What to Expect These Next 10 Years

"Weather forecast for tonight: dark.
Continued dark overnight, with widely
scattered light by morning."

- George Carlin

It's a funny business, forecasting.

For instance, 10 years ago, you never could have
guessed that we'd be where we are now.

Frankly, neither could I...

TEN YEARS AFTER: WHAT WE DIDN'T EXPECT

If you remember, around this time a decade ago -- and
after years of hearing that you either had to learn to
write for the Internet or risk becoming a dinosaur
dotcom stocks tanked.

Suddenly, we were left trying to figure out the
marketing mix between snail mail and the Internet all
over again.

Blogs barely existed. Same goes for email and video
marketing, both just getting out of the gate for most
marketers.

In Washington, the Clintons were boxing up their books
and the Bushes were busy picking out the menu for their
Inaugural dinner.

Across the rest of the country, the broad economy had
hit a deep backslide, for the first time in nearly a
decade.

What worked before, we were all thinking, might not
work again. Or for a long time. But then, as now, few
were certain.

As for me, I was still living in Manhattan.

Not yet married, working out of my West Village
apartment, and still collecting the bulk of my
copywriting royalties from print mailings.

Who could have known how much or how fast email
marketing could have taken off?

Somewhere in the 10 years that followed -- even I can't
remember exactly when -- the copy I was writing started
making me more online than it did off.

Print mailings got less and less elaborate as they got
more and more expensive. Online, we could test
everything. And we did.

Perhaps I started writing differently, scaling back on
copy sidebars and ramping up on search-friendly words.

"You've got to write shorter for the web," they told
us, "because it's a younger, less patient audience."

Mostly though, that turned out to be all wrong.

Copy I cut to fit the "new" audience flopped. Copy I
wrote and had posted online worked just as well or
better than it had in print.

So well, in fact, that the information publishing
company I worked with (and still work with, as my
biggest client by far) tripled in size, from $100
million per year to well over $300 million.

Today, they still make millions in the mail. But the
majority of sales are online. With copy that's really
STILL not much different from the straight sales
letters they've always relied on.

The Internet, it turned out, didn't die with the dotcom
market bomb. It just took the next leap, from novelty
to market staple.

Instead of obliterating the "old school," businesses
comfortably absorbed online tools and integrated them
into their already working business models.

For us and others who figured out how to use it, it
turned out the best way to use it was to gather and
market to new names... to involve and engage with our
original customers cheaply... and to deliver info-
products faster and more cheaply.

For me, it let me work even more long distance. My wife
and I picked up and moved (for at least a big part of
the year) to Paris.

We now have kids and send them to school, while she and
I both work from home. She on design (her day job) and
me on, of course, copywriting projects.

As I write to you now, I'm sitting in our living room,
listening to MP3s of music I can work to while a
digital fire crackles on our big flat-screen TV.

It really is a different world. So, how different can
you expect it to get over the NEXT 10 years?

Likely, my powers of prognostication won't hold up any
better for this second decade of the new century than
they did for the first, but I'll give it a shot...

THE NEXT TEN YEARS: WHAT YOU CAN BANK ON

As we look on, what's ahead?

Maybe telepathic reply cards... holograph-driven
headlines... and scent-crafted sales copy, retooled for
use on smell-o-vision. But I doubt it.

You're sure to hear plenty forecasting the need for
even shorter copy ("Soon we'll be inscribing headlines
on jet-powered microdots, so you'll have to trim it to
fit.") But that will probably be wrong too.

What is true is that the mediums will evolve, yet
again. For instance, the marketers I worked alongside
this year did make a huge, successful leap into video
marketing.

But not like you'd expect.

For one, we've found so far that low production values
-- at least in our info-publishing market -- out pull
fancy fireworks.

Our best performing stuff is just text on screen, with
a voice reading it aloud in the background. And
otherwise, it's barely changed from the copy we used in
the print or online sales letter versions.

Short? Not even close.

The most astounding successes in our area, of the last
six months, have been videos that run for -- brace
yourself -- as long as 45 minutes to an hour.

I'm not making that up.

And when we try to edit it them down, do they pull even
better? Not at all. Response drops by 20% or more.

What's changed though is that no longer can copy afford
to be sloppy, meandering, or boring. The best messages
compel from opening bang to ending order button.

(Come to think of it, hasn't that always been the
truth? Well-crafted creative works best. But as in
novels and Hollywood, that just seems even more true
now than ever.)

As the world moves ever faster, we do seem to get less
patient with our time. We'll spend it liberally if
we're interested, yes.

But we're getting ever more stingy with our full
attention when it comes to messages that don't do the
work to meet us at least halfway.

Again, that doesn't at all mean "short."

It just means we'll keep on digging deeper, working
harder, and getting better educated to talk to markets
that are already experts on passions we'll target.

Obviously, you've gotten the message that tomorrow will
be more mobile. That's only going to mean more
breakthroughs in format and offer testing, too.

Magazines will figure out the subscription model.
They'll have to. But more tablet computers beyond the
iPad and an even bigger smartphone explosion, along
with more integrated Internet and television, will all
open other doors too.

Most will try to figure out "who" is on the other end
of those mediums. And that will matter, especially when
it means cracking open all those unexplored niche
markets.

But maybe more important will be figuring out "where"
those new customers are and "what" they'll want to look
at.

A lot of the talk of the last 10 years was about how
different our customers would be. However, all the big
breakthroughs I can list were either in formats or how
we compiled new customers lists.

(That's the only reason, by the way, that I think those
who are looking into social marketing might yet be on
to something... even though I suspect they don't know
what, any better than the rest of us.)

The dialogue itself, either what we said or the how we
said it, didn't change much at all.

That said, it did change a little. And will probably
continue in that same direction.

Specifically, the more inundated our target customers
are, the better we'll have to get at writing much LESS
direct sales copy.

You might think that sounds backward.

After all, in a crowded market, don't you have to get
to the point -- particularly the benefits -- faster?

Certainly, you can't afford to waste a prospect's time.
But with everyone shouting about how everything makes
you slimmer, faster, smarter, richer, and cooler than
the nerds on your neighbor's Facebook page, you'll have
to look LESS like you're out to sell something.

That might just mean finding an even sharper emotional
hook for your every sales pitch. It might mean learning
to sell even better with stories.

What it will add up to is figuring out how to do more
of what the fast-media, always-on information age does
surprisingly poorly... which is add depth and not just
breadth to personal connections.

I suspect, for no reason I can exactly put my finger
on, we'll make more sales promises about not just
improving a prospect's life, but improving the world's
perception of the prospect too.

I don't just mean the standard appeals to vanity, but
something bigger. The wider the physical gaps and more
superficial the digital connections, the more we seem
to crave "impact" and "influence" in the crowds around
us.

People, of course, have always wanted to make a ripple.
But these days it seems like an even more widely shared
yardstick of success. Silent victories just won't do.
Bragging rights, even those not exercised, seem to
matter even more than they have in the past.

What will sell?

It depends on where the economy goes next. We've seen
luxury "stuff" fall out of fashion, these past couple
years. I don't expect it to come roaring back.

At least not anytime soon.

That said, even though I work in a sector where gloom-
and-doom is a marketing staple (the financial info
biz), you can't help but notice a recent uptick in
expectations.

The market, say a lot of experts, is coming back.
Housing, construction, energy demand. They're all
seeing a surge. Even jobs might inch upward.

Some say that's because that's what always happens,
going back over the last 100 years, in the third year
of the U.S. presidential cycle.

Others might say it's because we've had a change of the
guard or because of tax cuts or stimulus or whatever.
Maybe it's just pent up cash and optimism.

It doesn't matter much why... maybe it's just nature
saying we're overdue... but something this way comes.

The good news is that spending might be back. If only
in a small way. The mixed news is that it might come
with rising prices, i.e. what you and I know as
inflation.

Oil prices, for instance, are surging. So are food
prices and more. If stocks and housing go back up,
that's just inflation of another kind.

As a marketer, that matters to you in more than one
way. At the bottom line, it might mean you'll get a
chance to raise your prices.

But it could also mean, and this is especially true if
jobs don't come surging back fast enough, your prices
could rise TOO fast. And that can come back to bite
you, too.

Over the couple years ahead, maybe that translates into
more deadline offers... "Act now or pay double when we
hike prices at midnight, March 15"... or maybe just
price testing, with an eye on competitors.

I'm just guessing on all of this, of course. And like I
said, I could be as stunned as you are at how off these
expectations might be.

What we'll be selling and how we'll sell it will almost
absolutely change radically from what we're doing now.

Blogs, HTML emails, Facebook, even iPads and Android,
and the iPhone... I don't expect any of it to be much
more than a memory compared to what we're looking at
now.

One thing I'm sure of, for 2021 and beyond, is that you
can bank on the one thing that doesn't change: good
copy will still target the same core emotions and still
promise to serve the same core needs and solve the same
core problems -- health, respect, wealth, and the rest.

You get that already, I'm sure. It will be trying not
to forget it over these next 10 years that you'll find
challenging.

Contributed by John Forde
Guest Contributor
http://copywritersroundtable.com/

How To Make Readers Love Your Ideas

When genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. - D.H. Lawrence

Who doesn't want to be the one at the party, telling the story nobody can resist?

Even better, how about telling the story you know everybody will repeat tomorrow?

It's a great feeling, when it happens.

And I've just started reading a book that might help you make sure it happens more often.

It's called "Made to Stick," by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. I must have missed it the first time around. It came out in 2007.

But already, as I read, I'm thinking... wow, imagine how many people I could have protected from boring storytelling (mostly mine) in the time since.

Even more, though, I see huge parallels in the book that work for us, as copywriters.

Let me show you what I mean...

WHAT IT MEANS TO "MAKE IT STICK"

When the Heath's talk "stickiness," they're talking about those messages that people can't resist repeating.

You know them.

In fact, the book itself starts with one -- an urban legend about the guy who wakes up in a tub full of ice, one kidney short, after a bad date.

Urban legends are great examples of "sticky" tales because they best get remembered and passed around, solely on the steam they pick up from those that stumble across them.

And like I said, wouldn't you want to tell a story -- or better, write an ad -- that could do that?

Of course you would.

"Stickiness" in itself won't make you rich, of course. But the nature of a sticky tale or marketing message is not just that it gets passed around, but also that readers WANT to pass it around because it instantly engages and hangs on to their imaginations.

Imagine, say the Heath brothers, hearing the story about the guy who wakes up in the tub of ice. He sees a cell phone and a note telling him to call 911. "Stay calm," says the 911 operator, "we've seen this before -- one of your organs has been harvested."

Not true, by the way. But what are the chances you could relate that same story to a friend, a week from today? Pretty good. And I've only given you the short version.

Compare that to a memo from the boss or an ad from a business that's jammed with nothing but charts, statistics, and multi-syllabic claims.

Instantly forgettable.

The case I'm making -- and I credit it to what I expect to find in the book -- is that the same principles that make stories and other messages "sticky" can also make
your ad copy more powerful.

In fact, let's break it down right now, right here, and see what we come up with...

SIX "STICKY" PRINCIPLES, SIX SECRETS TO GREAT ADS

Not to preempt the impact of what you'll find in the book (and I encourage you to check it out), "Made to Stick" narrows lasting message power to six characteristics.

As I read a summary of all six, I couldn't help but notice how well they matched six big secrets to writing great copy... including a few secrets you've already seen written up here before.

For instance...

GREAT MESSAGES ARE SIMPLE:

The Heaths' #1  principle is that simple messages stick best. Common sense? Absolutely. And a great parallel to what my copy colleagues and I often talk about as the "Power of One."

In short, avoid giving too many points -- even great ones -- when you can. Instead, scale back to the single most important "takeaway" message. One great insight is much easier to absorb than a dozen (or even six... ahem) very good ones.

GREAT MESSAGES SURPRISE:

"Made to Stick" calls this the value of "unexpectedness." In the world of copy, we might call it instead the value of "uniqueness." Especially as in the famous "USP" or "Unique Selling Proposition."

Why does it matter so much to make your message new? Simple. Who wants to listen to the same old tales or promises, again and again? Why stick around for details
you can get anywhere?

Every seasoned copywriter knows that curiosity can be as powerful a motivator as a big promise, especially when it's relevant to what you know you're selling.

GREAT MESSAGES FEEL REAL:

The book calls this "concreteness" and makes a great analogy that you might remember: years back, a food researcher wanted to get across that movie popcorn was full of saturated fat.

He could have made his case with graphs and charts. He could have spelled out the fat content in milligrams. But he realized that wasn't enough. So instead he compared it to eating the equivalent in Big Macs.

Those kinds of analogies are more than just colorful. They make an idea feel real, by connecting something new to something instantly personal and understandable.

I would add that it's not just the vividness that makes a message stick, but also what we teach in copy workshops as "specificity." Details make readers soak up stories in a way generalities cannot.

GREAT MESSAGES ARE BELIEVABLE:

In sales copy, a lot of what you'll do is bend over backwards to prove your claims. Testimonials, studies, hard numbers, mainstream media quotes, photos of a bank statement or sharply contrasting "before and after" shots... there are lots of ways to do it.

And many times, it's only by making this case that you'll make your sale. But, warns the book, be careful. What you're doing isn't forcing an audience to consent to your claims.

Rather, you're putting them in a spot where they can feel like they've decided for themselves. Ask yourself, you might say, how much better would your own life be if you could do what my product claims you can do?

And maybe even, how much worse could it get if you pass up on this opportunity? And then make it real for them, by way of those proofs and similar examples.

GREAT MESSAGES GET YOU WORKED UP:

Why do fundraising letters always start out with a personal story? Because the more they mail out those requests, the more they realize: you get more money when you make it personal.

Statistics on how many people died in the earthquake in Haiti or how many buildings fell might make your eyes pops. But it's the story about a little girl who lost her mother that gets people to open checkbooks.

That's because we're programmed to get emotional when messages hit closer to home -- suddenly we're not talking vague millions, but your neighbor, your daughter, your friend, your wife. We can see that. More importantly, we can feel it.

Every kind of copy message works the same way. Tap emotions first and fast, get personal -- it's the only way to get doors to open consistently.

GREAT MESSAGES USE STORIES:

This might be the most instinctive "stickiness" secret of all. Like so many books in this vein, "Made to Stick" opens first with a string of stories, each of them proving the point better than the last.

There's no fighting it -- and no reason to fight it, either -- people love a good story. Why? Because there's no better, more painless way to package a message.

Stories seep into your conscious like good pop songs; with riffs and hooks that catch, and strings of notes you're hard-pressed to forget. Stories flow automatically.

They give your imagination a backdrop. And a map to follow, so you can tell yourself and others the same story -- and message -- over and over again.

Does every great message have to be built around a great story? No. But it doesn't hurt to have the story that tells it all, waiting in your arsenal.

I'm sure I'll come back with more from "Made to Stick" as I get into it. Already, in fact, I've got a few more CR issue ideas percolating along those lines.

'til then, be sure to get a copy and check it out for yourself. I've already added it to my list of "recommended reads" on the Copywriter's Roundtable website:

http://copywritersroundtable.com/further-reading

Contributed by John Forde
Guest Contributor

Is CRM Right For You? A 15-Minute Quiz

Do you believe in magic?

Marketers tend to. They are suckers for miracle cures - and here's why.

We all know our customers are lazy. That's why the words "quick" and "easy" always increase readership of any headline.

Show them how they can do something - lose weight, learn a language - with less effort, and you probably have a winning proposition.

You must package it well, though - preferably with an impressive name.

So it's not listening to and repeating words and phrases; it's "programmed learning". That makes you feel you're doing something important, doesn't it?

And guess what? Marketers are just as lazy as customers - hardly surprising, as they are customers every day. Most (as I learned from asking them to define it in many countries) are is too lazy to even learn what marketing is - let alone what "direct marketing" means.

Anyhow, that word "direct" ... doesn't it sound distressingly close to direct mail? And we all know what that means, don't we? Junk. Ugh. That certainly doesn't sound very flattering, does it?

CRM sounds much better. People love it. Though I cannot for the life of me see how it differs from what I've always done.

Mind you, it took me about nine years to get any good at what I do, whereas a few years ago Oracle's ads said: "Start today and have global customer relationship management in 19 days."

Sounds a lot better than hard work, doesn't it? Mr. Super CRM would whiz into their office and take care of everything for them! No wonder it took off.

Many firms started CRM divisions before even knowing what the heck it really was - or meant to their business.

No wonder that a few years after it first came into fashion, the US magazine Advertising Age reported that over 70% of firms who tried it said it didn't work.

I shall discuss why in a moment, with some good, practical advice you can act on from somebody who has specialised in this field.

In the meantime, here's a little reminder that miracles only happen in the movies.



The word 'loyalty' is often used about CRM. But as a former chairman of Marks & Spencer observed, "Customers are not loyal nor should they be. We have to earn their loyalty every day".

His firm forgot that and it nearly ruined them.

Sober people know the obvious: nobody sane wants a relationship with their bank or supermarket. They have enough trouble getting on with their families. And a "programme" won't cure any dodgy relationship.

But the intelligent use of data does pay. Here is a good example. Ocado sent my partner Marta this, based on things she had bought before.



CRM schemes fail above all because your business lives or dies on its attitude to customers. And a quick fix doesn't change attitudes.

So here is check list for you. It was put together by my associate Peter Hardingham, who has worked with me on and off for 20 years, and revised by me because I interfere with everything that leaves this office.

Is CRM right for you? A 15-minute quiz

Step 1

Unless you have answered these four questions, there is absolutely NO point in boarding the good ship CRM.

• Do you really know what your customers want?


• Do you know what they think you promise them? Are they the same things?


• Can you clearly identify these desires and beliefs, before and after they have become customers?


• How will you find out? Do so before anything else!

Step 2

Set realistic expectations, and deliver what you promise or you can end up worse off than if you never started.

• Can you deliver what your customers want - and, just as important, what they think you promise?


• If not, what can you deliver now, and in the future?


• If it is in the future, how quickly? And how will you keep them happy in the interim?

Step 3

A customer in the dark is an angry customer. A customer in the know can end up buying more.

• At what points in the purchase process will you tell your customers what they want to know


• About their order?


• To reassure them?

Step 4

• Can you identify the points from step 3 in every customer transaction?


• Are you sure your IT team can deliver?


• If you have retail outlets, can the staff get this information - quickly and easily?

Step 5

Many firms still have separate databases for customer and transactional information If your marketing database can't access both, you're in trouble.

• Can you record what happens at all every point in the transaction?


• On a database all those who may need to know can access?

The moment of truth.

Did you answer the first 5 steps mostly 'yes'? If so, you stand a chance of CRM working for you. If you said mostly 'no', stop right now and get it right.

If you're talking to CRM consultants politely ask them to leave. Their time is expensive, and you'll lose your shirt.

Step 6 - start the ball rolling

• Tell your customers what you plan to do


• Manage their expectations


• Involve, motivate and train all your


• Make sure everyone - particularly retail staff - gets the same respect

Step 7 - attend to detail

Remind yourself what you've promised, and deliver it. Often, essential processes are not part of firms' structures. They don't appreciate what skills and structures you need.

• If this is an incentivised scheme, how will points, miles or other benefits be allocated, captured, and communicated to the customer?


• How will redemptions be handled?

Step 8

Most customers won't tell you they are unhappy. They tell their friends - and walk away.

• Set up a monitoring process in your company


• Make sure you identify any weak links that appear in the chain

Step 9

• Ask your customers how they think you're doing


• Loyalty can improve just by making it easy for them to tell you what they think


• Allow your customers to suggest improvements. It's the best research you'll ever get

Step 10 - it doesn't stop

Don't imagine this is something you just "put in place".

• Keep listening to your customers


• Keep learning from your customers


• Keep refining your system


• Keep training and re-training your people

When should you refer to these questions?

When your IT director says, "We've got this wonderful CRM software..."

When the board says, "That's a brave move you're making there, this CRM stuff..."

Just take out this quiz, and re-read it. You'll know more than many CRM consultants. You might even keep your job.

If that interested you, you might find half an hour with Peter worth your while. I sent him along to three clients a while ago, and all wanted to know more. One - a travel destination - had him on a plane within a week.

Best,
Drayton
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How I Finally Made A Success Of My Business - And How You Can Do The Same

In october 2006 I decided I'd had enough.

I'd had enough of working for other people and making them the kind of money I could only dream about.

I'd had enough of people looking over my shoulders constantly to ensure they squeezed every drop of blood for the pittance they paid me... even though I worked my butt off.

In fact, in one job my manager actually told me if all the other guys together did half as much work as I did by myself, he'd be a happy bunny. There were eight other people in the team.

Did that satisfy the bosses of the company?

Does spiderman really exist? (Okay, I only used that because I'm a die-hard comic book fan. But you know what I mean).

Anyway, in October 2006 I decided I was going to be self-employed. I was going my own way.

So I called up the relevant government department and told them so.

And I've been self-employed ever since.

Although I think the term self 'unemployed' would be more suitable.

You see, I tried to learn how to make money on the internet. I bought one course after another.

Each time the promise was:

1. I had to spend money to make money


2. "Our course is the best one. And you'll definitely make money with it"

Three years and about $50,000.00 later (no typo), all I had to show for myself was a huge debt, with no ability to pay it back.

I was desperate.

Then, in October 2008 Drayton Bird held his first course in Direct and Digital Marketing through EADIM (European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing).

The cost was 3,000 Euros. I couldn't afford it.

So I ended up wasting more money trying to learn more stuff that was no good And getting even deeper in debt on my credit cards.

(funny how we can't afford to pay for something sensible, but can afford to get even more in debt, huh?).

Then in August 2009 I decided enough really was enough.

I borrowed the money from my brother and enrolled on that year's EADIM course.

Was it worth it?

It was the single best investment I've made in all these years of struggling.

In fact, I made back my investment at least 5 times since. And more.

I was so enthusiastic about this course that Drayton Bird himself sent me an email and offered me the chance to work with him.

The result?

Check out this site: www.directmarketingcourse.com

I had a big hand in that copy.

This is what Ross Bowring, a fellow copywriter on the Warrior Forum, said of the copy on this site...

"Rezbi... Bravo! And I've never said "Bravo" to anyone before (!) That's a very nicely written letter. Skillfully communicates benefits with no hype whatsoever. Read the whole thing. Never usually do that. Mightily impressed."

And this is what Drayton said of the same...

Enthusiasm without knowledge is useless. Rezbi is one of those rare and valuable people - a genuine enthusiast who studies. He was hugely valuable to me in working on the promotion for EADIM. The (very complex) landing page is a good example of his work, a great joint effort!

All I can say is this - I got the opportunity to work on this, and on others, as a direct result of going on that course last year. It is, in my opinion, the best course on direct and digital marketing that exists today.

And, if ANYONE is really serious about their career, online or offline - no matter which industry they are in - they would be jumping to get on this course.

Now my question is: How serious are you?

Don't waste any more time or money. Get on this course and - finally - start making a success of your business and career.

If nothing else, at least go and check out the site to see how much I've accomplished as a result of doing this course. And how much you could, too: www.directmarketingcourse.com

Oh, I nearly forgot... if you book before the end of the year, you also get a HUGE 34% discount.

And, if you can't afford that measly sum, you can even pay by monthly installments.

Check it out: www.directmarketingcourse.com

Best,
Rezbi

Improving Aid To Pakistan Through Better Marketing

"Pockets are the most sensitive part of a human being; that's why we need to touch hearts and minds first. - President Lula da Silva of Brazil

The Lede blog has blamed poor marketing for the lack of aid going to Pakistan. And I'm inclined to agree.

It's not just the government of Pakistan to blame (although the President has a lot to answer for with his recent activities).

Here in the UK, I've tried telling people in charities how they should be marketing.

Thankfully, they've taken on board some things. The problem is they haven't done other things which could have made the campaign to raise funds much more successful.

Hearts and minds are what need to be won first before people would be willing to put their hands in their pockets.

We have to show them what is actually happening in Pakistan.

If people don't see the devastation with their own eyes, it's not going to affect their hearts.

They need to see what's happening, not only in photographs, but actual first-hand stories form people who are there.

And they need to see more of them.

It's not enough to send out one or two emails and expect it to be enough.

When there are thousands of people on a charity's list, a lot of people will either not open the email the first time, or they just will not see it.

Or, the first time - or even the first few times - it won't 'touch' their hearts. It may take several emails to affect them

So the more emails that are sent out, the better the chances of them being opened, seen and affecting people where it matters.

The saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," is so true in these types of situations. One of the reasons is that there are so many of them hapenning - natural and man-made (Gaza, for example), that people are gettting numbed to them.

It doesn't seem to matter any more. And that's why we need, more and more, to appeal to their emotions.

Appealing to their logic just won't cut it.

Poor ‘Marketing’ Blamed for Pakistan Aid Shortfall - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Direct Response Marketing - How It Differs From Other Marketing Disciplines

What Is Direct Response Marketing?

Since even a mature business like advertising is not clearly understood by many of its practitioners you can hardly be surprised that few understand what direct marketing is.

Indeed, whilst preparing this article, I saw that, in a survey of 133 leading American direct marketers, no clear agreement on what the business is emerged.

When the phrase direct marketing comes up, most people, in my experience, immediately think of the medium of direct mail.

Others think of direct marketing as a method of selling, like off -the-page selling.

Others confuse it with a channel of distribution, like mail order.

Producing a definition as simple as ‘Salesmanship in print’ for advertising proved an insuperable task for the industry’s pundits. So much so that (in what I can only assume was a moment of despair) Direct Marketing magazine – then the industry’s leading American organ – summoned not one, but three experts to do so.

The result of their labours was placed at the beginning of every issue of the magazine.

It occupied two half pages, featuring one of those gloriously complicated flow charts which always throw me into a state of utter confusion.

You may consider the need for a simple definition unimportant; indeed, few people using direct marketing bother to speculate on what it really is.

But I consider it crucial.

Imagine spending millions of pounds without clearly understanding what you are spending them on.

Not an imaginary scenario, I assure you.

In fact, not long ago, I recall a debate taking place with a leading automobile company, which we shall call Ford for the sake of argument, covering many countries and multifarious marketing problems.

Was direct marketing an advertising activity?

In that case the people in charge of advertising should make the decision.

Was it ‘below the line’? In which case that company’s policy meant that a different department, usually concerned with purchasing everything down to stationery, would deal with it.

I will not go into detail, save to say that in the end different decisions were made in different countries for different reasons – most to do with these varying views of direct marketing.

This is obviously stupid.

And it is not likely to become any more intelligent if everybody involved has to understand and memorise a long, illustrated definition before they start work.

Moreover, the pool of understanding has been muddied further by the fact that many practitioners are not even agreed that direct marketing ought to be called direct marketing.

As a result, combined with the desire to give brand names to particular companies’ approaches to the business, all sorts of names have cropped up: terms such as ‘curriculum marketing’, ‘dialogue marketing’, ‘personal marketing’, ‘database marketing’ and – currently the most fashionable one – ‘customer relationship marketing’.

But the most common term remains direct marketing.

It is certainly the one I propose to stick to.

Nevertheless, these terms do reveal important facts about the nature of the business.

Certainly direct marketing revolves around the building and exploitation of a database – though there is more to it than that.

Equally, building a relationship is one of our objectives – but only one.

The approach is personal; and in the process of building  a relationship, you can guide your prospect through a curriculum whereby you learn more about them and they learn more about you.

But my simple definition of direct marketing is: ‘any advertising activity which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your prospect or customer as an individual’.

If you and I can agree that we ought to call direct marketing ‘direct marketing’, and you accept my simple definition, then you will immediately appreciate that a wide range of activities is encompassed.

I am sure you have been stopped by people standing on street corners with questionnaires bearing such inane queries as: ‘Are you able to save as much money as you’d like?’ If you are not careful, these will lead to a visit from an insurance salesman.

Clearly these people are engaged in direct marketing: they are making a direct contact and trying to initiate a relationship with you as an individual.

In the same way, somebody who offers you a leaflet inviting you to go into your local hamburger joint and win a prize; or the ad for the introduction agency offering love everlasting; the note in the shop window selling a used ghetto blaster; the ad suggesting you apply for shares in British Telecom; the leaflet coming through your door in praise of your local Conservative Party candidate – they’re all direct marketing.

In fact the most popular section in many papers – the classified section – is nothing but direct marketing.

And almost everything that happens on the internet involves direct marketing.

Perhaps it is worth stating here what I believe to be the differences between direct marketing and some of the other communications tools. (This is not made any easier by the fact that in the case of sales promotion, people are no more agreed about what they do than are direct marketers.)

How Does Direct Marketing Differ From Other Disciplines Like Advertising?

• Advertising usually speaks to people en masse, not as individuals. Although today the vast majority of ads do allow people to respond, especially by going to a website, advertising does not usually aim above all for an immediate response. It seeks  to influence customers so that they choose your brand when they reach the point of decision – the shop, for instance.


• Sales promotion is normally designed to get action at the point of sale. Often it uses the same methods as direct marketing. It can also generate lists. But rarely is there a continuing effort to build a lasting relationship with  respondents by exploiting the full possibilities of a database.


• Public relations employs media controlled by others to create a favourable climate of opinion. It too can create a database, for instance of replies to editorials, which are usually of very good quality.


• Packaging protects and draws attention to the product. It can also strengthen people’s belief in your product, reassure them, make offers, and collect names cheaply for the database.


• Experiential marketing, a fashionable new name for what used to be called events, certainly creates opportunities for building relationships, although few are doing this with it. Certainly practitioners in all disciplines are  increasingly aware of the potential of the direct relationship, but very few appreciate its full possibilities.

The above is an excerpt taken from Drayton Bird's book, 'Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing'.

To discover how direct and digital marketing can -- and most probably will -- make a difference to your business, click here.

Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

P.S. I just found a great article by Seth Godin where he also talks about the difference between direct marketing vs. mass market thinking. You can read that article here.

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Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

"The Greatest DM Creative Of This Generation"

This is Steve Harrison...

"The greatest DM creative of this generation."

A bold claim, you might say, but that's not me saying it. It was a claim made by the UK’s leading advertising journal, Campaign magazine.



Steve was one of the presenters at the direct marketing course ran by Drayton Bird's European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing, or EADIM for short.

Let me tell you, Steve alone was worth the fee for the course.

And that's saying something when you consider some of the industry's biggest hitters were also there presenting.

It's happening again starting this October. I'll give you more details soon.

Best,
Rezbi
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

How Often Should You Talk Yo Your Customers?

This video may sound a bit like it was recorded in a municipal swimming baths (actually it was my partner Al'S quaint West Country residence) but once you've got over that, you may find it useful.



That's because it deals with something I must have been asked a thousand times: how often should I mail/email my clients?

This reminds me of another hoary old favourite: how long should the copy be?

And both remind me of the philosopher Bertrand Russell's remark that "What men seek is not knowledge, but certainty."

Some people think they should be talking more often, lest their customers think they are being ignored; others think they should talk less for fear of boring them.

The truth is, as so often, that it depends on a myriad things. In this 2 minute 6 second clip I get pretty excited about the subject - but don't let that put you off.

By the way, I have just finished putting together the examples for the first How to Write Proper webinar.

Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Here's Where I Stole Lots Of "My" Ideas From ... Now It's Your Turn

If you read these serpentine ramblings you know I greatly admire the Venerable Denny Hatch.

Denny, with almost demented dedication, has over the last 26 years created the world's largest organised direct mail library - over 200,000 samples.

But what is more important, he knows what worked - and what didn't, and can tell you why, because he knows more than anyone about the subject.

18 years ago I rang his wife, Peggy (who is as able as he is!) to ask how many mailings he read a month.

"Between one and two thousand," she replied. "Mind you, he doesn't read all of them all through."

"I should bloody well hope not," I thought. "The poor man would end up in a loony bin if he did."

Anyhow, since that time, Denny's mammoth compendium of the best mailings ever - Million $$$ Mailings, created with Axel Andersson - has been my secret weapon.

I use it to cheat.

I thumb through it for inspiration - and for ideas to steal, adapt and use in seminars. It contains 71 of the most successful mailings ever written. Only last month I wrote something that pulled like an express train based on one line I spotted and “improved”.

I refer to it more than Caples, more than Hopkins, more than Ogilvy.

The only problem is, it is a WHACKING GREAT TOME, 477 pages long - I yearn to beat up recalcitrant clients with it. I can't find the ideas I want quickly. And it is 18 years old, so some important new stuff is not in it.

Now, praise the Lord, Denny has come up with something that's bang up-to-date, and a lot shorter. So I can find tested ideas to steal in minutes.

It’s a report called The Secrets of Emotional Hot-ButtonCopywriting. You can get it at http://hotbuttoncopywriting.com/.

But to call it a report does it too little justice. It is atreasure trove. I flipped it open just now and immediately saw an extraordinary opening line "I'm sitting in my wheelchair today, mad as hell" ... imagine what that could do for your e-mail opening rates!

(Do not think for a second that what applies in direct mail does not apply online. It is pretty much all relevant - and the examples you see are from the best of the best in a business that has been around for centuries, not decades).

As the title says, the report is based on the turbulent, gnawing human emotions - the hot buttons - that make your customers buy. And it features the best mailings of the last 20 years. Only Denny could have put it together, because only Denny has this astonishing archive of material.

And Denny does something so many fail to do: he tells you WHY things work. You will never get this from some of the hyped-up piffle that sails into your inbox every day.

A friend just forwarded me (as a joke) one of those emails that say “all you need is this set of DVDs and booklets and your copy will “write itself” automatically.

What drivel!

Here, for $89, you can get what you really need – theCopy Thieves’ Almanac. I may use one of the mailings in a speech I make in a week's time. I will certainly adapt another for some work I have to do for an investment client.

Here again is where to order: http://hotbuttoncopywriting.com/.

Why not make it the next thing you do? Just one idea could double the response from your next effort. I have seen it happen. I know.

Best,
Drayton
http://directmarketingcourse.com/
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com

Is this gibberish REALLY how to communicate? Hard to believe – and I have a suggestion

Do you feel successful? I don't.

Yes, I have moments of euphoria, usually after I’ve written something pretty good – but it’s not long before I decide I’m useless.

So I read about a seminar in “power talking” and “communication skills” with great interest - especially when it said that 80% of people fail at work because they don’t “relate well” to other people ...“a clear case of failed communication”.
.
Well, the seminar was cheap, the course leader is practically a genius – “multi skilled as an Occupational Psychologist, Executive Mentor, Presenter and Counsellor” - and the subject is highly relevant.

But the copy put me off. As far as I or anyone else who cares for the English language might be concerned it was indeed a case of failed communication. It had more clichés and jargon in it than a politician’s speech.

I was promised “user-friendly, high-level skills” and “solution-focused communication techniques”. There was obsessive use of expressions based on the word “impact” – “impacts on”, “impactful”, “high-impact” and “positive impact”. And naturally that shop-soiled word "engage" popped up (why not "intrigue" or "interest"?)

If that's how people who teach communication write, it explains a lot of the mindless tripe we all have to plough though - in documents, on the internet, in meetings: everywhere.

Every day you are trying to get colleagues, bosses, customers – maybe family – to do what you want. Whether you like it or not, life is one long sales pitch – and most of that selling is done in writing.

So how do you avoid boring the hell out of people? How do you write well? It really matters, as two old colleagues, Ken Roman and Joel Raphaelson, revealed in their splendid book “Writing that Works”.

It seems that when the Chief Executives of top U.S. firms were asked what they would most like to change in business, the majority pleaded: “Can someone please teach people to write better?”

Now if you’re wondering where all this has been leading, let me ask you a question.

Would you or your colleagues be interested in three short webinars on how to write better? I have been teaching this for nearly 30 years, and my normal rate is £5,000 per day. But if enough of you are interested I will do them for £39 each.

In my time I’ve written books, scripts, articles, ads, brochures, presentations, speeches, emails, editorials – you name it – and got paid for them all. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.

The last time I did a seminar on this subject it was for the world's largest conference organisers. People said the were "inspired". I can't guarantee such giddy heights of joy, but I think you'll find it worth it.

Can you take a second to email me and say if this interests you? Just write saying yes or no to Drayton@draytonbird.com.

And, just so I know where you're coming from, do me a favour and type in 'marketing sleuth' anywhere in the email.

Thanks!

Best,
Drayton

—————————————–

Website: www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com / www.eadim.com

Use Emotional Appeal

Do you think the British are morphing in some weird way?

We were always known as a pretty dull, phlegmatic bunch, compared to the excitable French, the fiery Spanish and the sexy Italians.

Well, something strange seems to be happening in business.

Across the road from our offices a building firm says it's passionate about whatever it does. Pret-a-Manger is passionate about food. The North East is full of passionate people - and passionate country, too, so their posters claim. And Churchill are passionate about insurance.

Do these people have no sex lives, I sometimes wonder. (Though it certainly proves that many agencies are pretty passionate about copying each other.)

More to the point, all this passion reminds me of a big mistake many who sell to businesses make. That is to assume that business decisions are made on rational grounds and emotion doesn't come into it.

This is nonsense - and to prove it I often ask audiences whether they can think of anyone they work with that they hate. It never fails to raise a laugh of recognition.

Only human - with feelings

Don't you agree that the way we love to label things often does more to confuse than help?

We talk of above the line and below, of b2c and b2b. "Consumers" and "Business people". Is that how our customers see themselves? Do they have lines running through their brains?

They are all human beings. And we know perfectly well what things motivate people when we sell make-up, a car or even a hair-remover. People want to be looked at, admired - and definitely not shunned.

In business they want what? To be looked up to, admired - and definitely not shunned. To be successful, quoted as examples for other people to emulate - not seen as losers - in life or business.

Pretty similar, right?

So we repeatedly find when selling to business that if something isn't doing well, a dash of passion makes all the difference.

• For an express delivery firm we suggested delivery managers could go from zero - never noticed till something went wrong - to hero by relying on them.


• For a credit collection firm we focused on the stress credit managers experience when trying to reconcile the conflicting demands of the finance and sales directors.


• For a telephony service we wrote about the rage touch-tone services inspire in most people and contrasted it with their solution.

The truth is that you don't grow a second head on your way to the office; and you may spend more waking hours there than anywhere else. It's not necessarily less interesting or emotional a life than the one you spend at home. It is often more so.

People lie, cheat and finagle their way to whatever business goal they may have. And they kill for money - which is what most business revolves around.

Man is not a rational animal at work any more than anywhere else. He (or she) makes decisions on emotional grounds then tries to find logical arguments to explain them away.

So, if you want better results when selling to business, look in your heart - then use your head to find a way of explaining why the emotional argument makes sense.

A few people have asked for comments on various things. Thanks. Keep 'em coming.

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 9 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

Facebook Marketing: Leverage Social Media to Grow Your Business (Paperback)

Profit from Facebook!High-Impact, Low-Cost Social Marketing That Works! With more than 80,000,000 affluent, savvy members, Facebook is today’s fastest-growing marketing opportunity! But traditional marketing methods won’t work here. In Facebook Marketing, best-selling author Steven Holzner reveals new social marketing techniques that do work, and shows you exactly how to make the most of them. Using true case studies, Holzner introduces powerful new techniques from today’s s (more...)

Marketing for Dummies, UK edition (Paperback)

Review

"…an invaluable, practical guide to marketing for those new to the subject…" (Marketer, September 2006)




Review

"…an invaluable, practical guide to marketing for those new to the subject…" (Marketer, September 2006) "…useful, practical and, above all, reader–friendly…this book certainly takes me to a new level…I heartily recommend it". (Oldham Evening Chronicle, March 2007)  








See all
(more...)

What's With All The Guru Bashing?

There's a shed load of guru bashing on the internet with no end in sight. And it seems to be getting worse.

To be honest, I've even gotten swept along with it once or twice?

Why is it we love to bash the gurus? Because it's in people's nature to want others to fail.

Don't get me wrong, not everyone is like that.

Personally, while I may get swept into a little bashing myself once in a while, I do it because it is a little fun... isn't it?

However, I love it when people succeed. And when they do, I go out and get their product to see how they succeeded.

Of course, there was a time when I'd get the product and let it sit on the shelf, 'looking pretty'.

Not any more. I make use of everything I get. And it's showing in my work and business.

But I digress, yet again.

Okay, I'll just say it, like me or hate me for it...

Dudes... leave the gurus alone!

All they're doing is finding out what people want, and giving it to them. If you could make money doing the same, chances are you would.

They are giving you something you want, the way you want it and in the packaging you want it in. Now it's up to you to make use of it.

If you don't, and you feel you've wasted your money - and you want someone to blame - look in the mirror.

I've got quite a few packages sitting on my shelves, but I use them.

In fact, as I look at them now, here's a few of what I have:

1. Dotcomsecrets - Russell Brunson


2. The 7 figure code - Mike Filsaime


3. Mass control - Frank Kern


4. The copywriter protege program - Carl Galletti


5. Stomping the search engines - Stompernet


6. License to steal - John Carlton


7. Stomper - Stompernet


8. Internet marketing protege program - Terry Dean

Those are just a few of what I have.

I also have a ton of books and a load more audio and video courses. And I make use of them all the time. Even if it's to just dip into them for reference.

Have they been of any use to me? You bet they have. But it's only because I make use of them.

Every single book and course I have has served its purpose. But it's been up to me to make use of them to ensure the purposed is served.

Would they have been any use if I just left them on the shelves without making use of them. Heck no.

Would that have been the gurus' fault? It seems a lot of people like to think so.

Do I think it's been money well spent on all those courses? I wouldn't be sitting here writing this article if I didn't learn what to do and how to do it otherwise.

And yes, I like watching Fank Kern strutting his stuff on stage, cursing and blinding his way through his talks. I don't know about you, but I quite like the idea of being enterained while I'm learning, something Frank - and Drayton Bird - do very well. If I wanted boring lectures I'd go to university.

And yes, I like watching Mike Filsaime talking about Butterfly Marketing in his care sales-mansy way. If we all hate car sales-men so much, how come there's so many cars on the road?

And yes, I like watching Russell Brunson talking about his attempt to go to the Olympics to wrestle for his country. Want to know why? I'm a martial arts instructor myself and I enjoy things like that.

And I like watching John Carlton go into his story selling mode - my father was the same. He had a story for everything - not that he was a salesman.

(I have to say, John could have picked up a few things about copywriting from my father, as could plenty of others. I wish I had taken much more notice of what he used to say. These guys have no idea what life experience is compared him.)

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

Best,

Rezbi

Marketing Management (Hardcover)

The American edition of Marketing Management is the world's leading marketing text because its content and organization consistently reflect changes in marketing theory and practice . This new European Edition of Marketing Management has been inspired by the American edition and explores the challenges facing European marketing practitioners, with all the case studies and exercises newly re-written for European students. 




From the Back Cover

Praise for th (more...)

Best Garden Decor

Make Sure That Before Anything Is Created, Database People Talk To Creative People

A little later I have a free offer for you, but first ...

Years ago I used to talk about what I call the "Nod Factor", which is essential in your messages.

I came up with this because most selling messages get one of three reactions.

• The first (and most common) is total indifference, because the message is irrelevant, stupid or meaningless, such as "T-mobile - stick together". This gets at best a puzzled "Uh?"


• The second, almost as common, occurs when the message is boastful drivel - like "The future is bright. The future is orange" - and almost all car advertising. This gets an irritated "Oh, come on."


• The third is what you should aim for. In it you say something the reader simply cannot disagree with. This gets the nod. And it is the beginning of successful persuasion.

Once you've got someone to agree to one thing you can then say something else hard to disagree with - and so on until you ask for a reply.

Having agreed to everything else, why should they say "no"?

The late Peter Drucker said many years ago:

"The perfect advertisement is one of which the reader can say, 'This is for me, and me alone'."

That means it gets the nod. And mass advertising simply cannot be that personal and relevant, which helps explain why direct marketing - online or off - has overtaken it.

More particularly, it helps explain why the database is so important.

I always refer to the magic crossroads, which for me is that point where what you want to say meets what you know about your prospect or customer. But first, here's some terror for you.

Harvey McKay said in his book Swim with the sharks without being eaten alive: "Something you know about your customer may be more important than anything you know about your product".

So even if you say something dull and unimaginative like "As an accountant" when writing to accountants you will get them reading.

As a matter of fact I have seen exactly those words increase response by 200% in a mailing to sell business loans.

Well that seems very simple doesn't it? Just use database knowledge intelligently.

But I noticed long ago that the chief objective of any organisation with more than one department is to make it hard to do anything intelligent.

In marketing one way this is done is by making sure the people who create the messages talk as little as possible to the people who manage the database.

So today's helpful idea is - make sure that before anything is created, database people talk to creative people.

I mentioned a little freebie at the start. It's a list of 11 database desiderata put together by the person I consider the best practical database expert in this country.

He's worked with everyone from American Express to Coca Cola - and I've collaborated with him many times over the years.

What I like about him is that he focuses quite simply on one thing: how to turn your data into money.

Just right click here to download it.

Unlike most stuff about databases which is pretentious and needlessly obscure, it's easy to understand.

Best,
Drayton

P.S.  This is number 4 of Drayton Bird’s 101 free helpful marketing ideas.  You can sign up on the link below for the rest.

—————————————–

Website: www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com / www.eadim.com

Click here to get 101 free helpful marketing ideas. Marketers from all over the world think they’re a pot of gold.

Marketing Genius (Hardcover)

Review

"...a good roundup of important marketing theory with some great case studies...." (Brand Strategy, April 2006) "...truly inspiring book..." (Brand Strategy, June 2006) "...exceptional writer..."  (bubblewrap, June 2006) "...fascinating read..." (Irish Enterpreneur, June 2006) "...spot on..."  (Simon Wakeman Journal, June 2006)  "...a good roundup of important marketing theory with some great case studies...." (Brand Strategy, April 2006) "...t (more...)

Kotler on Marketing: How to create, win, and dominate markets (Paperback)

Amazon.co.uk Review

If you had to chose one person who more than any other has contributed to the literature on marketing, it would have to be Philip Kotler. This is the 15th book in a glittering academic and writing career that started in the early sixties and includes Marketing Management, voted by the Financial Times as one of the 50 best business books ever. More than any other individual, Kotler is responsible for making the "marketing paradigm" (the idea that you prospe (more...)

Internet Marketing: How to Get a Website That Works for Your Business (Paperback)

Book Description

A strategic approach to setting up a website and successfully promoting a business and its products and services on the internet.






Seventy per cent of UK businesses have a website. But 90 per cent of those websites don't fulfil the expectations of their business owners and don't provide the services their customers are seeking. Nigel T Packer guides business owners and managers through the maze of getting a successful website. He explains th (more...)