Direct Response Copywriter on The Search For a Copywriter. My Advice To Marketing Managers.

Looking For a Copywriter?

If you're a marketing manager or you're an HR professional, then I have some advice for you, but only if you're serious about finding a really good copywriter.

I recorded a three-minute video about this subject and I'll summarize my thoughts below. The video is here.

I see a lot of companies who advertise copywriter openings on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and other sites.

The HR people follow a template. They usually want a full-time employee and, thinking they'll get a higher quality candidate, they say they’re willing to pay slightly above the average.

The average comes from some data source that may or may not be accurate.

All of this totally misses the point.

Why?

You’re treating a copywriter like a commodity and if you look at a copywriter in this way, you're doomed to failure.

What’s the job of a copywriter?

Let me tell you what it’s NOT.

• A copywriter is not here to win awards.
• A copywriter is not supposed to capture “brand voice” … whatever that means.
• A copywriter is not supposed to be original.

The job of a copywriter is to generate top-line revenue using proven direct response copywriting techniques. Yes … the company must have traffic and great offers. But the smartest copywriters understand that having an elite level direct response copywriter on their team will bring them tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

Unfortunately, most companies believe this: “I’ll get a great copywriter by paying slightly more than other companies and making them a full-time employee … with great benefits like Ice Cream Socials every other Tuesday afternoon plus an extra 15 minutes every day to walk their dog or pet ferret.”

Surprisingly, even if you get a stack of applications, you’re only going to get a mediocre copywriter.

Is that what you want?

• That top direct response copywriter will bring you tens of millions in revenue. (I’ve done that for several companies).
• That mediocre “award-winning” copywriter will bring you a fraction of that.

If you have some flexibility in your hiring model, then your chances of finding and keeping a top copywriter skyrocket.

One more thing … if you’re a marketing manager/executive, then you’re going to look like a rock star when you can bring in all that revenue. You get all the credit.

Do you want to be a rock star or a never was? If it’s the former, then find that top direct response copywriter and kick that "typical" employment model to the curb.

Direct Response Copywriter On The Bad Side of Marketing

I’ve been working in marketing for a long time, close to 30 years. As such, I’ve worked with some great marketers and some marketers who are not so great.

What’s the difference?

The great marketers understand what a direct response copywriter can do for them. They actively search for ones who can help them generate significant revenue. Also, the great marketers speak a very specific language …

• Call to action.
• Headline testing.
• Highlighting benefits.
• Cost per acquisition.

The language is precise. They treat direct marketing as a science.

What about the not-so-good marketers? That’s easy. Here’s what I hear … jargon.

• Low-hanging fruit.
• I’ll be untangling the spaghetti here.
• I’m going to bird dog that for you.
• We have to maintain some brand equity here.

What did the great David Ogilvy say?

“Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.”

At the risk of sounding like an ornery so-and-so, I’m not impressed when someone in marketing starts speaking in jargon-ese. I like to spend time with direct marketers. These are my people and I love speaking the language of direct marketing.

Direct Response Copywriter on "Reasons Why" Copy

I see a lot of direct response copy. Much of this includes the “fundamental” elements:

• Pre-head
• Headline/deck
• Lead
• Features
• Benefits
• Guarantee
• Close
• Call To Action

All good. But here’s something I rarely see: “Reasons Why" Copy. I always include this copy element in my long-form copy. I sometimes include this in shorter copy, including opt-in pages.

I use the format:

23 Reasons to Try INSERT PRODUCT

It might be fewer reasons … it might be more.

I write this element after I’ve written all the other copy. It’s basically a summary of the benefits, presented in a numbered list. Yes, I fully admit I’m going to repeat myself. But let’s remember that around two-thirds of people don’t read all the copy. A list of “reasons why” might be the one thing that really grabs their attention deep in the body copy. There might be one benefit that will ultimately motivate them to try the product or service. They will likely find this benefit in the “reasons why” copy. Plus the other benefits will buttress their decision.

In a perfect world, I want the reader to sell themselves on their buying decision. If you’re like me, you’ve justified a purchase to yourself by including some additional benefits beyond your original ones.

For example, you might decide to buy a car because it’s fast and powerful. If you’re on the fence, you might ultimately "sign on the dotted line" because of the color or the promise of a super-high resale value. I pity the salesperson who doesn’t introduce the other benefits of the car beyond its raw speed.

If you’re a direct response copywriter, I encourage you to start using “reasons why" copy. It’s one reason my copy has helped my clients generate millions in revenue. Sometimes the list isn’t that long. Sometimes it’s really long. I include as many of these as I think I need to make the sale.

And one more thing … the inclusion of this element will make your copy longer. That’s always a good thing when the copy is relevant. Long copy almost always beats short copy.

Direct Response Copywriter on How to Establish and Build a Brand ... Branding Experts Won't Like This ...

A company with which I’m extremely familiar just completed a re-branding.

I’ve known a lot about this company for about 20 years through various interactions. This company has its roots in the upper Midwest.

It’s not a company with 100,000 employees but it’s still a good-sized company, big enough to employ a person called a Chief Branding Officer.

The CBO just completed a massive re-brand complete with new logo, new colors, and everything that goes along with this process. It took about 3 years and likely cost around $4 million if you include all the new stickers and "stuff" that goes with a re-branding.

They even had a “brand camp” and the CBO was quoted as saying something like … “brand is a journey” … whatever that means.

As a direct response copywriter, I have absolutely zero interest in branding. To me, a brand is simply some type of symbol that accompanies the name of a business. It's a luxury item. People in branding think that branding is what motivates someone to choose one company over another. This sounds nice but there’s little or no proof to back up this theory. It's just plain wrong.

And branding people love their jargon and they love their buzzwords. But they never want anything to be measured. And what about the subject of proof? It’s not even part of the lexicon of branding.

Here’s my advice to you when it comes to building a brand … based on 34 years of experience in direct marketing.

If you want to build a relationship between your "brand" and your customers, then get them to enjoy your product. And to make this happen, use direct marketing techniques … including direct response copywriting.

You can measure the effectiveness of your marketing spend down to the penny with direct marketing and yes, you can use all the pretty pictures and that brand-new logo.

I’ve helped two small companies “establish a brand” as their direct response copywriter. These two companies collectively generated over $600 million in revenue. We never ONCE talked about "the brand." We just went about trying to execute the fundamentals of direct marketing and getting products into the hands of the people who would benefit from these products.

I would bet my car that the great Ron Popeil, who sold $1 billion worth of the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, rarely thought about “brand.” Instead, he focused on traffic, the offer, and direct marketing principles. He ran 30-minute infomercials mostly on late-night TV.

My final statement will make branding types red with rage but I don’t care.

Nobody cares about your brand. Nobody cares about your company voice. Nobody cares about your logo and your pretty pictures. Nobody cares about "brand equity" and "brand authority" and all that other raw, pure guff.

They care about themselves and how you can help them get where they want to get.

Once you help people reach their goals, you’ve established a brand. Want to re-brand? Harness the power of direct response marketing.

The scrapheap of failed CMOs and CBOs is replete with people who believed that branding is "it" and ignored direct marketing. They got the boot when the CFO asked "where's my revenue?" and the reply was, "well, our re-brand went really well."

Direct Response Copywriter on The Real Value of Headlines

If you were to ask me, “what’s the most important copywriting skill a direct response copywriter must own?” then my answer is fast and easy.

“Writing headlines.”

The headline is the ad for the ad. The body copy might be great. But people will only read that body copy when the headline grabs their attention.

I like the John Caples headline formula.

Curiosity + Self-Interest = Compelling Appeal.

If it worked for John Caples, it works for me.

We all know we use headlines for … well … headlines. But there’s a lot more to headlines than a headline at the top of an ad or sales page. You can use headlines for …

Subheads. The deck (bullets under a headline). Envelope copy for direct mail. Bullets and fascinations. The lead paragraph. Email subject lines.

I rarely see emails with a headline. Why? That makes no sense to me.

I highly recommend that every direct response copywriter knows how to write headlines at an “elite” level. Start by looking at the headlines that great copywriters like Dan Kennedy and Gary Bencivenga write.

Plus I recommend you read every John Caples book. There's a copywriter who knew how to write a headline.