Let’s look at a common copy blunder: You'll got a fantastic product or service. You sit down to write your sales copy and extol the virtues of this great product or service. You read through it and something seems wrong. It seems a little forced; maybe a little harsh. What’s not working? You could be bragging. Bragging is when you stop writing direct response copy and simply repeat how wonderful your product is in a myriad of ways. Bragging about your product or service is not only bad salesmanship, it’s counterproductive. Bragging creates red flags in the eyes of your prospect. Believability is hindered and it’s a big turnoff to readership and to response. So how do you tout the great benefits of your product or service without bragging? Here are some ways to make your case:
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It’s an established fact that deadlines in your direct mail piece will result in higher response rates, but does a deadline work for Internet marketing? Test: A recent study sought to examine Internet response rates for a 2-day seminar. There was a $100 discount on the registration fee if the prospect signed up before the January 31 cutoff date. The offer was promoted using proper direct response web rules the offer was near the bottom of the page, and had limited navigation options. In addition, an email was sent out on the morning of January 31 the day the offer expired to see how that affected response. How do think the deadline affected the flow of sales? Results: The answer may astound you. Sales increased by an average by nearly 1,000% during the three days before the deadline!
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One of the most powerful boosters of response in a traditional direct mail letter is the superscript. Simply put, a superscript is placement of powerful direct response copy in the area above the salutation. It's an incredible way to hook the reader and create a compelling interest to read the entire letter. Before I elaborate, let's look at an example of a superscript my agency created for The Weather Channel:
As you can see, a superscript teases your reader's interest before the letter even begins. It also immediately draws the eye with large and dynamic type. It truly begs to be read.
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In the past couple of issues, we've covered two of the seven major direct marketing website strategies. So far we've looked at the pitfalls of using your corporate website as a sales avenue and we outlined some critical strategies for paid search success. This week we're going to look at a third strategy: creating a product microsite. A microsite is one of the most effective, efficient and powerful ways to generate a lead or make a sale. With a product microsite, you're able to focus your message on your target audience without navigation distractions, using direct response sales copy and graphics.
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As the results come in on 4th quarter retail profits, one thing is for sure: Gift cards were a massive hit last Christmas season, generating millions in sales for marketers. For some Direct Marketing Update readers, gift cards may not be appropriate but before you disregard the idea, think about it carefully...is there a way you can use gift cards for your product or service? Last year, 70% of Christmas shoppers bought gift cards...to the tune of $18 billion dollars. No small change. Here are some reasons gift cards could benefit your bottom line:
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Any product or service has weaknesses that prospects are concerned about. A major online and offline direct marketing copy technique is addressing these negatives...but not by glossing over them. Instead, much can be gained by confronting them and turning them into benefits. If you're selling, for example, a health supplement that hasn't been FDA approved, don't just sweep that fact under the carpet with an asterisk.* Instead, you could bill it as a benefit. “A product so revolutionary, the FDA hasn't even approved it yet!”
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In both consumer and business-to-business mailings, it's tempting to plan a postcard campaign. After all, a postcard has a much lower cost. Test: Recently, cell phone service provider NEXTEL sent out an offer for a pre-approved service plan that came with a top-of-the-line phone for 99 cents. They sent out an oversized postcard with a graphic on one side and the offer on the other.
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In the last issue, we talked about a major blunder direct marketers commit when they don't consider the three primary postage options: metered mail, printed indicia or a precancelled stamp. We explained that a precancelled stamp would increase your response by a full 12% to 15%. But another major blunder is using standard class delivery for your in-house prospects (or clients). In-house prospects are qualified, potential buyers and will likely produce a higher response than a rented mailing list. So this is one situation where you don't want the post office dumping or destroying your mail. The unfortunate truth is that 5% to 15% of all standard mail vanishes during the delivery process. The major benefit of precancelled stamps is that postal employees think it's first class mail...leading to greater care and respect.
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In the last issue we talked about the danger of using a corporate website for marketing purposes. The last thing you want to do is have your prospect or customer see your corporate website, since most corporate websites are antimarketing. Another common website misstep happens in paid searches. Paid search is when your company purchases search keywords through Google or Yahoo! that relate to your product or service. The advantage of paid search over organic search is that your company is placed on page one of the search results, usually to the right hand side of the organic search.
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Always remember compelling, powerful, motivational copy will anticipate the questions of a prospect and answer the question before the prospect even has time to worry about it. Before you write a word of online or offline copy, start by tapping into your prospects' concerns: What do they need? What is keeping them up at night? How can your product or service make their life easier? And most importantly...why should they choose your product or service over your competition? If you can't answer all these questions, your campaign is bound to suffer. In direct marketing, you must anticipate your prospects' apprehensions and answer their questions. Once you have the answers, you're armed to craft great copy. Here are 3 examples of sentences in which the prospects' questions are being answered:
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Testing the variables of your offer is a crucial step in maximizing the profitability of your campaign...and avoiding huge losses. It doesn't matter if the campaign involves email, direct mail, website, radio or TV. It's a good idea to test one or two variables to see which creates the greatest response. One of the best variables to test is the offer. There have been situations where I've suggested that the marketer test the price: for example $29.95 instead of $39.95 And just by making this change, the offer had a dramatic increase in response. Test: Recently a test was conducted to compare an offer for e-book sales. The webpage posted an offer of $47 for a particular report and another offer, which included two reports, for $99.
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One of the most overlooked but important factors in direct mail response is postage. The very first things your prospect will do when he or she gets an envelope is: - Look at the name.
- Look at the return address to see who sent it.
- Look at the teaser copy (if there is any).
- Look at the postage.
These are the key factors that determine whether your envelope gets opened or tossed.
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I have talked several times about the importance of having a direct marketing website. It is critical to achieving maximum response to have a specific site for your products or services rather than just relying on the corporate home page to do the job. The fact is, using your corporate home page as an entry point for all your different products and prospects is death to response. It's an obsolete trap hurting many marketers. Microsites and landing pages are individual websites geared toward specific products and promotions. For example, one page may seek to capture emails for further contact based upon a promotion, another may focus on showcasing a particular product based on a different promotion. The Importance of a Microsite Studies show corporate home pages are stagnant billboards that are navigation nightmares, whereas microsite pages that have direct response copy and art selli
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One of the major direct response copy blunders is writing from a corporate or company point of view. This is true for direct mail, website, email and any marketing communications. It breaks not only one, but two golden rules of direct response copywriting: Write from one person to one person...and the importance of “you”-driven copy. Chances are, if you’re writing from a company perspective, it’s “we” directed. The fact is, writing from a company point of view is colder, more distant and ensures depressed response. To generate outstanding response, write copy from one voice, such as a spokesperson or company president. It humanizes your copy and presents an authority to your prospect. It also injects personality into your campaign.
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Successful direct marketing should always involve testing. One bonus of the Internet is the ability to continually test a website campaign and make changes based on your response. You may have spent weeks testing your search terms, but how much time have you spent testing your page headlines?
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Your envelope is the first sales piece your prospect lays their eyes on. It determines if they are going to read your sales letter or toss it in the trash. The copy that goes on the outside of the envelope needs to be convincing enough to make your prospect want to tear open the envelope and read what is inside. But besides the copy, there are several other aspects you need to consider, such as—do you want a return address on the upper left-hand side? Will you include any pictures or graphics on the envelope? Do you want to offer any free reports or other benefits? In direct marketing, you test. We often test two or more envelopes. You will often be surprised at the results.
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Some people forget that although marketing on the web involves technology, human psychology hasn't changed with this technology. This is why you have to be careful to apply the same direct marketing strategies on the web as you do to your direct mail campaign. It has been observed that there are 4 very common online response depressants marketers cause with their email, websites and online initiatives. Here are 4 tips to avoid those specific blunders and make your online direct marketing campaign a success:
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Oddly enough, one of the strategies that can really help incrementally increase response is numbering the pages of your sales letter. Here are simple rules to follow when numbering: - If it is a 1- or 2-page letter, do not number it.
- If it is a 3- or 4-page letter, only number pages 2 and 3.
- If your letter is 11x17 folded, do not number the pages.
- Some of the most successful sales letters have been more than 4 pages long. If your sales letter is more than 4 pages, number each inside page; do not number the first and last page.
- If it is a magalog, number page 2 but don't number the first page (cover) or the last page (back cover).
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As you know, I am an advocate of adding a video component to your direct response website. If you have been to my website, www.cdmginc.com, you have seen an example of how I have incorporated video to my site. Want to enhance your direct marketing website by adding video? Email me at inquire@cdmginc.com or call me at 310-212-5727. We can take care of the script and production.
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When you sit down to write your direct response copy, it's poison to think of writing to just any group of people. You shouldn't write to a group or a company, you should only write to an "individual." How do you write to the individual? In the business-to-business world, consider what is their position in the company? What is their income? What about their family life, their work life? Their hobbies? What are the pressures and stresses they feel at work? Are they male or female? How old are they? How long have they been on the job? You need to speak directly to them.
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