04 May How to Use Your Fact Sheet as a Springboard
Our How to Write a Fact Sheet post is one of our most widely read tips, so we wanted to give you some information on how to use your fact sheet as a springboard to create your other company communications.
Remember that your fact sheet condenses the most pertinent information about your company, products, and/or services into one page. The fact sheet includes at-a-glance information for readers broken up by categories, such as contact information, company history, vision, mission, purpose, future, etc. This makes it an invaluable template for all of your other communication materials and collaterals.
When we create a collaterals package for a client, which might include a website, PowerPoint presentation, brochure, business cards, and letterhead, we always start with a fact sheet. Why? Because the content in a fact sheet includes your core messages and they should always be consistent to promote a strong company brand. Inconsistencies in your messaging will lead to confusion, internally and externally, and weaken your brand. The more repetition you have among your communications, the higher the likelihood that your target public will retain and act on your messages.
That said, here’s how to use what you’ve already created in your fact sheet to produce another communication:
– Press Release: Every good fact sheet has a little gem embedded in it, and this gem can be used on all of your materials. That gem is your boilerplate. Somewhere on your fact sheet, there should be a paragraph that explains concisely what your company is about, what you do, and how you do it. This boilerplate consists of your company’s three to five key messages in one short paragraph. When you use the boilerplate for a news release, it should appear at the bottom and say at the end, “For more information about Company Z, visit our website at www.CompanyZ.com.”
– Website: The boilerplate in your fact sheet can also be used as the opening paragraph on your website. Each category on your fact sheet could be included on your “About Us” page or as separate pages. When doing the latter, the fact sheet copy can be used as the introductory statement on those pages. At this point, you’ll have a good portion of your website copy completed without having to spend time creating new verbiage.
– Letterhead and Business Card: A boilerplate can even appear on the back of a business card, on your letterhead, and definitely as the opening paragraph on your website.
We know that you’re now catching on to how to apply your fact sheet to your other promotional materials, which are not limited to the above listed items. Think of how you can do the same with advertising copy, logo items, blogs, and so on. Even non-traditional mediums, such as listing your mission on your invoices or on your voicemail are ways to maximize the information on your fact sheet.
Please note that it’s best to duplicate the copy on your fact sheet as closely as possible (taking into consideration search engine optimization for websites, etc.) in your other communication vehicles. In other words, if you say X about your company’s vision on your fact sheet, you must also say X about your company’s vision on your brochure. Again, when your consumers are exposed to the same messaging over and over, it helps them to process and comprehend it so that your business, product, and/or service is top of mind, and most likely, one of their top “buys.”
So if you’re creating new company materials or revising the old ones, start with a fact sheet. From there, use your fact sheet as your springboard to PR success. For a free fact sheet template, click here. And, check out our Top 3 Rules for a Powerful Fact Sheet.
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