What are your business marketing goals?

Sadly, many business professionals waste tons of money to advertise and run marketing campaigns – without even knowing what they want to to accomplish.

It always irks me when I talk with clients who’ve already talked with other marketing advisers, and in those discussions, they were never once asked what their marketing and business goals were.

As basic a question as it is, any responsible marketing advisor or copywriter will ask you about your goals. If they don’t – it’s a sure signal for you to move on and find someone who does.

If you, the business pro, don’t have any goals and aren’t sure what you specifically want your ads and marketing to do, it will be almost impossible to design a realistic action plan that will be worth a damn.

So, even without a set goal, you create a bunch of ads and plans on-the-fly. Then what?

Generally, you’re still won’t be sure if they worked or not, or if they were profitable or not.

How could you? There was no plan.

Bottom line is this:

Before you waste any of your hard-earned moolah on advertising or marketing, you must have marketing and advertising goals.

Then you develop a specific strategy plan that includes different tactics, which you’ll use as stepping stones to your ultimate business objective.

Only then – will you have enough information to determine if an ad or campaign was successful, or if you need to make additional changes to work towards your goal.

Plan and test!

Any thoughts? I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Today, you’re gonna learn a super-quick business advertising lesson.

Yep…it’s true!

There really is a solid guarantee in your advertising strategy, and I’ll clue you in shortly, but first a short story.

A client recently asked me this question:

“If I spend money on advertising – is there any guarantee I’ll get my investment back, and better yet, make a profit?”

After thinking about it for a second, (I wanted to respond with a semi-intelligent answer), my response was simply “Nope!”

You see, there’s simply no way anybody can guarantee the effectiveness or profitability of any ad or lead generation piece.

There are far too many variables that must be considered such as the target market, your message, the media, the effectiveness of the copy, and so on. That’s why you need to test each and every ad or marketing piece.

From that perspective, about the only guarantee a legitimate copywriter (such as myself) would give is that you’ll like the ad or sales copy, and that a copywriter’s sales copy has a way better chance of success than the typical business owner’s or ad agency’s copy.

Why? – Because the direct response copywriter uses methods that have been proven to work again and again (but not guaranteed to work every time).

Now… I know I said there was a guarantee, so here it is in a nutshell…

There is no way to guarantee you’ll get more business with your marketing and advertising, but…

It’s practically guaranteed if you don’t anything at all to market yourself and advertise your business – you won’t get new customers.

And that’s guaranteed!

Any thoughts?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

I want to share a quick, but important copywriting tip today.

When you write sales copy – no matter what media it will be used in – use as simple and small words as you can.  I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “keep it simple stupid” (KISS)…

Well…this applies to copywriting, too. Write your copy so that even an 8^th grader can understand it. Your prospects will have different levels of understanding, even if you think they don’t.

So don’t use long complicated words when you can use a short, simple one instead.

For example, you can use person instead of individual – or use buy instead of purchase.

Many writers use complicated words in their copy, and the only thing that does is make them sound very literate and educated, which in itself isn’t bad, but the primary purpose of your copy is to persuade your prospect to take a certain action, not impress them with your knowledge of the English language.

The other thing to keep in mind is this – use some industry words or jargon your specific target market understands. (Just make sure your readers definitely know what that jargon means) They also need to believe you know what you’re talking about before they will trust you enough to be persuaded.

If your readers don’t understand your copy or don’t believe or trust you, your copy’s chance of success will be slim to none.

Any thoughts?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

Do you want to get better results from your direct mail campaigns?

Try using personalization.

Now – keep in mind – personalization can take on many forms and meanings.

My meaning is simple: It’s the words and offer you use to generate leads and sales. Words that show the reader you’re talking specifically with them.

It can be as simple as using their real names in the salutation of the sales letter, or as complicated as writing about a previous purchase they made and how your new gizmo will make their previous purchase work a million times better.

Even better yet, using their name, telling how your gizmo will help their life, and making an irresistible offer…just for them. One they just can’t refuse!

A personal letter shows them you know what they like, and you care about them getting the most out of their investment in other products.

Basically – personalization shows your reader that you know them. I mean – that’s about as personal as you can get.

When creating your offers and writing the sales copy, be as personal as you can, ( I guess you could take that to the extreme, but don’t) and you could boost results by 20-30% – maybe even more depending on the quality of your list and the relevance of your product or service to them.

Remember…consumers (and that includes business people, too) deal with people, not robots or companies.

So first and foremost, write for people and give it the personal touch. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Oh…and by the way…personalization also works just as well, if not better, with a combination of email and website marketing!

What do you think about this technique?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

 Did you know there’s one type of ad
that’s been proven to generate as much as 500% more response than traditional space ads you see every day?

And you can use it for ads in your local newspaper, magazines, or even a postcard campaign.

So what is it?

It’s called an advertorial style ad.

And its name to fame is this:

It is part ad and part editorial (you know, like the newspaper columns).

When it’s formatted like the rest of the paper, it will actually look more like an article than an ad.

And that’s the beauty of it. Studies show that up to 500% more people read the articles than the ads.

So the trick (it isn’t really a trick) is to write an ad that looks like an article.

People like articles, and if they also trust the contents of an article much more than ads. Face it – ads are an obvious attempt to sell something…articles aren’t.

Using the same font, size, columns – just like the paper or magazine you’re putting it in. And the size can be anywhere from 1 or 2 paragraphs to filling up a whole page.

But make sure you have a powerful and compelling headline (just like any article) so it will be read.

Some of the successful ones look so much like real articles, the paper or magazine will require you to put “Advertisement” at the very top of it.

The other secret ingredient is using copy that doesn’t blatantly sell your product or service, but that persuades the reader to take a specific action such as calling for a free report, emailing you, or visiting a website.

Plus – it’s super effective for a multi-step lead generation tool, getting them to contact you so you can follow up with them. It sure beats the heck out of cold calling for prospects.

Considering how powerful advertorial style ads are, you don’t see them too often. The funny thing is – just maybe, you see some – but you don’t even realize they are ads.

So next time you consider placing an ad in a newspaper or magazine, think about how you will use the advertorial style to boost your response more than ever before.

What do you think about this technique?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

A powerful marketing tactic – Joint ventures – can significantly boost your sales and profits – no matter what kind of business you have.

But for some reason, it’s not often used for local businesses. It is used frequently by Internet marketers to market their products to other Internet marketer’s customer and prospect lists.

Here’s how Joint Ventures could work for your local business:

Find a business whose existing customers would be ideal buyers of your products, most likely
a business selling a complimentary product or service to yours.

Approach the owner and ask if you could send an email, postcard, or sales letter to his list promoting your product or service.

In exchange, you’d give him a percentage of the profits on sales you make. It just needs to be a percentage high enough to make it worth his while.

The, you could go the other way and let him market his goods to your house list and give you a percentage of profits.

The great thing here is it’s easy, you can set up deals with more than one business, you can quickly and inexpensively increase your own customer list and boost profits.

And in order for it to work…the deal has to be structured so it’s a win-win for both parties.

All you have to do is track the sales you make using their list, and pay him his percentage.

Pretty simple, huh?

For example: If you’re a jeweler, maybe you’d contact florists, high end restaurants, country clubs, well – you get the idea.

So get started making some quick and easy cash!

What do you think about this technique?

I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

 There’s one tip to use when you create your business card that will make ’em stand out from the rest, plus you’ll get better response from the people who see them, because they will actually read them and keep them.

When I say this, most people think:

“Okay, I’ll make sure to use full color on both sides using heavy, glossy stock.”

“Then I’ll put in some really cool, eye-catching graphics and colors. That will surely get people’s attention.”

So what’s the big deal? Everyone seemingly knows these tricks. (if that’s what you call them)

Well…you are right. Business cards designed with those features will get people’s attention…for a minute – only because they might be flashy and look nice – not because they necessarily want to do business with you.

But don’t you hand out business cards so people will know what you do, remember you, keep your card, and give you new business?

My tip actually serves a more useful marketing purpose: It gets their attention, but it also immediately tells them how you can help them with your product or service.

Tip: Instead of putting your name and/or company name in big bolded letters, (like most cards do), use a direct response type headline instead.

Basically – Write a headline that shows people how your business will benefit them if they use it.

And if you pair a great headline in a big bold font with a nice picture of yourself (for secondary branding purposes), you’ll get more business because people will see a big benefit right away, while your competitor’s cards only sport their name and company. 

Here’s an example using my own business card: (which, by the way, has caught more than one of my current client’s attention)

Effective Business Card With Headline

It quickly conveys how I can help my clients get new clients by writing “words that sell”. If my company name was there instead, all it would tell someone is that I probably offered something to do with marketing, and that’s it.

So – what can you do different with your business card?

Get your propect’s attention – in a good way – so they will keep know what you can do to help them?

Remember:  They’re thinking – “What’s in it for me!”

What do you think about this technique? Have you used it or another successfully?

Let me know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

I often get asked about how to make sure the reader opens the envelope in a direct mail campaign.

I say – “To tease…or not to tease”

That is the question, isn’t it?

When you mail out sales letters or fundraising letters, your first challenge (and sometimes biggest hurdle) is to get the prospect to open the envelope before they toss it in the trash can.

So what’s the best way to get them to open it?

Well – it depends.

You could try the plain envelope approach with no teaser copy at all, making sure it looks as much like a personal letter as possible. Most people will open an envelope if they think it’s personal in nature.

Or you could put some teaser copy on it that screams “Open ME to see what I’ve got for you. This obviously is a sales pitch, but if the copy is powerful and intriguing enough, they have to open it to read more about it.

In this approach, the only purpose of the tease is to get people to open the envelope. That’s it!

So which one works best?

Like I said before – it depends. There is no cut and dry answer. The only way to know is to split test using both ways and see which one pulls more, making sure everything else is identical except the envelopes.

I’d like to get your comments and experiences about using or not using teaser copy. Just let me know how it’s worked for you.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Also visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Do at least 80% or more of your customers stay with you year after year – or do they jump ship to your competition as soon as a better offer comes along?

If you have to think about the answer,  you most likely have some work to do. 

And one of the biggest things you can do is this:

Make sure your company promotes non-stop customer loyalty by providing a superior total customer experience – from the time they first learn about you – till they become and continue to be loyal customers.

People like to be treated with respect, feel like they’re dealing with a company that actually cares about their wants and needs, and to be dealt with by competent people.

If they aren’t getting each one of these – chances are they’ll jump ship to your competition the second they offer a “better deal”.

Think about companies such as L.L. Bean and Disney… Both provide unmatched customer service from every employee, from maintenance to phone order takers.

They are all trained to be customer advocates, no matter their primary job functions are.

And they consistently go the extra mile by being flexible and compassionate, taking care of their customers at almost any cost.

That’s why they are always at the top of customer satisfaction surveys, and why customers remain customers.

Conservative estimates are that it costs seven times as much to get a new customer than to keep a current customer!

Talk about Return on Investment! (for the companies that practice great service)

Ramp up your customer service skills and watch your customers continue to buy from you – not your main competitor down the street.

To get more information about developing trust and relationships, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

Visit www.webcontentNH.com for Website design, SEO copy, or online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC