PromoWriting

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Circ Day Takeaways from a Creative POV (Point of View) -- Part II

Last year, I referred to Circ Day as an idea fest, and this year proved to be another gala of effective tips and tactics. Here are some valuable nuggets from this year’s panelists. I’ll be posting more tips to my blog soon.

1. Conde Nast sends three ebills before their mailed billing series. This has led to double digit increases and lower costs. Volumes are small but increasing yearly. They have found 11 AM EST is the best time to Email.

2. Stack your best offers at the front end of your renewal series. Otherwise, you are training subscribers to wait. U.S. News only offers renewal premiums in efforts 1 and 2.

3. On your homepage, try two colors, such as red and yellow, top and bottom, for your subscribe buttons, as different colors attract different people. Make Subscribe the first tab on your toolbar.

4. Reader’s Digest found that adding a second window to their Statement of Benefits voucher package lifted response. They are currently testing a third window. White is the envelope color of choice, which beat kraft. Faux labels, a scratch-off contest and an express mail look were all unsuccessful.

5. The New England Journal of Medicine found that adding a lift note from the editor-in-chief lifted response to their voucher 25 percent. A brochure resulted in a 30 percent lift. Emphasizing online benefits boosted response 25 percent. Collecting email addresses actually lifted response 30 percent. And a premium (especially a jump drive) increased response 23-25 percent. They have tried a duffle, pliers’, and mug and will test an optical mouse and pad next.

6. U.S. News recommends adding labels to change of address and cold donor mailings.

7. A Fast 20 KitchenAid mixer is working for Martha Stewart Living and they can’t test out of it, whereas a sweeps depressed response.

8. A combo mailing between Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food produced a 15-20 percent lift. A $4.95 shipping cost is added without much resistance.

9. Niche publishers can partner with competitors to get into retail stores. A deal could involve a listing in the publication, a page on the website, and 10 copies of each issue, for one up-front payment. This is bringing in 10 percent of the circ for NewBay Media.

10. Bruce Miller, Bonnier Corporation indicates generic renewal forms almost always win over custom forms.

11. People Magazine uses freemiums in bills for a heftier package…and because they add value and guilt. They’ve been successful with bubble bath, lotion and a pocket calculator.

For copy that gets results or a copy critique, contact Shira at 203 371-0654, via email at
shira@promowriting.com or her website www.promowriting.com

Monday, February 18, 2008

Spruce up Email blasts

Jordan Ayan, CEO of e-mail service provider SubscriberMail gave a webinar presentation, “Top Ten Things You Need to Know About E-mail Creative,” offering insider tips for creating more effective E-mails. Ayan underlined the importance of relevant, concise subject lines:

* Use no more than 45 characters or five words

* Never use all caps

* Avoid punctuation

* Stay away from “cute” headlines, but be creative

* Make it relevant to your target audience

* Test subject lines three times

* Think like a filter

* Target your audience with different subject lines

* Think relationship, not message

* Avoid spam words

He mentioned four key rules for subject lines:

1. Be clear why your recipient should open the message and what to expect

2. Make them content-focused vs. entity-focused;

3. Keep it simple

4. Ask a question

Ayan suggested six ways to making e-mails relevant to your audience. He suggested they be

1. meaningful

2. interesting

3. rewarding

4. timely

5. not intrusive

6. answer the “What’s in it for me?” question

He gave an example of a successful e-mail campaign by Brunswick Zone, the bowling company. They personalized their message down to the store level, providing the nearest Brunswick Zone to each recipient. An attractive promotion (99 cent bowling) focused around an event (the 4th of July) demonstrated relevancy and value.

The e-mail coupon generated an outstanding 40 percent redemption rate.

Ayan gave the following copywriting-related tips:

* Direct consumers’ focus to the main message of the e-mail, whether it be price, availability or a sale

* Add a click to view in browser message for those having trouble accessing the e-mail

* Use free shipping or other offers with high perceived value to boost response

* Entice customers to add you to their address book

* Include an invitation to upcoming special events

* Send time-sensitive E-mails for special sales and promotions

* Provide tips, tactics and how-to articles

* Test color vs. an e-mail without color

* Use contests

* Segment your market


Need help creating successful E-mail blasts? Visit
www.promowriting.com

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