Twice in two days, I’ve had the same conversation with marketers suffering from the same confusion. Both are organizations that rely on lead generation as the first step in their sales processes. That is to say, they expose prospects to their marketing message in an effort to move them to contact the company, learn more, and finalize a sale.

The problem both companies had (and I see this all the time) is they were falling into the trap of over-communicating in their marketing materials… telling their whole stories… every detail… forgetting that the goal of their marketing is not to close the sale on the spot. Rather, the goal is to motivate a prospect to call and engage in the sales process.

I find this happens most often when companies write their own marketing copy. They are so close to what they’re doing, they lose their ability to trim down their story. They can no longer write copy that engages prospects quickly, established the firm’s credibility, yet leaves enough to talk about that it makes sense for the prospect to call.

This problem is VERY easy to stumble into. I struggle with it myself when I’m writing about products or services that I’ve been part of creating.

Here’s what seems to happen…
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If you’re not doing ROI calculations before and after your marketing initiatives, you certainly should.  Let me remove any excuse for not doing this…

I’m surprised by how easy it is for marketers to overlook this important calculation as they weigh their creative options and plan their campaigns.  So, let this first act as a simple reminder not to undertake anything marketing-related this year without at least considering your anticipated return… and the return you got the last time you did something similar.

Sometimes it’s admittedly difficult to arrive at solid ROI forecasts in the marketing arena.  Your investment in PR… in word-of-mouth… brand-building….  That’s not to excuse those who turn a blind eye all-together to ROI relative to these activities, but there is no denying that it can be tough.

But when it comes to direct marketing and pay-per-click advertising, you’re insane if you aren’t being diligent about ROI.

This is why I’ve taken a couple of my own ROI calculators and published them here for you to use whenever you like. Bookmark the page. Send it to your colleagues. And never again accept another DM or PPC marketing proposal without a clear calculation of ROI (along with the underlying assumptions).
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A short while ago, I wrote a post discussing one of three key marketing principles discovered and well-documented by the Eureka! Ranch (Overt Benefit). I’ve gotten a lot of feedback since, and thought it would be worthwhile to complete my review of all three principles as we should all have them at the forefront of our minds as we undertake our work.

The second principle speaks to the skepticism that all of us feel when confronted with marketing. Let’s face it… life experience has taught us to believe little of what we hear from marketers.

For this reason, strong statements of benefits – no matter how compelling – fail to move people to action without the help of REAL reasons to believe what you’re saying.

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If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know the value I assign to stellar design and copy. Not surprisingly, I’ve found some of the most helpful writing advice on other blogs… some of which you will find below.

Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers (a blog well-worth following) has announced the winners of his second-annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers.

Thanks to Michael for compiling the list once again. And congratulations to all of the winners.

1. Copyblogger, by Brian Clark: Holding the number-one spot for the second year running, this site excels at teaching the art of writing. I like this blog so much that I subscribe to Brian’s email feed. This one is well deserving of the top spot.
2. Freelance Writing Jobs, by Deborah Ng: For writers seeking new work, this site is your sole destination and maintains a top spot in our contest from last year.
3. The Renegade Writer, by Linda Formichelli and Dianna Burell: Are you a freelance journalist looking for inspiration? Look no further.
4. Web Content Writer Tips, by James Chartrand and Harrison McLeod: With a focus on making more money as a writer, this blog is full of helpful how-to articles.
5. Web Writing Info, by Courtney Ramirez: This excellent blog looks at social networking and emerging web-based opportunities for writers.
6. The Golden Pencil, by Anne Wayman: Wayman, a second-year winner, examines how to go for the gold as a freelance writer.
7. Catalystblogger, by Jennifer Williamson: Williamson writes about the pains and trials writers face.
8. Freelance Parent, by Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry: Two moms provide excellent perspective on writing with a dash of parenting.
9. Write from Home, by Amy Derby: Derby provides fresh commentary and advice on writing.
10. Copywriter Underground, by Tom Chandler: This site, a second-year winner, provides regular doses of inspiration for copywriters.

If you’re serious about your writing, give these a look.

It’s difficult in the marketing world to define marketing principles that are truly more than mere theories…

But the Eureka! Ranch has managed to do it.  Over the last decade, it has compiled and analyzed thousands of client cases related to the introduction of new product/service concepts and new marketing messaging for existing products/services.

This research has produced and quantitatively validated a number of well-proven and very practical conclusions for marketers of all types.

One of the key principles that emerged from this research dispels a dangerous marketing myth and therefore needs never-ending reinforcement. And it applies consistently across industries and consumer/business segments.

I’m referring to the critical importance of communicating what the Eureka! Ranch folks call your “overt benefit.”
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How long can you hold your audience’s attention with a message that starts out with ambiguity? This is a question for TV and radio advertisers, copy writers, and public speakers alike, and getting it wrong can be embarrassing – or worse…

Sometimes a mysterious opening can be powerful and have great impact upon resolution. Other times it flops. Not unlike humor in advertising, people tend to respond with either love or hate – rarely neutrality.

Here’s an exercise for you. Watch this advertisement. I guarantee you haven’t seen one like it before. Show it to a few folks around your office, and watch the varied responses that you get.

Then, see if you can piece together a pattern of reactions among the people you show it to such that you can predict who will like it and who won’t. Herein lies the litmus test for when to steer clear of ambiguous, mysterious openers in your communications.
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We’ve all heard the age-old admonishment. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

What a joke.

In a time when we are all subject to constant information overload, there literally is no time to judge a book – or anything else for that matter - by anything more than its cover.
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What a joy it is as a marketer to promote a product for which there is an objective, compelling argument… when the numbers simply speak for themselves… when people would have to be crazy not to buy it.

This type of product doesn’t seem terribly common, but my guess is that there are a lot more of them out there than we know.

We’d all like our products or services to fall into this coveted “no brainer” category, and as clever marketers, we do our darndest to build and convey the compelling case for our wares. So often, we make our arguments quantitatively.  After all, who can resist when the numbers speak for themselves?

The problem is that even when they do… often they really don’t.
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You’ve heard the old saying.  “I know half of my marketing budget is wasted.  I just don’t know which half.”

I’ve said it before… I hate that saying. But I guess it wouldn’t still echo in the conversations of marketers if, once upon a time, there weren’t some truth to it.

If a remark like that rolls off your lips these days however, odds are, you’re just too lazy to figure out what’s not working.
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For almost two years, I’ve been working on the development and launch of a portable electronic health record for consumers to carry on a USB thumb drive. This is a very challenging undertaking for reasons I’ll likely share in a future post. But today something happened that prompts me to write on the danger of familiarity. I see it all the time in product development, marketing, sales system development, and even among entrepreneurs raising money for new ventures.
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