Internet Direct Marketing Tip of the Day

If you have an email newsletter, you probably have co-registration deals with similar types of newsletters. When vetting such partners, you want to have a good idea of where their traffic is coming from.

When researching co-registration partners, examine the following criteria:

1. Inbound links to their site from which they draw traffic. Are they good or bogus sites?
2. What promotional campaigns they employ to get new subscribers and visitors to their site.
3. What type of advertisers currently run ads on their site and in their newsletters. Are they paying advertisers or affiliate programs?
4. What other co-registration partners do they have?

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Here’s a copywriter’s insider tip: if you’re having trouble starting your copy, write the last line first.

When you write the last line first, you then have a destination to shoot for when you go back to the beginning.

Often, the last line of copy is a call to action. So you may want to write that call to action down, and then write a line or two of copy that directly precedes your CTA.

Some writers write the entire copy backwards. Others write the end, then the middle, then the beginning, and fill in the spaces thereafter. There’s no one right way to do it.

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Lots of firms have house email lists and send messages out to them regularly. But how many of these firms really pore over the numbers? Who are the heavy responders? Who responds to what?

When you regularly review your email stats, you learn more about your audience. I spend hours looking at past transmissions of Web Digest For Marketers. Different subscribers react to different types of content and ad offers.

Recent subscribers tend to be very active, much the same as someone just entering a trade show or party room. A recent newsletter issue I ran on Twitter had a large number of “.edu” responders.

I’ve spotted very well known people responding to both editorial and ads in my newsletter. I see competitors clicking on other competitors’ ad offers, and then requesting ad rates from me.

The point is, it may seem tedious to go over such data on a regular basis. But you’ll be surprised what invaluable marketplace feedback there is from your email transmissions. It’s time very well spent.

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It is clear that much of the Web 2.0 or Social Media channels don’t easily lend themselves to paid sponsorship. But this doesn’t mean Web 2.0 doesn’t have a firm place in the marketing mix. Far from it.

Web 2.0 invites the user to interact. This interaction is a fantastic way to listen to your marketplace. You may not always like what you hear. But this unfiltered feedback gives you valuable information on how you and your products are being accepted or not accepted.

Many marketing cultures aren’t geared for marketplace feedback. In fact, many would prefer not to hear it at all because it challenges internal assertions. But if you don’t pay attention closely to what people are saying about you in Web 2.0 channels, it can and probably will hurt you down the road.

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At the time of this writing, it’s a tough retail environment out there. I recently bought a chandelier, but I didn’t pay the sticker price. I wanted the salesman to offer me something extra to seal the deal.

There was a moment of silence between us. I then remembered the price on the store’s website was $50 cheaper. I said, “How about selling me the chandelier for your “Internet price?” He quickly agreed.

I felt good about the purchase; I just hate paying retail. The precedent for the retailer to sell that chandelier for $50 less was already established, so he could easily say yes to it.

If you notice someone balking before buying in a store, or abandoning their shopping cart online, try a little extra value-add in order to win back the sale. It doesn’t have to be a price discount, either. It could just be a little thoughtful bonus that charms the buyer. That last-minute value-add might just help seal the deal and cut down on buyer’s remorse and subsequent returns.

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I recently signed up for a complimentary trial offer. Every few days, I get another email from that provider of said offer with tips on how to get the most out of my trial account.

The emails I get are very useful, an excellent branding and CRM practice. They don’t try to sell me anything just then. There’ll be plenty of time for that later in the sales cycle. But they do underscore the value of the service I’m testing out which will figure prominently in my decision to pay money for the service later.

It amazes me that such an obvious and inexpensive practice such as value-added, triggered emails isn’t employed more often.

In this era where every action must be accountable, I think companies feel compelled to ask for the sale at every turn in order to justify the expense of every move. Well, all too often, you can ask for the sale too early, and it’s my guess that many companies don’t realize or measure how many sales are lost by being too aggressive.

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Whether it’s B2C or B2B, online or offline, it’s a good idea to throw in one last value-add that wasn’t expected by the buyer.

A deal-sealer brings an unexpected point of delight to the buyer and is quite apt to wash away any last-minute reservations or buyer’s remorse thereafter.

When I sell ads in Web Digest For Marketers, I typically throw an unexpected bonus into the insertion order. It’s like getting a surprise inside of every box of Cracker Jacks, only in media sales. It also telegraphs a message to the ad buyer that I intend to treat him right.

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It’s understandable that an advertiser or its agency wants to use hyperbolic words to pump up an offer’s drama. But this often has a counter productive effect, as it can make the reader suspicious.

Especially in B2B offers, it’s typically a better idea to pack the offer with details instead of hype. How many tips in that white paper? Exactly who is speaking at the trade show and what are his or her bona fides? Who wrote that glowing testimonial, and what is their company affiliation?

Details are facts, while superlatives are much more subjective. Let the reader decide if it’s fabulous or amazing or out of this world. Unless you’re a trusted name, the reader has no reason to believe what you say, just because you say it.

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When you send out a direct mail package, you typically can start seeing results in a predictable amount of time. In a few weeks, you know how your DM package is performing. But it’s different online.

On the Web and in email marketing, you often know within minutes how successful you’re apt to be, but not always. With social media, such as blog launches or viral videos, it can be long after the launch… and after you think your effort turned up “bubkes.”

A video or blog can hit paydirt many weeks, or even many months after launch. Be patient.

Two years after a viral video was launched, I had a Gen X’er come up to me and say, “Dude, you have to see this video someone just sent me. It’s a riot.” He loved it, and so did his friends. The video in question had been panned in the trade press two years prior.

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When you advertise in your own media property or someone else’s, you naturally want to know the engagement of the user. A very simple rule of thumb to use is whether the information (be it B2C or B2B) is “lean-in” info or “lean-back info.”

If users lean in, they’re more apt to be highly involved in the content and your ad sandwiched in between that content. If the physical aspect of the user is leaning out, they may just be skimming or simply disinterested and less likely to get involved or even see your ad.

You don’t need focus groups to gauge the involvement of users, though it wouldn’t hurt, save for the expense involved. Look at your own posture and others who use a given newsletter, website, RSS feed, etc.

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