The Copywriter Underground

Even a cursory reading of my blog should suggest strong support for small business blogs (medium and big biz blogs too).

And why not? As some one who plied the waters of interrupt marketing for so many years, I’ve come to realize the benefits of engagement marketing, especially in light of the new media channels opening up.

It’s always nice to read an article from someone who “gets it” – and then makes it work.

Tim Jackson of Masi Bicycles pens an excellent article on Marketing Profs about the benefits of the small business blog in his outdoor business category – high end road bicycles.

Sales at Masi have nearly doubled each of the last two years, and while cycling in the Armstrong era isn’t exactly suffering, it’s clear that Jackson attributes much of his company’s success to his blog.

Money quote?

I have been a huge proponent for small businesses to blog, as if their lives depend on it… because they do. Drawing from my experiences in the bike industry, where the bulk of my business blogging discussions take place, small retailers really can’t afford not to blog….

He goes on to describe the benefits, which you can see in the article. Still, I can’t let this go without one more excellent quote:

Keep in mind that most of the customers who walk into your retail store are spending time “shopping” online before they step foot into your store. They are engaging in an online experience, wouldn’t you prefer that they have that experience with you?

Replace “customers who walk into your retail store” with “customers who buy your products” and you’ve got a solid argument for blogging for the brand.

[tags]masi, bicycles, tim jackson, interrupt marketing, business blogging[/tags]

I’m a big advocate of pursuing companies you want to work with instead of blindly marketing and accepting whatever comes back. But turning a short, carefully vetted list of prospects into a roster of clients has never been easy.

Enter the Lumpy Mailer

It’s the digital age, I’m online, so my first contact would come via the digital pipeline, right?

Wrong.

Are Hopping Smile Teeth the key to prosperity? Strangely, yes…

Imagine crafting a sales e-mail. Well written, carefully crafted and hugely persuasive, it’s a paen to lyrical copywriting – yet it’s likely to be wholly ignored, surrounded as it is by a tidal wave of other communications.

For all the prospect knows, it’s one of ten thousand mailed that morning.

It’s not unique. It doesn’t make them feel special. And the client has to act on it immediately, or you’re sunk.

Now imagine holding a padded envelope with a lump in the middle. Or a Priority Mail box that rattles ever so slightly. And then pulling out a fun toy attached to a strong sales message.

Bingo.

Put Them on Notice

By mailing a three-dimensional object – through a channel that’s fast becoming “obsolete” in so many marketers’ eyes – you’ve tapped into the very human desire for something unique.

Many years ago, I sent an ad agency a battered bowling pin, asking if they were truly bowled over by the work they were currently getting.

As part of another agency pitch, I once shipped a large toy robot arm with a pitch card in its grippers. It told them the edgy creative they’d always wanted was now within their grasp.

Last week’s prospect received wind-up chattering teeth attached to a card, which asked the prospect if they wanted the online world talking about their products.

Why go to all the trouble? Simple. I hand-picked this very, very small group of prospects, and I want them to feel “hand picked.” And I want to get my message across with clarity and humor.

And finally, I want them to take my phone call.

Don’t Forget to Ask

Once you’ve created a lumpy mailer, don’t assume you’ve dazzled them into submission. Readers still need to know what you want, and the mailer isn’t a complete sales pitch. It’s simply a foot in the door.

My goal? A phone call, though I sometimes create a landing page so the client has an option. (If you have even mediocre Web skills, landing pages are fast, affordable, and continue the dialog that began with the mailer.)

Still, don’t expect the lumpy mailer to do the whole job for you; it’s an amuse bouche — a single taste of your communication skills. It’s not designed to do the whole sales job for you, but gets you in the door so you can make your pitch.

It’s not a silver bullet (if the prospect doesn’t need you, they don’t need you), but it is a powerful way to grab a little mindshare and make a prospect smile — especially given that cool objects tend to live on the recipient’s desktop for a while.

Lumpy mailers aren’t cutting edge. They are, however, damned effective, and belong in every copywriter’s arsenal – for you and your clients.

Communications giant Verizon just announced a company blog that promises a response to questions within 24 hours.

It’s interesting that a blog offers small and medium-sized businesses a channel where they can clearly out-compete their larger brethren (not that there are any small players left in this market), yet many are failing to embrace this new channel.

In the meantime, big players are jumping on the bandwagon, though anyone who models their company blog after GM’s lame effort probably needs a healthy dose of butt-kicking to clear up their thinking.

[tags]blogging, verizon, business blog, marketing[/tags]

The basis of engagement marketing is… engagement (not surprisingly).

So why do so many interactive, “two-way” blogs think their job is finished when their entry is posted?

Talking Back. It’s a Good Thing.

You can’t engage someone if they think you’re not listening. And in today’s Web 2.0 world, feedback (in the form of comments) is critical.

Otherwise – instead of a two-way, interactive channel – your company (or client) is simply operating another “interrrupt” channel. With little hope of engagement or the formation of an online community.

And that – typically – is the real goal.

So when your business is building a blog (or you’re pitching one), build-in enough project time to reply to comments.

It’s critical, but apparently often forgotten – even by organizations as big as GM.

[tags]Web 2.0, Fastlane blog, online community[/tags]

Your strongest marketing tool? It’s not your SEO strategy, your finely tuned messaging platform, or even your copywriter.

It’s the passion of your customers.

Tap into that, and you’ve created a mobile sales force that can’t wait to sell your product. They’re engaged. They’re credible. And they’re chomping at the bit to spread your message.

Passion-based marketing? It exists. It always has. But if you market with flat, lifeless messages – or worse, can’t prove your organization shares your customers’ passion – then you’re relegated to doing it the hard way.

Is Passion in your Marketing Plan?

What’s it mean? You’d better deliver a rich experience. Tell a story. Let them know you’re worthy of their support.

You simply can’t market at them. You’ve got to talk to them. Engage. Incite. Capture their allegiance.

Is that in your current marketing plan? Are you using rich media? Interactive online channels? Are you really talking to your customers? Is passion a key part of your message?

In view of all the interactive communication channels popping up, it’s time to sit down, cast aside your preconceived notions about marketing, and look at your marketing plan with fresh eyes.

If your customers are passionate people, then market with passion. Anything less, and you’ll lose ground to a competitor who will…

Blogs are finding their way into the arsenal of corporate marketing departments, and for those willing to try this new marketing channel, the payoffs can be significant.

A marketing blog can build customer loyalty, help recruit new customers, drive revenues, unify fanatic users (who sell your product for you), and help you retain control of your brand image.

But how do small and medium businesses build a successful blog?

Set your goals. Then blog.

The time to define a blog’s mission is not three weeks after its debut. Before starting the project, set clear marketing goals for the blog – and only then define its character.

For example, are you trying to sell product, or are you blogging for the brand? Is the blog a conduit for company information, an attempt to put a human face on the organization, or an online community of fanatic users?

Only when you’ve decided on the mission can you consider the blog’s content. For example, if your goal is to share your company’s passion for your products with passionate customers (passion-based marketing is deadly in the right markets), then you’re looking for passionate writers.

Want to put a human face on your company? Find a storyteller. Trying to impart technical information to users? Search for someone who can distill mountains of information down to molehills of finished copy.

Style counts.

While blogging is an extremely flexible medium, your mission still defines the majority of its content. Simple “how-to” posts impart information (and build traffic), but don’t necessarily incite passion or humanize a company.

Humor works wonders, but requires a deft touch (don’t do it unless you’re good at it – you’d be amazed at how often it falls completely flat).

Photographs help define a blog’s look, but that cuts both ways; if your images are boring and amateurish, that will be everyone’s first impression.

Finally, if your customers are doing exciting things, then don’t create a boring blog. A blog is the ideal place to inspire and motivate customers – so make sure you’re posting inspiring, motivating content…

Until a day ago, Floyd Landis was simply the American cyclist who won the Tour de France after an epic, one-day escape put him in a position to clinch the win.

Now Landis is accused of cheating by using performance-enhancing testosterone, though there are a lot of questions surrounding the testing (and he still has a “B” sample counter-test yet to be performed).

Yet – to most of the mainstream media – the question of Landis’ innoccence is glossed over, his guilt a bygone conclusion, and his career in jeopardy.

The Value of Community

While the mainstream media butcher the facts of the story, it seems as if the only people getting it “right” are the blogs and online communities of cycling fans – sites like the Podium Cafe.

The relatively small Podium Cafe community has leveraged the Internet and amassed an impressive amount of information about the tests, the recent changes in test results, potential for false positives, etc.

In short, they’ve done a far better job than the mainstream media, and it’s likely the information they’ve gathered will radiate outward. Shout down the major media? Unlikely. But have an effect? Some today. And more tomorrow.

So why all this in a marketing blog?

Imagine your organization is Landis. And it’s been accused of something, then tried and convicted by the trade press without benefit of due process. Now imagine your organization had created and supported an online community that was willing to do the digging and investigation the media wasn’t.

In a small, narrow product universe, the effects would be significant. In some cases, hugely significant.

Today’s organizations are taking their first, tentative steps towards online community building (engagement marketing), and some balk at the difficulties estimating revenues derived from the venture. They wonder if they can afford it (though the technology is very cheap).

I wonder how they can’t.

So what are you really? Word jockey or success guru? If all you deliver are words, then it’s time to reconsider your role…

It’s not easy for your clients to succeed in today’s fragmented, fast-changing marketing environment, and for a copywriter used to selling success as much as words, writing simply isn’t enough.

A tricky headline won’t save your project from a bad media buy, and no lead can salvage a program that’s not in line with a company’s business goals.

Do you really need to be as much consultant as writer? Look at the number of media channels available to the average client. Years ago, their choices were limited to a handful of print venues and some broadcast media. Today there’s a universe of choices, and it seems like more are created hourly.

Positioning is key. Messaging is critical. Exploiting niches a must. And sadly, most small and medium-sized businesses – who are too busy surviving to know about the online marketing opportunity created 27 hours ago – will make a hash of media.

If you can’t help them make the right decisions, your project will fail. Your client will enjoy an ROI of pennies on the dollar. And your work will be suspect – your fault or not.

You’re the Expert.

You’re the one who should be asking your clients to think big. You’re the one who finally suggests an online marketing plan. And you’re the one who unmasks their specific business goals – and if the current project really furthers those goals.

The ugly truth is that most businesses still market like it’s 1989. For many, you’re the bridge to today. Blogs? Engagement marketing? Direct mail? Interactive and rich media? Lasered eggs? (No, I’m not making the egg thing up.)

Your clients probably don’t know about them. You should. Because if you want to hold onto clients in a fast-fragmenting marketing universe, don’t sell words. Sell success. The next pair of posts will show you how.

(Up next? The Messaging Platform)

I just finished a Financial Times Q&A session with Michael Caine lookalike Maurice Saatchi, where he suggests the proliferation of fast-switching media channels will be the death of traditional advertising.

The idea? So many messages coming so quickly means companies must clarify their brand to a single thought/word, and then market it so ruthlessly that any mention of the company brings to mind the thought (Volvo/safety).

I’ve quoted a sample of his reasoning:

“The latest developments in neuroscience indicate that a teenager today, who has grown up in a multi-channel, digital environment, processes messages in a different way to his parents. His brain is physically different. It has rewired itself. It responds faster. It sifts out. It recalls less. This is what makes it possible, apparently, for a modern teenager in the 30 seconds of a normal TV commercial, to take a phone call, send a text, receive a photo, play a game, download a music track, read a magazine and watch commercials at X6 speed. They call it CPA, Continuous Partial Attention.”

Maybe. But what about the little guys?

It sounds plausible. Yet small and medium-sized companies don’t do “branding.” They can’t allocate the monster ad budgets needed to brand their names, much less co-opt a word in the language. They don’t mess with non-niche media channels. And they must maximize return on every dollar (or get steamrollered by bigger-spending competitors).

My belief? Small and medium companies should brand… by engaging. An engaged listener isn’t limited to a one-word attention span. Engaged listeners don’t need to be shocked into picking your message from the continuous garbage flow that contains all the other messages.

Simply put, engaged readers are looking for your message, not running from it. Engage a customer, and you’re bookmarked. RSS’d. Part of their trusted daily feed.

Saatchi assumes that interrupt marketing is the only choice. For small and medium business, it’s fast becoming a last resort for anything but prospecting in the least qualified markets. For the rest, engagement marketing tilts the playing field in favor of those businesses willing to be authentic – those willing to create a community that supports their brand instead of trying to force their brand on the community.

The online world is awash in “content.” Most of it garbage. Not surprisingly, many of the Internet’s hottest sites aren’t content generators as much as content controllers. Search, filtering, rating… it’s all designed to separate the relevant from the irrelevant. And the wheat from the inedible.

For writers, there’s opportunity in all the mayhem. For example, I’m pitching a corporate blog. Outside of the obvious traffic/loyalty/revenue benefits, I’m also offering the company a chance to salvage control of their brand.

You see, as I write this, industry message boards and lists are discussing my prospect’s products. Which means the company has lost control of their brand on the Internet. To any savvy marketer, that’s not an appealing prospect.

It’s a problem they may not see – until you point it out to them. It’s also a problem you can solve. Through the blog, you build a loyal community and let them direct direct the online conversation. You rescue the brand. And become a Blogging Superhero.

Want backup for your pitch? Read this post in the excellent Communities Dominate Brands blog.

And here’s the beauty; the smaller the company, the bigger the benefit (and competitive advantage). But more on this in another post. For now, look at your client list. See if there’s a blog pitch in your future.