The latest insights and innovations from the world of marketing. Includes analysis of the decision by cosmetics brand Lush to vacate social media, examines why playing it safe is not the safe option, and test-drives the latest automated writing tool.
Drayton Bird presents an example of persuasive writing from a man he describes as the best copywriter ever.
We all know about the importance of clean, accurate and all-round dependable data for great marketing. But how many of us actually achieve it? In this article we outline the actions required to ensure you have reliable data.
Herschell Gordon Lewis lays waste to so-called experts who use obfuscation to peddle the obvious. A useful reminder to marketers and PR professionals who may fall into the trap of putting the business need before the publication’s (and by extension, the reader’s).
Global Perspectives returns with the latest innovations and insights from the world of marketing, including: how to find what you want via ’emotional search’, the rise in demand for audio information and a powerful anti-FGM campaign from Egypt.
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.
Making a start with your account-based marketing strategy can seem an overwhelming prospect. This blog post provides a detailed summary of how to begin. It will surely help point you in the right direction…
This article was originally published in Direct Marketing International in 2008. A collection of Herschell Gordon Lewis’ works is available in our free eBook: Killer Copy in a Crisis. Download this treasure trove of timeless marketing advice.
Some advertising agencies may not agree with the philosophy I advocate.
Most direct marketers should agree with the philosophy I advocate.
Just what is that philosophy? Whether your medium is direct mail, newspapers, magazines, television, telephone, or the web, the purpose of your message should be to generate a positive response.
And what is a positive response?
It isn’t a prospective customer or client saying: “I love you.” It’s a prospective customer or client saying: “I want to marry you.”
In clearer terms, it means the message should aim itself at a valid inquiry or an order. ‘Image’, as such, may win the beauty contest; but as an overall criterion of success, image winds up in second place.
I take issue with the mantra, ‘Marketers are creatively using the internet to raise awareness and affection for their brands.’ No, no, not because the statement is untrue. Rather, it’s because the statement glorifies an apparent waste.
If I’m sending an email on behalf of a television programme or a political candidate or a funeral director, branding and image are logical rationales and copy can exalt to the heavens.
But that isn’t marketing. It’s retention. Tuning to a TV channel and deciding to consider voting for a politician requires some thought but no expenditure of money. And few are prepared and willing to commit suicide because a mortician is offering a ‘special’ this week.
The web, that insatiable science-fiction monster whose cornerstone is emphasis on comparison, is price-driven. I welcome as a competitor anyone whose copy is supposed to offer something for sale and whose copy values image over offer.
Some of the most venerable ‘names’ in the world of commerce are teetering on the edge of insolvency or have toppled over it.
Some of the new hotshots in the world of commerce have leapt into the foreground of their fields because their attention has been to ‘Here’s the deal’ . . . not ‘Here is who we are’.
Back in the antediluvian era – say, 1995 – Web pioneers pointed with glee to their click-through rates.
At the time, that may have been a criterion carrying some validity, because the medium was still in its experimental, embryonic phase and the hypercompetitive era hadn’t yet dawned.
Ah, but that was yesterday. And, as much as we may look backward with nostalgia, we look at our computer screens today with hunger.
Click-through rates are the appetiser, not the main course. Competition in any field we can think of is brutal; and branding, a safe haven for its advocates because comparatively they don’t measure response by actual and countable response, may look superb when comparing design and taglines… but not so superb when comparing bottom lines.
A ‘name’ brand has an implicit advantage going into the arena: People have heard of it.
For the brand to triumph in today’s battle for (to corrupt the famed A E Housman quote) crowns and pounds and guineas, the marketer should use its reputation as a competitive weapon against the inevitable intruders . . . not as a traditional crutch.
Want to sell something to today’s impatient, sceptical, internet-wise consumer or business target?
Your message should answer the inevitable final question: ‘What’s your deal?’
Download our free eBook of Herschell’s marketing wisdom. Guaranteed to entertain and inspire any marketing professional!
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
The benefits of account-based marketing (ABM) have been much vaunted in recent years. Yet achieving excellence is still a common struggle for marketers. This call-to-action should help invigorate your commitment to this vital tool of sales and business growth.
As email inboxes become increasingly congested, carefully targeted campaigns using direct mail can cut straight through to prospects. Industry pioneer, Nicolas Schwabach, makes the case for direct mail and provides tips on how to do it right and get results.