Have you mapped out the specific stages your prospects go through to become a customer? 
An understanding of your “Buying Stages” can help create a more strategic Content Strategy and Editorial Calendar, and a stronger plan for Offers and Calls to Action. Continue reading
Visit the Response FX page on Facebook.com to answer this week's question
On our Facebook page for Response FX, you’ll find our entertaining series: “Are you smarter than an Internet Marketing student?”
(Submit your answer to see the current “votes” for each answer.) Continue reading
The Old “AIDA” Advertising Model is dead. 
It occurred to me as I mapped out a Content Strategy today. I was planning messaging for the next 4 months by Buyer Persona by stage in the Sales Process. And as I created an Editorial Calendar that focused on topic, keywords, and Offers by Buyer Stage by Persona, I realized that Content Marketing has officially ushered in an entirely new era of Marketing. Continue reading
Have you built your “Buyer Personas”? They’re invaluable for creating more effective websites — and crafting your overall Content Strategy. If you’re looking for better marketing results in 2012 (and if Content Marketing might be involved), you need to create some Buyer Personas.
Buyer Personas move far past the simple demographics in your Customer Profiles. Buyer Personas help you understand: 1. Why your customers buy, and 2. What their buying process looks like. Continue reading
”On the TWELFTH Day of Planning, your boss will ask of you: 12 Analytics to Track . . .”
We want conversions, positive growth, AND engagement. Here are the top track-able marketing analytics we’re paying attention to now . . . Continue reading
Not sure how to evaluate copy on your website or in your email messages or direct mail packages? Whether you’re a copywriter yourself or someone who hires copywriters, you should know how to recognize good copy (as well as copy that needs some help). Use these 11 “wordsmithing” copywriting tips to make your copy shine: Continue reading
Do you have a plan for more effectively using Content on your website, blog, and social media pages in 2012? Consider these 10 Content Marketing Strategies to guide your 2012 planning: Continue reading
SEVEN Email Guidelines . .“
your boss will ask of you: SIX Mobile Ideas”
If any part of your marketing efforts aren’t measurable, it’s likely because you haven’t created trackable, measurable OFFERS. So in 2012, build into your marketing plan these FIVE lead capture strategies: Continue reading
THREE Design Directives, TWO Website Questions, and a Measurable Marketing Plan . . .”If you STILL haven’t had the time to SEO optimize your website, here are the key elements to focus on in your 2012 marketing plan:
DAY THREE: The 12 Days of Response . . . for your 2012 Measurable Marketing Plan.
THREE Design Directives . . .
It’s probably time to review your website page-by-page as you plan for 2012. Each page of
your website has “high priority items” that should appear as high up on the page as possible. But you know what happens . . . as changes are made to websites over time, some of those “high priority items” may have dropped down on the page, become smaller, or been made less prominent.
For each individual website page, list IN PRIORITY ORDER the items that need to be on the page. What should be your highest priority items? They likely include:
a. Specific Benefit Headline: use the headline to give the visitor a compelling reason to stay on that page and learn more. The more specific the headline, the better. (Hint: ”Products” and “Solutions” are not compelling headlines.) Continue reading
DAY TWO: The 12 Days of Response . . . for your 2012 Marketing Plan
(and why isn’t our website focused on those items?) As part of your marketing plan for 2012, analyze your website from the point of view of each of your marketing personas individually. Continue reading
One Measurable Plan!”
What’s a Measurable Plan? One with specific, quantifiable objectives, based on past knowledge of your company’s marketing and sales results and effectiveness. When management delivers their 2012 sales objectives, be sure you’re ready with a grounded-in-fact budget proposal to achieve them . . .
Are you still delaying that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) project on your website for some reason? The majority of most websites’ traffic comes from search engines. Can you really afford NOT to optimize your website to attract more search traffic?
Keywords appear in this optimized page URL.
SEO can easily be done on most websites in a matter of a few weeks. It involves 5 critical steps — none of which are rocket science, all of which are easy to understand, and most of which should be entirely transparent to you.
Here’s how to SEO (or optimize) a website in 5 basic steps:
Every SEO project should start here. Discover 3 things: Continue reading
Still trying to figure out how you should be spending your social media marketing time?
Use social media to drive traffic to content hubs.
To be more effective, you need a social media marketing success plan with 4 basic components:
1. ”Content Hubs”
Select appropriate “content hubs” — those websites where you’ll place your content and drive traffic. Your content hub might just be your website, or it could be your website, your blog, and your Facebook page. These content hubs should contain your lead generation offers, such as e-newsletter sign-up, white paper downloads, etc. Continue reading
Cuisinart ran print ads targeting 20-somethings, featuring good-looking guys and babes having a party. The headline was “When the burgers and ‘ritas are as good as the gossip!” No landing page was listed, just “cuisinart.com for great recipes.” When you got to Cuisinart.com, there was no mention of the 20-somethings, no “burgers and ‘ritas” tie-in. And you really had to search to find the recipes on the site (think the 20-something target spent a lot of time looking for them?). Clearly no integration between this print ad campaign and a relevant landing page.
How integrated are your marketing activities? Answer these 8 questions to find out . . . Continue reading
This website had a confusing and extensive left-column menu that didn’t focus on the company’s key services.
The home page had the main headline of “Contact Us,” giving the appearance of a very small company — and leaving the visitor wondering if they’d missed the home page.
The website also wasn’t search engine optimized at all, with no focus on keyword phrases, non-optimized page URLs and page headlines, and the same page title and description on every page. Continue reading
Why do we have so much trouble articulating in copy – especially website copy – why our company is different?
This graphic on the home page of a site we're redesigning clearly answers the question, "why should I do business with . . ." this particular research and advertising company.
Using the most accurate mailing lists is critical for B2B direct mail success.
You can have the most engaging copy, the most intriguing design, the most innovative package format — but if a good portion of your mailing list is inaccurate, your direct mail is likely to fail.
1to1 Magazine reported the unfortunate story of Fairytale Brownies, a company that wanted to pitch their products as
corporate gifts. An agency purchased lots of compiled
Even highly technical seminars entice the audience with easy-to-read sales copy
There is a huge difference between delivering highly technical information — and delivering it in an easy-to-read format. No matter how technical the audience, they still read sales copy the same way you and I do. The eyes and brain prefer short sentences and short paragraphs — they just look easier to read.
When reading, the eye looks for a comma, period, em dash or some type of punctuation to take a “comprehension breath,” a place where the eye and brain can both briefly stop to comprehend the information being read. Continue reading
Good copy is written the way people speak. Most of us usually speak in simple language. And usually in relatively short sentences. That type of copywriting is very easy to get
Sometimes the simplest copy and headlines can be highly effective.
get through for the average reader. However . . . our speech is not always grammatically correct — even though it may sound perfectly fine . . .
Many times, people will start sentences with the word “and” or “but” or “because” when speaking. Although those types of sentences aren’t grammatically correct, they make for much easier reading when used in copy. Starting sentences with “and” or “but” helps the copy to “flow”. And it makes the writing much “friendlier”. Continue reading
Are you planning to design a new website or thinking about a “website rehab” on an existing website?
Over the lifetime of your current website, it’s likely that elements have been added to your existing web pages without much thought. Maybe the programmer was told to “fit it in somewhere.” Or the intern was directed to use the CMS to “put this new copy at the top.” Perhaps you have multiple divisions or product lines, each vying for home page attention. And so, over time, your Key Response Actions end up farther down on the page, or moved to a spot where the visitor’s eye rarely glances.
No wonder 98% of visitors to websites never leave a trace, and the bounce rate for some websites never seems to drop below 60%. (Have you hidden your e-newsletter sign-up below your left column menu and wonder why sign-ups have dropped?) Continue reading
The Prada website acts as a "showroom" for the brand image.
And so, the “showroom website” project began, seemingly without thinking about whether the overall “showroom” approach of the Prada website made sense for Company “C”. The website design company was experienced in creating sites in Company C’s industry. What could go wrong? Continue reading
When you create your website copy, the reviewers of that copy will almost always read line-by-line, word-for-word, from page 1 of the copy through to the end (like they’re reading a book).
But website visitors rarely (read: almost never) do that. In fact, website visitors first scan the page they’re on — and about 85% of visitors will only scan.
Few (if any) website visitors will visit every page on your site. And it’s also true that few will click on each of your menu options in order. That means that virtually no one will read your website copy the way you (and your bosses) have — like you’re reading a book.
Simplified menu greatly improves website usability.
What are the current keys to email marketing success? They include: gathering prospect addresses across all of your social media outlets, building into your email marketing database a few pieces of information to allow for some great segmentation opportunities — and constant testing of the key areas most likely to deliver the most significant boost in response. Here’s how . . . Continue reading
When visitors arrive on a page on your website, you want them to instantly find a reason to stick around. You want to engage them. You want to draw them into your copy.
When a visitor is hit with big paragraphs of copy, however, the visitor is not engaged. So how do you deliver your content without hitting visitors with paragraphs of copy? Continue reading
What are some telltale signs of poor website usability?
Where could copy testing on your web site really pay off? Try your call-to-action buttons. Some fairly recent test results have found the following:
What’s the pattern in each of these tests? Lower commitment calls to action, by design, will get more click-throughs . . . Continue reading
How can you evaluate your copywriting? Use our 4-Point Test (part 3 of 3)
You’ve drafted your website, email, print ad, or direct mail copy using the Six Steps in the Sales Process for Effective Copywriting. And you’ve crafted an effective headline using the 6 Tests of Effective Headlines. What about the actual words? Here’s a 4-Point Test to evaluate your body copy. Continue reading
(Part 2 of 3: Copywriting that Sells! How to Recognize it, Write it, Test it)
Headlines usually determine whether your web page, direct mail, print ad or email message will be a success or not. It’s the headline that either draws the reader into the copy — or that doesn’t give the reader a reason to read further. Why are some headlines less than effective — while others totally grab the audience? Continue reading
How to recognize it, how to write it, how to test it (part 1 of 3)
Whether you write copy yourself, have copywriting talent in-house, or use outside copywriting resources, you should know how to recognize copy that really SELLS.
In Part 1: how to incorporate the 6 steps in the sales process. Continue reading
Lately, a number of marketers with “Social Media” in their title have posed questions on LinkedIn about having a plan for their social media marketing efforts. One marketer asked if a social media plan should look like a marketing plan or an SEO plan. The answer is “yes” and “yes.” Because why would the steps or format of a plan for social media be any different than a plan for any other area of marketing? Continue reading
If you’re relying on an e-newsletter or other promotional emails to nurture your prospects and retain your customers, do you know if those emails are being read? Interest in most e-newsletters declines fairly quickly. It’s likely that few of your promotional emails are even being noticed. And if you’re trying to reach the millennial audience (the “20-somethings”) by email, you can pretty much forget it. Continue reading
In the undergraduate Internet Marketing class that I’m teaching, we’re using a curious new book this semester. The book does a great job of covering topics like SEO, Pay-Per-Click, blogs, social media marketing, mobile marketing, and more. But I was surprised in the book’s 46-page discussion of email marketing that converting leads was never even mentioned! Continue reading
Which is the largest group of visitors to your website? It’s likely to be prospects — especially prospects who visit only once. Studies continue to find that over 98% of prospects to a website never leave a trace — no registration, no comments, no completion of the “contact us” form — nothing. Why is that? It’s mostly because websites lack some lower commitment offers to meet the needs of a wider variety of visitors. Continue reading
Have you reviewed your “thank you” email messages lately? You could be missing major opportunities to engage your prospects and customers. If I sign up for your e-newsletter or white paper, or register to use some feature on your website, will I actually receive a thank-you email? Will that thank-you email really engage me — or will it do little more than say, “thanks for registering”? Continue reading
