Event Marketing Articles and Event Promotion

Does Your Headline Grab Their Undivided Attention?

What’s one of the most powerful marketing elements in print?  I humbly present to you the “Headline.” Over the year’s I’ve done a decent amount of research on the importance of headline writing and the impact it can have on your marketing. Headlines might be more powerful than the visual elements for a piece of print or online advertising.

The Power of Headlines
Someone once told me that 70-75% of the reason that a person chooses to read a magazine article or newspaper article is based solely on the headline. Many magazines are sold by virtue of headlines on the front cover. Next time you’re in front of a magazine rake pickup your favorite magazine and look at the cover. In almost every case the cover of the magazine is inundated with article headlines from that issue.

Event Marketing
If you’re an event marketer, headlines are a way to quickly hook your prospect’s attention. If you can draw them in with a strong headline, you’ve at least tickled their fancy. I’ve seen a number of ads in newspapers and online for various events. Few of them have headlines that speak in a meaningful way to the event's target marketing.  Use the advertising headline for your event to invoke your prospect’s desire to attend, not tell them why you think your event is going to be great. As one person put it “Get into their ego and out of your ego.” You’d be amazed by the results.

One question to ask yourself is “Does the headline get my prospect to read more?” It needs to speak to the prospects needs. Does it convey a benefit or prospect desire?

Instead of giving you a bunch of headline suggestions, I’d like to direct you to some great resources for creating great headlines.

Great Headline Resources:

• How to Write Effective Headlines
• 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work
• How to Write Magnetic Headlines

Get Your Audience Involved Through Their Emotions

Last week I had the opportunity to do some brain storming with a new client. They were looking to create a promotion for their fitness center.  In my client's case the operative ad concepts were "pizza" and "fitness." My client was starting a new promotion with a local pizza company.  The headline of the ad was "Worried Your Pizza with End Up Here?" with several arrows pointing to a female cartoon figure's derriere.  Initially there was some hesitation on the client's part to move forward with the ad.  It was a little risque and they were worried that someone might be offended. I made the suggestion that the client test the ad with fitness center members that were working out. Every person laughed out loud after reading the ad and nobody was offended.

When it comes to writing on the web or for promotional materials make sure you stand out from the crowd.  An easy way to stand out from the crowd is to engage your target audience's emotions through the words you use.

Involve Your Readers Emotions
Some of the most memorable writing I can recall made a connection with me through my emotions.  Even though it isn't being used to sell or promote a product, one of my all time favorite short stories was written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated describing a flight in an F-14 Tomcat. It engages a number of emotions and feelings all with words.  If you can be funny and connect with your audience in a meaningful way you are golden.  Look what Geico has accomplished with Geckos and Cavemen.

Remain Ordinary or Strive to Become Extraordinary
A friend of mine reminded me of an important business lesson emulated by top entrepreneurs. Being different is a catalyst for innovation and growth.  In his book, The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss gives us a great axiom for being different. . .

Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission.
"If it isn't going to devastate those around you, try it and then justify it. People—whether parents, partners, or bosses—deny things on an emotional basis that they can learn to accept after the fact. If the potential damage is moderate or in any way reversible, don't give people the chance to say no. Most people are fast to stop you before you get started but hesitant to get in the way if you're moving. Get good at being a troublemaker and saying sorry when you really screw up."

I'm not encouraging anyone to be vulgar, offensive, or demeaning with their writing or advertising. But be different! Use a conversational style of writing to better connect with your audience. Your high school English teacher might cringe, but it works. Too many businesses try to use "corporate-ease" to sound sophisticated. As a result readers get lost in the drab writing and never make a connection with the company, product, or service. Readers don't care what your product or service can do if you writing completely confuses them or bores them to death.

Additional Resources:

• Using 40 Million Dollar Words
• The Content King of the Internet
• Words with Pizzazz and Razzle Dazzle
• The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising (Part I)

• Worried About People Not Showing Up to Your Next Big Event?
  
  

Words with Pizzazz and Razzle Dazzle . . .

During a recent visit to a local shopping mall I ran across this intriguing advertisement:
”Flavor-Infused All Beef Delicacy Complemented by a Hand-Crafted Golden Brown Crust.” That is one heck of a way to describe a plan old corn dog.  A few moments later I thought to myself “I wonder if the advertisement would actually entice anyone.” 50 feet later I had my answer, there was a gentleman consuming a “Flavor-Infused All Beef Delicacy.”

Words make a world of difference in how consumers interpret your product or service online.  Aside from the actual copy itself, which is tremendously important, two places everyone should pay close attention to are headlines and link titles. Headlines and link titles represent your first salvo of user enticement.

Headlines Provide a Hook
Users and consumers interpret headlines to determine their next course of action with numerous items: web pages, newspapers, magazines, books, etc.  I can’t recall the source, but I do remember one case study that indicated 70% of what people consider reading in a magazine is determined by article headlines.  Consider all the article headlines you find on the cover of your favorite magazine.  Why are they there?

The headline scenario is analogous with the online world.  A great example of powerful headlines can be found on the Yahoo home page.  The links of various articles come in the form of text headlines on the home page.  The more compelling the headline the more likely someone will click on a web page.

Other Important Places of Consideration
Another place where words and supporting copy are critically important is with pay per click campaigns.  Ad position is an important consideration, but the largest differentiator in ad performance is the words you use.  The best performing ads are those with the most compelling copy targeted to a specific niche market.

You should always be thinking of creative ways to draw your user into your product or service.  The first place to start is with a well thought out headline or link title.  Just remember that good copy extends well beyond just the title or headline.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself:

• Do my headlines entice my users to read more or click on your link?
• After the headline or link title, is rest of the content equal in quality?
• Have headlines and link titles been tested to determine their effectiveness?
• If headlines and link titles have been tested, was something done with the data?

The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising (Part II)

The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising ... continued ...

Creating Traffic
Compelling high quality content drives traffic to web sites and can encourage users to return on a regular basis. Two facets of traffic generation are high quality content and search engine optimization.

High quality content can come in the written form of articles, e-zines, ebooks, and white papers.  Dr. Joe Vitale brings up the following as it pertains to online articles, "write articles that answer problems and distribute them online. This builds credibility and if they're truly useful people will make them viral.” Successful people online produce high quality content on a regular basis.

Search Engine Optimization relies heavily on the written word. The words you use are going to compel people to click or link to your content. Those all important back links rely almost entirely on text links from other web sites. HTML text is the main diet of search engine spiders. More high quality content and back links can result in higher search engine rankings.

Converting
After visitors end up on your web site you want them to take some sort of desired action.  Well written copy supports all aspects of the conversion process.  A conversion can be anything from subscribing to a newsletter to purchasing a product or service.  Bob Bly points out the following: “the most effective way to differentiate your product or service is what you say - the words you use.” There are long copy web pages that garner six and seven figure incomes for their owners not using anything more than words. 

If you can master the art of copywriting you have the ability to out perform most people online regardless of the advertising medium.  Copywriting is the one universal talent that can bring you closer to success online.

The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising (Part I)

What is the most powerful form of online advertising? The previous question challenges almost every business owner with a web site.  Most Internet marketers would respond with any or all of the following suggestions: SEO, PPC, Email Marketing, Banner Ads, Video, and plenty more. A compelling argument could be made for any of the items previously listed as being the best form of online advertising.  Yet there is one fundamental which is the root of almost every form of online advertising, the ability to write compelling copy or copywriting.

Copywriting goes beyond just putting words down on a piece of paper or computer screen.  Copy includes headlines, articles, and HTML content. Copy needs to be crafted in such a way that it resonates with a specific niche market compelling them to take some action.  When you align the right words and pull at the reader’s emotions you have the most powerful form of online advertising.

Why is copywriting the most powerful form of advertising? 
Consider what Google accomplished with just the written word.  How many billions in advertising revenue has Google sold through Adwords and Adsense? Copy is inexpensive to produce and extremely versatile.  Text is one of the easiest forms of online content to deliver.  No other form of online content loads as quickly as text.  There isn’t much one can accomplish online without words like “click here, buy now, search, or submit.”

The Online Process
One distinct advantage copywriting over other forms of advertising is that it can facilitate every step of the online sales process.  In order to be successful online web sites need traffic. After you have the traffic, you need to convert those visitors.

Part II of The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising

Finer Typography Points

As a follow up to last week’s post Watch Your Typography, I came across an article getting into research around the use of typefaces and readability. The article points to research conducted by the Wichita State University Software Usability Research Laboratory.  The research provided given some scientific insight into user interaction with type. 

Marketing Sherpa Article Excerpt …

"Web surfers like Times New Roman and read it roughly as quickly as a sans serif font. So the "sans serif is better online because people read it more quickly" argument many Web designers have tried out on me isn't true all the time.

Researchers almost invariably used type in 10 or 12 point size for the reading comprehension tests. Few seem to have tested much smaller fonts, such as 8 or 9, mainly because they assumed that small wouldn’t be a good idea (i.e., no one will be dumb enough to put type that small, so why test it?).

Researchers also didn’t test color type such as pale gray vs black on white. Again, I assume because they knew from offline type tests anything that's not black on white is harder to read, so what Web designer would think putting body copy in other colors is a good idea?"

Source: Typefaces that Work Best Online - Marketing Sherpa

The most important thing to remember is to design and test for a specific web site’s demographic. It's easy to forget your demographic when something looks cool.

Watch Your Typography

Have you ever misinterpreted something that should have been completely obvious?  Earlier today I was out for a meal with my friend Mike.  When it comes to typography Mike, the graphic designer, is always one to take notice of the finer details.  Graphic designers have a unique perspective when it comes to anything involving design. After quickly taking notice of something unusual, Mike asked me to read an ad from the placemat in front of me. It was a great lesson in the art of typography.  "With great power there must also come great responsibility" said Uncle Ben to Peter Parker. The analogy can be used for how type is displayed.  Anyone can completely change the meaning or feel of a group of words just by using a different type of placement, font, or style.

Would Your Pet Enjoy “Jail”?
Upon first glance the ad reads “Happy Jails Pet Grooming.” Somehow I can’t imagine many people enthused to take their beloved pet to “Happy Jails Pet Grooming.” This is a classic example of how something as simple as a font can change people’s visual interpretation of advertising.  Because of the font used a many people read “Tail” as “Jail.” To make sure the misinterpretation wasn’t a fluke I tested the ad with a few other friends later in the evening.  They also read the ad as “Happy Jails Pet Grooming.”   

The More Eyes the Merrier
If you’re going to run advertising online or offline always get someone else to double check your work.  There are numerous times when a designer or a company interprets their work one way and the public interprets something completely different.  This mentality has lead to more than a few failed advertising campaigns over the years.  Always test your advertising with the public before going public.  A few people can quickly identify something that isn’t obvious to you or your company.  Use their feedback to make any necessary corrections.  When it comes to advertising and marketing, get out of your ego and into the customer’s ego.   

Additional Resource:

• Proofing Your Work on Paper

Web Copy Arguement: Short or Long?

Opposite Sides of the Fence
How many times have you visited a web site and found the text to be long winded? There is a fine line between long winded copy and compelling copy.  This subject area is one place where direct marketing principals and usability somewhat conflict with one another.  Each discipline has its advantages and you can use both to your advantage. 

The Web Usability Argument
From a usability standpoint you should try to keep your copy as short and concise as possible.  Make sure that the copy is easy to get through for the user.  Use bullet points and short simple sentences.  That’s always been good standards from the web usability world.  Years ago, when I first came across some of the long copy web sites it was easy to point out all the usability issues.  A few years later I’m left questioning some of my own standards.

The Direct Marketing Argument
As a result of first hand experience, I've seen the virtues of long copy.  It goes against some usability standards, specifically those that call upon web site owners to keep their copy short and to the point.
It’s difficult to argue against results.  One person I know has a long copy web site and he’s doing tremendously well.  He is one of many whom I’ve studied.  How can you argue against long copy if helps you build an email database of over 40,000 opt-in email addresses and over a hundred thousand dollars in revenue in a few short years?

Another fun Dan Kennedy example to drive home the point …
”I was once having lunch with a client of mine and with a guy who was trying to sell my client on joining a new advertising co-op. The co-op guy spent ten minutes criticizing my client’s current ad, telling him it was too cluttered, had too much copy, and so on. When he finally shut up, my client innocently responded: Well, maybe you’re right. It only pulls an eight-times return on investment.”

Source: Kennedy, The Ultimate Marketing Plan

The Content King of the Internet

How many times have you heard the old cliché “Content is King” on the Internet?  A majority of content is in the form of text.  Users can’t do much on a page that doesn’t contain words.  “Click Here, Buy Now, Play, etc.” are just a few examples. Text is the simplest yet most powerful asset to any web site.  Contrary to what some people may tell you, words are still the foundation of online communication. Are you making the most of the words you use?

“The Internet Will Make Libraries Obsolete”
Years ago a number of people predicted doom and gloom for the book industry as the Internet grew in popularity.  They said libraries would go dark and bookstores would be a thing of the past. Better content would be available online.  Online you have a full range of multimedia, from music to online videos. A book is just a bunch of words and maybe some pictures. Contrary to some predictions both bookstores and libraries are thriving.  In fact, one could argue libraries and bookstores have become more popular as a result of the Internet. It comes back to words. Today you can download digital versions of a number of popular books.  But, when is the last time you read a digital novel?

Words Are Popular and Profitable
Some of the most popular sites on the Internet are primary text based.  News web sites and Blogs are just two examples. If all the videos, sounds, and pictures were taken away would users stop visiting a news web site?

Several companies are cashing in on text.  An Adwords advertisement is probably the most unassuming piece of adverting on the face of the Earth.  But Google makes billions of dollars annually from just text.

The power of the pen has been replaced with the keystroke.  Yet it’s still black and white to the user.  The power of words isn’t going to fade any time soon. Those who can craft compelling copy stand a much better chance of online success.

Keep Your Text Columns Narrow

Today I ran across a few web pages with wide text columns.  The experience reemphasized a simple usability principal anyone can follow. It is in your best interest to keep text columns on your web site narrow.

Wide Text Columns
Imagine reading a newspaper in which the text column ran the entire width of the page. A full width column would make newspaper reading extremely difficult.  Now imagine the same scenario on your computer screen.  Our eyes already get tired much easier from reading off a computer screen.  Wide online columns are difficult to read.

Higher Resolutions and More Information
With screen resolutions getting higher and more monitors becoming wide screen the challenge is going to be presenting information effectively. There are a number of web sites that are designed for screen widths of 1024 pixels and higher.  How much information can you display onscreen at one time before a user gets lost?  In the coming years it will be interesting to see if users can keep up with the trend of higher resolution designs.

A History Lesson
We can look to history to give us a time proven example for column width. Pick up any newspaper and take notice of column width.  Each news story is broken down into narrow columns of text.  Have you ever seen a newspaper where the text column ran the full length of a page?  Narrow columns have been used for hundreds of years.  There is good reason for this. It is far easier for us to read and comprehend text that is in narrow columns.  The same standard can be found in the magazine industry. 

Make it easier for users to read your site, keep your text columns narrow.   

Is Your Text the Right Color?

Everyone should know some fundamentals about online copywriting.  It is a very large topic area. Today I'll concentrate on one particular aspect: text color.  I'm running across web sites daily that aren't sticking to basic online text standards:  specifically, text color in relation to background color.

Remember that you put significantly more strain on human eyes when reading text off a computer screen.  Unlike a book, our eye must interpret light coming from the screen. Because of this, you need to keep your text as easy to read as possible.  One of the easiest ways to ensure better readability of your site is by choosing the right text and background colors.

If you are using text on a light colored background, make sure that text has enough contrast.  Use dark text on a light colored background.  The same applies for the inverse.  If you have a dark colored background use light colored text.

One particular color to watch out for is red.  It deviates from the standards. My understanding is the color red is difficult for the human eye to detect because of the particular spectrum of light.  This is compounds the challenges of reading online.  Make sure you don't use red colored fonts on dark backgrounds.  Recently we had a client insist on red fonts on a dark background.  In my professional opinion, they made a poor decision to use red text and it dilutes the quality of their site.   It doesn't look good and is very difficult to read.

Always mind your online text color. Make sure you provide your user with online text that minimizes eye strain and maximizes readability.

Using 40 Million Dollar Words

Recently, an old web project came up in discussion.  Like any web site you work on, you learn something about a client and their services.  One would think after 25 hours of development and reviewing thoroughly their copy that I could tell other people about this client. In fact I can tell people what field the client specializes in, but I can't tell you any other details.   Their web site copy was so far above my head, that I don't fully understand what services they offer.

Too many company web sites use "corporate verbiage" or other high end vocabulary for their web copy.  Remember that the user might not always use the same words or phrasing.  Web writing, like your web site, should be clear, concise, and simple.  There is no benefit in writing above the average comprehension of your users. In most cases being a vocabulary scholar confuses users and makes retaining information from your site difficult.   How many sites do you visit regularly because the writing is extraordinary?   I'm guessing not very many, if any at all.  You probably visit sites that provide high quality content.

Your site will keep people coming back if it offers high quality content that is easy to read.  Use a conversational style of writing.  Be informative and interesting at the same time.

Additional Resource:
Lower-Literacy Users

Proofing your Work On Paper

There I was ... in the beautiful town of Hasselt, Belgium.  If anyone is looking for a nice getaway just east of Brussels, this is the place to go!  In the middle of winter the smell of Belgian waffles fills the streets.   On weekends, people from all over Europe come to Hasselt's wonderful boutiques to shop.

I was in Hasselt to keynote at the European Air Show Council Convention.   After my presentation, I was feeling really good about the information delivered to the delegates.  A British gentleman approached me afterward with a few comments.  He pointed out an error on one of my slides.  My first reaction was, "is this guy joking with me!?!?"  My presentation had been proofed several times. "There couldn't be any mistakes."  But, there was indeed a grammatical error on one of my slides.  It was an embarrassing moment.  I spent weeks preparing my presentation. It had been double, triple, and quadruple checked.  How did I miss such an obvious mistake?

Has something similar ever happened to you?   Or, have you launched a brand new web site, only to have someone email you about a mistake?  It happens far more often than we'd like to admit.

I believe the problem is that too many people try to proof their work on the computer screen.  Our eyes are not optimized to proof materials on a monitor. Computer screens induce significantly more strain on our eyes.

What's the solution?   Proof your articles, web sites, or presentations on paper.  Print a hard copy, grab a pen, and check your work.  I can read something a dozen times on the screen and completely miss a simple mistake.  When I check it on paper, it's much easier to detect errors.

Be sure you build redundancy into your proofing.  After you've completed any corrections, enlist the help of friends.  Send friends an email and let them check over your work.   In many cases, your friends will take some time out of their work to help.  For them, it might be a nice break from their daily routine.  Your friends are looking at your work with a fresh set of eyes.  When you look at something too many times, it becomes routine and you easily miss mistakes.

In conclusion, be sure you review a hard copy version of your work.  After you've completed your review, get some friends to help you double check the work.  In doing so, you can probably save yourself some embarrassment in the future.

Additional Resource:

• Eyestrain and your computer screen: Tips for getting relief