At JigSaw, we find that many businesses have a "set it and forget it" approach to their corporate marketing materials. But spending countless hours to get a website or brochure just right and then ignoring it for years is not a good strategy! A five-year-old website is likely not only out-of-date in terms of content, but is a dinosaur compared to today's technology and could be hurting your search engine rankings.

So this May, we challenge you to take some time to review the marketing materials used at your office, including your website, brochures, sales material, one-sheets, business cards, marketing kit, media kit and whatever else you use to share information about your business. Then to ensure your content stays relevant and fresh, go ahead and schedule a calendar appointment for a year from now, since you should review and update all of your corporate marketing material at least annually, and more frequently for vehicles you may be able to easily update such as website content. Need help cleaning up your dated marketing materials? JigSaw can audit your existing materials and make recommendations to help make them even more effective.

Happy Marketing!

Find out more about JigSaw's marketing communication services.

Tip of the Month: Persuasive Proposals

The very idea of writing proposals makes many business owners cringe. Time-consuming at best and detrimental to your company at worst, they are a necessary evil for many businesses trying to win clients who follow prescribed procurement processes. 

Far from just a cost estimate, proposals can in fact be one of the strongest marketing pieces in your toolbox. Then why do so many business owners insist on writing proposals filled with technical jargon or cut-and-dry pricing that is dull, uninteresting and stilted? After all, in some instances a proposal may be representing the first impression of your company - so shouldn't you put your best foot forward? 

Instead of shying away from proposal writing, think of it as a challenge and a chance to get a little creative. Even when responding to a formal RFP there is almost always room to integrate your brand and key messaging. Here are just a few suggestions to creating an attention-grabbing proposal:

1. Make sure you are reinforcing your brand, value proposition and personality.
2. Add graphics and color to make it more engaging for your prospect to read.
3. Avoid being too technical. Use terms that a layperson can easily understand.
4. Don't cut and paste from previous proposals. Take the time to make your proposal specific to the prospect.