Blog Topic: Direct Response Marketing

Pants on the Ground: What Makes a Video Go Viral Part II

In the last post I talked about the phenomenon Pants on the Ground and other successful viral videos. While he’s on minute 14 of his 15 minutes of fame, Larry Platt got so much press that he now has many more business opportunities. While you may not have the platform that launched Larry Platt’s viral video, you certainly have the same potential for your business.

So where do you start?

It doesn’t matter what you’re selling or what industry you’re in…if you selling online or offline you can only stay in business if you’re making a profit. That profit comes from either increasing sales or reducing your expenses…

This blog is about both, because when you make your marketing materials more effective — you’ll increase your bottom line.

I’ll reveal strategies for designing attention getting marketing materials that will motivate your customers to take action!

Whether you’re an actual designer, the CEO, Marketing Director, Entrepreneur or on the team, I’ve got success strategies for every stage in the development process. I am going to assume you already know who you target markets are, and have a clear understanding of your products and services… If not, that’s the first thing to put on your list of action steps.

The Three Critical Elements of a Success Direct Mail Campaign

Let’s explore the three critical elements in every direct mail campaign.

They are: the LIST, the OFFER, and the CREATIVE.

How to use Direct Mail to reach targeted prospects and get them to take action to buy your products and services.

It’s long been said that “if you cannot measure it-you cannot manage it.” Nowhere is this more true than with direct and internet marketing campaigns, where the necessity of examining what works and what doesn’t directly influences the bottom-line.

If you want to increase your sales, then improve your copywriting and target marketing skills. 

Start by putting yourself in the mind of your prospect.  Think about what they want and why they would take action.

Most importantly, target your message to each type of specific prospect.  This applies to your website, print materials, and multimedia.

Sending the same marketing message to multiple markets waters down the message and will most likely reduce responses.  Aim for sending specific messages to specific audiences.

Prevent Web Design Disasters 

Way too often people focus on the actual “design” steps of web design — the look and feel, colors and so on — and completely miss the mark when it comes to creating an effective design that evokes the proper actions.

Here are a couple of key points to keep in mind the next time you’re planning to create or re-make a website.

Can anyone write great copy? I get asked that all the time. I tell them all the same thing: You already know how to do it! Because you already know how to tell stories. I just have to teach you the proper structure, and UNTEACH you all the stuff your elementary and high school teachers taught you.

If you ever made up a story for your children, you’re a copywriter. If you’ve ever gathered with friends as a teenager and told ghost stories, you can write copy. Great copywriters simply paint visual pictures of events. Events that happened in the past, events that may happen in the future, or events that won’t ever happen, unless you buy their product. You either paint the picture of the joy the prospect will get using your product, or you paint the picture of the hardship he will continue to endure without it. Why?

In my last blog I told you about ways to increase your e-mail list by improving the content of your e-mail offers.

This time I thought I’d offer you a few “secrets” I’ve found that can help grow your list fast. These 10 list-building tips may sound obvious, but too often they are overlooked by novice Internet marketers. In part 1 of this blog, I’ll give you the first five, and then in my next blog, I’ll reveal the remaining five.