There’s no better way to learn how to write sales letters than to listen to words from copywriting masters. Yes, much of what they say relates to sales letters and physical mail-outs. And yes, we don’t usually mail sales letters anymore. But if you write direct response sales pages or landing pages, this infographic is […]
Long Copy or Short? A New Spin on the Question
One of the chief complaints (or worries) among marketers is that people don’t read any more. As if it’s a new situation that we need to adjust for. But the truth is, it’s nothing new. Recently, I was reading Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising — written in 1923, mind you — and look what I found: […]
Anatomy of a Marketing Campaign
Ever do this? Craft a killer landing page for your website, get everything loaded and running, and then sit back, waiting for the sale to pour in. But you wait and wait… and wait. No results. You can’t help but wonder: Did Google release a new update? Did you choose the wrong headline? The truth […]
How Many Touches Make the Ideal Marketing Campaign?
Someone asked me the other day how many touches would make an effective marketing campaign. Marketing “gurus” have suggested three touches as the ideal. For the people who follow them, that number is now the golden mean. But I question the logic of saying every marketing campaign should have the same number of touches, the […]
The 4 Cs of New Marketing
Marketing has changed. More importantly, it’s continuing to change at an accelerated pace. These aren’t slight changes that require a small adjustment on your part. They’re massive technological changes that are radically altering the way we interact, buy things, even think about things. As a result, if you want results from your marketing, you need […]
No Need to Yell at Your Online Visitors
In the days before computers, if you wanted to sell something, direct response was your best bet. It didn’t matter what your media was — ad, radio spot, television commercial, or sales letter — to get response, you had to, well, yell. First, you’d catch people’s attention. Then you’d build interest, stir desire, and finally, […]
Social Content Marketing?
The trouble with marketing is that, in order to talk about any individual strategy, you have to extract it from the overall marketing plan and talk about it as if it’s the only strategy that works. It can be confusing. People could easily misunderstand and try to succeed with that one strategy rather than a […]
Direct Response Copywriting: 13 Formats for Winning Campaigns
Your research is done. Your strategy is set. It’s time to start writing copy. How do you begin? Before letting the words flow, you need to decide on the strategic approach that will best express your message and connect with readers. To help, I’ve compiled 13 direct response formats that are proven to provide a […]
Why Some Promotions Sell and Others Fail
“Perception is reality.” That’s how my professor started every marketing class, repeating the words as a mantra until they became a permanent part of our thinking. Even so, when you’re on the job and deadlines loom, it’s easy to forget. We get so caught up in features and benefits, headlines and leads, offers and guarantees, […]
The Simple Way to Find Your USP
One of the most challenging assignments for any marketer is the elusive (and intimidating) unique selling proposition (USP). “Own a piece of the market,” instructs your marketing manual. Okay, but what does that even mean? Today, I’d like to share some simple ways to identify your USP so you can own your own unique share […]
