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: 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.

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As many of you know, most of my marketing consulting and copywriting work is B2B. I like B2C, but I love B2B. Problem? Solution! It’s a clean and elegant proposition with endless possibilities. B2B also defines my own client prospecting efforts, as I imagine it does yours, too. That’s why I got curious about a new B2B product that is creating some major buzz in its own right.

Especially in tough times like now, marketers (folks like you and me) need to pay a new kind of attention to our businesses. (No whining about being a writer rather than a marketer. Remember, I’m the girl who views freelance copywriters AS business owners.)

And not just the same-old, same-old either.

That’s why I think you’ll be as intrigued as I was about the guy in this video. He’s onto something I encourage you to check out for yourself.

You might even call it shocking, but only in a good way. You can see the video here and learn how it worked for big-name companies (and how he got 60,000+ leads for his business.) No need to do anything special, it will just start playing.

…But here’s really shocking (okay, not shocking. Let’s call it amazing) part:

1. Prospects literally line up, ready to purchase after experiencing this.

2. Following the strategy, businesses are becoming the thought leaders of their industries.

3. Once set in motion, the strategy keeps generating quality leads literally for years. (Because I’m lazy, I love systems that continue to work for me without any extra effort on my part.)

Now who wouldn’t want a little piece of that working for you!

Here’s the kicker. What he reveals does NOT involve email, blogs (what, no blogs?), social networking or any of the usual web marketing suspects.

Best part? He’s actually giving away a bunch of his videos.

(If you’re wondering … yes, I’ve seen them and when you have, too, I think you’ll agree the content is pretty exceptional, especially the second one!)

Could it work for creative professionals like you and me?

Take a look, see what you think. (BTW, there’s nothing for sale at this site right now. Just follow the link and the video will begin playing.)

Transparency Alert: This is an affiliate-based promotion.

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]]> http://www.copywritingmaven.com/2008/05/05/lead-generation-video/feed/ http://www.copywritingmaven.com/2008/02/01/friday-fun-name-your-top-5-most-trite-overused-adjectives-and-adverbs/ http://www.copywritingmaven.com/2008/02/01/friday-fun-name-your-top-5-most-trite-overused-adjectives-and-adverbs/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:45:07 +0000 Roberta Rosenberg http://www.copywritingmaven.com/2008/02/01/friday-fun-name-your-top-5-most-trite-overused-adjectives-and-adverbs/ Maybe I’m just being cranky, but if I receive one more copywriting/marketing newsletter or email that uses the adjective “sizzling” anywhere in the copy I think I’ll just put the gun in my mouth and pull the trigger.

Okay, a little melodramatic, but I’m sure you get my point. I think I’m completely over-stuffed on this sort of lazy, over-the-top !!! kind of marcomm writing. So let’s have a little fun and tell me your top 5 of adjectives/adverb descriptors that make you nuts to read … and that you promise only to use sparingly, very very sparingly — and only when you really mean it.

We’ll all share. Here’s my current 5:

1. Sizzling
2. Explosive
3. Fantastic
4. Awesome
5. Red hot

Your turn

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[tags] copywriting cliches, lazy adjectives and adverbs [/tags]

I thought about what I might post - “I have a secret crush on Mark Ruffalo” with a particularly fetching photo of him and me photoshopped together - but it’s no secret since now everyone knows.

But all my zesty menopausal musings aside, it’s the deep, dark stuff we carry around that makes us interesting and makes us do and buy stuff.

As copywriters, our job is to move beyond the product/service we’re promoting … to move beyond even its gosh-darn-terrific benefits and get to the heart of our prospect’s deep, dark place.

The worry or joy doesn’t always have to be profound, of course. Sometimes it’s a little tickling annoyance that flutters around our heads and when we have the time, we’d love to be able to bat it away.

When I teach new copywriters, I always like to share the story of the launch of the Biore’s blackhead rip strips. Why? Because I think this product was original and pure genius. It targeted that subtle “I wish I could get my nose cleaner/pores smaller” desire with the first product of its kind.

Was it a huge concern of the market? No, but it was always there whispering to us whenever we looked into the mirror. So they develop an easy-to-use product and demonstrate it. Wet a strip, let it dry across your nose-zone and rip it off.

Now here’s the kicker - you could see the gunk it pulled out of your face. Totally gross and utterly fascinating. Every little bright white strip would be littered with facial detritus - like a small-scale, grayish black moonscape. Women would get their husbands and boyfriends to try it and the guys would, in part, because it was so completely gross and their noses/pores looked better, too. That’s a satisfying two-fer if ever there was one.

Biore has expanded to other skincare products and other beauty companies have their own brand of pore strips. But Biore was the first to dig deep into our face-to-the-world anxiety and find a way to make us all feel better.

Or maybe it’s just me.

So before you sit down to write your next promotion, before you start click-clacking away at your headline or lead or whatever you like to start with first and consider how deep is your prospect’s love … desire … worry … or fear. Think about how you can write past the obvious and target the secret behind your prospect’s heart. Nail that and your piece will practically write itself.

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

[tags] targeting emotions, copywriting tips, postsecret, biore [/tags]