Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.
Drayton Bird recently received an email that left him astounded. It was the work of a mad man! Yet its level of crazy was matched by its brilliance. On your marks… Get set… Go!
Drayton Bird examines the front cover of a magazine from the National Trust. It looks beautiful but achieves little. So, what’s the problem? Drayton’s simple diagnosis holds an important lesson for all marketers, whatever their specialist medium.
The reigning heavyweight champion of profit-making copy has provided incisive tips and witty commentary over the past year. Here’s a little Xmas gift featuring some of his wisest words from 2021.
Drayton Bird presents an example of persuasive writing from a man he describes as the best copywriter ever.
Drayton Bird lauds the value of offering a good freebie to entice people to your product. He explains why it works and offers a prime example courtesy of successful magazine The Oldie.
Don’t be vague. It kills.
You probably won’t die.
But the response to your copy will.
Imagine someone tells you, “I’m going to make you rich someday”.
I bet the first thing you’ll want to know is “how rich?”
Followed by, “when?”
If you’re like most people you won’t bother asking.
Because you’ll assume their claim is a load of twaddle.
Don’t make the same mistake.
Tell people exactly what they’re getting.
Here’s an example:
In 1964 I wrote copy for a device called, the Bullworker.
Which made you “stronger, quickly”.
After a closer look at what the Bullworker did I wrote an ad with this headline:
That headline sold 30,000 Bullworkers in the first year.
The Bullworker still sells all over the world.
Go online and look.
Here’s a shortened version of the ad I wrote 55 years ago.
That headline anticipates and answers the important questions.
All their questions were answered.
With facts.
Not vague, sweeping statements they couldn’t trust.
There was no reason to say “no”.
And 4 compelling reasons to say “yes”.
If this ad had been headed “do this and you’ll get fit, sometime” would you have cared enough to open it?
I doubt it.
Be precise. Be persuasive. Be believable.
Or if you’d rather we do it for you, get in touch – http://draytonbird.net/agenq/
Between us, we’ve been telling people precisely what things do for them for 82 years – so we have a pretty good idea what we’re doing.
And if we don’t get you better results you don’t pay.
So what have you got to lose? – http://draytonbird.net/agenq/
Best,
Drayton
This is a quickie – but worth a lot to you.
At my first big job in London at Leo Burnett the marketing director Mickey Barnes – a very clever man – said something I immediately understood – then ignored for most of my life.
God alone knows how many hundreds of thousands of pounds it’s cost me.
He said:
What he meant was that your price says something about you.
Think about these three facts.
1. If it’s expensive people assume it must be good.
2. They will boast about how much they paid. It’s a way of convincing others – and themselves – that they’re successful.
3. Even if it isn’t that great they convince themselves it must be. They daren’t admit, especially to themselves, that they made a mistake.
I have sometimes charged the right price, thank God, but often failed to.
The more you charge the more you can afford to pick and choose your clients, the more it implies about the quality of what you offer. And the more you can afford to discount if you need to.
What we offer is damn good. It hardly ever fails to work.
But I still haven’t entirely profited from Mickey Barnes’s lesson.
You will find that what you’ll get from us is very, very hard to beat indeed and our prices are ludicrous.
We can afford it because we don’t have any fancy offices. In fact none at all. That was true before Covid.
But I’ll tell you what. As soon as this pandemic is over I’ll be putting them right up.
It’s never too late to make up for a stupid mistake.
So please don’t make it.
If you want results – and God knows we all need them now – rip me off while you can – http://draytonbird.net/agenq/.
Best,
Drayton
Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
Copywriting great Drayton Bird recalls one of the finest talks on copywriting he’s ever witnessed. Entitled “20 Opinionated Answers to 20 Questions Nobody Asked,” it’s full of wit and wisdom which is just as relevant today – even if the mediums have evolved. Take away just one lesson and you’re sure to benefit.
Drayton Bird – the most direct of direct marketers – deconstructs an advert from an investment company. Why was it so bad? Drayton explains in gruesome detail.
Copywriting straight-talker Drayton Bird explores what it means to build a strong brand. Forget the usual piffle you hear, the idea is actually very simple. If only it was easy to implement!