Marketing Speaker, Jim Ackerman Reveals the Demonstrable Power of Relationships

I have, over the last several years, had the opportunity to work with a number of businesses, all in the same industry. The same segment of the retail industry, as a matter of fact.

Some of these retailers I worked with concurrently; others consecutively. And the experiences have led me to one inescapable, fully documentable conclusion…

If you’re not cultivating strong relationships with your clientele,
you are leaving thousands – even tens of thousands of dollars – on the table,
and risking the prosperity, and probably the survival, of your enterprise.

Here is the uncontestable truth… Good marketing is exponentially better when you have strong customer relationships.

In fact, BAD marketing is exponentially better when you have strong customer relationships, it’s just harder to tell.

Case in point. I worked with a half dozen jewelers in North Carolina. I recommended each do very similar, private sale promotions. And when I say very similar, I’m not kidding. The invitations were almost identical in many ways. The heading at the top of the page was the same. Much of the copy of the letter was the same.

Really, the only difference from one to the next was the specific, price and item offers contained. But while the merchandise being highlighted was different, the relative values were very similar. Deep discounts, a wide variety, multiple price points.

Now it needs to be said that all of these promotions were successful beyond what these merchants had been used to. Response rates varied between 6.5% — which anyone with experience will acknowledge is two or three times “normal” — and a whopping, through-the-roof 40%.

And here’s the thing… In the three lower-performing shops, the rates were all in the 6.5 to 8 percent range. But the three higher-performing shops got dramatically better results – 16.75%, 20%, 40%.

What caused such a magnificent difference? I contend it was relationship. Quality of customer relationship is a predictor of marketing effectiveness.

The better the relationship going in, the greater the response rate will be to any promotional effort.

In the case of the top-performing retailers, each had strong, established relationships with the clients they were inviting to participate in the event. When the invitations arrived, the clients didn’t see them as a cheap ploy to get them back in the store. In fact, they felt honored just to be invited to such an exclusive event.

In each of the three lesser-performing retailers, they had previously admitted to me that they once had good customer relationships, but they had let that slip over the recent several years.

Not only, therefore, did the relationship-based merchants realize a better response rate, but they also closed more sales for more money per sale.
The tale of the tape bears out my main premise. All marketing works better if it is backed up by a strong client relationship that has been pre-established.

Now lest you think this applies only to retail jewelers, I assure you, it applies across the board. I’ve seen the same phenomenon in manufacturing operations, wholesalers, service companies and professionals.

The question then becomes, how do you establish and maintain those relationships. There are a number of ways…

1. Say thank you for the business. And not just at check-out. Send a thank you note.
2. Render extra-mile service at every opportunity. And remind the client that you have done so, and what the value of that extra service is, when appropriate
3. Educate clients about your products, services, company and industry, on a regular basis. Easily done now-days through an email or e-zine. But if you want to get a little more elaborate, open a YouTube channel and do it through video.

But here’s the single, most important thing you can do to cultivate a rock-solid relationship with your already existing customers or clients…

Sell them something else…

That’s right. Keep selling to them.

If you fail to continue to SELL to your customers, they’ll fail to continue to BE your customers.

Selling to them is a demonstration that you care about them. Selling to them is how you tell them you want to bring additional value into their lives. Solving their problems through your products and services is the glue that binds them to you; that makes them value YOU.

I endorse those thank you notes… and the best of my clients include a bounceback coupon on his thank you notes, to encourage buyers to come back for more.

Birthday and anniversary offers, private sales, several other promotions during the course of each year. Depending on the nature of your business, don’t let more than a quarter go by without some kind of solicitation. In most situations monthly offers are appropriate. In some cases, more.

“But Jim, I have 18 stores across 5 states! How can I possibly build relationships with all those customers?”

I’m tempted to say, “I don’t know. You figure it out.”

But I won’t. Instead, I’ll point to Nordstroms. Their salespeople are encouraged to develop relationships with customers. They’re trained on how to do it and how to make salesmanship and exceptional customers service blend into one. Which they should be anyway.

If Nordstroms can do it, so can you. It will take training. It will take a consistent and concerted efforted… It will take time.

But the time will pass anyway. The question is, are you using the time to improve your relationships – and therefore your marketing – or are you frittering it away.

One more thing… if you want client relationships set in granite, ask them for and get from them, referrals. Once they refer a friend, you’ve got ‘em for good, and you’ll be theirs.

Success,

Jim

P.S. If you want to get a program in place that enables you to consistently market to your existing clients, and consistently express your appreciation to them. I recommend SendOutCards. In fact, I so believe in their service, they have been made Preferred Vendors in The Marketing Wizards Alliance, which allows me to rebate to you, 25% of their initial set-up charges. Contact me for more details at mail@ascendmarketing.com. Subject Line: SOC Info.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Ackerman is a Salt Lake City-based Marketing Speaker, Marketing Coach, author and ad writer. For Jim’s speaking services go to www.marketingspeakerjimackerman.com Subscribe to his VLOGS at www.YouTube.com/MarketingSpeakerJimA, where you get a video marketing tip o’the day, and at www.YouTube.com/GoodBadnUglyAds, where Jim does a weekly ad critique and let’s you do the same.

Magic Wand Marketing Contest Winner, Bill Warren, Shares Valuable Philosopy with Marketing Speaker Jim Ackerman

Master Marketing Jeweler, Bill Warren, owner of THE GOLD MINE in Hudson, NC, is the winner of the first, annual Magic Wand Contest, sponsored by The Marketing Wizards Alliance™. Bill won for submitting the best marketing project of the year. And the truth is, he made several quality submissions throughout 2011. You can see Bill’s website at www.hudsongoldmine.com.

How does Bill do it? This video will give you some valuable insights as to how you must think to grow your business in today’s economy.

Take Bill’s advice to heart. And submit your marketing projects for consideration. You could win multiple monthly prizes and even win the Grand Prize of a trip to beautiful, Park City, Utah!

Send your submissions via email to mail@ascendmarketing.com. Subject: Magic Wand.

Success,

Jim

COMPOUND COMPLEXITY… As if recession wasn’t enough, the media world is upside down

As we enter 2012, I can’t help but reflect on 2008. The economy had crashed and we elected a new President on “Hope & Change.” We hoped things would change, but have they?

YES… for the worse!

And what does that mean for businesses large, and particularly small?

Here’s the sitch…

The government hasn’t helped one iota. We’re still spending like drunken sailors; there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty regarding energy, healthcare and taxes. The ONLY reason the economy hasn’t continued to plummet is because consumption that was postponed had to eventually take place in some sectors. Cars and washing machines, wear out, for example, and simply must be replaced. Businesses that don’t stay up with technology simply can’t continue to compete. So some movement has to take place. It just has to.

And give credit where credit is due. Some smart businesses innovate and come out with products, programs and services that are particularly designed to serve people and other businesses in these economic circumstances, helping people cope with the economic conditions. These products and service will be bought.

But you don’t see an improvement in housing, do you? Not much anyway. Because most of us who can keep our homes are doing just that.

So what is the message for businesses? How do you market in this economy?

The most important answer is that you DO.

I have a former client in Wisconsin who blames the economy for his woes. He is likely to lose his business in the next few months, unless he can sell it. Sad. He’s been a successful businessman for over 30 years. But he refuses to do what must be done to save it. He refuses to do things differently than he ever has. He refuses to innovate in his marketing. He’s literally pinning his hopes on an economic turnaround that will lift all boats and provide the “automatic prosperity” he once enjoyed. (Wonder why he’s a former client?)

Ain’t gonna happen.

Not for him; not likely for you and me; not likely ever again.

No, from now on, we’re all going to have to earn our right to survive and thrive in the world of business.

The compound complication

Bad enough, the economic crash. But something else happened at about the same time that has made things all the worse for most businesses. What was it?

The iPad.

I’m serious. The introduction of the iPad literally changed everything, almost overnight.

The Internet was already revolutionizing the world of marketing and advertising, but the iPad – and the online and mobile innovations that came along at about the same time – have accelerated the speed of that revolution beyond almost everybody’s ability to cope.

The epitome of the point is the iPad television commercial that said, in part, “Now you can watch a newspaper; listen to a magazine…”

The lines of the media have blurred to the point that they are almost unrecognizable. You go online and radio stations look like TV stations, TV stations look like newspapers and magazines. You can get your newspaper, TV or radio streamed right to your computer, your phone or that iPad or lesser tablet. Books are now electronic and so are the papers, magazines, newsletters, and on and on.

The Yellow pages are all but dead, major daily newspapers are fast diminishing, and one wonders if they’ll be around in a decade.

The fallout is, on the surface, it looks like nobody knows the rules of the game anymore. Shoot, they don’t even seem to know the shape of the ball.

What used to work – or so we thought – doesn’t anymore.

Or does it?

To be sure, the world of media and advertising has so changed that one is tempted to draw that conclusion. But could it be that what allegedly “used to work,” never really did, but we were in such prosperous and easy times that it seemed like it did?

Today I hear all the time that direct mail doesn’t work, “like it used to”; that newspaper, radio, newspaper doesn’t work, “like it used to.”

Most of the people who say this are still running the same kinds of ads “they used to,” and are surprised they don’t work anymore. When odds are they weren’t working all that well before. But it felt like they were because in “the good ol’days,” you had the force of volume.

It’s just the way it is that fewer people are reading their newspapers, watching TV or listening to the radio. No wonder the same old ads are bringing the same old results.

Interestingly enough, almost everybody still gets mail, so why isn’t it working “like it used to?”

Well, it is… and so are the other media. And some of it’s working even better. But only for the people who are innovating its use.
I have clients who are routinely getting response rates of 7%, 10%, 16%… all the way up to 40%. But it’s not your daddy’s direct mail, or radio, or whatever.

Want to know the secret? Go back to tried and true basics…

1. Start with chasing the right people. Start with marketing to your house list
2. Make a strong, irresistible offer. Ten percent off doesn’t cut it. Never has. But especially not now.
3. Employ a compelling headline that sucks in the reader or listener or viewer.
4. Pack your message with powerful BENEFIT statements.
5. Get personal. Avoid “ad speak.” Talk to people in your advertising as you would talk to them face-to-face.

Use these basics in all your advertising, in any media, and you’ll overcome the complexities and simply succeed.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Ackerman is a Salt Lake City-based Marketing Speaker, Marketing Coach, author and ad writer. For Jim’s speaking services go to www.marketingspeakerjimackerman.com or contact Jim directly at mail@ascendmarketing.com. Subscribe to his VLOGS at www.YouTube.com/MarketingSpeakerJimA, where you get a video marketing tip o’the day, and at www.YouTube.com/GoodBadnUglyAds, where Jim does a weekly ad critique and let’s you do the same.

Jim on Tony Wilkins online Radio program…

Gang, I’m going to be on the radio with Tony Wilkins in 15 minutes. Join me if you can to talk all things marketing in the “toilet economy”, including new insider secrets about online marketing. Listen in and call in!

The Loss of Jobs…

It was early 1986. Just over a year after I opened my advertising agency in Idaho Falls, Idaho. My first use of any kind of computer at all wasn’t that long ago. It was at my former J O B. I had a terminal for a mainframe. Green screen; DOS operating system; dozens of commands to memorize. Basically a pain in the butt.

Now, however, a local printer was introducing me to something different. A new kind of computer, made for the rest of us. It was called… the Apple McIntosh.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wanted one. And it was easy justifying the idea that I needed one. It was so easy, so user friendly, so immediately no-brainer to operate. And it was best at doing what we advertising types do… graphic design. (Up to this point, I was doing everything on an IBM Selectric typewriter and with T-square and triangle on a drawing table.

It took months of deliberating and cajoling my wife, but by the end of the year I nervously took the plunge and got my first Mac Plus and Laserwriter Plus. The package cost me 10 Grand! And it remains, to this day, the single largest investment of any kind I’ve made for business purposes, with the possible exception of an occasional media buy. I went into hawk to buy it, which really scared my wife. And if the truth be told, I was petrified about it myself.

Turns out it was one of the best business decisions I ever made. That little computer served me, trouble-free for years. And I’ve been an Apple Man ever since.

I’ve mused in the past about this. I’ve talked about the entire experience of doing business with Apple. I’ve particularly extolled the virtues of Apple’s realization that “brand” is about the experience, and because of my experience with Apple, wild horses couldn’t drag me away from this brand.

And now… now we’ve lost Steve Jobs.

This is one of the most significant losses in the history of the industrial age. Unquestionably the greatest loss of the computer era. Has to be. Jobs essentially invented the computer era.

Oh, I know he didn’t invent computers, or even the personal computer. He just invented making them easy, fun, and even sexy. And that has made all the difference.

But Jobs legacy is bigger than McIntosh… bigger than the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. It’s bigger than Apple itself. Jobs legacy to all of us is in the example he set of how to do business.

I’ve quoted another great visionary in this column, and every time I quote him, it’s been the same quote.

Peter Drucker said, “There are two and only two legitimate functions of business… marketing and innovation; the rest is expense.”

Nobody, probably including the great Drucker himself, exemplified these words than Steve Jobs.

He was legendary, of course, for being a stickler for detail. Legendary for eschewing market research and focus groups, saying that the public doesn’t really know what it wants until you show it to them.

And if that doesn’t epitomize the spirit of innovation, I don’t know what does.

I mean, did any of us know we wanted an electric light until Edison showed it to us?

The innovations Jobs brought to the market were and are stunning in scope. He was truly a visionary. But I guess you can say that about science fiction writers. The difference is, Jobs figured out ways to bring to reality his visions of the future.

The other side of the equation, of course, is marketing. And this is, as much as anything else, what really sets Jobs apart.

I deal with “inventors” all the time. People bringing their products to me. I see their innovations – some good and useful, many almost a joke – but I see them. And their question is always the same… “How do I market this?”

Jobs didn’t just know how to innovate. He also knew how to market. What an exceptional and rare combination. I certainly don’t have it. Not the way he did.

Here are the secrets, it seems to me, of Jobs’ marketing success…

1. He brought products to market that were demonstrably different and superior to his competitors.
2. He didn’t flinch at charging a premium price, which also set him apart from the crowd.
3. He realized that it would take more than a superior product; that it would also require a superior presentation.
4. Generally, he knew how to wait, to be patient, and to make sure his team waited and was patient too. You heard rumors about what was up at Apple, but you seldom knew, until they announced it. And when they announced it, it was already good. Compare that to Microsoft and their track record of weak releases.
5. He made sure that everything about his company, as well as his products, contributed to that “different” kind of experience.
6. He was passionate about what he did and he had fun doing it.

I’m not saying the man was perfect. The ironic release of the iPhone 4S, in such proximity of his passing is evidence of that. And incidentally, could give many pause as they consider the future of Apple. But I am saying he had the right idea, about just about everything business.

I do admire the fact that he has literally changed the world, more so perhaps than anyone since Edison.

And though Steve was actually two years younger than I, I have to say, I want to be like Steve when I grow up.

How ‘bout you?

Other Marketing Speakers May Disagree, but Jim Ackerman Says You CAN Track Radio…

Yes, you can track the results of radio ads.

You can track specific results, and you can track the relative success of one ad compared to another.

Let me share some of the results achieved by one of my clients. Of course, his specific numbers are confidential, but I can give you good enough generalities that you’ll get the point.

But first, how ’bout actually listening to the 3 ads he tested. Hear them right here in an episode of my YouTube Channel, Good, Bad’n Ugly Ads…

Here’s what normally happens in the advertising world…

1. The advertiser, either by himself, via the station, or by an ad agency, creates one radio spot and runs it. It either works or it doesn’t, and most of the time the advertiser doesn’t know, because no system for measurement has been put in place.

2. In the rare instances where an advertiser does create multiple spots, the motivation is generally variety instead of testing and tracking. The spots are run in a random rotation, which makes them even harder to track, and the advertiser learns nothing.

Here’s what we did differently in this campaign…

1. We created 3 different spots, each with a somewhat different appeal, so we could test one against another. Each had a specific call to action, but one didn’t have much of a special offer. (Hey, we’ll test just about anything.)

2. Instead of running in rotation, we made sure that ad A ran on day 1 of the flight, ad B ran exclusively on day 2, and ad C only ran on day 3. Then it became a simple matter of tracking phone calls.

THE RESULTS…

Naturally, for confidentiality reasons, I can’t give you all the numbers, but I can give you some of them, both to illustrate the value of testing and tracking and so you’ll know what to track…

Ad B (1 Office, 1 Dr., 1 Day) out-pulled the 2nd place ad by 500% and the 3rd place ad by 1,000%. If that doesn’t convince you it’s worth testing and tracking, I don’t know what will.

Cost per lead - As low as $170.75
Conversion-to-appointment rate - As high as 36%
Appointment-to-patient conversion rate - 50%
Call-to-patient conversion rate - As high as 18%
Gross ROI - 1,117% or 11.2 to 1. (For every dollar spent, $11.20 returned in gross revenue)

There are more numbers that I can’t share, but here’s what we looked at…

Total calls
Total investment
Appointments set
Cost per appointment
Cost per patient acquisition
Average revenue per patient.

And when we were done, we tried the winning ad on a different station and did the same tracking. We were able to compare one station to another this way, so we knew definitively, not only which ad is most profitable, but which stations are as well.

Don’t you think this kind of info would be worthwhile to use in your business? Follow the process and you’ll soon experience the confidence and power that comes from having this kind of vital marketing intelligence at your finger tips.

I can help you or your group discover and implement these important principles of marketing, and many more. Check me out at www.MarketingSpeakerJimAckerman.com, or buy my book, HOW TO MARKET YOUR CRAP WHEN THE ECONOMY IS IN THE TOILET… 12 Vital Strategies for Unclogging the American Economy, One Business at a Time

Ad your comments and submit your marketing efforts for my analysis, and receive a FREE Audio version of my book if your ad is used.

6 Keys To Strong Ad Creation from Marketing Speaker Jim Ackerman

If you haven’t figured it out by now, there is a lot more to creating good ads — or marketing projects of any kind for that matter — than merely throwing something together and spending your hard-earned resources on media.

In my role as a marketing speaker, I have pointed out many times how message trumps media time and time again.

But people don’t like to spend their resources on message. They think they need to spend them on media.

My point is, an investment in what you say can be a tremendous multiplier of your media budget. Easily one worth investing either time or money in, or both.

If you create your own ads, these 6 criteria will keep your writing on target. If you hire somebody to create the ads for you, judge their work by these 6, to make sure you’re getting the best for your investment…

1. Is there a good headline? Nothing is more important. Headlines MUST accomplish 50% of the work of all ads. That’s not an arbitrary number. It is exact. The headline MUST capture attention AND CONVERT attention into interest. That is precisely half the work of any ad. (The other 50% is cultivating desire and inspiring action.) The headline MAY do more than that first 50%, but not less. And don’t forget, since the headline is responsible for the FIRST 2 functions of the ad, which happens before the “meat” of the message is delivered, and because if it fails, the meat never gets tasted, we say that the headline accounts for up to 80% of the success of your ad.

It stands to reason, a lot of time should be spent coming up with the right headline.

2. Is the UPA — the UNIQUE PURCHASE APPEAL in there. The UPA is one sentence to one paragraph that describes how your business is different from the competition in a way that appeals to your target customer. It must include a POINT OF ONLY-NESS. There may be a lot of ways to say it, but like the sauce, it’s gotta be “in there.” If you fail to differentiate yourself from the competition, one of the consequences it that your ads may actually help your competition, almost as much as it does you. And you certainly won’t be able to justify higher prices.

3. Are the BENEFITS clearly articulated. Typically, they’re not. It is dismaying that so many businesses are so focused on the features of their product, service or company, that they forget the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) that the prospect is exclusively interested in.

Remember, there are two kinds of benefits. Primary benefits are emotional in nature, appealing to our needs to feel important, love and be loved, variety and convenience. They are not immediately recognizable — unless you point them out — to your prospects, because they’re feelings based. Secondary benefits are cognitive in nature. Less compelling normally, but easily recognized because they are immediately recognizable results. Like save money, save time, better fuel economy, greater control, etc.

4. Are the Features featured? Just because benefits are the most important, doesn’t mean there is no place for features. Your features provide the believability for your benefit promises. You’ll save money BECAUSE our car gets 35 mpg, or You’ll enjoy maximum health benefits because our brown glass bottles keep your supplements fresh longer.

There are three kinds of features…

Physical features are the physical characteristics of the product or service. A 6.2 liter engine, graphite frame, etc.
Credibility features are often overlooked and very important. 35 years experience, 97% customer satisfaction, etc.
And deliver features are HOW you deliver your products or services. 24 hours service, 3 easy payment plans, etc.

5. Is the message in BENEFIT language? It’s one thing to have benefits, but if you put them in feature language, you reduce their impact. On the other hand, you can put features in benefit language and improve their effectiveness.

For example, a typical claim would be, “Our high efficiency furnace saves you money.” Well, saving money is a benefit, but this statement is in FEATURE language. It talks “us” instead of “you”. Better said would be, “You’ll save money with our high efficiency furnace.” That’s benefit language. By the same token, “Choose from 3 easy payment plans,” is a feature. But we’ve made it sound and feel like a benefit by starting the sentence with a verb (Choose), which makes it sound like a result; which is a benefit.

6. Does it have a compelling OFFER? Maybe I should have put this in the number 2 position. Because offers come close behind headlines in importance for making your ads effective. In fact, with the right headline and the right offer, you don’t have to have very good copy. Not that you shouldn’t, but headlines and offers are so important to the success of your ads that if you get them right, you may only need to make sure your body copy doesn’t get in the way.

Your offers are made of CONDITIONS and APPEALS. The conditions are the price of the product and the terms or limitations. In other words, the things about the offer the prospect would just as soon do without. But, structured properly, they can provide real incentive for the prospect to act now, rather than delay. For example offer ends Saturday or only 27 units available are conditions that would discourage delay.

Appeals are the pot-sweeteners that prospects like. Bonuses, premiums, free samples and guarantees.

By way of review, check out this video from my YouTube channel, GoodBadnUglyAds…

Look at the ads that come to your mailbox, that you see on TV, hear on the radio, read in papers or magazines, or see online. Practice analyzing them with these 6 criteria and your skills at creating and evaluating your own ads will increase, your results will improve, and you’ll be rich by Tuesday.

Marketing Speaker Jim Ackerman Asks, Is the Internet Killing All Other Media

Could it be that the Internet is killing all other media?

It has surely killed the Yellow Pages already. And it looks an awful lot like newspaper is soon to follow.

I just heard that while television viewership is up by just over 1% in the last year, viewership in the key 18-49 demographic is down by over 10%. Where are those viewers going? To the internet.

But perhaps most disconcerting of all was two direct mail packages I received from American Express. They were a two pieces in a split-run test. One a postcard, the other a #10 letter package.

Nothing unusual about that on the surface, but immediately upon examining both packages, something glaringly jumped out…

Both pieces were designed primarily to send readers directly to a website to get the rest of the sales pitch. The postcard, a folding piece, had headlines and primary features on both sides and told readers to go to the website, even before they opened the card. If they did open the card, the message was very short and, while it did offer a telephone option, also sent people to the website.

The letter package was almost identical. Headline on the front and back, same features featured. Same call to action of going to the website on both the front and back of the envelope. And when you opened it up, the letter was short and focused on getting you to got to the website or call.

Here… see them for yourself here…

So, are all of the other media on their way out because of the internet? Frankly, I hope not. As a marketing speaker and marketing consultant, I must say that i-marketing is still tough and may be very tricky to figure out effectively and profitably over time, simply because of the limitless options people have. Is there anywhere online where enough motivated buyers are regularly-enough assembled to make using on-line marketing as your PRIMARY marketing tool going to be cost effective and profitable.

Surely the answer is yes for some companies, products or services. But just as clearly, the answer will be NO for many, if not the majority. And if the traditional media are rendered completely ineffective, where will those companies go? How will they market, and how will they survive.

Some time ago I wrote a column recommending that if you haven’t already cracked the internet code, now is not the time to do it. That was several years ago. With the latest media/internet marketing developments, the time has come to dedicate both budget and time to learning the net and to at least begin the process of mastering its marketing capabilities.

Having said that, the key word is BUDGET… both time and resources. It’s still not going to be the mainstay of your marketing and the effort you pour into it must therefore be thoughtful and disciplined. Keep going with you other marketing efforts as well. They’ll be your sustenance, at least for the near future.

What Can You Learn From a $400,000.00 Advertising Disaster?

I was recently a participant in what can only be described as perhaps the biggest advertising disaster of my entire career. Pretty Embarrassing for a renowned Marketing Speaker and Marketing Coach, let alone founder of the Marketing Wizards Alliance.

First lesson to learn is that if you’re going to fail big, fail big on somebody else’s dime (or $400,000.00) as the case may be, and unfortunately is.

Second lesson is to carefully consider what you’re offering, who you’re offering it to, and how you’re reaching those people. The best ads in the world can fail miserably, if they’re not targeted to the right people with the right offer.

Case in point, check out these two ads… (You’ll have to click on each one separately to see it in its entirety. Don’t know why that is. Probably my lack of skill with WordPress, but that’s the way it is for now at least. After clicking on the ad, hit the back button to get back to the post.)

I guess my ego won’t let me acknowledge that the ads could be at fault. After all, the headlines and subheads are quite compelling, I think. (Of course, I could be wrong and in the interest of education for all I NEED YOUR COMMENTS. I mean, are they bad headlines?)

All the rules of proper layout are followed and the copy is generally in good benefit language. (Again, please tell me if I’m wrong.)

The ads are long, but will people make the decision to spend $247 and 10 hours of their time without this much copy? Really, I need to know. I need your comments on these topics. When you comment, I’ll compile the comments and report the findings in an up-coming post.

So, if the ads are good — and I do admit they may not be — where else did this effort go wrong?

Maybe it’s print advertising? Are people reading the papers at all anymore? Especially small business owners who are the target market for this event? Maybe not.

After all, the newspaper management company who ran these ads said they spent the equivalent of $400,000.00 on these full-page ads, if they had been bought a full rate-care prices. (I suspect their actual out of pocket was about 5% of that, but even at $20,000.00, that’s a lot of jack for almost no return. No wonder they cancelled the event.)

One other possibility… The offer. Could it be that people simply aren’t investing in their own education anymore? I’ve paid up to $5,000.00 to attend a 3-day bootcamp before, but maybe people won’t give up a whole day — especially a 10-hour day — to discover things that could revolutionize their businesses and their lives. Remember, the newspapers were offering them a print ad worth over $900.00, so they were actually being paid to attend. But NOBODY signed up, to speak of.

Frankly we were all amazed. I wonder what would have happened if we sold a half-day event and up-sold them to the 2nd half day once we got them on the line for the first half-day?

Again, I’d love your feedback on my speculations and your full analysis of what went wrong.

For the record, here is the post of my YouTube, GoodBadnUglyAds post about this event…

Once again, this is a great learning experience for all of us, IF WE WILL WORK TOGETHER.

Perhaps more than any other time, your comments, critique, suggestions, opinions are vitally important as we try to unravel this marketing mystery. The more specific feedback you provide, the more comment threads we can initiate with this case history, the greater the odds we figure out what to avoid in the future and what to actually do in the future, for greater success. And I don’t mean just for me. The lessons we can all potentially learn here can be profound and absolutely applicable to all of our enterprises.

Please comment here, and also subscribe to my 2 YouTube channels, and .

Make Your Emails Work Better Using Marketing Speaker’s Proven Insights…

One of the toughest media to make work is email.

How can I speak so blasphemously about the original digital marketing medium? Because it doesn’t work very well anymore, that’s how.

No barrier to entry. Everybody gets in for so cheap that nobody even reads the email they request anymore. Not anything other than stuff they’re specifically looking for relative to their current life or business and from family or people they specifically are currently involved with.

But as a Marketing Speaker, I can tell you therein lies the secret to email success. While it is nigh impossible to make money doing “prospecting” or sales emailing to people you don’t have a relationship with a present, the medium can be quite effective when you do ALREADY have a relationship with people.

The email services can help you look very professional doing this. For example, check out the episode of my YouTube GoodBadnUglyAds VLOG, where I analyze an email solicitation developed on Constant Contact…

Two additional notes about this post, specifically regarding the layout…

1. The white type on the pink background was deadly difficult to read. It forced Marketing Wizards Alliance member, Bill Warren into using a bold, sans serif font, which actually robbed the piece of some of his normal charm and warmth, and still didn’t solve the readability problem. He should probably have used a different color background and/or a dark typeface. That would have allowed him to use a serif font, like Times or even a typewriter font like Courier, to make it appear more personal and friendly.

2. The product descriptions suffered some of the same layout issues and were made even a little worse because of the use of all caps. Sentences or phrases set ALL CAPS are significantly harder to read and will therefore hurt readership. Not something you want to do.

Still, it must be noted that Bill’s campaign worked. He had a great Valentine’s season when you combine the direct mail, telemarketing and the email piece and the email piece got enough direct response that Bill is convinced it worked pretty well. Certainly a nice adjunct to the other elements of the campaign.

Imagine if he had fixed these minor problems with the piece, how much better he might have done.

Now, you be smart and go out there and do it right!