Welcome to our latest fortnightly eBulletin, posted here on Tuesday 19 August 2008. In this issue:
- What combinations of copy are output from your content database?
- Two excellent email marketing white papers from Silverpop
- Radiohead prove (again) that free downloads are great for sales
- Tip of the Week – plan now for ‘stuffers’ in your autumn DM
What combinations of copy are output from your content database?
When you enter new title records, does your database include fields for copy of different lengths? Typically a 15-20 word ‘10 second sell’, a short blurb (50-80 words?), a long blurb (150-200 words?), selling points? All great in theory, unless you’re cheating by cutting and pasting from the long blurb to fill the other fields … Most content databases are riddled with repetition. So, next question. What combinations are being drawn on by Amazon, Nielsen Bookdata, your website? When you write that short blurb, are you thinking about a reader reading it on your website or in a catalogue, or about filling 50 words? These issues have been recurring themes on in-company copywriting training I’ve been doing this summer, and they have serious implications. Consider the Amazon entry that has the title and subtitle of a book, followed by the 15 word blurb which rewrites the title but tells you nothing new, followed by a short blurb which starts with … well, you’ve guessed what.
If you haven’t considered what combinations of copy are being output where for a while, go check some Amazon (and other) pages and get back to basics. Repetition kills copy – everything we write needs to tell the reader something new, so write copy knowing what each block will be sitting next to.
If these are issues you need to think about, join us on a Copywriting Workshop in Oxford on 11 September or London on 30 October. Psst – Summer Sale places at £250 still available on both but sale ends on 31 August!
Two excellent email marketing white papers from Silverpop
US email marketing agency Silverpop has plenty of excellent free reports available on the other side of a less-than-impressive registration process. Stick with it; it’s worth it. Here are two I’ve just found:
That was then … this is now: the new rules of email marketing (5 pages). This is a well-articulated reminder of what we know already about how emailings have had to change to persuade customers to stay subscribed; particularly useful for honing your arguments with less web-savvy colleagues. Includes interesting new nuggets such as ‘the rule of 24’ which says that 24 emailings per year is the maximum most recipients will welcome. Here’s the link: scroll down the list (of other goodies).
8 seconds to capture attention – email marketing landing page report (15 pages). 50% of clickthroughs abandon the landing page within 8 seconds, often because of not enough continuity between email and page (not repeating key offers/calls to action/graphics so the visitor knows they’re in the right place), or just because too much effort is required to figure out what to do next. Plenty of examples – all US and none of them publishing – but I promise you that you’ll recognise the problems they raise. Find it here.
For much more like this, come along to an E-Marketing Workshop in Oxford on 18 September or London on 6 November. Summer Sale places for £250 still available for Oxford if you get in quickly.
Radiohead prove (again) that free downloads are great for sales
Thanks to Alan Giles’ Opinion piece in The Bookseller last Friday for yet more proof that the surest way to sales success can be to make the same content available free first. Last year Radiohead made their In Rainbows album free to download on their website, leaving fans to decide what price to pay for it (if any). Sums paid ranged from nothing to £40, with £3 the average. Three months later the conventional CD was released, went to #1 in both UK and US and has sold 2million copies to date.
We all worry about free content eroding sales, but the buzz generated can help make a paid-for bestseller – something several fiction publishers have successfully exploited: free web download, hardback 2-3 months later, paperback a few months after that … Interesting times!
Share your experience or simply join the debate on one of our E-Marketing Workshops.
Read Alan Giles’ piece on The Bookseller website.
Tip of the Week – plan now for ‘stuffers’ in your autumn DM
Do you include stuffers in your direct mail packages? Especially effective are simple flyers promoting a bestselling title or titles, catalogue request cards, or invitations to sign up for email newsletters or take part in a survey (use incentives to make these two work best). Consider reprinting an A5 size version of an A4 leaflet that’s been successful, so that it doesn’t distract from the impact of your lead leaflet but will still continue to deliver results. ‘Top 10 bestseller’ lists in your core subject areas should work fantastically well. If you haven’t tried this already I guarantee you’ll be delighted by the number of ‘add on sales’ you generate. After all, stuffers add to the interest, variety and choice for the recipient.
Our Direct Mail that Really Works workshop has plenty more like this. Runs next in London on 25 September. Summer Sale places still available at time of writing!
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Rachel Maund
Marketability - extra marketing resources and training just when you need them
Tel and Fax: +44 (0)20 8977 2741
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