FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, Why the Stress On the Headline/Photo combination? Is it really that vital?

Yes. Every marketer should read a recent Wall Street Journal article on cognition. Basically, the article related new research that shows a human brain actually makes a decision before its owner is even aware the decision has been made. Of course, the article brings up weighty questions concerning free will and self-awareness. These are way beyond the scope of FunMarketer (although I’ll chat with you about them over a cup of coffee sometime).

As usual, I immediately thought: “How can I write a better ad from this?”

This research reinforces the idea that you’ve got just a couple of seconds to grab that customer/prospect. See, if the customer isn’t even aware her brain is processing information relative to making a decision, it’s all the more important for you to instantly push as much relevant information in front of her as quickly as possible. The headline/photo combination is a crucial first step in this process.

And it is a process. A simple shock photo and headline may attract interest, but if there is no correlation to strong Benefits or a Quick Story that pulls the prospect along the road to a purchase decision, then you’ve merely wasted your prospect’s time. And, in that moment, probably damaged your brand in the mind of the prospect. People accept that they’ll be advertised to, but they hate to be lied to.

For those of you familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, I urge you to refresh you acquaintance with his theory of “thin-slicing”.

Remember, your customer is thin-slicing your ad campaign, from initial contact right through the moment they choose to act on your Call-To-Action — or not.

That’s why we always include a quick sample in our “FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea Of the Week”. If you save these you can quickly run through them and snag some ideas that you can use as the basis for some great campaigns of your own.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Here’s a great one for financial services or any type of educational/higher learning school deal.

Photo: Istock #5417006

Headline: You Still Must Run the Race – But We’ll Level the Track for You

Alternate Headline: Acme Financial: Leveling the Race Track Before Your Competition Does

Got any great ideas of your own? Just reply to the FunMarketer blog with your istock number and your headline and subhead (Clean Only, Please).

Oh, if you do use the campaign, make sure you give credit where due.

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

The last FunMarketer post mentioned value and trust and their importance in your marketing. Let’s look at three quick ways you can incorporate these into your marketing:

1. Length of time you’ve been in business. This adds the Trust element.

2. Testimonials. The fact that somebody supplies a testimonial adds a bit of a trust element. The testimonial itself should reflect value – either that the price was a world-beater, or that the product was stellar. Many of you are not the low-cost provider, you are the best-value provider. Make sure your testimonials reflect this.

3. Tone. If you want to scream low-price, then use lots of starbursts and other graphic treatments. Low-price ads usually must shout the fact; the text and graphics and message should be fast and in their face. Sure, if you’re Wal-Mart and you’ve pumped millions into an ad campaign like ‘Always’ you can afford to be a bit more subtle. For most of your low-price ads, say it loud and proud.

Again, it may sound really basic, but trust and value are big themes for the rest of this year.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Ripped at the seams”. Speaking of phrases, you can almost hear the Grease soundtrack in your head if you’re over 35 (maybe even if you’re younger, if your parents took you to the 20th year Grease mania ten years back). OK, so here’s a phrase you can leverage for some last summer hurrahs — I don’t recommend you actually use the entire phrase from Grease, “Summer Dreams, Ripped at the Seams” because it’s copyrighted and there’s no use ripping off somebody else’s art. The key idea here is to plug into a popular phrase, “ripped at the seams”, and let your audience make their own associations in their mind(s).

It’s not exactly archetypal, but it’s along the same line. Sorry, Carl J.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert