MarketingSherpa Blog

Thanks to Link Consultant-to-the-Stars Eric Ward for telling me about this very cool site MakeaShorterLink.com. Everybody with a publishing site will love this one because it enables you to — yup — make shorter links. As you know, many content management systems (such as Vignette) create links to pages that are, well, butt ugly and hideously long. Which means you can’t use those links in your email newsletter because if you do a text- newsletter the link will break after about 60 characters in most people’s email. Also, if you do an HTML newsletter the link won’t work in Hotmail which shows a blank screen for longer links.

(BTW: the whole Hotmail thing is very confusing because a link can work in one person’s inbox, but not another’s. My tech editor Alexis Gutzman will be writing up a report on this and how to get around it fairly soon.)

Why Techies Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Write Copy (Part 1143). This morning I got email from a company I’ve never heard of called dbTrigger. The rich-text email was really nicely done. It captured enough of the challenges I face in a day and promised me relief. It even motivated me to click on the Online Tour button. This is where the techies took over. A nicely done flash demo began with the words: “This is your login screen, it contains your user name, password, and ODBC profiles.” ODBC profile? It would be interesting to see the numbers on how many people closed their browsers at that point. The email used the expression “business applications,” but the demo said “ODBC profiles.” Too bad. Looks like a useful product. The folks who wrote the email should hope that people call the sales number at the bottom instead of taking the tour.

I’ve heard many arguments on both sides of the whole sales rep “spam” issue. If someone gives your sales rep their business card, does that mean that rep can add them to your in-house broadcast email list? Some folks say, “Hey when you give a sales rep a card, you should assume they’ll do that — don’t be naive and whiny.” Others say, “Giving a business card to someone doesn’t mean you’ve explicitly given them permission to mass email market you. If they want to send you a personal one-to-one email about something you discussed when the card was handed over, that’s ok, but otherwise why run the risk of alienating your brand new hot sales prospect with communication that could be taken for spam?”

Today Sherpa reader Jeff Malc of Goemsi.com wrote in to share his experience of sales rep spam: “Interesting thing happened last night, resulting from some networking. I met someone (who shall remain nameless) and we exchanged cards. Today, I received an e-mail from “him,” thanking me for my time and advising me that, “as we discussed” I was now opted-in to his weekly newsletter.

I never discussed getting opted into his e-mail newsletter, and you’d think he know better than that!”

Guess that unnamed sales rep just lost a potential sale.

Useful link of the day — if you’re planning a direct (postal) mail campaign and aren’t a true list rental expert, this one-page PDF called “How to read a data card” will be really helpful. It clearly explains what all the jargon on a list information sheet means so you can make the best decision. For example, did you know the phrase “email” means that you can get the postal mail list sent to you via email, not that there are email addresses on the list?

Now I understand why Hollywood celebrities always have a professional typist handle their responses for them when they participate in online chat sessions. I was a guest star (of a much lower magnitude) on B2BTalk.org last week to answer questions about generating B2B sales leads via online marketing. At first after I typed in my welcoming statement nothing really happened, so I thought, ‘Oh I’ll be able to check email and chat at the same time.’ Yeah, right.

Then the screen exploded into seemingly dozens of visitor questions. I had to type faster than I think I’ve ever typed in my life in order to take care of them. It was insane, and the half hour went by in about 35 seconds. While I think the idea of having an online Q&A with an expert is a great one — in particular for marketers who have an educational sell to make to their marketplace — having participated in one now, I’d say it’s better to have a moderated Q&A so the flow is a bit more even and everyone feels they got enough attention to their particular need. This would also help with duplicate questions.

One interesting question that came up a lot was – “What’s the difference between sales leads you get from bingo cards in trade magazines and those you get from online marketing?”

My answer was that the biggest difference is prospects expect to get their online requests answered within moments or hours. Whereas everyone is used to waiting up to weeks for a bingo card response to come trailing in through the postal mail. Also, online sales leads not only expect quicker fulfillment, I’d be willing to bet they go colder quicker too. Easier-to-respond-to may mean easier-to-forget-about.

Do you have any specific results on how bingo card leads perform vs online leads?? Please let me know and I’ll share them with the rest of the list. Thanks — AHolland@MarketingSherpa.com

Semi-obvious, but still useful comments on selling online ads successfully today in Tom Hespos’s MediaPost column entitled, “Why didn’t we make the plan?” If your ad sales reps ever wonder that, it’s worth checking out:

http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_Spin.cfm?spinID=109399

Ken Davis, organizer of 4Marketeers sends a useful memo with creative advice to all the companies who rent his opt-in email list. I’ve seen so many B2B email campaigns (especially from technology companies) which ignore these rules at their peril, that I thought it might be useful to post them here. So with Ken’s permission, here are the most useful rules:

1. Headlines/Subject Line

A great headline/subject line gets the reader’s attention & provokes the reader to keep on reading. Only then can the seller/buyer dialogue can begin. The subject should be a benefit, an offer, a teasing question, or related to current events. It should not be salesy or hypey.

2. Message Content

Compelling copy should pose an issue or dilemma faced by professionals, possibly a mini case study, and then segue seamlessly to describe the relevant benefits of your product. Be sure to describe the benefits, not just features of your product or service. Be factual, don’t use words like unsurpassed, revolutionary, “the leader in…”, best of breed, worldclass. Avoid chest pounding!!

3. Your Offer

Offer something to that will compel readers to perform your “Call to Action.” Examples: Free white paper download, 30% discount for 4marketeers members, free trial offer, access to archives for next 30 days, free initial assessment, half-day free consulting session, etc.

4. Call to Action

What do you want the reader to do after reading your message? This is your “Call to Action.” Example: “Click here to download free white paper”. Simply asking the reader to go to your website to learn more about your company or your product that solves all their problems *will not get clickthoughs*!!

The “Call to Action” should be very specific, have real value, be irresistable, and can appear more than once in your message.

Proving yet again that sometimes little home-grown Web sites can outmarket the big guys, I spotted a totally stealable idea on PacificBakery’s order page.

When you click the button to submit your order, a little pop-up box comes up to upsell you, reading:

Special!

= Available right now only =

Spelt White Cinnamon Raison Bread only $2.99!! (Regular price $4.99)

Then it goes on the describe the bread in glowing detail and features an “add this to my order” link.

The box has been on their site for at least a month now, so the whole “right now only” is marketing talk for “whenever, but please hurry” and I respect that. This is definitely an idea to test on your site if you sell things, especially products which once tested, could turn into long lifetime renewable sales. (I’ve bought more of the cinnamon raisin bread since.)

Clever content model of the week: Check out Tony Alessandra’s Platinum Rule” free self-evaluation form.” According to marketing consultant Nancy Roebke of Profnet.org, who helped Alexander develop the idea, this free online quiz generated about 100,000 opt-ins in 12 months. (You have to enter your email and agree to get a free weekly email newsletter in order to learn what your quiz results are.)

Alexander generates revenue from the list by offering an upgraded version of the personal evaluation to all takers for an additional $25. (Alexander also tested a $15 price point, but made more with $25 despite a slight conversion percent drop.) Roebke says, “This is a multi-million dollar product.”

Can it transfer across other content topics? Well, at the very least I think using a quiz to gather opt-ins is a great idea even if you make your back end money doing something else (selling ads against them, or ebooks to them, or whatever.) If you’re considering it, definitely check out Alexander’s page for some copywriting tactics to make it work. I especially like two of his
tactics:

1) He doesn’t call it a newsletter, possibly because “newsletter”
has negative connotations for many people (too much email clogging your inbox, too many ads, useless content, etc.). Instead he focuses on positive benefits, saying, “Persons taking this profile will be added to our mailing list to receive a series of 52 FREE articles — one per week — on how to improve various facets of their personal and professional relationships.”

2) He overcomes potential “I have too much email” objections by saying, “You can cancel these free weekly e-mail articles at any time after receiving the first one if you feel they don’t provide value to you and your relationships.” (Note again how he pops a benefit statement in there too.)

http://www.mentoru.com/asmt.asp?asmt=1&id=13

Congrats to Fleishman-Hillard for winning PRWeek’s annual award for Best New Media Site of Year 2002 for their work revamping TheAntiDrug.com. Interestingly this site, along with almost all the finalists for the award, was a nonprofit-sponsored site. Does that mean only nonprofits do great online PR? Oooh, come on you capitalists, put up a better fight this year!