Seth Godin has a book about the lies marketers tell, do you agree with the premise?

Yesterday, I had a refreshing conversation with a non-marketer friend about the perception of marketers and of marketing campaigns. With no knowledge of the book by Seth, she came to the same conclusion that all marketers are liars.

If you’re like me, you’ll probably disagree with this statement.

For us, every other marketer is a liar, seems to be more applicable here. Yet, the simple fact is, sometimes we get so entrenched in marketing speak, industry jargon and hype, that we forget the basic function of marketing is to engage, educate and enrich customers.

Going back to this basic function, you’ll do well to apply the “so what” test to your marketing.

Every line you write, every tagline you like, every campaign theme you design, apply the “so what” test and see if it is still relevant. Often you only have a few seconds to capture your audience, if it does not pass this simple go-no-go test, then scrap it.

Sometimes campaign data is like a clock that’s too fast or too slow. It gives you a good impression of what time it currently is, but without knowing how much faster or slower it is, you can’t be precise.
Sometimes data works in a similar way. The data you have of your customer may at times be [...]

“Did you bring your passport?”

As you were travelling this holiday break. Inevitably, you would have asked/been asked this question before you head to the airport. Despite the endless hours of packing, the only one thing you really need for your trip, is your passport (or ID).

What’s the equivalent for marketing campaigns?

When you really narrow down your plans for your marketing campaigns for 2010. What is the one thing that you really need for successful campaigns? We say, it’s technology, campaign technology in particular.

Why? When used effectively, technology can make your campaigns more:

1. Interactive
   
2. Novel
   
3. Response-inducing
   

Over the last few months Seth Godin has been busy enlisting the help of various authors, experts, business leaders and online mavens to figure out… What Matters Now.
Here are a few of my favorites…
Seth Godin:
Generosity - This year, you’ll certainly find that the more
you give the more you get.
Michael Hyatt:
Vision is the lifeblood of any [...]

This tool is brought to us via (@Mashable).

With Google Browser Size, you can see if your website is optimized for view on most browsers. A layout over your website tells you what percentage of users will see your content without having to scroll.

Use this to optimize the design of your personalized URLs and web landing pages, especially if you have important call to action buttons that you do not want your recipients to miss.

There’s social media and then there is social marketing. What’s the difference you say?

Think of social media as tools (blogs, twitter, facebook, linked-in, youtube, slideshare) that you can use to spread the word about your company, product, cause or just to share the knowledge you have and position yourself as the expert. That model is still 1-to-many, but with the opportunity for 1-to-1 conversations.

Now there’s also the reverse side, there is the email message, direct mail, sales calls, sms, print ads… that you should be using to create 1-to-1 conversations. While many think of these as traditional marketing channels, they are in fact not. They are just as much tools for making a marketing campaign social.

If you honestly believe you have something relevant to say to your prospects and customers, then they’ll want to share that message with their friends. You need to make it easy for them to do that.

I follow CopyBlogger quite religiously. 80,000 readers do that too. Why?

Because as marketers, writing effective copy is an important skill. Yes anyone can write copy, but does your copy convert?

Full article by Jason Cohen on CopyBlogger: 10 secrets to more magnetic copy

Here are some highlights from the article

1. Don’t hedge
   Writing copy that is strictly true makes your writing become soft and pudgy. Only write impact sentences that capture attention.
2. Brevity
   Write copy that is entertaining and easy on the eyes. Anything more than a few sentences gets ignored, just like the salesy public speaker.
3. Tell a story
   Surprise Surprise, people do not respond to features, sales talk, they respond to stories. Tell a story that captures the benefits of your product and you have a captive audience.

Full article: 10 secrets to more magnetic copy

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#1 Include a ‘hook’
Is there a good enough reason to respond to your campaign? This doesn’t always have to be a discount, but there needs to be a compelling reason for your recipients to act now, rather than later. Depending on your audience, a limited time offer may help boost your campaign response. (Be one [...]