MAD MARKETING TACTICS™ !: Shopping

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Marketing: Conspiracy, Secrecy And Revelation

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Every so often I receive an email solicitation with a magnetic phrase in the Subject line, and I am enticed to open it. Spam or not, curiosity is the first motivator (placed right in the subject line) that will compel me to open an email to at least scan it before discarding it.

In a successful email campaign, the first key (aside from selecting a demographically and psychographically qualified prospective list of recipients, is a powerful subject line to invoke either curiosity or warm familiarity. This will depend upon the circumstances of how you've come by the list -- if your audience is comprised of subscribers to your newsletter or service, then the familiarity approach is usually quite adequate to achieve a substantial opening rate. In other cases, the curiosity strategy is most effective. If you can combine both, you've got an email that will be perceived as an "insider secret being shared," which is optimal.

Then, if you are selling a product or service in that email, and if you dealing within the realm of business to consumer communications, the three elements that your teaser email should contain are these:

1) Some hint of a conspiracy - people are naturally paranoid and curious about conspiracies, and the reasons and powers behind them;

2) Secrecy - people are very romantic, with provoked imaginations about secrets...especially ones which have been kept from them by powerful mysterious conspirators; and

3) Revelation - The nation that you about to break the seal on the secret scroll (it helps to have a good story about how you were able to obtain it and why you are making it available) and make its wisdom available to all who were blessed to receive your correspondence.

Following is an example from my inbox that contains the basic elements described above, on a very simplistic but effective level, especially if you are not dealing with a very sophisticated audience. Enjoy it. Please note that I do not endorse the promoter or any product offered for sale -- I'm using this letter exclusively for the purposes of illustration:

Cover-up: 150 Year Old Weight Loss Secret
"Forced" into Hiding is Finally Uncovered...
1863 — That's the year a remarkable discovery was made — one that SHOULD have given every man, woman and child the gift of knowing precisely what works to burn fat and keep us fit, happy and healthy for life.

But that didn't happen...

Instead a strange combination of misguided politicians and greedy corporations has driven this discovery underground where it's sat quietly for 150 years.

And what's worse is that the government not only hasn't lifted a finger to help...it's actually made the situation FAR worse by enacting ridiculous policies that have made us all sicker, fatter and more depressed than ever.

But one man has had enough — enough of the nonsense, enough of this "conspiracy" to hold back the existence of this discovery that is the secret to unleashing the thin, happy and healthy person hidden inside you.

This PhD nutritionist has actually put together a short exposé that blows the lid off of what's happened.

Warning: you'll be shocked and angered by what you are about to see...brace yourself.

It's simply unconscionable that this 150 year weight loss has been held from the public for so long...well, that ends, TODAY, when you watch this remarkable exposé right now.

Well, my fellow Mad Marketers... note how all of these elements, from the magnetic subject line to the conspiracy, to the secret, to the revelation [which will lead to a sense of urgency and a call to action] work together to make a fine sales letter. It even refers you to a video to sink the marketing hook into you just a bit more deeply, by engaging more of your senses and your time, and by deepening your emotional investment in the product or service to the extent that you'll almost want to justify your research and feelings by buying what is offered.

Some of my colleagues have distilled the essence of marketing down to this:

"Showing people a tempting rabbit hole, and guiding them down deeply into it".

Douglas E. Castle

[http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle]
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Value Prostitutions - Late Nite Infomercials!

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Yes: Value Prostitutions. These are different than genuine value propositions because they are all about 1) bargain pricing ("But wait.....if you order now, we'll send you a second drain unclogger absolutely free!) and a 2) false call to action ("Only if you call within the next 20 minutes..."). It is obvious that the "limited time only" is not an actual time limitation at all. You'll see the same ad and offer the following night if you are watching reruns of cable TV filler. Sometimes, they'll even say that the product (i.e., an electromagnetic, GPS-enhanced, tick and flea control dog collar) is in "limited supply!" Get YOURS while supplies last.

This type of value prostitution does lure a number of hyper-imaginative, ignorant and impulsive buyers (insomniacs with telephones and almost-maxed-out credit cards) to place their orders ["You'll want to grab a pen and write this number down!"] especially during its first few weeks of airing, the ultimate message starts to be:

These things cost us nothing, so we can practically give them away because our markup is enormous;
The quality is not that good. These things might look good on TV, but they're flimsy pieces of junk when you actually receive them. You'll need two for when the first one falls apart, melts, or disintegrates;
We, as the producers of this infomercial, think that you're stupid, and that you are easily persuaded by an offer that appears "too good to be true."

If you want to build a name for your product or your brand, you'll never, ever build it in this manner. Pile up all the bonus extras as high as you would like -- they are still like spraying cologne over body odor.

These opportunistic infomercialists never run a campaign regarding a product for very long. And now you know why. A value proposition lives longer and stays stronger than a value prostitution, which latter strategy is just a means of scooping up the "low-hanging fruit" in the consumer sector. A credible firm can destroy its brand with this type of bargain-basement hucksterism.

I would say more, but I am now helping my wife arrange our spices in this dandy new carcinogenic plastic-like spice rack. It's a real space-saver, and we got two of them! The second was free, except for a slight handling charge.

Bargains may initially appear magnetic, but in the longer-term, they can severely and often irreparably devalue your brand.

Douglas E. Castle

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