Here’s a good article on the eternal debate of long copy versus short copy. For the record, I’m a long copy fan, as I learn toward old school direct response tactics, as professed by John Caples.
Archive for February, 2008
My day job is in marketing. A few days ago, I met with our web design agency in Las Vegas to review their web mock-ups. I was instantly reminded of why I distrust many design agencies. From what I’ve seen, these agencies can design cutesy graphics, but don’t know the first thing about branding or messaging. I’m talking about a design that won’t sell a dime of product, although it looks awesome. This is what my company is spending good money on?
Design agencies – please at least learn the basics of using your designs to sell the client’s offerings.
Today’s NY Times article discusses the impact of $4+ gas this Spring. Using a 2001 EIA statistic that the average American uses 1,143 gallons of gasoline per year ($1,520 in 2001), the same American in 2008 will spend $4,572! That’s over 3 times what a person spent 7 years ago, and this obviously hasn’t kept up with wage increases. With $4+ gas on the horizon, what are you doing to get a share of the increasingly tight American wallet? If there was ever a time to consider this question, it’s now.
The looming recession is the perfect time to add more depth and innovation to your offerings. While many of your competitors will scale back and act less aggressively, these lean times are the perfect opportunity for you to make huge gains at their expense. Don’t be afraid of tough times. Seize the opportunity and become the leader when the next boom inevitably happens.
Yesterday, I pulled up to an intersection and saw this logo on a black Dodge Ram:
This is actually the logo from Pride FC, the once great mixed martial arts event. Plastered beneath the logo on the truck, read “Pride – Stucco & Stone”. WTF?! This douchebag blatantly ripped off a well known logo, slapped a different service mark on it, and called it good. I have a very hard time believing he got the logo rights from Pride or UFC.
Here’s the original Pride logo:
Moral of the story? Don’t steal logos. You look like a tool, and you’ll end up getting exposed on the web.
If you want great ideas for an ad, avoid the cutesy and fancy “branding” ads you see all too often these days. Although these ads look great, they lack in substance and a call to action. Without a good call to action, you avoid the basic point of an ad – to sell. Your ad should produce measurable results, using pre-defined metrics.
In the classic “Blind Advertising Expenditures”, John W. Blakes writes, “There is just one justification for advertising: Sales! Sales! Sales! Sales that are immediate, sales that are abundant, sales that are profitable.” As a small business, you do not have the budget to commit to a huge branding campaign. And given branding’s ethereal nature, you need to stick to direct response ads.
A direct response ad should produce measurable results. Here are some key components to a good direct response ad:
- Headline (or Tagline): Your headline is the most important part of an advertisement. You are competing with thousands of other ads, so make sure your headline stands out. The headline should incorporate your product’s main selling point. Stick to one theme for a headline, lest you confuse the customer.
- Call to action: Tell the customer what action to take (Buy Now! Order Today! Visit our store now!)
- Copy: Long, informative copy is better than short, vacuous copy. Although peoples’ attention spans are shorter these days, the consumer prefers to have more information when making a buying decision. Keep the copy consistent with the headline.
- If you use an agency, hire one who deals with direct response ads. There are too many creative agencies who suck at anything but design work. Creative agencies may win a lot of ad awards, but you should look for an agency that has a track record of creating winning SELLING ads!
There are many other aspects to direct response ads that I will cover in future posts. For the time being, just realize that it’s better to have an ugly ad that sells (Head On, for example), rather than a pretty, expensive ad that does nothing to boost sales.
Your demographic responds to a particular marketing mix. In order to maximize your effectiveness, you must be selectively holistic with this marketing mix. Your efforts must incorporate varying degrees of media types, depending on who you are trying to reach. For example, younger people (18-35) lean more toward using the web, and don’t read as many newspapers. This doesn’t mean that you completely ignore newspapers, although this isn’t as heavy a component in your media mix. By analyzing your demographic with a fine-tooth comb, you will develop the optimum marketing blend. You will be effective in your marketing, and I guarantee you will experience greater profitability.
Back in the 60s and 70s, you could get away with the mass-media approach – shot gunning TV, print, and radio ads to as many people as possible. It’s amazing how many companies still use this approach, with no regard to whether their audience is paying attention. It defies common sense, but it’s also the easy way out for most marketers. There is no one-size-fits all approach that works anymore. Take the time to appreciate how your target demographic consumes media, then tailor your marketing to match that mix.
With the new Federal stimulus package signed and ready to go, American households will receive checks ranging from $300 to $1200. The estimated arrival date for these checks is sometime in May. There is over $160 billion about to circulate back into the economy. What are you doing to promote your offerings during this period?
So my bank, Wells Fargo, is one of the world’s largest banks. You would think they have a good system of communication and coordination. Over the past two days, I’ve seen over 5 ATMs out of service in the Salt Lake area, and have heard of at least 4 more that are inoperable. My situation is pretty simple – I need an ATM to get cash, preferably without paying stupid fees. No bank could service my needs…after two days!
Ultimately, I ended up having to go to the bank to withdraw cash. When I spoke with the teller about the mass ATM outage, she told me she heard about that, but “oh well”. This attitude is unacceptable, especially with a large bank. The attitude is that somebody else will fix the problem at a date to be determined, probably in the distant future. Instead of calling to get helpful information, there is instead a fake smile and a vapid response.
As a small business, you have a huge opportunity to beat the big guys. If my experience is any example, the big companies’ weakness is a coordination of empathy and customer service. Your organization should operate like a nervous system. When there is pain, you should respond immediately and appropriately. Unlike the big guys, you don’t need a huge bureaucracy to get things done. You have speed and customer service on your side – use it as much as possible!
Cincinnati – An Old Fashioned nexus of marketing is having branding issues
Published February 11, 2008 Marketing Leave a CommentImagine a city with over 400 product design and branding firms. Not New York, Chicago, or LA…this is Cincinnati. The irony is that with so much marketing muscle, including P&G, the city is having issues with marketing itself to younger workers. How to transform the image of what most people perceive to be a conservative and stodgy Midwest city? It will be tough, for sure…I don’t know of an easy solution off the top of my head. Sometimes you find yourself with a marketing problem which is not immediately solvable.
