Dear Savvy Biz Owner,
You know, I got to thinking about stuff the other day and a
big ol light clicked on in my head.
With all of the fancy marketing media choices available these
days the most successful marketers have one thing in common—they all understand
and are fully grounded in the basics. Consider this Marketing 101, if you like.
Likewise when your business starts sputtering, profits begin
to vanish, and ads stop working sometimes business owners are star-struck with that
‘bright shiny new marketing object.’ They forget the basics.
So, let’s take a quick refresher course and get back to some
good old proven marketing basics. By the way, oftentimes the most devastating
business problems can quickly be solved by a great piece of copy to boost
sales, setting up new deals, or bringing in new customers.
If you are not savvy about direct response marketing I urge
you to study up on the fundamentals or align yourself with a qualified direct
response copywriter who is grounded in the basics.
Ok, let’s get started.
Check your marketing
materials. Do they follow the rules of good basic direct response
advertising?Most businesses are clueless about good advertising. The
majority of folks still think the Madison Avenue way of advertising is how you
bring in sales. Well, it’s not. Check your ads, sales letters, landing pages
and make sure they have headlines, tell a complete story explaining the
features and benefits of your product or service, contains lots of “you” copy,
testimonials, an actual sales pitch along with a call to action.
I’m here to harp at you and drill this point home,
but if your ads cover the basics of direct response . . . sales and profits will increase dramatically. Even a poorly written
direct response ad will always outperform
a “Madison Avenue” style ad. Period!
Heck, just asking for the sale will oftentimes multiply
results.
Back End profits.
If you don’t have a back end for every sale, then you’re missing out on some of
the easiest money you’ll ever earn. Back end sales are like “would you like some
fries to go with that burger?”
As you could imagine getting that new customer always takes
the most expense. Once you’ve won that customer and he’s pulled out his wallet
and handed over his money, he’ll most likely continue to give you money if you
offer him something else. The beauty of this is that he’s already listening to
you so you don’t have to spend anymore ad dollars to get his attention. Just
offer him something else and see you’re bottom line go blacker.
Testing. One of
the golden rules in direct response advertising is test. Most biz folks
can’t really pin down what’s the best appeal, offers or price of their products
or services are. The answer is to test. Test one price against a higher price. Test
one offer against another. Test one appeal against another. Also if you’re relying
on just one ad—even if it’s pulling
orders or leads like gangbusters then you’re setting yourself up for failure my
friend. You should be testing different versions of the control ad alongside of
your existing ad. Every ad eventually dies out and stops pulling.
JV Deals. Another
overlooked win-win opportunity is joint ventures to reach additional groups of
prospects. This is a very economical way to grow your business because you save
the cost of advertising. Here’s the way it works. Approach other marketers that
have similar products or services but that you don’t compete with directly and
offer a deal for them to sell your stuff to their list for a 50-50 split. Get
an endorsement from the list owner. This approach works like a well-oiled
machine because he is respected and trusted by his list.
Build Your List.
Speaking of lists, you should be building your own in-house mailing lists. These
are the names of prospects and customers who have already raised their hands or
opened their wallets and expressed their interest in your company. Periodically
mail to your lists and ask them to spend more money with you. Like my mentor
John Carlton says, “Going to your own house list is like shooting fish in a
barrel.” Nuff said.
Know What Your
Customers Really Want. Sounds kinda silly, right? After all, you been in
business for a while. You’re bringing in big bucks—you know what your customers
want, right? But sometimes if you write your own advertising (or have clueless Mad-Ave
type advertising agencies write your ads) you create a pitch that appeals to you
and not your customer. Don’t guess what you think
they want. Find out and know what they really want then create a pitch
based on what they truly want. What keeps them up at night in worry? What are
they angry about? What do they read? What do they eat? As the old proverb
suggests “Walk a mile in their moccasins.” This will make writing your ads much
easier and profitable.
Your Customer’s
Lifetime Value. Do you know what your customers’ lifetime value is worth?
You may be surprised to find out . . . and you should find out. The only
way to know exactly what your customer’s value is over the long haul is by
tracking sales, and keeping customers lists. This is also where having a good back
end can seriously boost your bottom line immediately and over time.
What’s Your USP?
In case you’re scratching your head and thinking, “what the heck is USP?” Very
simply USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.
It’s the answer to “why should I do business
with YOUR company rather than ABC Company. They key here is unique . . . are you better, cheaper,
faster, offer a better deal or better warranty, or whatever. You are different
in some measurable way
.
Write Like You Talk.
This one trips up most business owners. They are scared to death to speak like
they talk. Let’s face it Madison Avenue has screwed up our heads with their
meaningless slogans, singing ads and cutesy ads . . . so we think “those ads
gotta work.”
I’m here to tell ya, they don’t! The very same principles
you’re top salespeople use in good old fashion eyeball-to-eyeball salesmanship
work in print advertising as well. The best copy is written in everyday ‘you
and me sitting here’ language. You don’t toy with cute stuff or fancy stuff—you
talk straight at your prospect. You’re clear and to the point just like you
were actually there in your prospect’s office eyeball to eyeball.
Ok. There you have it. This may seem too basic if you’re an
experienced marketer but it’s the basics that’s all too often overlooked and violated
in business. Use this article as a guideline to keep yourself on track and fix
troubled advertising. . . And to boost
up sales when things start to slump.
Warmly,
Emette E. Massey
P.S. Want a FREE copy of our special illustrated edition Scientific Advertising? Ok! Just email
me at eemassey@yahoo.com. Be sure to put
Gimme SA in the subject line. And I’ll zip it out to you within 24 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment