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Which comes first: copy or design?
When you are concepting a campaign, the messaging should always come first. But once the overall direction is decided, which should come next - writing the copy, or mapping out the design? The answer: it depends . . .
Envelope direct mail is typically referred to as "copy-driven." An envelope is usually used with a sales letter - and the sales letter is the "salesperson" in the package. The copy in the sales letter should say exactly what a salesperson would say if face-to-face with the recipient. And so, the sales letter copy needs to address each step in the sales process, just as a salesperson would do if face-to-face.
With envelope direct mail, you want to map out the copy (the selling argument) first. It's the amount and type of copy needed that will dictate what elements are needed in the package and how long each one needs to be.
Brochures and non-envelope direct mail ("self-mailers")
The purpose of a brochure is to be a "showroom" for a product or service. Similarly, you might use a "self-mailer" (a mailer that goes in the mail without an envelope) when you want to use a "showroom" approach in your mail. With the "showroom" approach, you should map out the visual elements that will be needed in your showroom (charts, graphs, product photos, screen shots, etc.) first, then determine how much copy will be needed to go along with the visuals. (If your brochure or self-mailer will rely primarily on copy to get the desired response, then copy should be mapped out first, to determine how large of a brochure or self-mailer is needed.)
Catalogs are typically referred to as "design-driven" (they're "showrooms"). The design of a 2-page catalog spread needs to move the eye through the spread. And each spread needs to be interesting enough to keep the recipient engaged in the catalog.
The more profitable and best-selling products should be given more space, while less profitable and less popular products get less space. Once the designer knows which products will go into a spread, and how much space to allocate to each product, the design can be mapped out. Then, copy is typically written to fit. (With catalogs, the space allocated to each product is based on that product's revenue and/or profit - not by how much copy the copywriter thinks needs to be written to sell the product.)
Print ads in magazines and newspapers are typically design-driven (and tend to be "showrooms"). The amount of copy is limited by the size of the ad, and is dictated by the purpose of the ad (direct sales that must cover the ad's cost, new customer acquisition that can be done at a loss, leads at a certain level of quality, etc.). The more the focus on trackable measurable response from the ad, typically the more room devoted to copy (more "seling" needs to be done to get a response, and selling is done by the copy). The more the focus is on building awareness of the company and/or the product, the more space devoted in the ad to a "branded" look. So the overall ad concept is typically decided first; with copy written to fit the design concept.
How to design (or re-design) your web pages
Which should come first when you add or revise a web page - writing the content, or mapping out the design?
Web pages should be design-driven. Surprising? It's true that you might expand the number of web pages, or the length of pages to fit the copy needed. But in putting together individual pages, the design must come first - to ensure the most important elements stand out. The best procedure for developing or revising your web pages is:
1. Decide what elements need to go on the page - and list them in order of importance. What do you want the visitor to see as the most important elements? Those elements need to stand out on the page - and appear "above the fold."
2. What do you want the visitor to see first? Typically, the eye is drawn to any photo that might be on the page - and then to your logo (to verify the visitor is on the correct site). The best place for a photo is in your main column, just below your masthead. Typically called a "hero shot" (because it makes your product the "hero" of the page), the idea is to draw the eye to the product photo as a starting point.
Watch out for photos elsewhere on your page. Keep in mind the eye will first be drawn to them - if they pull the eye away from the most important elements, those photos need to be moved or removed.
3. What are the key actions you want to encourage the visitor to take? Those links need to be prominent. The best place for "action" links or special offers is the upper right corner.
4. Once you've mapped out the most important elements and where they will approximately go on your web page, then you write (or edit) copy to fit.
Paid search and SEO efforts deliver greatest online ROI
MarketingSherpa recently surveyed marketers about which email and online advertising vehicles delivered the greatest Return on Investment. Paid search (pay-per-click) was mentioned by 49% of respondents as having a superior ROI as compared to other online and email tactics.
Paid search: 49%
Email to inhouse list: 47%
SEO: 45%
Behavioral targeting: 34%
Contextual targeting: 29%
Rich media ads: 28%
Affiliate marketing: 25%
Pop-ups, pop-unders: 15%
Email newsletter ads: 13%
Banner ads: 12%
Email to outside lists: 11%
Our conclusions:
- Your online marketing budget should be weighted towards paid search and SEO efforts. Is yours?
- Regular - and personalized -- email communications to customers need to become a priority (something too many companies really don't spend enough time on)
- Static and animated banners and rented email lists are dying a slow death. How much of your budget in these areas is perhaps not being put to best use?
Pay-Per-Click Update:
Are you learning all you can about pay-per-click on Google? Google continues to gain in total percentage of search traffic, while Yahoo, MSN, and Ask are declining. Yahoo recently revamped its own pay-per-click program to work more similarly to Google's AdWords. If you're not testing Google's PPC program, you probably should be. It costs just $5.00 to get started, with the minimum bid at $.05. (And there's no monthly minimum like Yahoo has.) Google has added a keyword selection tool to help. Your ranking will be the cost-per-click (CPC) multiplied by your click-through rate (CTR). So if your ad is effective at generating clicks, your ad can appear higher than a higher-bidding competitor (a practice Yahoo has also recently adopted).
How to get your ad on some big-name sites cost-effectively
Are you managing the content side of your PPC campaign separately from your keyword search side? Google's Content Network (NYTimes, FoodNetwork, USNews, PCWorld, Lycos, About, MarthaStewart, CBSSportsline - to name just some of the bigger sites) allows:
Yahoo's Content Match Network includes CNN, iVillage, TheWeatherChannel, VH1, NationalGeographic, HomeGain, and Move, among others. The Content side of pay-per-click might be a highly cost-effective way to get your ads on some big-name sites.
What are the PPC keys to success?
1. Assign a tracking URL per keyword per search engine
2. Use the keyword in your title (headline), description, AND on your landing page
3. Develop more keyword phrases of 2 or more words (they tend to cost less, and tend to convert better because they're more specific)
4. Use Google's testing feature, which Yahoo has also recently added, to help identify your best titles and descriptions
5. Manage the Content side separately
6. Compute your cost per action per keyword - and compare it to revenue per keyword
7. Develop landing pages that focus on the promise in your ad - AND the specific action desired (completing a registration form, downloading info, purchasing, etc.)
Upcoming Seminars . . .
USPS (San Diego) Direct Mail Certificate Classes
San Diego DMA: Combining Branding + Response
DMASC (LA): Creative Strategy for Direct Mail
You can earn a USPS Certificate in Direct Mail Marketing, by boosting your direct mail knowledge in 6 morning classes. The San Diego Postal Customer Council will again offer the classes in 2007. (If you didn't get to complete all 6 classes in 2005 or 2006, you can take the classes you missed and still earn your Certificate.)
Karen Marchetti will again be presenting 4 classes, including: · Offers that Sell on 3/14 · Copywriting Workshop I on 4/18 · Direct Mail Design on 5/16 · Direct Mail Testing and Financials on 6/13
For registration information, visit www.sdpcc.org.
OFFERS That Sell!!! (USPS San Diego)
March 14, 2007 10:00 am - 12:00 noon
What's the fastest way to improve response? Change the element that drives it -- the Offer. Is your Offer an afterthought? In direct mail, the Offer is one of the 3 critical elements for success (along with List and Creative). In this information-packed session, you'll learn:
Creative Strategy for Direct Mail (DMASC)
Wednesday, March 14 6:30 - 9:30 pm Los Angeles
(part of the DMASC Direct Marketing School)
You will learn how to:
We'll cover:
1. Creative elements - features versus benefits, long copy versus short copy, principles of effective copywriting, and critical elements of effective design
2. Package formats - how to choose the most appropriate format and your package components
3. Writing the creative brief
4. Crafting offers that sell
5. Creative testing
Plus, a creative critique of your samples. To learn more, visit www.dmasc.org
Branding + Direct: How to combine both for superior ROI
(San Diego DMA)
March 20 7:45 - 11:30 am
COPYWRITING Workshop I (USPS San Diego)
April 18, 2007 9:30 am to 12:00 noon
Copy in direct mail must SELL! How can you ensure your copy gets the job done? Discover a simple 7-step process for planning a more effective creative message. Then you'll put it into practice, as you write and edit various direct mail pieces during this workshop. Before you leave this session, you will know how to:
Direct Mail DESIGN (USPS San Diego)
May 16, 2007 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
How do you put an effective direct mail package together? What package format should you use? What pieces should you include inside your envelope - and should you use an envelope? How do you get your package opened - or past the "gatekeeper"? And what makes one direct mail package get 3 times the response of another?
Learn how to review your entire direct mail package from the eyes of your prospect. You'll discover:
Direct Mail TESTING and Financials (USPS San Diego)
June 13, 2007 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
Testing is the key to maximizing every dollar of your direct mail investment. It's how you can steadily boost your response rate -- and your profit! Each time you mail, you should be learning something - by comparing Lists, Offers, headlines, emotional appeals, and more. Find out: