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Archive for the ‘Direct Marketing’ Category


Naked Doesn’t Mean “Uncomfortable”

Monday, August 9th, 2010

We recently talked about the importance of having a good landing page. One of the characteristics of a good landing page is if it’s “naked.” What the heck is a “naked” landing page?

Don’t blush. A naked landing page simply means that it’s unadorned and uncluttered.  Since the purpose of a landing page is to lead a viewer to a specific action, you want to strip away anything that would distract your viewer from that action.

This is not the place to reiterate your company’s vision or mission. It’s not the place to talk about upcoming events or even product releases. It’s not the place to sell, either. If you’ve done your job well, people have arrived at your landing page expecting to do something specific (i.e. download a report, print off a coupon, view a helpful video, make a purchase, etc.).  Make it easy for them to do what they came to do. Don’t “dress up” your landing page with unnecessary clutter; leave it as simple, and easy to use as possible. You’ll improve your chances of getting the response you were after in the first place. And that’s the naked truth!

What do you think are the “bare” essentials for a landing page?

Posted in Copywriting, Direct Marketing | No Comments »

The Importance of a Good Landing

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Imagine boarding a plane for a trip to Los Angeles. You’ve purchased your ticket. You’ve made it through security. You’ve squeezed yourself and your carry-on into spaces you never thought they would fit. You’ve finished your complementary beverage and the “fasten seat belt” sign has come on in anticipation of your landing. After the plane rolls to a stop, the flight attendant’s voice warmly welcomes you . . . to Atlanta.

You were expecting to arrive in L.A. When you ask the flight attendant about this, she replies that you can still get to L.A. You’re just going to have to fly a little more. You deplane and get on another flight that deposits you . . . in Dallas. Finally, after short stops in Denver and Seattle, you arrive in Los Angeles.

What’s your mood?

Unfortunately, many businesses put their prospective clients through a variation of this drill. They send clients a mailing or an email, or a tweet with a special offer (it could be a report or a coupon for a special discount). But instead of taking them to a landing page that talks specifically about the offer, they dump these prospective clients on their home page.  Sometimes there’s a button there that will lead readers to the special offer. But sometimes the information is buried on the home page—leaving the visitor to wander around until they finally find it—or leave in frustration.

In business, it’s extremely important to give people a good “landing.” Make sure people end up where they think they’re going to land. Make it fool proof. Don’t make customers jump through hoops to get where they want to be. That’s where you want them to be too.

Pilots sometimes say that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. But in business, you don’t want your customers to “walk away” at all. Give them a good landing and keep them where you want them.

Make sense? What do you think?

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Posted in Direct Marketing, Strategy | No Comments »

The Importance of Being Real

Monday, June 21st, 2010

We all want to be respected. We all want people to think we’re smart. And if you’re in business, you want your clients to look to you for expertise. Hey, it’s one of the things that keeps them coming back—right?  But nobody likes a phony. Nobody respects someone who pretends to know more than they really do. And it doesn’t take long for your customers to figure out if you’re bluffing.

It’s important to be real. It’s OK to admit that you don’t have all the answers. But just because you don’t have the answers doesn’t mean you can’t help customers or prospects. Sometimes the best advice you can give your customers is to encourage them to talk to someone else.

The way business is done has changed a lot over the last few years. Perhaps the area of marketing has seen some of the biggest changes. Traditional forms of marketing and advertising continue to have less and less impact. The emergence of the Web and Social Media dramatically impact how businesses get their message out—and move their business forward.

We try to help businesses use traditional, web-based, and social media methods of marketing. But we don’t have all the answers. That’s one reason we encourage clients to read what companies like Hubspot are saying about inbound marketing. It’s why we send tweets with links to articles about how other businesses are using social media tools. Do we run the risk of losing clients to other experts? It’s possible. But the information is helpful. And ultimately, an educated client will be a more successful client.

So get off your high horse. You don’t have to know all the answers. It’s OK to point your customers to a place where they can get better information. Chances are, they’ll thank you for it and come back to you for help in implementing it.

How are you helping your clients get better educated?

Posted in Direct Marketing, Real, Social Media, Strategy | 2 Comments »

ARE YOU A FATHEAD?

Monday, June 14th, 2010

In case you haven’t noticed, the business world has changed in the last few years. It’s not just the economy that’s troubling businesses. The fact is that the way people do business has changed. What used to work (especially with regard to marketing) doesn’t work today. What does it take to succeed in today’s marketplace? Based on what I’ve been observing and reading lately, I think it requires that you be a FATHEAD.

Here’s what I mean.

Flexible: Companies need to be flexible today. That means they can’t cling to the things that they are used to and comfortable with. It’s not about you. It’s about your clients. What are they comfortable with? The methods you use to reach your audience need to work for them.

Adaptable: This is a bit different from being flexible. This is more of an “on-the-fly” reaction and adaptation. This reflects the ability to move from one method to another. Today we constantly hear: “Print is dead”; “Advertising is dead”; “Direct Mail is dead”. Chances are (even if these things are dying) the corpse is going to twitch for a while and companies need to be able to adapt messaging to what works—or combinations of methods.

Transparent: One of the major characteristics of new, inbound marketing is that marketers need to be transparent. The fact is, that we are anyway. People (eventually) see through us and our clever schemes. And people don’t like to be tricked. They want to be treated with respect. And people don’t like it when we’re not transparent—it sends the message that we think we’re smarter than they are. Guess what? We’re not!

Honest: This is related to being transparent, but it’s even more basic. It starts with having a good product. If you lie about how good your product or service is it will become apparent pretty quickly. It also extends to making mistakes. If you make one, admit it and make it right. Don’t make promises you can’t (or don’t intend to) keep. Under-promise and over-deliver.

Empowering: Marketing today is about empowering your clients/customers—not trying to sell them something they don’t want. Consumers want to be empowered to make the right choices based on good information.

Active: You can’t just throw something out to the market and wait for the results. Today’s consumer wants to engage with other people. Your marketing messages need to be two-way conversations—not sermons. This means (among other things) asking your clients what they want and then doing something about it—including closing the loop with them.

Disciplined: If you are going to engage your clients and prospects in a new way, you need a plan—and you need the discipline to keep at it. You can’t start and then let lit lag. Having said that, don’t forget about being flexible and adaptable. Just because you make a plan doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. You will probably have to make adjustments—but you can’t abandon your plan—you just need to make mid-course corrections.

Any “FATHEADS” out there?

Posted in Direct Marketing, Direct marketing creative, Strategy | 2 Comments »