Author Archives: Jodi Kaplan

About Jodi Kaplan

My Google Profile+

Teach Your Parents Well

Posted on by

crosby stills nashMy dad thanked me yesterday. He told me I’d trained him well. You see, he’s a member of the local library board. For some reason, the town (which is in a well-to-do area) doesn’t include the library in the regular tax rolls, so every time the library needs improvements, they have to get approval from the voters for a special bond issue to fund the project.

So, naturally, they need a marketing campaign of sorts to convince the town that the project has merit. Dad was at a board meeting last night and asked “What are the benefits?, Why would the town approve this?”

The reply, “Well it’s crowded, we need more space.”

Dad said, “So what?”

Another member chimed in, “Well, some of the books are old and falling apart.”

Dad again, “So what?”

His point (and mine) is that the board was framing the issue looking at themselves (instead of the voters). The voters don’t care about the old books or the overcrowding. They care about an extra room for story time for small children (and a safe place to drop them off while mom or dad runs errands). They care that the library has the books they want, or is open on Saturdays, or later into the evening on weekdays. They care about BENEFITS. They care about what’s in it for them, not what the library gets.

Keep that in mind when planning your next campaign.

Photo modesto speed

Ten Reasons Your Brochure Gets No Sales

Posted on by

cheese curd

1. You’re spraying and praying

It’s unfocused, you haven’t established a niche or differentiated yourself. If you’re closing your eyes and hoping to hit something, you probably won’t. Build a target audience (see #5).

2. You’re trying to compete on price (and losing sales)

People buy what they want. The job of your brochure (or any other sales materials) is to convince people that you’re the right person or company to help them get what they want – whether it’s a more attractive web site, a blog, a brochure, or a higher ranking in Google.

3. It’s all about you. You’re using, “I” and “me” and “we” too much

If your brochure talks about your background, your company history, and your credentials, it’s time for a rewrite. Readers want to hear about themselves, their problems, and then your solutions. In that order.

4. There’s no definite purpose.

It’s got lots of information, but no direction – you don’t know what it’s for (generating leads, brand awareness, general information, inquiries, sales)

5. Your audience isn’t clear.

Who are you talking to? What kinds of people (animals, vegetables, minerals)? You need a target audience – so you can clearly show that you understand their problems and how to fix them.

6. I don’t know what to do after I read it.

No clear call to action. If you don’t ask, you won’t get. Make sure that it’s absolutely clear what you want people to do, and what will happen when they do it.

7. It’s 11 pages long.

It’s a lot to wade through online, and intimidating off-line. Say what you need to say to convince the prospect to take action, but don’t bury them.

8. There’s a lot of talking, but no clear idea what problem you solve, or why I should trust you.

9. There’s too much about you (not enough about me).

Your awards are great (if you have them), but they don’t solve problems. What have you done to help other companies? Do you have testimonials? If you do, share them. Show me what you can do for me (remember, the world’s most popular radio station is WIIFM – what’s in it for me).

10. You’re trying to catch fish with strawberries; offering “bait” that nobody wants.

I saw someone recently asking if people would buy a software program that let you surf the Web from a boot up disk. No viruses, but you had to boot separately, and there were ads. The spam-free promise is great, but nobody will want to surf the Web from a boot disk!

Photo: jordan fischer

Customer Service: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Posted on by

How you treat your customers is an integral part of your business. Treat them badly, and they will leave. Treat them well and they’re your friends (and will tell their friends too).

Statistics show that unhappy customers tell 10 other people about their experience. They also show that it’s much cheaper to retain existing customers than to find new ones. This is particularly important in the current economic downturn.

So, here are some examples of what to do (and not do) when your customers have a problem.

The Good
(courtesy of Becky Blanton):
angel
“I tried to renew my Writer’s Market membership online after it expired last week. The system was glitched and after 30 minutes of trying to renew I finally called customer service to do it over the phone.

Hours of operation are 9-5 and it was 4:52, so I fully expected to be placed on hold and then told they were closed for the day.

But – I got a great operator. She apologized, told me the site was experiencing some problems they expected to be resolved in a day or two, then renewed my account for a full month for free.

She said once the system was operational again I could renew then. They could have just said, “Wait,” but she said, “I know how important the site is to a writer so let me get you a free membership for the next 30 days until it’s fixed.” Better yet, when I got off of the phone it was 5:15 and not once did I feel rushed or pressured because it was “quitting time.” Yeah Writer’s Market!!!”

The Bad

Artistic representation of the Devil.

Last year, I started getting Prevention magazine. This puzzled me, since I hadn’t subscribed to it!

I called their customer service and was told that it was a gift subscription, from a company I’d never heard of. They gave me the name of the company and it turned out to be a distribution and fulfillment center in Colorado.

When I tried to call, I got a recording saying the number had been disconnected. So, back to Prevention I went. They said they couldn’t help me. So, they continue to send me an irrelevant, unwanted, and impersonal magazine that I don’t want, because their system won’t allow them to cancel the subscription!

When I got my copy of Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, there was a mailing label inside from a charity called Cell Phones for Soldiers. It said to send them old cell phones and they would forward them on to troops serving overseas, allowing them to call home.

I had a spare phone, so I put wrapped it up, put it in a box, and headed over to the post office on my way to a meeting. They wouldn’t take it. It wasn’t wrapped perfectly. So, I had to take everything out, throw the box away, and head to my meeting weighed down with two cell phones. Then, the next day, I had to go back (this time, with tape and a box, unwrapped) and redo it!

The Ugly
gargoyle
The New York Times (Nicholas Kristoff’s column 3/1/09) reported the story of a mother whose college-age daughter, Michelle, was sick (and eventually died) from colon cancer.

Her doctor told her to leave school, but the insurance company wouldn’t cover her unless she attended classes (this has since been changed). She stayed in school in order to keep coverage, while undergoing chemotherapy.

When her mom was dealing with the insurance companies, one executive “told her indignantly that the company had already paid out a lot of money for Michelle. She responded, ‘I would give my life for you not to have to pay one cent for my daughter.'”

Share your stories of customer service successes (and nightmares) here.

Photos:
adselwood (angel)

wikipedia (devil)

gaeten lee (gargoyle)

Which Email Subject Lines are the Best?

Posted on by

The Presidents Cup golf trophyThe subject line of your email is your entry (or quick exit) to someone’s time and attention.  After the list, it’s the most important part of the email.

A good subject line will get your email opened.  A poor one will send it straight to the trash bin (or worse, the spam folder).

Which subject line is the best?

There are quite a few factors to consider when crafting your subject line. How long should it be?  Is shorter better?  Should you personalize it by putting the recipient’s name in each email? Should you be formal? Or write more casually?

Best subject line length

Conventional wisdom says that shorter subject lines are better since they don’t get cut off in phones and tablets. However, Marketing Sherpa recently reported on a Return Path study that analyzed the length of subject lines and compared the subject length to the rate at which the emails were read.

It turned out that longer subject lines had a higher read rate (meaning more people marked it read in their email clients)

Even so, the difference wasn’t big enough to be statistically significant. The takeaway here is not so much to count letters as it is to try to tweak your subject line to get the best response from your own list.

To personalize or not?

As you can see in this more recent Marketing Sherpa article, some industries, such as consumer products, showed a marked increase in both open rates and transactions. For others, such as entertainment, the impact was negligible. Personalization used to work well overall, then it dropped off, now it seems to work well again (at least in some cases). The best approach is to try it and see whether it works for you.

Best email subject lines

As a general rule, show your readers a clear benefit in the first two words. Stay away from hard sales pitches, and include something that invites action or curiosity:

  • Simple Email Change Boosts Sales 55%
  • Text or HTML:  Which Gets More Clicks?
  • Your Copy of Email Open Rate Study Enclosed
  • A simple email marketing formula
  • The Google slap is coming

Try a casual approach

With the latest political season in full swing in the U.S., candidates from both parties are frantically trying to raise money. One side is doing much better than the other.  They test and retest everything, and often find that a simple, “[candidate/celebrity] wants to meet you” or invitation asking readers to join them for an event outperforms more conventional subject lines.

Use emotions and hot button issues

Try a subject line that reacts or references recent news or events, or expresses outrage at something they’ll also find objectionable, “media says I’m to blame.”  Use a call to action to encourage your readers to do something (take advantage of a special offer, buy a new product, pass along something to a friend).

Keep it short (generally)

Top performers are usually short (30-40 characters) and this is usually seen as the ideal length for an email subject line.  However, longer subject lines can work better with a download, such as an ebook or a report.

Worst performing email subject lines

Anything that sounds too pushy, talks about the sender (rather than the recipient), or asks for an action before gaining trust

  • Uh oh
  • Forward this to your friends
  • Big Riches, Small Investment
  • ENDS TONIGHT! Training expires AT MIDNIGHT

The first one is negative and so vague that it’s discouraging. The second one asks you to spam your friends (no thanks).  The third is just plain spammy. The last one looks like it’s shouting at you.

Compare performance

Look at your own data. See which subject lines got the most opens and click-throughs to your sales page.  Also check to see which emails had the highest conversion rate (signups or sales).

If your list is large enough, try a sample of a few thousand names.  Test two subject lines against each other and see which one performs better. Then roll out the winner to everyone else.