Copywriter gets 100 per cent response

At a recent marketing boot camp, I asked a member of the "audience" what a good response rate is. She said 40 per cent. A great response to a direct mail letter is one per cent.

I'm pleased to say a recent email campaign I wrote got a 100 per cent response.

OK...it was just one email but it got the response I wanted.

A former intern asked me to write an email to a person at a TV station; the former intern wanted an interview with a news director. Instead of the standard "please may I be so humble as to recommend..." I thought about what the person at the TV station would be looking for and wrote a direct response letter with 17 reasons my former intern should get an interview. The intern got the interview and the internship.

100 per cent response!

The key was getting into the boots of the news director and thinking about what he/she would want from an intern.

For my direct response copywriting site, www.scottmartinwriting.com, go here.

More sagacity from the CDMA meeting

....as I mentioned in my last blog, I went to the June Charlotte Direct Marketing Association meeting. There was an excellent guest panel with some top direct marketing people. Each one admitted to having made one of the biggest marketing mistakes...one I've made and one everyone has made.

We all have ideas we think are superb and even life-changing. Or superb AND life-changing. Suddenly, we discover, sometimes after having spent time and money on the idea, we're pretty much the only one who thinks the idea is brilliant...others might like the idea or the product but won't pay for it.

The panelists admitted to having made this mistake...which was big of them. Very few people are willing to admit marketing mistakes. These professionals have the benefit of data and a response baseline. So the raw numbers tell them if the idea was a profitable one.

What can we learn as direct marketing people? What can I learn as direct response copywriter? Right now, my unique selling proposition (USP) is speed. I think it's important and I have clients who think it's important...these are people who "buy" direct response copywriting. However, the "speed" idea isn't generating enough response, I'll make a change. I'm about to re-write the copy for my direct response website and I'm keeping my USP but I will make a change if necessary.

It's not what's important to you...it's CERTAINLY NOT what's important to the copywriter...it's all about what's REALLY REALLY important to the person who will buy your product.

How I learned a lot about direct response...at lunch

Yesterday, I attended, for the first time, a Charlotte Direct Marketing Association meeting. It was a lunch and the group put together a superstar panel: senior direct marketers from Wells Fargo, Lowe's, and Bank of America. There was a gentleman from Cleveland who is right at the cutting edge of data collection and distribution plus John Hill, executive creative director, Hawkeye...an advertising agency with a great track record in direct response.

Going to the lunch reminded me of the importance of networking as part of a marketing strategy for a direct response copywriter...or anyone.

Over the next few days, I'm going to write about the lunch and my thoughts about the sagacity from the panel. Much of what I heard buttressed what I know about direct response. Here's the first thing...

John Hill talked about a direct response package he put together for a bank. It had a simple A vs. B option/offer...you can get this interest rate with these terms or this interest rate with these terms...or something along those lines. Everyone was really happy with the response and it's such a simple strategy.

As I told the people who attended my direct response marketing boot camp in the Ballantyne area, ALWAYS offer two options. You're going to buy or you're going to buy.

For my direct response copywriting site, www.scottmartinwriting, go here.

Are you ready to benefit from direct response?

I'm currently working with the following companies on direct response copywriting projects.

• District Design/SiteStream...a superb web design and graphic design company in Charlotte


• A crafts and arts show company in Vermont


• A cosmetic dentistry practice in Ballantyne


• An internet start-up in New York City...very cool social media concept that will revolutionize fundraising


• A writer in western North Carolina with a sizzling screenplay


• A direct response radio advertising agency in southern California


• Legendary Marketing...the most successful golf, resort, and destination advertising agency in the world.

Thank you for the business.

Some of these companies use direct response all the time. Some have not but are now doing so...why? They want to be more results-driven. So they are using direct response copywriting. Here's my site...

So you're getting great SEO results...now what?

When did search engine optimization become the rage? Ten years ago? What have we learned about search?

It's work

It's unpredictable at times

It's not a science but it's not art, either

It's important--perhaps more important than ever

It's destroyed print and Yellow Pages

It can be very expensive

It's highly measurable but still controversial

It's a weird animal. If you're not getting great SEO results there are lots of things you can do to improve your ranking without spending a ton of money...I'll go through these in a later blog. This blog is dedicated to the people who are getting excellent results.

Here's what I hear...over and over.

"We're getting great search results but nobody stays on the site." And if they're not staying, they're not buying.

It's like spending a lot to get someone to a store but once the customer is in the store, there's nothing there. So the customer leaves. And is annoyed and frustrated. And never comes back.

I'm starting to hear from a number of SEO people who understand this problem...they didn't before. They thought, "OK I got great results for my client so that's it." Google results were great but MONEY and REVENUE rates were poor. So...they're asking me to write copy for the website that gets people to stay and buy.

So, if you're getting great search results, well done. Now let's make some money by writing response driven copy.

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I solve the web copy bottleneck problem. For my copywriting website, go here.

Charlotte copywriter: www.scottmartinwriting.com

North Carolina copywriter: www.scottmartinwriting.com