstorm everything from the informational kit’s name, to the cover, to the products themselves. You’re looking for inspiration from everywhere, including from industry publications, top tier blogs, and even books that you might have read. It’s important to keep in mind the target audience for your product. In the case of an information kit for copywriting, for example, you’re aiming to help lawyers and legal e-docs. Now is not the time to be thinking about what style of tea you’d like to drink. You want to keep the focus squarely on the target audience and what would help them the most. Once you’ve got your idea for an informational kit, you can move into the next stage.
Stage two is all about testing your idea. You want to find out if what you’re creating is something that people want, or if it’s a complete dud. Testing includes things like A/B testing, using split testing tools (such as SurveyMonkey), and even sending out a small test group to try out your product, feature, or offering and then giving you feedback. Testing helps you to find out what works and what doesn’t work. It’s a good idea to do some research and see how other businesses in your target area are conducting business. What have they been doing that you can use as inspiration for your own work? What don’t they do that you can avoid or do better?
The third stage of an informational kit is all about doing more research. You’re looking into everything from the industries that your target audience belongs to, to the various technologies that they’re using, and even the types of questions that they’re asking about your services. You want to find out as much as you can about your target audience so that you can better understand them and what would appeal to them. This is also a good time to look into what other businesses in your target area are doing, and see if there’s anything that you can steal. Remember, this is a stage where you’re supposed to be ‘researching’ and not ‘selling’. Your goal is to create a resource that will be helpful to someone.
The last stage of an informational kit is all about promoting your product or service. You want to get the word out there about your product or service, and hopefully make a few bucks along the way. There are several ways to do this, but one of the most effective and simple ones is through PR. You can get PR for free from reputable media outlets like PR Newswire and Business Wire. You can also look into purchasing advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook and Google Adwords.
Above all else, having an informational kit is a great way to get started. It takes very little effort to put one together and you’ll already begin to see the benefits. Just make sure that you work through each stage in turn and you’ll be able to develop the perfect informational kit for your copywriting business.