If you have half an ounce of direct marketing blood in you, you probably see just as much terrible advertising as I do.
Even if you’re just walking around the mall, driving down the freeway, or flipping through a magazine, I’m sure you look at some of the ads and think, “Man, what in the world were they thinking?”
Which made me wonder…
What’s the simplest way to explain the difference between direct response marketers (us) and the rest of the advertising world (them)?
What are the exact components that make a direct response ad (online or offline) get results?
And is there an easy, pocket sized check list that anyone can refer to, to make sure they’re following the essential fundamentals of direct response?
Well, that list can actually be summed up in four, simple principles.
How’s that for easy?
In later posts I will be filling in the subtler details and sub-points of direct response, but for now, here are the four pillars to acknowledge.
These points are actually taken from legendary direct marketer and copywriter, Clayton Makepeace.
For your ads to be considered direct response…
- It must create or intensify your prospect’s desire for the type of product you’re selling by presenting the benefits it will bring to his or her life
- It must convince your prospect that because the key benefits of your product are unique (and therefore superior to all other competing products), that makes it his only rational choice
- It must leave your prospect feeling that it is urgent for him to buy your product as soon as possible
- It must compel your prospect to action by providing a way for him to purchase your product immediately or at the very earliest opportunity
In short, it must SELL.
This is what your sales sites, emails, teleseminars, webinars, podcasts, blog posts, ALL of your communication and marketing should strive to accomplish.
Unless your objective is to bring pure content to your audience (like an informational blog or a pure content site) you will be trying to sell something.
And even if you ARE delivering pure content right now, unless you want to go hungry, you are eventually going to have to sell at some point.
That’s why we use direct response, whether offline or online: Because it’s 100% accountable, 100% track-able, and 100% proven to work when applied properly.
No brand or image style advertising that you see from swanky Madison Avenue Advertising Agencies can claim that.
The ONLY two points that I believe Clayton leaves out in this checklist are the following.
- There will be an OFFER - For some reason I didn’t see a clear mention of having an offer in the principles above. This is essential to your business success.
- There will be Tracking and Accountability - Even though I just mentioned it, this concept is worth talking about again.
Because of the specificity of direct response, every variable in every ad can be carefully tracked, tested, and improved upon. And smart direct marketers take advantage of this idea as much as possible.
So, even though there many, many other important fundamentals of direct response (which we will cover in the days to come) these are the core principles to make sure you apply in all your sales messages.
Also in the following posts we will cover specific examples of how to actually apply these principles with real life case studies.
Hope this helps.
-James D. Lee
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