MassNet Marketing Blog

There are several elements of marketing which include: public relations, promotions, publicity, advertising and sales.  The below story was written by an unknown author and helps define marketing and all its pieces.

If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday”, that’s advertising.

If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion.

If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity.

And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations.

If the town’s citizens go the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales.

And, if you planned the whole thing, that’s Marketing!

If you want to make a powerful difference in boosting your ad response rates, then pay particular attention to your headline.

Why? Because five times as many people will read your headline than your copy. Quite simply, a headline is…an ad for your ad. People won’t stop their busy lives to read your copy unless you give them a good reason to do so. So a good headline promises some news and a benefit.

Think about the last time you browsed through your local newspaper. You checked out the articles, one by one, and occasionally an ad may have caught your eye. Which ads were the ones most likely to catch your eye?

The ones that looked like an article.

The ones with the headline that promised news.

The ones with fonts and type that closely resembled the fonts and type used in articles.

The ones that were placed where articles were placed (as opposed to being placed on a full page of ads, for example).

The ones with the most compelling headlines that convinced you it’s worth a few minutes to read the copy.

Remember that the headline you use is extremely powerful and very important to the overall response rate that your ad receives.

Ad copy is one of the most important aspects to consider when it comes to grabbing the attention of your target market. However, it’s often confusing as to whether you should focus on benefits or features when writing your copy. Let’s take a quick look at the differences…

What are features? They are descriptions of what qualities a product possesses.

· The XYZ car delivers 55 miles per gallon in the city.
· Our ladder’s frame is made from a lightweight durable steel alloy.
· Our glue is protected by a patent.
· This database has a built-in data-mining system.

And what are benefits? They are what those features mean to your prospects.

· You’ll save money on gas and cut down on environmental pollutants when you use our energy saving high-performance hybrid car. Plus, you’ll feel the extra oomph when you’re passing cars, courtesy of the efficient electric motor, which they don’t have!

· Lightweight durable steel-alloy frame means you’ll be able to take it with you with ease, and use it in places most other ladders can’t go, while still supporting up to 800 pounds. No more backaches lugging around that heavy ladder. And it’ll last for 150 years, so you’ll never need to buy another ladder again!

· Patent-protected glue ensures you can use it on wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, glass, and tile…without messy cleanup and without ever having to re-glue it again—guaranteed!

· You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data, and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.

Just remember, it’s more important to focus your ad copy to emphasize benefits not features.

Your website is the hub of your online business; it is the virtual representation of your company whether your company exists physically or not. When you are doing business online, people cannot see you physically like how they could if they were dealing with an offline company. Hence, people do judge you by your covers. This is where a good design comes in.

Think of it this way; do you allow your salespersons to dress in shabby or casual clothes when they are dealing with your customers?  By making your staff dress appropriately, you are telling your customers that you care about quality. Realize that first impressions matter; online and off!

If your website is put together shabbily and looks like a 5 minute “quick fix”, you are literally shouting to your visitors that you are not professional and you do not care for quality.

However, if you have a totally professional looking website layout, you are giving your visitors the perception that you have given meticulous attention to every detail and you care about professionalism. You are organised, focused and you really mean business.

And, it’s not just your online marketing design that matters – you should also have anything related to your company well designed. From business cards to letterheads to promotional brochures, every little bit matters.

All of these items become the face of your business. It matters to your customers, so make sure it matters to you. Spend the appropriate amount of time and/or money to make sure your first impression is a favorable one.