August 16th, 2010
In a recent interview with British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror, the artist formerly known as “the artist” (and now once-again known as Prince) proclaimed, “The internet’s completely over.” (For a great article on this proclamation, check out: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/08/howlett.prince.internet/index.html?iref=allsearch ).
This news hardly rocked the world, since most of us (most likely Prince included) don’t believe it for a second. But in addition to being a very innovative musician, Prince is a master of the media. By making an outrageous comment, he generated all kinds of attention on (you guessed it) the Internet.
What’s the marketing “take-away” for those of us who are a little more mainstream than the man who brought us Purple Rain? We don’t need to make statements that we know to be untrue. But being bold and a little outrageous can make you stand out. Is there a “sacred cow” in your industry that you can challenge? Is there an assumption about your business that you can dismantle with a bold statement? Is there a myth you can expose that will actually help your customers? (For example: “You don’t have to replace a cracked windshield!”)
Sometimes saying the opposite of what people expect you to say can get you noticed—and differentiates you from your competition. Be honest, but be bold. Be a little outrageous. Make people pay attention to you.
What do you think?
Posted in Direct marketing creative, Real | No Comments »
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 »
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?
Tags: Landing Pages, Offers, Website
Posted in Direct Marketing, Strategy | No Comments »
July 6th, 2010
Last time we talked about three reasons it might make sense for your company to have a blog:
- Establishing yourself as a thought-leader
- Grabbing mindshare
- Taking advantage of word-of-mouth
Those are good reasons, but there are a few key questions you still need to ask before you start blogging your brains out!
Do you have anything to say? That may seem like a really silly question, but there are blogs out in the blogosphere that are a complete waste of time because they don’t have any valuable content. A blog isn’t a place to share ignorance. It’s also not a forum for repeating things everybody already knows. You need to be able to bring new ideas or new perspectives to issues that people struggle with. You don’t have to have all the answers, but you need to give people help they haven’t found somewhere else. Here’s the good news: You probably do have something to say. But you have to be able to say it in a fresh and helpful way.
Do you have the discipline to keep it going? It takes time (weeks, months, sometimes years) to build your audience. Blogging once or twice and then quitting won’t accomplish your goals. As a matter of fact, it can have the opposite effect. If you quit early, people are inclined to think that you really weren’t that much of an expert. It’s better to blog regularly (weekly/bi-weekly/monthly) with quality content than to just throw “something” out there. Before you start, you’ll want to come up with an “editorial plan” that maps out what you want to cover for several weeks. You can always change it, but it’s agony to stare at a blank screen when your deadline is looming.
Do you have the necessary skills? We all learned to write in school . . . right? But do you have the skills to clearly and succinctly get your point across in a way that’s helpful to others? You don’t have to be a Pulitzer prize-winning writer to create a blog. It’s not about being flashy. It’s about being clear. And make no mistake: the thoughts need to be your thoughts, but you may want to enlist some help.
Are you willing to engage in a conversation? Many people misunderstand the nature of blogs. A blog is not a monologue. It’s not your chance to preach. It’s a dialogue. You present an idea and ask people to respond, to challenge, to ask follow-up questions. You need to be prepared to answer those responses.
If you answered, “yes” to these questions, you—and your customers—would probably benefit from a blog. Ready to write?—or do you have questions and or comments?
Posted in Blogging, Copywriting, Social Media, Strategy | No Comments »
June 28th, 2010
It seems that everyone and his dog has a blog (And that’s not just a catch phrase. Check out http://www.dogswithblogs.com.au/ and see for yourself!). But just because “everyone else is doing it” does that mean your business should have a blog too? The real question, however, is why would you blog?
There really are some good reasons for writing a blog of your own. Here are just a few.
You establish yourself as a thought-leader. If you’re talking about an area in which you’re knowledgeable, a blog can help establish you as an expert. If you’re credible and share what you know, people will look to you for expertise.
You grab mindshare. If you are in front of your customers on a regular basis, who will they think of first when they have a problem you can solve? And if they’ve already been helped by what you’ve shared, they will be more inclined to take the next step and pay you to help them.
You take advantage of word-of mouth. We all know that word-of-mouth advertising is the best kind. If you share content that really helps people, they will pass it on. Will it “go virile” and spread like wildfire? Maybe. But that doesn’t really matter. Most businesses aren’t equipped to handle that anyway. But “friends telling friends” about how you know your stuff can make a significant impact on your business.
So should you blog? What are you hoping to accomplish? If you’d like to set yourself apart as an expert; if you’d like to grab mind share among your potential customers; and if you’d like to get people telling their friends about you, then there’s a good possibility that you should. But there are a few more key questions you should ask before you begin—and we’ll explore those next time.
Any other ideas about why it might be good to blog? Let us hear from you!
Posted in Blogging, Copywriting, Social Media | No Comments »
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 »
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 »
