May 10th, 2007
We believe when you write an advertisement, you should pay particular attention to fashioning a headline which pulls the reader into your story. See our recent Raphel Report for examples of effective headlines.
From time to time we will show an ad and give you an alternative headlines. Please feel free to weigh in with your comments and thoughts. To start with, here’s an ad from a maker of a healthy snack:
Headline What good is healthy food if nobody wants to eat it?”
The problem: Is the advertised Kashi product something “nobody wants to eat”?
Better headline: The healthy food that everyone wants to eat!”
Posted in Headlines | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2007
When you are a writer of advertising or marketing material, it’s always worthwhile to see research into how people actually “read” your copy.
Some of the best research into “eye tracking” has been done by Siegfried Vogele, Dean of the Institute for Direct Marketing in Munich, West Germany. His groundbreaking study on how the eye actually reads advertising material was first presented in 1986 at the Montreux International Direct Marketing Symposium.
His conclusions, shown in this visual, are quite interesting and show that people want to know who the letter is from and what the PS contains before they read the body of the letter.
More recently, one of the world’s best usability experts, Jakob Nielsen, showed how the eye takes in copy and visuals on the Internet. This article presents Nielsen’s interesting research, and some of the comments that accompany the article are quite amusing.
Posted in observations | No Comments »
April 13th, 2007
When writing a headline, an ad, a newsletter, turn the focus from “I” – the business – to “you.”
This isn’t a new idea. Forty-eight years ago Ed McLean proved it in his famous subscription letter for Newsweek in which he used some version of the word “you” 58 times.
“Dear Reader,” the letter began. “If the list upon which I found your name is any indication, this is not the first – nor will it be the last – subscription letter you receive. Quite frankly, your education and income set you apart from the general population and make you a highly rated prospect for everything from magazines to mutual funds.”
For 15 years, no other Newsweek advertising letter was more successful in gaining new subscriptions than Ed McLean’s letter. After the magazine sent 107 million of McLean’s subscription letter, it was replaced with a new letter offering a free calculator. Free – another dynamic marketing word.
Now re-write your ad with “you” in mind and create your own marketing success!
P.S. Here is the full version of Ed McLean’s famous subscription letter.
Posted in Marketing Rules | No Comments »
April 13th, 2007
As a time-to-time service for our readers, we want to give you some interesting websites (mostly marketing related) to explore. If you have some suggestions, please comment below or send us an email and we’ll include the best marketing sites in future listings.
Here’s our first list:
1. Marketing Sherpa — Maybe the best site for anyone interested in online marketing. Lots of worthwhile articles and information.
2. Media Post – A very informative site for marketing and advertising professionals. Geared more for industry insiders than Marketing Sherpa.
3. Morning News Beat — A great site with daily updates about the supermarket and other retail industries. If you want to know about food news, this should be your first stop.
4. DM News — Here’s where to go if you want to know what’s happening in direct marketing.
5. McKinsey — Good quarterly newsletter, often with great marketing stories.
6. Wharton School — Try this site for some good marketing articles.
7. Colloquy — Great site for info on loyalty programs.
8. Blainesworld — Blaine is a marketing professor whose friendly newsletter gives out great information on a variety of topics.
9. Zapdata — Interested in business to business marketings? Here’s a site where you can build your own mailing list without a list broker.
10.Target Marketing — Great resources for anyone in the direct marketing industry.
Any suggestions for future inclusions on this list?
Posted in recommended sites | 3 Comments »
April 12th, 2007
Tom, the tie salesman was an annual visitor to our store. The problem: his selections were all polyester fabrics. All our ties were made of natural fabrics: cotton, silk, wool. So we never bought anything from Tom. One day, when he appeared, I said, ‘Tom, you know we don’t carry polyester ties. When are you going to stop coming to see us?”His answer: “It depends on which one of us dies first.”
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