Some super controls have resisted many attempts to beat them. The discouraging part is that those direct mail winners often look unlikely to win.
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There's a lot to like in this fascinating 1947 resignation letter from Bill Bernbach. Some of his statements, however, expose much of what is wrong with the advertising industry even to this day.
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For those of you who have tested hundreds of direct mail packages across multiple industries. Have you ever noticed how often ugly packages outpull highly refined and attractive direct mail?
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There are many money-making principles that social media, content marketing, or any new fad will not obliterate. These principles survived the crucible of human behavior that will never change.
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Key differences between B2B and B2C direct marketing activities.
1. Telesales are used more in BtoB new business acquisition.
2. Lead and sale cost allowables tend to offer more flexibility in B2B.
3. The contact quantities for B2B are lower.
4. The database requirements make B2B direct response extremely complex.
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Companies put enormous resources into positioning their products, backing warranties, training customer service staff, creating benefit driven collateral and other content only to drop the ball in the sales process.
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With so much demand on content for content's sake, the race is on. Emails, SMS messages and the Internet as a whole actually discourage the creation of great copy or the personal feel.
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Logo CopIf you have worked in direct marketing, then you have seen the Logo Cops in larger organizations destroy promising direct marketing campaigns.
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Note the terrible letter below I just received from a local car dealer. (If you are a car dealer or car salesman, please stop abusing direct response advertising polluting direct mail with double meanings and outright lies.)
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No advertising copywriting field demands so much from writers than direct response copywriting. They win or loose based on one thing -- performance.So how do successful direct marketing copywriters approach their craft? What separates them from the rest of the field?I've always expressed the difference in a single line."Successful direct response copywriters are really great salesmen in disguise."But let's listen to one of the greats in direct response copywriting field answer the questions we all would like to know. This post represents an extensive interview with Dean Rieck that is well worth the read.
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This makes sense because higher response rates rely on impulse. The creative team must focus on making the decision to respond both irresistible and immediate.
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This thought provoking headline was borrowed from Cynthia Maniglia who responded to my last post. Her blog "Copy Grove" contains some interesting posts with multiple examples of what it takes to create winning direct mail.
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