I can't put it any better than legendary marketer David Ogilvy: "Read it and re-read it. It contains the knowledge of a lifetime."
This book is the most comprehensive book on marketing I have yet to come across. As such, I have taken copious notes, notes which I will no doubt refer to again and again.
My Notes
*Customers prefer coupons.
- Wealthier, better-educated readers are more likely to respond among customers; among business people, the more senior the executives, the more likely they are to respond
- Include a response device
Success does not come without great attention to detail.
From How I Made a $1,000,000 in Mail Order: "I know of no business in the world that requires such a small investment to start, yet holds promise of such financial gains."
The principles have not changed. [The author started in the direct mail business in 1957.]
People often like a benefit (money) more than a negative, scary thought.
Important must trump urgent. Think long-term.
*Marketing: The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
Direct Marketing (DM): Any advertising activity which creates and exploits a direct relationship between you and your prospect or customer as an individual.
The purpose of DM: to isolate your prospects and customers as individuals and build a continuing relationship with them--to their greater benefit and your greater profit.
*Locate a prospect, make that prospect a customer, and then turn that customer into a friend. The secret of success is to treat people in a way which matches the nature of the relationship.
How often should I communicate with my prospects or customers? This depends entirely upon how friendly you are with them.
What should we say when we communicate? Answer: What would you say to a friend? You would spend your time thinking of things your friends, or your acquaintances, would like. You would spend your time thinking up appealing offers. News you thought they would find interesting. Things you thought would appeal to them as individuals, and you would try to talk to them at the right time.
Ways to more profit: 1) Segment the database to exploit it more effectively. 2) Introduce new offers and new products likely to appeal to the individuals in the database--based on what you have learned about them--thus enabling you to communicate more frequently and make more profit. 3) Test new, more imaginative communications so as to get better response to those offers you are making.
Companies perceived by customers as giving more value for money tend to be infinitely more profitable.
Communication under many circumstances is itself added value.
Business leaders who invest in workplace marketing with passion and persistence are found over 2 years to deliver 7% better return on capital than their competitors; 172% improvement in pre-tax profits and 78% more profit per employee.
*Always order a test quantity.
Best products to sell via DM: Insurance. Loans and other financial products. A book--especially when split into lessons. Selling to businesses.
Promise, much promise is the soul of advertising.
People are attracted more by what something can do for you than by what it is.
*Be direct, simple, and confident. Give a reason why. Be consistent.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Thinking about how your product is unique can aid to clear thinking.
Si omnes, ego non! If everyone else does it, then I won't. Tread carefully when employing this.
Five Questions You Must Answer:
1) Who are you talking to?
2) What are you trying to get them to do?
3) Where do you find them?
4) When should you speak to them?
5) Why should they do what you want?
*Who is the most important.
People don't care about impersonal companies. They care about other people. And they make decisions for emotional rather than rational reasons.
"Would you say that to someone you know?"
We cannot create feelings. We must learn how the tide is running in people's minds, and float our messages on its surface.
Translate people's ordinary needs into emotional messages that make them buy.
If a picture and a headline do not reflect each other and the product, consumers find it hard to understand what is being advertised.
Look for the buying proposition, from the buyer's point of view. In terms of benefits, not attributes.
Watch costs, but focus more on results.
When creating and producing creative material, look for the best, not the cheapest.
Very frequently that which is done on the cheap can cost extremely dear in the end.
Always set aside a portion of your budget for testing.
Media planning is very much a creative process.
For the ad secrets of success on TV: Or Your Money Back by Al Eicoff
Generally do better in winter than in summer.
Tuesday seems to be the best day of the week for people.
It all depends on your experience...and on chance. Timing is critical. All media planning should be conducted on the basis of pessimism, moderated by gloom, with a healthy dash of caution.
The quality of sales or inquiries can vary enormously from one publication to another. All customers are not created equal.
The perfect deal: PE or per enquiry: publication agrees to take so much per sale or enquiry.
Seven things you must ask yourself about your website:
1. Why a website?
2. Who are your customers, and who do you want to attract to your site?
3. What do you want your site to do for you?
4. What draws people to a site?
5. What keeps people on a site, and what persuades them while they are there?
6. What makes people return to a site--and reply?
7. You give people something--what can you get in return?
"E-mail us. We'd love to hear from you."
E-mails: write for scan-ability with short paragraphs, subheads, and bulleted lists.
Simply Better: Winning and Keeping Customers by Delivering What Matters Most by Barwise & Meehan
Signature adds credibility.
Lists: Rental = $250 [asking price] per 1,000 names. You must seed your list with trap names--the names of people who work for you, or are associated with you, to monitor what goes out. And let renters know your list so protected. And see what they're sending out.
A Technique for Getting Ideas by James Webb Young
1. Master your subject
2. Your inner games
"Circumstances alter cases." Adapt the tone to match the advertiser and the audience.
The best attention-getters are headlines promising benefits to the consumer. Second best headlines give news. Third best headlines are curiosity headlines.
How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab
Look for headlines buried in the copy.
"Yes, it's true, you can (do whatever has been promised)."
Nod factor: Picture your reader, and see how many times you can get him to nod in agreement.
9. What makes it so special?
10. What benefits are you offering?
11. What do you consider the most important benefit?
12. Is there a good offer or incentive?
13. If you cannot make a good offer, can you say something interesting or threaten a penalty?
14. What lists, media, or database selection will be used?
15. What tests are you conducting?
16. Put the product or service to the test.
17. Examples of previous promotions--those that did well and those that didn't.
18. What about competitive material?
19. Proofs and testimonials.
20. What about complaints?
21. Any physical restrictions (for the ad)?
22. What are the terms of the guarantee?
23. How do people pay or reply?
24. What style guidelines are there?
25. Sacred cows.
*Always order a test quantity.
Best products to sell via DM: Insurance. Loans and other financial products. A book--especially when split into lessons. Selling to businesses.
Promise, much promise is the soul of advertising.
People are attracted more by what something can do for you than by what it is.
*Be direct, simple, and confident. Give a reason why. Be consistent.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Thinking about how your product is unique can aid to clear thinking.
Si omnes, ego non! If everyone else does it, then I won't. Tread carefully when employing this.
Five Questions You Must Answer:
1) Who are you talking to?
2) What are you trying to get them to do?
3) Where do you find them?
4) When should you speak to them?
5) Why should they do what you want?
*Who is the most important.
People don't care about impersonal companies. They care about other people. And they make decisions for emotional rather than rational reasons.
"Would you say that to someone you know?"
We cannot create feelings. We must learn how the tide is running in people's minds, and float our messages on its surface.
Translate people's ordinary needs into emotional messages that make them buy.
If a picture and a headline do not reflect each other and the product, consumers find it hard to understand what is being advertised.
Look for the buying proposition, from the buyer's point of view. In terms of benefits, not attributes.
Watch costs, but focus more on results.
When creating and producing creative material, look for the best, not the cheapest.
Very frequently that which is done on the cheap can cost extremely dear in the end.
Always set aside a portion of your budget for testing.
Media planning is very much a creative process.
For the ad secrets of success on TV: Or Your Money Back by Al Eicoff
Generally do better in winter than in summer.
Tuesday seems to be the best day of the week for people.
It all depends on your experience...and on chance. Timing is critical. All media planning should be conducted on the basis of pessimism, moderated by gloom, with a healthy dash of caution.
The quality of sales or inquiries can vary enormously from one publication to another. All customers are not created equal.
The perfect deal: PE or per enquiry: publication agrees to take so much per sale or enquiry.
Seven things you must ask yourself about your website:
1. Why a website?
2. Who are your customers, and who do you want to attract to your site?
3. What do you want your site to do for you?
4. What draws people to a site?
5. What keeps people on a site, and what persuades them while they are there?
6. What makes people return to a site--and reply?
7. You give people something--what can you get in return?
"E-mail us. We'd love to hear from you."
E-mails: write for scan-ability with short paragraphs, subheads, and bulleted lists.
Simply Better: Winning and Keeping Customers by Delivering What Matters Most by Barwise & Meehan
Signature adds credibility.
Lists: Rental = $250 [asking price] per 1,000 names. You must seed your list with trap names--the names of people who work for you, or are associated with you, to monitor what goes out. And let renters know your list so protected. And see what they're sending out.
A Technique for Getting Ideas by James Webb Young
1. Master your subject
- Steep yourself in knowledge--take notes [The irony here is palpable!]
2. Your inner games
- Let your subconscious take control
- Don't ask leading questions
- Be curious and aware
AIDCA = Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Action
"Circumstances alter cases." Adapt the tone to match the advertiser and the audience.The best attention-getters are headlines promising benefits to the consumer. Second best headlines give news. Third best headlines are curiosity headlines.
- Don't rely upon curious headlines
How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab
Look for headlines buried in the copy.
"Yes, it's true, you can (do whatever has been promised)."
Nod factor: Picture your reader, and see how many times you can get him to nod in agreement.
How to Build Conviction
1. Make sure the tone is appropriate; and don't overstate.
2. Be specific.
3. If the product is at all technical, give the specifications.
4. If it is a compilation, like a record album or anthology, give every title.
5. Write in the present tense as much as possible.
6. Make it sound easy.
7. Re-state your benefits before closing.
Outstanding campaigns always find a way to exploit emotional reactions.
In creating attention-getting combinations of words and pictures, try to answer the single question: "How can I dramatize the emotional benefit of this product or service?"
Long headlines often work better.
The Solid Gold Mailbox by Walter Weintz
"Americans refer to many of these devices [sweepstakes, competitions, free gifts, and heavy personalization] as 'bells and whistles, the sort of thing that used to attract attention to the circus when it visited town. I liken them to the fanfare at the beginning of a public event: They draw attention to what is about to come."
Byron: "How sweet it is to see thy name in print."
Today you can personalize the copy, then direct people to a personalized website. This can triple sales.
More people start with the PS in the letter than anything else in the mailing.
Broadcast media: 1) You must seek a single, simple, central idea. 2) Never forget that TV is a demonstration medium. 3) If you are going to be entertaining, that entertainment should derive from the sell.
Two ingredients for successful creative work are rare--yet perhaps most powerful of all. They are genuine involvement and enthusiasm.
Proper preparation and careful evaluation are key.
Twenty-Five Pointers Before You Write a Word of Sketch a Layout
1. What is the background?
- What's going on in your business; what's happening in the market?
2. What is the objective?
3. How much can you afford?
- This should not be arbitrary but related to what you think can be achieved.
4. When is it wanted (deadline)?
5. Are you clear on positioning?
6. Who are you selling to?
- What are their hopes, fears, likes, dislikes, needs? Are they male or female? Young or old? Rich or poor?
7. What is it? And what does it do?
8. What need in your prospect does your product or service fulfill?
- Nine basic human motivations: Make money, save money, save time and effort, help their families, feel secure, impress others, gain pleasure, improve themselves, and belong to a group.
9. What makes it so special?
- Interrogate your product or service.
10. What benefits are you offering?
11. What do you consider the most important benefit?
12. Is there a good offer or incentive?
- Always justify your offer. If you give something away without explanation, people assume--quite reasonably--that the cost is coming out of the value of the product they pay for.
- Always try to link the offer or incentive to the desired action. Thus, you will give something if people reply quickly, or buy an extra item, or recommend a friend.
- Offers: Free trial; easy terms; pay no interest--or less interest; free gift for ordering; free gift whether you keep the product or not; sweepstakes entry; no deposit; nominal deposit; temporary price offer; buy now--pay in a few months; sale; two for one, and variations of this; end of stock close-out; mystery gift; more than one gift; discount or gift for quantity; discount or gift for buying in a certain period; double your money-back guarantee; we'll buy back from you after a certain period.
13. If you cannot make a good offer, can you say something interesting or threaten a penalty?
- New improvised product; news item related to your product; prices are about to rise; buy now; we don't know how long we can hold this offer open...prices may rise; lots of powerful testimonials; we're repeating this offer because it was such a hit last time; we only have a certain number in stock; specifically imported from somewhere else where it was a great success.
14. What lists, media, or database selection will be used?
15. What tests are you conducting?
16. Put the product or service to the test.
17. Examples of previous promotions--those that did well and those that didn't.
18. What about competitive material?
19. Proofs and testimonials.
20. What about complaints?
21. Any physical restrictions (for the ad)?
22. What are the terms of the guarantee?
23. How do people pay or reply?
24. What style guidelines are there?
25. Sacred cows.
Planning Your Creative Treatment
1. Your safest opening (though not always the best) is your prime benefit and incentive.
2. Tricky, clever openings rarely work.
3. Seek a dramatic central idea; preferably one that works in words and pictures.
4. Is it the right length? The length should fit the objective.
- All you have to do is give every sensible reason why your prospects would want to act and overcome every reasonable objection to acting. Never use a single more than required.
5. Can you give a test drive?
6. If your name is well known, feature it strongly.
7. In mailings, give great thought to the envelope.
8. The letter is the key element in direct mail, the most personal part of the communication.
Eleven Uncreative (But Tested) Ways to Make Your Layout Work Harder
1. Easy-to-read typefaces (serif)
2. Clear contrast (and no small type)
3. Don't change typefaces unnecessarily
4. Narrow measure (no wider then 50 characters = ideal)
5. Long unbroken blocks of type are hard to read.
- Break up your copy with lots of crossheads, subheads, and changes of width.
- It's often a good idea to have an explanatory subhead after the headline leading into the copy. A "dopped"--i.e., oversized--initial capital letter aslo encourages readership.
6. Try to justify your columns.
7. Huge headings are stupid.
8. A headline should be a headline, not a baseline.
9. Don't mislead the reader's eye.
10. Make the coupon easy to cut out.
11. Lay out your letters.
Courier type consistently does best for letters.
Thirteen Attention-Grabbers
1. Busy layouts often seem to pull better than neat ones.
2. Vary sizes, shapes, and colors.
3. Of all the illustrative-techniques, the cartoon attracts the most attention.
4. One large pic attracts more attention than lots of small ones.
5. A pic of someone staring out of the page at you attracts attention.
6. Color will attract attention.
7. Putting something odd into a pic will attract attention.
8. Too many extraneous props divert attention.
9. Extreme close-ups of a product attract attention.
10. Be careful where you put your headline (below pic--middle of page)
11. Use tables and graphs when conveying complex information.
12. It pays to use layout styles that make coupons look "valuable" (use the sort of designs that you see on currency).
13. But will they believe what they see? (Photos; before and after pics; Generally positive > negative pics; consistent tone is vital; show the fine details; showing faces of people who give testimonials--use their signatures if possible.)
Tricks and Techniques That Keep People Reading
1. Use short sentences. They are easier to read and understand.
2. Use short paragraphs.
3. Count the number of times the word "you" is used in your copy.
4. Use guile to keep them reading.
5. Use "carrier" words and phrases at the ends and beginnings of sentences and paragraphs.
6. Don't use pompous Latinisations
7. Don't use three words where one will do.
Charity Advertising: A Special Case
The secret of successful charity advertising starts with realizing that in this area, perhaps more than any other, emotion is all important. People give from their hearts, not their heads.
1. Ask for a specific sum.
2. Three critical elements:
- A problem
- A solution
- Something which makes it sound easy
3. Come right out with it.
- Always ask people for more than you think they are likely to give.
4. Be personal.
- People give to people--individual people--not causes. That is why it is a good idea to feature a particular person in the ad. And have them looking at the recipient.
5. Sound the alarm.
- Emergencies are the best source of revenue.
6. Christmas spirit.
- Christmas is the time when people give the most.
7. Be precise.
- Tell people what their money will do, and how much money is necessary.
8. Suggest an amount.
9. Be amateur-seeming.
- People like charities to use their money wisely. That's why you should mention how little money is wasted on administration; and why charity ads very often work better is they are set by the newspapers, and look cheap.
Things to Double-Check
1. Have you included every convincing reason for buying?
2. Is there anything you've taken for granted?
3. Have you built in maximum credibility?
4. Do your pictures show what your words say?
5. Is it all logical? (Describe each paragraph to see.)
6. Are you going all out for telephone calls or website log-ins?
7. Have you paid sufficient attention to the ordering mechanism?
8. Have you built in a sufficient sense of urgency?
9. Are you getting as much as you can out of the ad/commercial/webpage?
10. Have you edited and polished sufficiently?
- Write with fury; but correct with care.
11. Don't be proud.
- Test your work with someone who is not too bright, or someone who doesn't like you, for more honest feedback.
"Search the world and steal the best."
*Test, don't assume.
Ways You Can Learn by Testing
1. A/B testing.
2. Geographical splits.
3. Telescope testing.
- Use both a geographical split and an A/B split simultaneously. Ex: Test ads X and Y in local 1 while A/B testing ads X and Z in local 2.
- Must have one ad in both geographical areas, as a control.
4. Your own database.
- Test new ads with your database first.
- Make sure you express offers to your list in the same way you plan to express them when going outside.
5. Questionnaire.
"Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted."
Only test a meaningful factor. Test one or test all.
Nine Testing Opportunities
1. The product or positioning.
- Start a club.
2. Your offer or incentive.
3. Price.
4. Discounting.
- Test different discounts, and different ways to state a discount.
5. Incentives.
- Never give something for nothing.
- Try a sophisticated sweepstakes.
6. Time and number closes.
- Anything which helps to move people out of their lethargy is worthwhile.
7. Your logistics.
- Timing: Month, day, hour.
8. Creative.
- The way you say it.
9. Tricks.
- Involve the reader.
- Personalization.
Good copy and good promotional concepts sometimes have an astonishing staying power.
The agency [freelancer] must be able to explain how and why they came up with a particular proposal.
- Don't make large claims.
Never entertain a client to say "please." Entertain to say "thank you." Or just for fun.
Buying the cheapest may be the costliest decision you ever make.
You need to reward individual customers appropriately rather than everyone indiscriminately. And, of course, offer them products and services based on what the database reveals.
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