Here we go:

Contestant 1: 9-1/2 x 6, yellow kraft, shipping label effect.

Standard Capital One corner card, presort indicia. “For Business Owner:” along with usual postal stuff and name/address is inkjetted. (Note this is another bubble wrap, lumpy mail promo but the bubble wrap seems slightly slimmer.) No teaser.

Contestant 2: #10, white, dark teal color bar across the top.

Over-sized left window. Same verbiage as shipping label above. No bubble wrap or other lumpiness in envelope noted. No teaser.

Contestant 3: #10, white, dark teal arrow bar under over-sized left window.

Arrow points to right-side teaser: VISA BUSINESS PLATINUM CARD in small point size. 0% until Nov. 2009 in big point size. Arrow copy: Save on purchases AND transfers for up to 15 MONTHS. Same label verbiage. Recipient can feel card-sized lump in envelope under teaser.

Okay, gang. Go with your gut and tell me which one would get you to open it. Next contest … choose the most successful headline-same promo series.

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photo credit: wotthe7734

Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that can trip up an otherwise fine promotion.

In my AdoptShoppe email bag came a little missive about a new children’s product that’s being promoted at up upcoming product expo.

So far, so good. But here’s the problem. Notice the link:

For more information on the ABC Kids expo please visit: http://www.abckidsexpo.com/

I know what they meant, but wow, that’s not what it says at first glance.

A better way would have been to write ABCKidsExpo.com. Why no one did strikes me as um, careless.

My husband went to school with a Richard Head. His parents should have been shot or at least strongly counseled before they burden their son with a name like that.

Some names, like Chuck, have been forever barred from the new baby name pool because of a single, almost 50-year old rhyming song, The Name Game. (Feel free to do your own comedy here.)

Same thing with links and URLs. Make sure you look at the URLs your client gives you. If problematic, rework it or use TinyURL.com or a similar service.

Otherwise? Well, you get what you get … and then some.

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photo credit: ©aius

One of the hardest jobs I have as a direct marketing copywriter/consultant is to get my clients to test variables in their promotions. Test headlines, offers, lists, color, etc. With smaller clients I urge them to test single variables where the difference to their response/bottom line will be the biggest. Larger clients can afford the luxury of sophisticated multi-variate approaches to their campaigns.

So here’s my segue to today’s interesting article from Target Marketing. Brian Kurtz, leading marketing genius at the power publishing house, Boardroom, Inc., shares his thoughts on testing here. Good stuff and I’m sharing it with you!

Brian Kurtz on DM Testing in Hard Times

Got a testing story to share? By all means, let’s hear about it.

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• My favorite resource on landing pages - The ultimate guide to writing and designing effective landing pages - Marketing Sherpa’s Landing Page Handbook, 2008 (aff)

photo credit: Bobbie

Ahh, a fresh piece of paper … a completely blank screen … your fingers poised for action …

And nothing. You don’t have a decent shred of an idea to work with. Problem is you can’t afford to wait for the muse to strike because you’re on a deadline that can’t be moved or pushed back. Before you go into panic mode, grab whatever it is you grab as an idea folder and slide this little beauty right out.

In today’s issue of The Golden Thread newsletter from the good folks at AWAI comes this handy tip sheet of 52 ways to kick start your own brilliant headline. Read then, love them, learn from them and make ‘em your own!

1. How To (ACCOMPLISHMENT) By (DOING SOMETHING UNEXPECTED)
2. How To (ACCOMPLISHMENT) In (TIME FRAME)
3. How To Turn (PROBLEM) Into (BENEFIT)
4. How To Get (GOAL) From (SOMETHING COMMON)
5. How To Improve Your …
6. How To Start …
7. How To Have …
8. How To Make (SOMEONE/SOMETHING) Do (SOMETHING GREAT)
9. (PROBLEM) – How To Fix It
10. How To Get Free (PRODUCT/PROGRAM)
11. How You Can (ACTION) In The Next (TIME FRAME)
12. How An Uninformed (PERSON/ACTION) Made A Fortune In (BUSINESS TYPE)
13. How An Unexpected (EVENT) Changed My (SITUATION)
14. How I (ACCOMPLISHMENT) In (TIME FRAME)
15. How I (ACCOMPLISHMENT) By (SOMETHING UNEXPECTED)
16. How I Improved My (PROBLEM)
17. (#) Ways To (PROMISE)
18. (#) Ways To Avoid (PROBLEM)
19. (#) Steps To …
20. (#) Ways To …
21. (#) Ways To Beat (PROBLEM)
22. Get Rid Of Your (PROBLEM) Forever!
23. Buy No (PRODUCT TYPE) Till You’ve Seen (PRODUCT NAME OR DESCRIPTION)
24. Read This And (PROMISE/THREAT)
25. Dare To Be …(PROMISE) !
26. Read This Or (THREAT)!
27. What Makes … ?
28. Do You Make These Mistakes In … ?
29. Want To Be (BETTER CONDITION)?
30. (PROBLEMS) – Which Do You Want To Overcome?
31. (PERSONALIZED GREETING), Here Are (#) (PRODUCTS) Of Interest To You. Which (#) Do You Want Free?
32. Are You Ever (PROBLEM)?
33. Tired/Fed Up With (PROBLEM)?
34. Should You (SOMETHING YOUR PROSPECT IS THINKING ABOUT DOING)?
35. Are You … ?
36. Are You Ashamed Of (PROBLEM)?
37. Secrets Of (SOME KIND OF EXPERT)
38. What Never Ever To (COMMON CHORE/ACTION)
39. The Truth About …
40. What You Should Know About …
41. The One Sensible Way To …
42. What Every (PERSON) Should Know
43. The Secret Of …
44. Why …
45. What It Takes To …
46. What Everybody Ought To Know … About This (BUSINESS TYPE)
47. Little Known Ways To (BENEFIT)
48. The Wrong Way And The Right Way To (DO SOMETHING DIRECTLY RELATED TO YOUR BUSINESS)
49. The Secret Of (ACCOMPLISHMENT)
50. When Experts (FAILURE/PROBLEM) – This Is What They Do
51. The Secret Of … – Yours If You Qualify
52. Your (SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO YOU) Is In Imminent Danger

You find this and lots, lots more in this new AWAI resource. A Copywriting Goldmine Eight Years in the Making and tell them the Maven sent you!

And if you have one to add, add your comment below!

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• My favorite resource on landing pages - The ultimate guide to writing and designing effective landing pages - Marketing Sherpa’s Landing Page Handbook, 2008 (aff)

photo credit: Qinn

I love rules-of-thumb, especially when they’ve been tested and are not simply an extension of someone’s anecdotal experience or bias. I also love direct response techniques and tools. Not to discount talent and creativity - that’s a given - but I just love having “stuff” to fiddle with.

So here’s another I’ve just come across and I’m sharing it with you.

Want the optimal character length for your email subject lines? Think 50, go for 80!

That’s what the testing reveals in the article, Email Analytics Reveal Sweet Spots In Subject-Line Length, published in this week’s Online Media Daily.

Drawn from a keynote address by Dela Quist, CEO of Alchemy Worx, here’s the lowdown:

• 50 character subject lines work best with a simple, powerful offer
• 80 character subject lines work best to entice, entreat, and tempt
• 60-70 character lines, for reasons that are unclear, just don’t get the open rates of the 50/80 lines

Quist theorizes that the longer subject lines give the mailer a better of presenting different concepts that may appeal to a larger number of different consumers thus boosting open rates.

So in the example - Find out Secrets to Spice up your Barbecue this weekend and all Summer Long and enter to win a New Weber Grill - you have something for the bbq fans as well as those who may be in the market for a new grill.

Surely, this goes against the conventional wisdom. I’m also wondering about the 17-character line length that our Blackberries afford us while perusing our emails on the go. Looking at the example above we get “Find out Secrets to …”

Will the email recipient be disappointed or enthralled to learn the secrets are about better grilling on the barbee? Dunno. Worth testing? You bet.

• Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to The Copywriting Maven by email or RSS
• Need a copy critique or a consult? Contact the Maven
• My favorite resource on landing pages - The ultimate guide to writing and designing effective landing pages - Marketing Sherpa’s Landing Page Handbook, 2008 (aff)