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I thought a little inspiration would be nice today. Design tips, beautiful packaging, and type tips.
A beautiful portfolio package
Think different (not your usual egg carton)
Super-advanced experimental typography
Image by danielmoyle via Flickr
Writing a sales letter is a bit of an art. You have to grab attention, make your case, and make it clear what people will get by responding.
If it’s online, you have the benefit of lots of colors, graphics, maybe even video and sound. If it’s in the mail (no, direct mail isn’t dead) your words will have to do all the work.
I recently got a letter from Chase bank, urging me to get a credit card. Two things, one I’m on the do not mail list (boom, they just violated that). Second, the reason I don’t have a Chase Visa is because they canceled it. However, back to the letter.
The envelope said “Chase”, but the sheet inside says “Slate” across the top. I have no idea what Slate is. Never heard of it. It’s rather confusing.
It offers me savings on gas (oh good, something I never buy). And more savings if I pay with Full Pay (whatever that is). Also, I can add or change categories at any time (categories of what?).
There’s also a low APR initial rate (bet that goes up). And, my favorite part, the opportunity to opt-out of further mailings if I call a toll-free number. I’ve already asked that (I’m on the do-not-call list too). Fail!
OK, so my refusal to apply won’t make Chase go broke. But, if you sent a letter that showed such a poor understanding of your audience’s needs and wants, you would go broke (and fast).
Writing an effective sales letter, especially to a new prospect, or for a new product, has to do a better job than that. It needs to:
Tune in tomorrow for Friday Fun. There may be some fireworks.
Image by griffithchris via Flickr
Email gone wrong can get really ugly. There’s spamming people, there’s lack of permission, there’s confusing messages, and sometimes there’s just plain stupidity.
Here are several truly awful email marketing failures.
Read these and spare yourself the horror and embarrassment of these awful mistakes!
So, a salesman really wants to win a company sales prize. He sends out an email – telling his clients if they act soon they get a $25 certificate. Not bad, but the prize he would get for winning the contest was much, much better. If you want to encourage people to do something, it should solve their problem, not yours.
I signed up for an event at a restaurant. The place kept my name and started filling my inbox with coupons. Event signup (particularly through a third party) doesn’t equal marketing permission.
Attention marketers, sending ads for diapers to someone who just bought razors makes no sense. How about a coupon for shaving cream instead?
(Bangs head on desk). I’ve seen people calling themselves experts say this, people on Linkedin, it’s everywhere. Do not use bcc to send marketing emails with Outlook or Mail or any other email software. Use a proper ESP.
An email newsletter recently arrived in my inbox, with only the words “message here.” Um, nope, not opening that. It went straight to the trash folder.
I got an email from an affiliate company warning me that their records showed I was using a tool that was being discontinued. Actually, I wasn’t using it at all.
Then last week LinkedIn emailed me suggesting I join 4 groups – 3 of which I already belong to.
Here’s another one; US Airways sent a reward email to the wrong list. Then, didn’t make it up to them in any way.
A car dealer sent out an email that was just one big image. It looked blank if you had images turned off. If you went to the trouble to download the image (which was very large), it was just a reproduction of a handout flier.
If you’ve been marketing offline, adapt your offline marketing to the web. Don’t make, well, a “meatball sundae.”
What’s the biggest, worst email marketing failure you’ve seen? Or received?
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Your e-newsletter is your link to your prospects and your clients. So, it’s important to make it useful, relevant, and helpful.
Here are 10 quick ways to improve your e-mail newsletter marketing and get better results.
The more questions you ask, the lower the opt-in rate will be. Make it as simple and easy as possible. Name and email are best (or even just email). Don’t ask anything else unless you have to (for example if you’re sending fashion tips, you’ll need to know gender.
Spell out what they’ll get when they sign up (a book, a video, an e-course), how often they’ll get it (monthly, weekly, daily), and the kind of information they’ll receive (graphic design tips, reviews of the latest camping gear,
Does it spell out exactly what will happen next? Are the instructions clear? If yours is confusing, change it. Sometimes, people see “subscribe” and think they need to pay, others see it as a reminder that they’ll be getting regular information and emails. Experiment with the wording and see what performs best for your readers. Make sure you ask them to whitelist you too (add your email to their address books), so the message doesn’t fall into the spam folder by mistake.
This gets more clicks and traffic back to your site. Add links to posts that expand or complement the topic of that particular issue. Or, highlight the best posts of the past month/week (depending on your frequency). Include posts by other people too (as long as it’s useful and relevant to your audience – no sneaking in tips about hiking gear to a newsletter about decorating with stained glass.
If you’re using HTML (graphics) for your newsletter, take a look at the design. Is it easy to follow? Or, are you trying to cover 5 or 6 different topics at once? Add more white space, to make it easier to read.
Sometimes too much information can be overwhelming. Try three articles instead of six. If there’s one primary article or topic, make it bigger than the other two (but not too big, or it will drown them out). Edit ruthlessly.
If you want people to do something (like watch your how-to videos), ask more than once. Make it clear that’s what you want (“watch the how-to video”). If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Which gets more opens and clicks? Subject lines with questions (Is HTML better than text?); subject lines with numbers (4 Things Your Website Must Have)? Or a subject line that promises something (Turn Your Trash into Cash)? Remember, what works for me, or for your friend, or for a famous blogger may (or may not) work for you. Each audience is different.
Send it around the same time, on the same day each week/month/day. You can schedule this easily in AWeber.
You can put up a survey in Google docs (or use survey monkey) if you like. Or, just make it clear that your virtual door is open. I include a note saying that if you have a question or comment you can just hit reply. It goes straight to my personal inbox.
Want to hear a simple headline writing tip? It’s become extraordinarily popular recently, but the truth is that this headline secret has been used since the days of Claude Hopkins in the 1920s to get readers to stop and take notice.
It’s really easy too. And, it doesn’t even involve using words.
“8 Habits of Highly Effective Copywriters”
This works because it promises something short (only eight items to remember) and offers a big promise. Learn a few new habits and your writing will be far more effective. The unspoken payoff is that you’ll then earn more and get more clients.
“How to Write a Blog Post in 15 Minutes”
This headline offers to help you do something hard (write a blog post) and cut the time needed to a fraction of what you probably expected it to take.
“Increase Your Blog Subscription Rate by 153%”
This promises specific, definite results. Not just 150%, but 153. The exact number makes the claim far more credible.
“103 Ways to Get Top Bloggers to Link to You”
We want more links because links can bring more traffic and more clicks. Offering over a hundred different ways to do it, and telling us that we can not only get those links, but receive them from top bloggers is a compelling promise.
15 Marketing Terms You Need to Know
The common theme is that they all have numbers in them. I know, everyone “hates” list posts, but they do get people to stop and look. And, the secret to successful marketing isn’t what you personally prefer. It’s what works.
Numbers work because they force us to focus – and because they give us a finite, concrete sounding example of something; only 15 minutes to write a great post, or 103 ways to get noticed by blogging superstars. Spend a few minutes reading these tips and you’ll get something concrete and important when you’re finished.
The more specific the number, the better. For example, if you increased your subscription rate by 153%, don’t round it down to 150%, the “odd’ number looks more believable.
Lists help us process information and tell our brains that we’re getting a reward. A short list tells us that we can find out something useful in just a few minutes. A longer one shouts that it’s definitive and comprehensive.
A list called “five steps to getting clients on Facebook” tells us that if we just do five things, we’ll be able to turn our Facebook efforts into a powerful marketing tool. “101” Copywriting Tricks” promises information that will make our writing better and more effective, all in an easy-to-follow format. Just go through the list and you’ve accomplished something big.
Bullet points and lists may be the “fast food” equivalent of post writing, but they’re easier to read (and finish) than a gourmet meal of long paragraphs.
Just follow the list! You’re now a better writer, a twitter guru, or irresistible to reporters.
And, who can resist something that will make you irresistible?