digital creative-that-engage
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the DMA’s Creative Certification Course
Part Three
Digital Creative that Engages Customers
Thurs., Oct 18, 2012 ; 1:00- 2:45 pm
Presented by Alan Rosenspan &
Carol Worthington-Levy
What media are we talking about?
• Websites
• E-newsletters
• Anything you want to talk about
2
Design for the web
• It’s not always pretty
• Contrast is extremely important
• Get viewers to the thing they’re interested in within two clicks
• Don’t waste the viewer’s time with lengthy special effects – they hate it
• Use science to guide the design: eyeflow, legibility and comprehension, etc.
• Sell, sell, sell
3
Direct selling site comparisonCompare these…
• Note the format –two column or three column?
• Color scheme: pale blues and mid blues (lower contrast)
• Special offers and clearance below the main image
• One main image that does not change
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Same products/site comparison
• 3 column format
• Color scheme: Deep red and black with some gray: contrast!!
• Special offers and clearance to the right of the main image
• Main image changes to 4 different products/offers
• Special offer to get signups
• Strong right hand column with products and specials
• Use upper right corner for closeouts.
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Special offer
• Upper left for ‘signup’ offer and ‘search our site’…. PLUS…
• OFFER TEST (free tips vs. free knife)
• Remember: a website is just another direct marketing medium
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Performance? Let’s compare that, too…
4 screen views/visit 7 screen views/visit
More visits
More signups for email
More returning customers/back endCatering Supplies | Catering Equipm ent
100% Secure Shopping Cart
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MONTHLY DRAWINGS:You could win a beautiful knife!
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search...
Disposable & Paper
Products
Dining Supplies
Beverage Products
Buffet Service
Decorations
Food Transport
Food Prep Supplies
Food Service Equipment
Cleaning Supplies
Alfa International
Amana
Anchor Hocking
APW Wyott
Berkel
Best Manufacturers
Blendtec
Blodgett
Bon Chef
Buffet Enhancements
See All Brands...
FAQ's
About Us
Site Map
Shipping
Privacy Policy
Site Terms
Becoming A Caterer
Beginner's Guide to
Knives
Hot New Items Monthly Specials Index FAQ Contact Us
Chafer | Cabo Flair Riser | Glo-Ice Light Boxes | Coldmaster Server
Over 15,000 products for caterers
and food service professionals!
Cookware
• Sheet Pans
• Stock Pots
• Saute Pans
Plates and Bowls
• Melamine Dinnerware
• Plastic Plates and Bowls
• China
Bar Supplies
• Pitchers
• Glasses
• Bar Accessories
Equipment
• Convection Ovens
• Heated Cabinets
• Blenders
Induction
• Induction Ranges
• Induction Chafers
• Induction Cookware
Pan Carriers
• Insulated Bags
• Insulated Carriers
• Pan Racks
Food Storage
• Ingredient Bins
• Food Storage Boxes
• Storage Shelving
Displayware
• Display Trays
• Serving Bowls
• Crocks
Disposables
• Disposable Plates
• Disposable Apparel
• Disposable Cups
Top Catering
Supplies• Chafer
• Display Tray
• Serving Bowl
• China Plates
• Stainless F latware
Top Catering
Equipment• Kitchen Knives
• Cooking Utensils
• Fry Pans
• Stock Pots
• Cutting Boards
Top Catering
Disposables• Paper plates
• Disposable F latware
• Paper Towels
• Foil Pans
• Butcher Paper
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Consumer site: Niman Ranch Premium meats
• Every product photo leads to a purchase page
• More appetite appeal through affinity with great chefs and recipes
• Promotion with deadline: monthly and weekly specials
• Tells unique selling proposition: all NR meat from small closed herds with cruelty-free treatment
Testing told us to emphasize the taste more than the anti-cruelty stories
Right hand column is dedicated to selling products
Right hand column is dedicated to stories and value-add
The winner!
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Navigation
Quick easy links help customer find exactly what they want — instantly
Top section is for shopping
Middle section is for gifting, specials and new items
Bottom section is for chefs/restaurants, the Trade, Farmers, corporate gifting
Registration into site will give customer access to email-only offers
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Selling pages
• Quick easy links help
customer find exactly
what they want —
instantly
• Appetite appeal galore:
in the COPY as well as
the photos
• Testimonials continue to
position Niman Ranch as
the tastiest of all
• Content tells the curious
customer more about the
meat and the mission
Homes in on specific products
Selling pages
One click, and they’re in their favorite category of meat and ready to buy
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Content pagesMakes a website a ‘search magnet• ‘Chef’ page always has a recipe• Chefs will change out on ‘refresh’• Recipes - a growing library• Research told us that taste was paramount
• ‘Farmer’ Page Tellsthe closed-herd story: safer, low-volume, cruelty free
• Positions smallfarms/farmers as heroes who work every day for safer, tastier meats
Nonprofit sites? Depends on goal…
• Direct donation – keep it as simple as possible (two options –note simple messaging is for these sites)
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Main nonprofit site has different goals
• Informational and lead generation
• The top section changes out every few seconds
• This site has room for many stories, including a video
• Customer involvement: get people to consider long term giving
15
Making extra money on a nonprofit site
• LIVESTRONG started for fundraising/nonprofit but has now become a lifestyle and health website
• Note they actually sell advertising space on their site —it pays to do this and visitors don’t mind
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Google’s heat map study
Carol’s 10 quick tips for more effective email creative
• Great copy is essential… Alan will cover this in-depth
• …but there are other things that will affect whether anyone sees it – or reads it
• Creatives, take note — the following items are also important to response…
Making Your Emails Sizzle
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1. Know who you’re mailing to
A) Rental lists vs. your house list
• Most rental lists are not worth a dime
• (regardless of what your list broker tells you)
• Your double opt-ins are good – special messages to get them
shopping
• Your customers are the best audience!
Your task: getting their next order
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B) Know your house list – and split it up
into segments
• Customers vs.. just opt-ins
• How often they’ve bought (once vs.. many times)
• What kind of product they’re buying from you (if you have a
diverse product line this is essential)
• Got a customer profile? Look it over and share it with your
creative team to develop a great offer and appropriate
creative
• Not all emails should go to every person on your mail list
• The better targeted, the more personalized you can make it,
the better response
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2. Use interesting, varied subject lines Market-appropriate works better than generalized
If you only talk “sale”, keep it as interesting as possible
Check your own email — notice what you’ve been responding to
Boring, bad… Too much of the same promo
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Hint: Your offer makes a great subject line– But if you never change the offer, you lose the offer’s “juice”
– The power of the ‘free shipping’ offer is so diminished, it’s no longer seen as an offer or an ‘opener’
Even free shipping can become boring if it’s the only offer you use!
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Here’s how to get your email opened Lots of subject line variation keeps them on their toes
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3. Test. Suggest tests. Demand tests.Otherwise, if it fails, everyone will blame the creative!
• TEST…Different offers
• Date/time limit versus offer emphasis
• Length of time they have to respond – today only;
5 hour sale; ends in two days, etc.
• Their name in the subject line vs. not
• YOUR name in the subject line vs. not
• NEW products vs.. ‘Sneak Preview’ approach
• Design: what kinds of photos or graphics work best
• MAKE SURE you test with an A-B split, and keep track
of results and long-term behavior
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Offer tests: Create offers your audience can’t resist
• Knowing your audience gives you better offer ideas
• Some audiences don’t respond to discounts
• Measure the responder behavior - to determine lifetime value
• Test Different offers
– free shipping vs. a gift — discount vs. free shipping
– a gift card for both you and your friend, vs.. a higher discount for you alone
– two different gifts (‘home made jam’ vs.. ‘ten-year spatula’)
– Deadline by which they must respond to get the gift
– A sweeps or drawing vs. a gift now
– A gift vs. an activity: customer involvement (such as writing a story or designing something: Preston Wynne, Chico’s)
25
Offer testing can yield surprises! We offer-tested a
white paper about their topic (Permission email) vs. a chance to win a Tablet PC.
The list was all opt-ins from the past year. Pretty qualified.
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Which do you think got the best quality responses?
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26
4. Keep brand consistent with voice and image• A customer recognizes you immediately – credibility!
Here’s the brand via catalog… Here’s the brand in an email Monday, September 6 , 2010 3:58 PM
Page 1 of 1
Subject: Shhh...Sneak Peek (50% Off)Date: Thursday, July 29, 2010 7:02 AMFrom: Chico's <[email protected]>Reply-To: "Chico's" <[email protected]>To: Carol worthington-Levy [email protected]: Shhh...Sneak Peek (50% Off)
Private preview! Get a first look at the new fall collection (50% Off)*
Please add [email protected] to your safe sender list or address book. View on a mobile device or web browser.
*Buy 1 full-price item, get the 2nd full-price item (of equal or lesser value) 50% off. Full-price styles only. Offer valid in stores,online at chicos.com or at 888.855.4986. Limited time only. Discounted item will be reflected at checkout.
**30% off already reduced styles only. Offer valid in stores (excluding outlets), online at chicos.com and at 888.855.4986.Marked price reflects savings off original ticketed price. No adjustment on prior purchases. No cash value. Limited time only.
To unsubscribe from future e-mails, click here.
CHICO'SToll Free: 888.855.498611215 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33966 USA
Chico's and Chico's Passport are registered trademarks of Chico's Brands Investments, Inc.© 2010 Chico's Distribution Services, LLC., All Rights Reserved.
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Emails can be brand-consistent, yet different• It’s ok to use different fonts as long as the message is
consistent and you have common elements
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• JPGs and PNGs turn into big red x’s when they’re picked up as text
• This happens more often than you realize
• This email in an iphone:
5. Make the majority of the message LIVE
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6. Always use a landing page• “Smart” click on email sends to
specific landing page
• Goal – get the customer to
what they want, quickly
• Control their action – and keep
track of it
• http://www.wineofthemonthclu
b.com/category/big-bold-petit-
sirah?r=EM912A&utm_source
=emaillist_bronto&utm_mediu
m=email&utm_campaign=EM9
12A&utm_content=labelpic
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7. Spice up email with a variety of formats
• Different formats at different times
enables you to send more often
without the customer getting bored
• Try a promotional one vs. a newsletter
one (not too long) to start
• If this works try another format that is
in line with your market,
such as an “Ask the
Experts”
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Promotional or news? Use both to sell!
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8. Invite involvement by customer The more
opportunity for
dialogue, the more
they’ll like you!
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9. Try Email in videos
Even if it seems like a lot of work…
Does it need to be made with super high production values?
Is it expensive?
What happens after they play the video?
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A top selling email with a video twist• If a video is
creative, and gets to the point, it can work even if it’s not slick!
• 1700 views within 24 hours
• Many hundreds of cases of wine sold.
• SEE NEXT SLIDE TO VIEW VIDEO
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Wine of the Month Club ‘Wines I don’t like’ video
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Video works on websites too
• See how 5.11 Tactical uses video online to sell professional wear for cops and other uses –
• http://videos.511tactical.com/videos/30/taclite-tdu%27s
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5.11 Tactical demonstrates a fine new product
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10. Write a message that is compelling
• Do not believe that people don’t read emails
• …but keep the message short and succinct
• Keep the voice consistent with the voice of your brand
• Don’t train your customer to ignore your emails by using an intern or non-copy pro who will probably write a stinker!
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Show them you know what they like!
• Get into the swing of the way
your customer communicates
• Share with her about what she
is interested in, in a friendly
voice she’ll like
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Be yourself, but even more so —Develop a voice and attitude!
• If your customers like your attitude, this is a chance to let it
really shine each time you reach them
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P.S. Hire a proofreader
Programmers and designers can’t spell.
Errors like this may possibly be ignored — or they
may make you look thoughtless!
Be classier than this. Yes, even with email.
Need a proofreader? Ask us for recommendations
or call Bulletproof!
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Back to Alan:Writing for the Web
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Writing for the Web
• Anyone can write for the web, right?
• 182,000,000 websites – as of 2007• Netcraft
• Over 1 trillion web pages
• Over 50 million blogs – as of 2006• Technorati State of the Blog
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What’s even worse...
• There’s actually very little writing on the web
• Let’s look at the most popular websites in the world
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Writing WinningWebsites
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What do we mean by winning?
• Websites with low bounce rates
• Websites that keep people reading and engaged
• Websites with high conversion rates – that motivate people to buy
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How do People Read Websites?
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…not in the traditional way
• They scan – not just at first, but continually
• They take in “nuggets” of information
• This may be changing with iPad, Kindel and other electronic reading devices
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• Recent research gets an “F”
• They read the top bar, go down and read across for a shorter amount
• They scan the left-hand side
• …all at lightening speed!
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So you need
to write how they read
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…not in the traditional way
• You don’t have a beginning, middle and an end
• Everything you write is a beginning…with a link for more information
• You are not developing an argument; or telling a story; you are creating powerful telegraphic messages
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7 Proven Techniques
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1. Be a Pied Piper
1. Highlight key words and benefits
2. Make them bold or BIGGER
3. Put them in another color to attract attention
4. Use numbered lists or bullets
5. Use Headlines and crossheads
6. Put benefits
and call to action
in the margin
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2. Keep it short
• Give them the benefit or main idea quickly
• Give them a lot of ideas, let them decide whether or
not to learn more
• For examples, visit www.alanrosenspan.com
• Don’t try to cram everything in
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3. Use the hot spots
This is the area that your eye
goes to first. It should have
news, an offer, or the most
important benefit
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4. Divide and Conquer
• Use boxes, sidebars, anything that helps simplify and organize information
• Use charts and graphs whenever possible
• Always include a caption underneath them
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Put key information
In boxes Or chartsTo make it stand out
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5. Write in different ways
• Write benefits in several different ways; if one
doesn’t resonate with some people, another might
• Save 33%. Get it at 1/3 off. Buy 3, get one FREE.
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• Write from different perspectives –
customer, CEO, engineer. It shouldn’t sound like it all
comes from just one person
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6. Be Direct
• Tell people exactly what you want them to do, how and when
• Include multiple calls to action in multiple places
• Give people different ways to respond
• Toll-free phone number in e-mail increases response by as much as 50%
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7. Add credibility
• Magazine advertising has an editorial umbrella; people trust them more
• Direct mail is a tactile media – the person holds it in their hands
• Digital is less certain. People are unclear who is behind the information and whether a page can be trusted
Writing exceptionale-newsletters
Still the one…
• Best way to maintain customer relationships
• Best way to add value, if done correctly
• Because of this, more and more companies are using e-newsletters
• And fewer people are reading them
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• Average time spent on newsletter
• Percentage of people who fully read it
• When you add words, how much extra time do they spend?
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• Average time spent on newsletter • 51 seconds – less than a minute
• Percentage of people who fully read it• 19% - less than one in 5
• When you add words, how much extra time do they spend?
• Trick question – they spend less time
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My newsletter…
• Written like a letter
• No graphics, 10-12 pages of just text
• Few links
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…but it proves a point
• 2600 people in 37 countries
• Less than 70 “opt outs” in 11 years
• Content is king
Writing effective e-mails
What function does each part serve?
• Top 10-20% has headline and the offer. Objective: get people interested
• Next 30-50% has visuals, benefits, call to action
• Remaining 20-50% is probably wasted….
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Three Parts of an E-mail
• Top 10-20% which will show through in a “Preview”
• Next 30-50% “above the fold”
• Remaining 20-50% below that
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1. Subject Line rules
• Even more important than a headline, or an OE
• “Clarity trumps clever”
• Needs to be instantly relevant
• Should have offer
• Could flag your market
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• Return Path research - 49 characters ideal
They claim a 75% lift over more and less
• NO ALL CAPS!!! Or special typefaces, asterisks, $#%!@
• Try “Free” - especially in B2C
• Be Seasonal
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3. Text matters
• Here’s why you are receiving this e-mail
You opted in
BORA (Based on Recent Activity)
BOSI (Based on Searched Interest)
• Begin and end with a link
• Use a Johnson Box, with an offer and a link
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Dear who?• Dear 1st name is ideal or…
• Have the salutation put them in the mood you want them to be…
• Dear Lover of Beautiful Things Antique magazine
• Dear Breadwinner Insurance product
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…and even more text
• This isn’t a letter
• Get the offer quickly
• Specific facts and numbers
• Shorter is better; 200 + 300 words
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4. Call to action
• Multiple calls to action; Start with a link, end with a link
• Make sure you also include an 800 number
• Make the call to action BIGGER — so people see it when they scan
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Add action icons
• Boxes
• Arrows
• + signs
• Shopping baskets
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5. Opt out/opt in
• Always end with a privacy statement and
“Opt-out” option
• But never, ever let someone just opt-out
• Just like Casablanca, “This can be the start of a
beautiful relationship” - on their terms.
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Best practices in design and strategy…
• Give them a choice• Only talk to me at these times• Only talk to me about these topics• Only talk to me in these ways
• 40% of all “opt-outs” will opt right back in again• And you can talk to them in a much more targeted
and relevant way
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A few parting words about writing
Write. Rewrite. Repeat
• “The first draft on anything is #@&%!”
— Ernest Hemingway
• “Only ambitious non-entities and hearty mediocrities exhibit their rough drafts. It is like passing around a sample of your phlegm”
— Vladimir Nabokov
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“Many have the talent to become great, but
few have the energy ”
— Tom McElliot
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Thank YouVisit www.AlanRosenspan.com
for 100 articles about direct marketing,
A new blog, and to ‘link in’