creative branding & marketing

Web design, graphic design, SEO, SEM and creative brand strategy thoughts to help you gain market share authored by the Metropolis Creative team and industry leaders.
2/28/09
Through the Looking Glass: Email Marketing From Your Customer's Viewpoint.
-ping- New email. Should I read, delete, or file it?

In this email marketing article from Mediapost, an Epsilon research project found that "57% of consumers feel they have a more positive impression of companies when they receive email from them, and 50% said they're more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business." This shows that the right message targeted at the right viewer can be very effective, especially as part of a multi-channel marketing campaign.

1) Who are you selling to?
Define your audience, and narrow it down if you can. You can send different variations of the email if there are different target verticals. Obviously, the more targeted your message, the higher your success will be. What are their needs that your product or service addresses?

2) Briefly and basically define your product or service for that audience.

3) What differentiates you? Put your competitors around a table—what makes you different? Why choose you? Try to answer a problem or concern your target market has. For example, instead of saying "Our phone is small and lightweight", you could say "Fits in your pocket—you won't even know it's there!"

4) What's the offer? You may have the most amazing new thing in your industry. Your audience doesn't care. Sweeten the deal with offers like a free consultation, or a percentage off the price of your product. I often get coupons from Staples. Even if I'm not going to use the coupon, I'll send it to someone else. Whitepaper downloads or Webinars can be enticing offers too.

5) Call to action is everywhere. Offer it early, mid-way, and on the end of your email. Offer it as a big graphical button, and in the text. Use bright colors, arrows, "Click Here", be totally obvious.

6) Craft the perfect subject line. This is the most important part of your email. If it doesn't get opened, it doesn't get seen. Make it catchy, but not Spammy. Why would YOU open an email?

7) Don't forget the landing page. This is where you'll send all those clicks. DO NOT send them to your home page. Landing pages should be similar in tone and offer to the email, but it will have a small form to capture your visitor's information. You've almost got them now! The wording should be urgent. See my tips on landing page design here.

Given the fact that you have 3 or 4 seconds to grab your viewer's interest, don't skimp on the design. In addition to following the above guidelines, it should be interesting, exciting, and clean, and should direct the viewer to read the message in a specific order. A high-quality, professionally designed email will inspire trust much faster than words can, much like a professionally designed blog;)

Send me your e-blast and I'll critique it for you!

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Nadia Nassif said...

Excellent, especially points 3 and 5. USP is so important. What makes you special or different-- for the customer and their needs or benefits. Getting committment often and early is great, and the subject line must be pithy. I like Michael Stelzner's writing catchy subject line guidleines for white papers. Incidentally, I just finished posting on the necessity of customized, audience-centered e-mails after networking events, and this to an international audience. Great articles, keep them coming!

Nadia
www.springboardsltc.com/blog

March 8, 2009 11:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I did

March 12, 2009 11:18 AM  






2/25/09
Comicon and Creativity
I really enjoy pop culture and recently attended the New York Comicon. Comic book conventions are full of inspirational illustrators, wild creatives, a few movie stars (usually from 20 years ago), and loads of fans in costumes.

I love seeing the variety of styles of artwork from the classic sci-fi of the 40's, to the many creative styles of today. I also love seeing more female artists, and more diverse racial backgrounds each year at the shows. This keeps the art and the storytelling fresh, and with a different perspective. Check out Grace Lee's amazing paintings.

I'm often touched, and inspired by the creativity of certain artists. I really love how brave some people are with both their stories and art. And of course, sometimes it gets pretty weird too. The amount of effort it takes to design their trade show booth, put their work together, and sit at a show for three days is extremely admirable. The younger artists experience a lot of rejection before they gain a following. (Been there.)

My favorite treasure(s) from this year are the comic books from Michelle Fariss. The images of her hand-made mini comics don't do them justice. the stories are weird and make little sense on the surface. You have to enjoy them for what they are; creative whimsical journeys with no rules. I love that Michelle cared enough to make little stuffed dolls of two of her characters, and include them with one of the books. My girls enact the story with the dolls while I read to them.

It's always fun to see which media celebrities are there, too. From wrestlers, to Lou Ferrigno (I saw him leaving the convention pointing and laughing at another guy dressed up as the Incredible Hulk), to Chewbacca. I even saw two of the guys from The Greatest American Hero, but didn't feel compelled to buy any autographs. I missed the Watchmen preview trailers. That will definitely be the movie hit of the summer.

The wildest part of the show is of course, the costumes. From slinky Wonder Women to giant blobby Pokemon. Some people look great in costume, and some just deserve a handshake for the effort. They're all fun, and all ages too.

I'll leave you with 3 tips for attending a comic book show: 1) Bring plenty of money. Even if you don't want to buy anything for yourself, you can get a year's worth of gifts here. 2) Take a break for lunch. Just get out for a bit. Between the lights, and the colors, and the crowds - it can be very overwhelming. 3) Don't get too close to anyone. You could get trapped in a conversation about who was the best captain of the Enterprise, or can Daleks really fly. And besides, not everyone smells so good.

Looking forward to the Boston Comic Book show in April! Maybe I'll see you there? Share your interesting comic book or trade show stories below.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Alan said...

Michael - what are you doing up at 12:16 a.m.?

February 27, 2009 8:04 AM  






2/22/09
Ever Pay A Lot For Bad Branding? I Did.
Acronyms are infinitely useful as conversational and online shorthand, especially when working with unwieldy terms like search engine optimization. SEO is just so much easier to say and type. The problem with acronyms is that the original meaning can easily be lost, creating a significant communication problem, potentially ambiguous branding that can lead to a loss of revenue.

As a marketer, I find myself particularly sensitive to the art of branding. I’m often amazed by large companies with huge amounts of resource at their disposal that go on to launch a lukewarm, unfocused campaign.

Last week I bought a new Volkswagen CC. Know what the acronym means? No? Neither did the dealership sales representative. He told me to Google it. The acronym’s definition wasn’t even listed on the gorgeous saddle-stitched 4 color gloss brochure.

Frustrated, I called another dealership and learned that CC means comfort coupe. But I didn’t stop there. I emailed VW customer service and inquired into their secretive approach to acronyms. I received this reply:

“Here at Volkswagen, we would like to assure you that
it was not our intention to exclude the meaning for the
acronym CC. We apologize for any inconvenience this
may have caused.”

Fine, but wait, doesn’t coupe refer to a 2 door car? The CC has 4 doors.

You’d think that with all the time and energy VW put into the production of their new flagship, they could have at least taken the time to brand the thing in a way that didn’t cause confusion.

When you buy an orange, you don’t want an apple…I’m just praying that VW’s oversight stopped with the acronym, and that this car isn’t a lemon.

Got a bad branding example? Do share.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Luke S said...

It's always surprising when a big-budget firm lets a basic problem slip through the cracks.

-Luke

February 24, 2009 12:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is very astute and very well said.

As a marketing professional, I too, have been surprised by the way companies undermine their own communications. Isn't the point to reach out to customers and establish a relationship with them? How can they do that if their communications are obscure, or worse, meaningless?

Excellent post. Keep these insightful blogs coming!

March 4, 2009 4:53 PM  






2/19/09
Cut your AdWords budget and increase your Conversions
Sound too good to be true? Search Engine marketing genius Sandra Niehaus of Closed Loop Marketing used a great illustration in her Conversion Optimization presentation. Basically, instead of pouring more money to create more hits on your web site, why not just widen the net in which you use to capture your leads? By focusing on how you capture and convert leads, you can make your marketing engine a lot more efficient. (You should also be carefully analyzing your keywords to determine which ones are working the best for you, but that is a topic for another post.)

Conversion optimized landing pageLet's talk about Landing Page Design. They are commonly used for e-blasts and online advertising, but they can also be useful for natural searches as well. Here are 5 things often overlooked on a landing page design:

1) You need a good product or service. Identify your USP (Unique selling proposition) and exploit it. If you don't have anything unique or compelling, then you're going to have a hard time selling.

2) Say it quickly and concisely. Pretend for a second that your target market is skeptical and doesn't care about you or your service. (Hard to comprehend, I know.) State your business - maybe in a set of bullets? You can always link to "more info." Copyblogger has some great writing tips here.

3) Prove it. You've got an amazing product or service? Prove it with testimonials (with a photo?), statistics from leaders like Forrester Research, or even a mini case study.

4) Call to action. Provide multiple, easy ways to contact you. Phone numbers, emails, and a mini form. Capture their info! How about an incentive or offer with that form (Free trial or a free whitepaper download? Maybe a limited time discount code?)

5) Test. Try using a couple of landing page designs. In just a few days, you'll see one working better than the other. Figure out why, adjust the design, and test again. You are your own best research firm.

Remember: use your landing page real estate wisely. You've got a lot to say? Tough. Your viewer doesn't want a lot to read. I think a viewer should be able to comprehend your offer in less than 4 seconds, or they're lost. Some up-front investment in a good landing page design can go a long way. Here are a few more tips posted on Articlesbase.

Are your landing pages too wordy? How interactive are they? What have you found to work really well? I'd love to hear some of your ideas.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Nadia Nassif said...

Well put, Michael. I'm working on getting my own site redesigned now, especially the home landing page and can't agree with you more. The USP needs to be up front- my 7-Step Approach has been buried within the site for far too long now.

I'm subscribed to your future articles now and look forward to more tips like these. Thanks again!

Nadia
Owner, Springboards Language Training and Consulting, LLC

February 27, 2009 4:34 PM  
Anonymous Pallet Pete said...

Hey Michael!

I found your blog post through a comment you made on Copyblogger. My landing page for Pallets for Profit is in its third stage of redesign.

It was created in January as a vertical scrolling site, then again in August as a horizontal scroll (above the fold) to keep the reader moving sideways.

In my third redesign, I'm going to make the copy more direct with less fluff and try to eliminate 2 pages to keep it brief. Would you take a look at it and email me:

support@palletsforprofit.com

I can also put up the old vertical version if you want to laugh a bit :)

Thank you for your advice,
Pallet Pete

December 18, 2009 8:58 AM  
Blogger RexDixon said...

Would you consider uploading some A/B Test results of your landing pages to http://www.abtests.com/ - We'd be interested in seeing them.

February 17, 2010 1:59 PM  






2/15/09
Are You Ignoring Google?
Google Logos on TVGoogle is THE advertising channel in the near and forseeable future. If your marketing plan doesn't include Google optimization at this point, then you're probably still hoping Betamax wins, you still buy cassettes for your Walkman, and your roller skates have four wheels — not in a row.

I recently attended the Web & Interactive Design Summit 2009 at the Harvard Medical Conference Center. Honestly, I was on the fence about going because they were mainly talking about how to use the new CS4 suite to design web sites, and I have a pretty good handle on that (although seeing the new CS4 features was kinda cool). But what impressed me most was Sandra Niehaus from Closed Loop Marketing's presentations on Web Strategy in Search Dominated Environments.

Sandra's first slide titled, "Opt out of the recession" says it all. The media landscape is no longer like the fertile fields of 1960's TV where you had a huge captive demographic on one of 3 major networks. It is now so fragmented across TV, radio, outdoor, and social marketplaces (to name a few) that you can't guarantee viewership of your marketing message. Technology has allowed your message to be muted, skipped, or just distracted from. But one channel that is growing is online usage, and if you want to be found online, then you better be speaking Google's language.

Basically, you need your code to be Google-friendly, you need your content to be Google-friendly, and you need other web sites to link to your site. Of course, getting found is just the first step. I'll speak about converting leads into customers in my next post!

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Sandra Niehaus said...

Hey Michael,
It's certainly a new world out there for marketers of all types, and the more we know about it the better. Glad to hear you enjoyed the presentation!

February 17, 2009 12:13 PM