Category: Marketing — Tags: copywriting, marketing copy, respect, tightrope walkers — Sarah @ 6:38 am
If there’s one thing we learned from our imaginary former careers as tightrope walkers, it was this: stay away from the extremes. Too far one way or the other, and down you go.
We’ve applied this lesson to our copywriting.
When we write copy for a client’s marketing materials, we want it to be unique and attention-grabbing. We want it to convince people to buy from our clients, so it’s got to be direct and persuasive. But we avoid going too far to the extremes by making outlandish claims or threats.
What Not To Write
For example, let’s say we’re putting together a brochure for a weight loss center. We’d probably write about how working with the weight loss center can better one’s health and body image. We might even go so far as to say that joining the weight loss center can improve the quality of one’s life. But we’re certainly not going to write, “You can lose 20 pounds in 3 days at Roxanne’s Weight Loss Center!” And we definitely would not say, “Lose weight at Roxanne’s or stay miserable for the rest of your life!”
When people make misleading claims or prey on customers’ fears, we believe they’re crossing the line between advertising respectfully and advertising disrespectfully. When consumers are reading marketing materials, they don’t want their intelligence to be questioned or their ego to be trampled on. That’s why using really extreme language or claims rarely works. If what you’ve said doesn’t sound reasonable, people aren’t going to buy it. And if what you’ve said is mean spirited or threatening, people aren’t going to feel comfortable working with you.
We’re sure you’ve probably read an ad here or there that made you think, Yeah, right, who’s going to believe that? Or worse, Ouch. That was below the belt! And we’ve seen plenty of ads like that too.
Find Out What It Means to Them
What it comes down to is knowing and respecting your audience. Showing your potential customers that you know they’re smart consumers. Demonstrating that you’re trustworthy by not exploiting their vulnerabilities. In short, marketing to others as you’d like people to market to you.
Stay away from those extreme claims and statements, and you’ll have well-balanced marketing copy that won’t fall flat on its face.
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Category: Creativity, Marketing — Tags: direct mail, Marketing, marketing materials, Martin Conroy, story, The Wall Street Journal — Sarah @ 8:30 am
Who doesn’t love a good story?
Kids love stories. Teenagers love stories. Adults love stories. Different people might prefer them to be packaged in different ways – in TV episodes, comic books, movies, romance novels, whatever – but everyone loves to be swept away by a well-told narrative that gives the imagination a little exercise.
Since it’s easy to hook someone in with a story, including one is an excellent strategy for your direct mail marketing pieces.
It Worked For Them
Just ask the parade of people who purchased The Wall Street Journal after reading a direct mail piece by Martin Conroy that incorporated a now-famous story. You can check out the full text of the story in this article, but in a nutshell, Conroy presented a little narrative comparing two men who graduated from the same university but experienced different levels of success. Conroy’s letter then argued that knowledge leads to success and that such knowledge could be found in The Wall Street Journal.
Now, Conroy certainly could have just started the letter off with his point – knowledge leads to success so buy The Wall Street Journal and gain knowledge – and gone from there. And the letter probably would have been a lot more succinct and the printing company could have saved some ink. But the letter would have been so much less effective. Abstract concepts like “knowledge” and “success” probably aren’t going to draw a reader in. But a story might.
Weave Your Own Tale
So, next time you mail out a marketing letter, tap into your creative side and try starting with a story. Depending on your business, it could be anything from a true anecdote to a story about a random fictional job interviewee named Gerald to a piece set in a fantasy world. But if you can lure them in with a compelling story, chances are good that they’ll want to stay around to see how it ends.
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Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: advertising, copy, direct mail, editing, mailing lists — Sarah @ 8:30 am
Direct mail can be fantabulous. But, to tell you the truth, it can also be a waste of resources if it’s not done right. Here are a few things we suggest you DON’T do as part of your direct mail campaign.
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DON’T send direct mail that doesn’t have a point. Postcards the promote your business in general are much less effective than postcards that advertise a particular deal or sale you’re running. Your audience should not only learn about your business, but they should learn that NOW is the time to do business with you.
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DON’T include a boring headline. Your recipients have probably received marketing materials in the mail zillions of times before. If you want your flier to be noticed, you need an eye-catching headline that says something new.
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DON’T let your copy get too fluffy. If you were able to hook them in with an interesting headline, that’s half the battle, but the rest of the copy has to highlight the reasons your company outshines the competition. Actual facts usually work better than a string of throwaways like “great service” and “fair prices.”
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DON’T send something out that hasn’t been edited multiple times. Sometimes it takes several sets of eyes to catch a mistake, but you don’t want a potential customer to be the one that sees the mistake first.
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DON’T forget to use a mailing list. In an earlier post, we’ve chatted about how mailing lists can improve the results of a direct mail campaign, so make sure you get your hands on the right one for your business.
By the way, imPress loves direct mail more than toddlers love bubbles, so we’ve got your back if you need any help with your direct mail campaign.
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Category: Marketing, Print — Tags: brochures, hiring professionals, marketing materials, printed materials — Sarah @ 6:06 am
The following is a true story.
A friend of ours recently opened a piece of mail from her homeowners insurance company and was appalled. The envelope contained a letter and a brochure. And both of them would have been better left unsent.
The letter was a typical form letter recommending that our friend consider insuring her car with this company. The message was not out of the ordinary, but the mistakes were. Sentences within the letter ranged from poorly written to actually grammatically incorrect, and the letter concluded with the assertion that this insurance company would be “happy to suite your needs.”
The brochure, believe it or not, was worse.
Instead of hiring a printing company or even using a desktop publishing program, the geniuses running the operation opted to construct this brochure elementary school art project style. That’s right, folks, someone actually sat down with a gluestick and got busy gluing the graphics onto the brochure by hand. The sloppy edges were a dead giveaway that someone tried to save a few bucks.
What You Send Says a Lot About You
The well-meaning staff of this insurance company thought that they were sending out marketing materials, when in actuality, these pieces were the opposite of marketing. Instead of luring our friend in and getting her interested in a new service, the company made her question their credibility as an insurance company. She couldn’t help but wonder, If I ever actually need to make a claim, will they try to fix my house with a gluestick?
Don’t let your printed pieces send the wrong message. There may be some aspects of your business that can be handled with DIY jobs, but designing and constructing marketing materials probably isn’t one of them. Professional designers and printers will make sure that your printed pieces actually bolster your company’s image instead of bringing it down.
And if there are any holdouts out there who still want to make their own brochures, we beg you to avoid puffy paint, pipe cleaners, glitter, crayons, and gluesticks.
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