“But My Customers Are Different”

December 30th, 2006

One of the more favorite phrases I get from new clients (before I have them properly indoctrinated LOL) is what I call the “but my customers are different” syndrome…

Essentially what this involves is the clients misconception about their prospect and customer base, most notably their unfounded belief that their prospects and customers will NOT read long copy or will NOT respond to offers that are a bit on the “sensational” side.

Nothing could be further from the truth- and I can’t think of anything that pisses me off more than a misguided client who actually believes this!

Here’s the reality of the situation:

Your customers are HUMAN BEINGS. All human beings buy products, information and services for the same basic menu of reasons. And they WILL respond to offers that are on the “sensational” side as long as there is TRUTH in the story.

The perfect example is the mailing John Carlton put together for golfers that mailed successfully for 8 years at a 20 to 1 clip on revenue to ad spend with no changes made to it whatsoever.

Golf Digest was worried that the offer was “too sensational” and would “piss off” their customer base and was concerned that their “customers were different” because they thought that golfers were a conservative bunch and a bunch of other unfounded nonsensical beliefs that I care not to get into at the moment.

The headline?

“Amazing Secret Discovered By One-Legged Golfer Adds 50 Yards To Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and Slices…and Can Slash Up To Ten Strokes From Your Game Almost Overnight!”

This was actually a TRUE story (embellished of course) and the hook was of course the one legged golfer. The morons over at golf digest falsely believed that this headline would “piss off” their customer base and work against them in the long run because their customers were “different” and would not like this (for whatever silly reason they can come up with in their minds).

Instead, this mailed unchanged for 8 years and was one of their most successful campaigns- ever.

So, the question is…

Are your customers different?

Matt

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Create Your Own Search Engine

November 21st, 2006

Just recently Google put a new program together that most marketers missed, or are just not talking openly about it…

This program is called “Google Co-op” but most likely will be known in layman terms as “Create Your Own Google Search Engine” or the like.

It’s a simple concept that I am certain will be a big part of the search engine game moving forward. Basically, Google allows you to create a search box on your website (that can be a blog, e commerce site, or even “look” like a search engine such as the google.com look).

One of the caveats is the fact you can tell Google which websites to search (therefore only including sites of yours, your friends,etc) and EXCLUDE competing sites and websites that may disagree with the philosphy etc you are trying to bring forward…

This may not seem to be an “optimal” result for the user doing the searches, but remember we are talking marketing here and not necessarily JUST “playing fair”- after all, this is business and it’s a competitive game.

The obvious application for this new program is to create “niche” search engines of your own and return the results that YOU want your users to see.

As an example, if you had a group of 60 nature loving/bird watching/tree hugging websites that all talked about the beauty of nature, you could develop a search engine that JUST indexed those sites- so all the results that came back from searches for “rare birds” would be from YOUR own web properties mixed in with sponsored or paid results (of which you get a % of click revenue- the Google Adsense model).

Are you seeing the potential here? The sky is the limit- learn more here:

Google’s Create Your Own Search Engine

Have to run for now- enjoy!

Matt

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Current Events

September 22nd, 2006

Are you using current events in your marketing? If you’re like most, you are not, and missing out on a big opportunity.

As you may know, all marketing that you see from the big agencies (in mainstream TV and print) is designed to first and foremost get your attention.

We all operate in the “alpha” level, and the point of this advertising is to get you into “beta” level which is where you are conciously aware of what’s going on around you.

Most people I talk to do not believe it, however, we ALL operate in alpha level the majority of the time. Alpha level is a state where you are not 100% conscious of what’s going on around you. The perfect example of this is when you are doing something you do often and you don’t recognize things around you. For example, if you are part of the (unfortunate?) group of people who drive into work every morning, you may have an easy drive and not “see” a thing on the way into the office.

This is the perfect example of operating in the “alpha” level. Beta level, on the other hand, is like driving to the office during a snowstorm on extremely difficult terrain.

In that case, you are definitely aware of what’s going on around you.

And that’s exactly what your typical ad agency advertising is designed to do, get you into beta level so you are aware of the message they are trying to convey.

The problem, of course, is their message sucks and 9 times out of 10 they don’t even have a point to their advertising.

Usually it goes something like this:

Buy from me because I am funny
Buy from me because I am creative
Buy from me because I am cute
Buy from me because I made you laugh

Etc etc etc

There’s also a “brand recognition” element here that I am not even going to bother to address. It’s pointless because it’s non quantifiable and a bunch of BS that ad execs will sell to their lesser informed clients.

Ahh…but I digress.

So, on to my main point for writing this article- when you use current events in your marketing, and tie them into your product/service/information, then you are able to get your prospects into “beta” mode and THEN make them an appropriate offer.

For example, when the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers made headlines about crashing his motorbike (WITHOUT A HELMET ON), I noticed several sharp marketers use that story as means to get their product offering out there…

The communication went something like this…

Matt, don’t be like Ben Roethlesberger (the steelers quarterback for those of you who don’t care much about American football)

And then the pitch was something like “Ben knew he shouldn’t ride without a helmet, but he did anyway, and now he’s paying the price” type thing. Then, naturally, the letter asked why you didn’t invest in the coaching club, product, service etc even though you KNOW it’s the right thing for you and you need it, etc etc.

Here’s the point:

Use current events to get your prospects into beta mode. It’s free, you won’t have to hire a celebrity, and depending on your creative ability, you will be able tie these events in quite nicely with your product.

And if you follow my suggested guidelines for time tested marketing principles, you will be able to ride the coattails of these events quite nicely.

That’s all for now…

Matt

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It’s NOT Your Fault

September 4th, 2006

I am writing my first blog entry from Warsaw, Poland today where I am traveling throughout Europe with my Fiancee, Debbie.

It’s interesting the type of response I receive from folks who have learned of my “move” out here (although it’s more of a working vacation since I will be back in Chicago for 3 weeks here and there quite often).

Most people are just pure floored that I’ve taken my business over here- not to mention their thoughts on “how far” it is and just how much I removed from the daily news going on in the states.

Well, I still have my Fox News, so I am NOT that removed from things- even though The O’Reilly Factor does come on at 2 AM local time…

Nevertheless, it brings up an interesting point I wanted to make regarding the media and advertisers in the U.S., because if you DON’T use this in your marketing you are really missing the boat big time.

An important point to take to heart…

It’s what I call the “It’s Not Your Fault” concept.

When conducting marketing campaigns, you should NEVER be the one to tell your prospect that the problem they face is their fault!

This may seem obvious, but just the mere fact of NOT 100% stressing to them that it’s not their fault that they are overweight, depressed, broke, lonely, (whatever a problem your product solves) is a major mistake most advertisers make in their marketing online.

The idea is simply this- if most traditional media is telling your prospects that “it’s not their fault” for whatever problematic situation they find themselves in, then you DON’T want to be the person who is saying it IS their fault (or even implying it by not driving it home as well in your online marketing!).

That may seem like a reach to some, but I can tell you this is a very powerful motivator when it comes to your prospects making a buying decision.

As human beings we love to lie to ourselves, blame others and other circumstances “beyond our control” for our misfortunes. Whether it’s true or not is another story. However, when marketing your product, this posture has to be part of your presentation, otherwise you are likely to alienate a good portion of your prospective audience.

That’s all for now.

Matt

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Google Adwords Changes

August 5th, 2006

I just got done reading a few blogs and forums talking about all of the changes going on with Google Adwords, and listening to everyone whine about how their business has gone down the drain.

I understand, it’s difficult, but deal with it. Everyone seems to buy into the theory that Google is out to get them in some sort of way, and the reality is none of this nonsense is true.

Here’s the real story when it comes to adwords, and listen up, because if you remember this principle you won’t be caught with your pants down the next time Google lowers the boom on its advertisers.

For those of you who are not aware, recently Google made some significant changes to their policies as it comes to advertisers and the types of pages that they did (and more importantly did not) want to see advertising on their website.

Essentially, they are making advertisers who are developing certain types of pages pay a heavy “penalty tax” for developing and advertising these types of pages.

What kind of pages are they and how do they look?

Well, essentially they are either “junk pages” with no content and a bunch of Adsense ads, or, they seem to be optin pages with very little content.

Now, here’s the principle I want you to keep in mind when dealing with Google:

IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY!

Here’s how it works. The Google executives all get in a room and figure out how they can get more of their advertisers links to be CLICKED on and nothing else (for now at least- we’ll hit their aims at becoming the largest CPA network in a later post).

Now, more and more marketers understand the concept of developing their database through the optin page strategy- where you promise a certain benefit for opting into their list and then seeing the page “behind the door” if you will.

The problem (and listen up kids) is the fact that the general public doing searches on the Internet is getting SICK and TIRED of having to optin to websites in order to find the information they are looking for!

So guess what?

THEY ARE CLICKING LESS ON THE ADVERTISER’S LINKS!

It’s all about money, as usual. Google is NOT out to get you as an advertiser, they are out to post good numbers to their shareholders and make a lot of money, period.

So remember this- if the “herd” of advertisers on Google is doing something that will adversely affect the percentages of everyday internet browsers from clicking on links, IT WILL be penalized.

And to quote a cheesy Steven Seagal movie from the 90’s- “You can take that to the bank!”.

Capische?

Pay attention to where everyone is headed, and go in a different direction. Let’s briefly look into the future by taking a look at the past and what has happened with Adwords.

A while back, they penalized those who were playing the “Google Cash Game” by advertising on certain keywords and sending that traffic right to their affiliate site.

The problem with this was the fact that in many case 4 or 5 ads were all going to the same destination URL, so browsers became MORE hesistant to click on more of the advertisers links (and thus costing Google money!) for fear they would end up at the same page again and waste their precious time.

So, what did the masses do?

They setup a optin page first, and then sent them to their affiliate site second, all the while staying within regulation of Google’s policies.

Now, that is changing as well, since more advertisers are doing this, and browsers are getting sick of having to optin for every ad they click on in order to find the information they are looking for…

Hence, the recent change by Google with its advertisers who are conducting business accordingly. It’s nothing personal (unlike what many advertisers think)- it’s just business.

So- the future…how is that going to change?

First of all, let me GUARANTEE you that someday companies that are conducting advertising online in the future will demand ROI for their advertising dollar. I just have to believe these guys are going to wake up to this very fact (unless they keep listening to the morons at the ad agency who couldn’t sell water to a man dying of thirst).

With that said, what is the next logical step for Google to take to cater to their advertisers who are demanding ROI?

My guess is they will go into the CPA (cost per action) business and become the largest CPA network in the world.

There are many things coming in the future- and as this market matures, you will continue to see the same patterns develop when it comes to getting the general public to continue to click on Google’s links…that’s all that Google wants.

If you keep that principle in mind moving forward, you will be ready to react when such changes are made.

Thanks,

Matt

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