FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, Can you recommend an easy-to-maintain retention program?

The FunMarketer answer is: Go where others don’t. If you:

a) Depend on Repeat Customers and
b) Have your customer’s address

then a low-maintenance method to bond your customers to you is send them cards in the mail when nobody else is. High-value times could include:

1. Birthday Card
2. July 4th Card
3. “Preferred Customer Event” special invite

You say: “Oh no, Craig, we can’t send out cards to customers. It costs too much.”

Really? Acquiring a customer costs between 10 and 50 times what a Card-based retention program does. And if you are like most businesses, it is your repeat customers that support your company. It just make sense to bond them to you with a very basic retention program.

Also, my experience strongly suggests you should OUTSOURCE this function. Send your database to a good service provider and let them take care of this vital marketing function.

Can’t afford to send everybody a card? Then just choose the cream of the crop. If your business follows a classic 80/20 Pareto rule, then you can just peel off the top 20% of the customer list and mail them.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Summer is here and the beach is a great place for inspiration!

Photo: Istock #1693130

Headline: Acme Remodeling – No Job’s Too Small

Alternate Headline: Acme Architects – Practicing Great Design Since 1975

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

Use Google Suggest. For those of you who haven’t tried this tool, Google Suggest is a powerful way to explore which phrases people are using on the web. Google will actually tell you what’s popular, PLUS supply you with ideas. Think that coold search phrase you want to use in your copy or headline is the latest and greatest? Maybe, but by using Google Suggest you can find out how many people are actually searching for it.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Supplies Are Limited, so Call Now”. This phrase is one of the more powerful calls to action you can use in your copy. Yes, it may seem a bit timeworn, but remember that this phrase is battle-tested through thousands of campaigns. Remember, a good Call To Action leverages fear to push people into an action – which is often greed-based.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, should I use Greed or Fear in my copy?

The FunMarketer answer is: Often you can combine Greed and Fear into a one-two punch that is just about unbeatable. It is fast and it works.

A powerful formula is to leverage the OFFER to play on GREED (2 for 1, fifty percent off, etc) and then have the Call to Action push the Fear button.

This is a powerful, tested formula. The best copywriters and retail salespeople use it all the time. I bet you’ve ran into this in a retail store or when you were buying a car. It works.

But why?

Part of Greed/Fear effectiveness relates to Maslow and the hierarchy of needs. When you employ greed and fear as motivators, you can play directly into the basic, physiological needs without requiring your copy to engage the higher needs, such as esteem. Let’s look at trying to:

1. Get somebody to buy a hamburger
2. Get somebody to buy a diet-drink
3. Get somebody to eat healthy.

With One, the hamburger, you simply play on greed: “I’m hungry and I’ve got to eat now!” Greed isn’t always about money – sometimes it’s about food. So, you super-size the burger (a double layering of greed) and then you garnish with a limited-time offer that they won’t want to miss out on.

Using Two, the diet-drink, you just play on the basic hunger need, barely touch on the esteem need (a higher-level need), and then garnish with sex. It is no secret that “skin is in” for so many diet ads. With the diet ad mix-in the basic need for sex with the basic need for hunger–you are playing to the prospect’s Greed with two powerful basic needs. For the fear factor, you can either play off the fact that they won’t be thin in time for swimsuit season, or that they will be left out from their friends. Here you are bouncing up the ladder to the esteem needs again, but it’s almost inevitable in a diet-drink pitch

OK, how about #3 – eating healthy? With the hamburger, you apply techniques to play on the the greed for the basic physiological need of “hunger”. With the diet drink, you must consider the esteem needs, but you can double-down on greed by leveraging the basic sex need. But, to incent people to eat healhy, you must kick in the higher needs, needs for esteem. But beyond that, you also must involve the safety needs.

Much harder.

Now your copy and graphics must be muscular enough to go two or three levels higher up the ladder. #3 is much tougher sell to a general audience. It is why it is so important that when dealing with a #3 type of customer, you already have them thinking about the higher needs already.

So, if your audience for #3 is reading a health-related magazine, they are already predisposed to eating healthy and already engaged in thinking about the need for esteem and for safety.

Here the “greed” you are going for is more life. In reality, you are probably going to use “salvation” more than greed in this sell. I suppose one could say salvation is being greedy for more life. Here’s a link to a Denny Hatch article that has solid info on eight copy “emotional hot buttons” put together by Bob Hacker and Axel Andersson.

What if your #3 target is reading a general interest magazine? Now you may need to reverse the Greed/Fear order I’ve suggested above and lead with Fear. Your headline and graphic may have to jolt them into instantly afraid for their health, and kickstart their mind into immediately thinking about the safety needs.

There are other examples when we can lead with Fear, but those we’ll discuss another day.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Photo: Istock #5012478

Headline: I Just Spent My Last Buck and Now You Tell Me Acme Burgers are on Sale?

Alternate Headline: The Tooth Fairy is On Strike?
Subhead: At Least Acme Burgers are Still on Sale -

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

Boredom is your enemy. Anytime the customer is anywhere near your store, your website, or your presentation, you must surround them with distractions to keep them from being bored. Boredom puts the customer into a negative mood.

Isn’t your kid happier when she’s coloring or playing with a doll? If you want her to do something, such as pick up toys or help tote in a small bag of groceries from the car, won’t she be much more likely to perform such a chore without backtalk if she is seamlessly sliding from a pleasant activity rather than sitting at idle bored out of her mind?

It’s the same with your grown-up customers. Whether they are going to buy something from you, return something to you, or complain to you, your chances of a positive customer expereince are much better if you can keep them from being bored before they interact with your company.

Remember, not everything you have to engage them with to shoo away that spectre or boredom has to be sales-related material. A nice cup of coffee and a tv and a magazine to browse through is better than nothing.

Remember that little girl with the crayons that took in the groceries? She’s your customer, now.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Scared Speechless”. Oh, if only it would happen to the presidential candidates. Have No Fear of that happening any time soon….

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, what do you mean it’s critical that I “Signal after the Sale”?

The FunMarketer answer is: You Signal After the Sale to achieve a Competitive Advantage.

Many of you know I study Michael Porter. One of his key insights for marketers is the idea of “use criteria” and “signaling criteria”:

use criteria = what the product does for the buyer

signaling criteria = how the buyer thinks or feels about what the product does for the buyer

Superior marketing can often successfully defend against a superior product. But, even if you have a superior product, you must use signaling criteria to make sure your competitor – who you know makes an inferior product – isn’t clobbering you through superior signaling (marketing).

And guess what – a great deal of signaling needs to happen AFTER the sale.

What are you communicating? Value, of course. Yes, I can hear some of you saying: “Craig that’s Marketing 101″. Yes, well then why do so many of us violate the rules of Marketing 101? Probably the same reason the huge banks violate the rules of Finance 101; sometimes Finance or Mkg 401 looks sexier and more attractive, but it doesn’t always make you the most money.

Signaling after the Sale (to communicate the superior value your product/service has) can take many forms. You can’t just fire off a signal flare when you are in trouble and sales are down–that’s what your signaling strategy can head off. Here are two powerful reasons to implement an after-sale marketing strategy, and the attendant tools to use for each:

1. Facilitate Two-Way Communication. You want that customer talking. You want them talking to your company if there is a problem, and you want that customer talking to other people if there is no problem. The tools:

a. Survey. No, not the 10 question Customer Satisfaction stuff that corporate puts out. Just a quick survey that asks “how’d we do” and “how can we do better.” Make it look like a quick note and not something that is going to be graded by a computer. Mail it to your customer along with a pre-stamped envelope. People respond more openly if they can safely enclose their answers inside an evelope – don’t cut corners with a postcard, here.

b. Referral or Tell-A-Pal program. (Yes, it needs to be incentivized). These are simple programs to set up and monitor; just make sure you think the rewards through and that BOTH parties – referring and referred – receive some incentive for participation. Email me at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com for more ideas or specifics.

2. Head-Off Buyer’s Remorse

Good salespeople close today’s sale; great salespeople close tomorrow’s sale.

Ever felt great about a purchase in the store, and then once you were home balancing your checkbook or figuring out how to pay for your purchase got a sick feeling in your stomach? You need to be proactive in your signaling to avoid this happening to your customers.

a. Handwritten thank-you note is absolutely huge.

b. Phone call from the salesperson. Joe Girard has excellent advice here. His books are just great at sharing all kinds of sales tips, and this is one of the best.

c. Reassurance via product benefits, helpline, we are here for you, ways others are using the product, blogs on the product, etc. For those of you living in Web 2.0, this is the time to engage good blogs on your product to help re-sell you to that customer.

Get creative! It’s rarely the cost of signaling after the sale that causes companies to abandon the practice. Lack of management will and commitment is the usual culprit.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Save this shot of a US Flag for a serious campaign geared around Flag Day or the Fourth of July. For those of you who’ve seen the burial of a vet and the presentation of the triangular-folded flag to the spouse, you know how powerful that moment is.

Not an image to be used lightly – yet some of the most powerful ads can generate some very positive emotion for your company or cause.

Photo: Istock #1954124

Headline: In Between Hot Dogs and Soda Pops, Take a Moment to Salute the Real Heroes This Independence Day

Alternate Headline: For Those of You Who Couldn’t Be Here in Person This Independence Day – Thank You for Our Freedom

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

OK, if the ‘Ka-Ching’ of the cash register is just the start of the sale, how do you keep the line of communication open with your customer?

Ask.

Pretty high-tech, isn’t it. At the point of sale…ask the customer if they’d like a frequent purchase punch card, or to be placed on your newsletter or email list. Make sure you let employees know how important the lines of customer communication are.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Red Letter Days”. OK, you know a Red Letter day is typically a holiday or a specialy day on the calendar. During the summer in the US we have various “Red Letter” days such as Memorial Day, Flag Day, Juneteenth and Independence Day.

Next time you’re searching for a theme for any sale or promotion you’re having, why not try “Red Letter Days” instead of the over-used “-thon” such as marathon, sale-a-thon, etc.

Just a thought, but you might be able to build a whole promotion around it.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, what’s the difference between Envelope Teaser copy and AdWords copy?

The FunMarketer answer is: Suprisingly little!

Direct Mail Envelope “Teaser Copy” and Google AdWords Ad Copy occupy the same function in the parallel universes of Direct Mail and Paid Search. Both push the prospect into taking the next action – either open the envelope or click on the ad. Yes each has important differences, but the savvy marketer working in either universe can learn from experts in the other.

The key rule in either universe: “Know Thy Audience…and what they are doing.”

1. What they are doing…

Craig, what’s that second half mean: “…and what they are doing”? Well, that’s the key difference – behavior at the time of the ad encounter.

OK, for AdWords Copy your prospect is searching for something. For right now, let’s ignore content ads – the copy may end up being slightly different for these, especially if you are coat-tailing on a bigger competitors ads (more on that in a later post).

So, they are searching for something and see your AdWords ad…and you want to reinforce as close as possible what their fingers just typed. If they were searching for a “Brown Hat” and your AdWords ad mentions “Brown Hat” then you have a better chance of a Clickthrough.

What’s the person looking at the teaser copy on the envelope doing? That person is qualifying the mailpiece – does it live or die? They are in a totally different frame of mind than the AdWords searcher – your Direct Mail prospect is sorting, not searching.

So guess what – you need a different message in your envelope teaser copy. There aren’t any ‘key word phrases’ lingering in their mind you can then repeat back to them. Instead, you have to literally tease them into opening your envelope.

2. Know Your Audience – then write the copy

OK, for the envelope teaser copy, you will know something about the audience because you will know what lists have worked for you in the past. You have some idea in your mind about who the potential customer is. You then use your copy skills to get them to act. Experienced Direct Mail copywriter Dean Rieck has some great advice on envelope teaser copy. (Check out what Dean says about Business to Business teaser copy.)

For the AdWords copy, in addition to the repeating of the keyword phrase in your text, it’s also important to have a clear Call To Action (CTA). You must tell the person exactly what they should do.

Also, AdWords Maven Jeremy Schoemaker has a neat little trick – his AdWords arrow. Check it out on his Shoemoney post.

Will Jeremy’s arrow trick work for you? The answer is…

3. …Test.

Yes, AdWords is much easier to test than Envelope Teaser Copy. Your results are quicker, A/B splits are easier to control. Remember, don’t just focus on Click Through Rate as your benchmark for success. Conversions and Cost per Conversion are critical to review when you are evaluating your success.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Save this one for a campaign or ad that runs just before the Beijing Olympics start, when all the media coverage is focused on Beijing but before everybody is burned out on hearing about the games:

Photo: Istock #5832009

Headline: Missed Your Flight to Beijing? Race Over to Our Olmpic Sale!

Alternate Headline: Forget Beijing – The Real Race is to Our Store for Olympic-Sized Values

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

Develop a corporate Measuring Mentality–even if you are a corporation of One. It’s tough, but if you hammer away at it, you can infect your company with this healthiest of habits. Learn which marketing metrics matter most in your company, then create ways to make sure you measure whatever you can.

One of the best new technology companies for measuring inbound calls generated through paid or natural search is Voicestar. I have worked with them and they are excellent at helping companies capture value. Shoot me an email at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com for more info on them.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Campaign Trail”. I am a bit weary of this presidential campaign. The phrase ‘campaign trail’ tugs up images of the old west, of the Chisolm or Oregon or some other ‘trail’ to the frontier. You might say I personally feel like a cowflop on the campaign trail.

Maybe it’s time to put a widget on your website …. a counter that counts down, not to when Dubya leaves the White House, but when the election is over.

Happy trails….and

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, why do I need a marketing checklist?

The FunMarketer answer: If seasoned airline pilots trust the discipline involved in using a checklist before they take off, why not apply the same method to our marketing?

Checklists are easy ways for us to keep from reinventing the marketing wheel every time we start a new ad or launch a new campaign. There are two types of checklists:

#1: The Repeater. This is the checklist(s) we develop for repetitive tasks. Let’s say we are launching a new landing page for an AdWords campaign. Your checklist might include the following:

Did we restate our Brand Message?
Is there an Offer?
Is there a Call to Action?

Seems like a pretty simple list, doesn’t it? But something like 80% of the power in your landing page resides in those simple yet overlooked intangibles like an Offer or a strong Call To Action. Even pros need reminded; that’s why it’s important to make the checklist uniquely your own.

For the Repeater Checklist, make sure it is:

a) Quick – there’s no time to debate
b) Yes or No questions – it’s a checklist, after all.
c) Just 4-6 topics. More than that and break it into smaller lists for specific tasks.
d) Remember – If a checklist is going to get used it must be EASY and FAST.

#2. The New Campaign Checklist. Because we are plowing new ground this checklist will be more involved. You’ll need to arrange your tasks into different groups or categories. Since we are generating ideas and brainstorming, we’ll need to move beyond the simple “yes/no” of the Repeater. Here is the place to ask some very brief questions. On the Marketing Hawks “New Launch” checklist I leave some spaces for me to write in answers, plus I’ve included a couple of “fill-in-the-blank” tables.

The New Campaign Checklist tends to evolve with the marketer. Remember, this is a checklist you are making as an aid to your remembering specific marketing questions you need to answer prior to the campaign. Here you need to use a kind of shorthand to jar your brain into action. For my own checklist, I use four main areas: Use Criteria (from Michael Porter) and then Brand, Package and People.

Under each section I have several pre-printed questions drawn from each of the people above, and space to fill in my thoughts. For example under Brand I have questions relating to Brand Essence (Scott Bedbury) and Story (Laurence Vincent).

Under the Package section I have a simple question: “Can we Thin-Slice It?” For those of you familiar with Malcolm Gladwell, that statement makes 100% sense and is obviously vitally important for marketers. But to people unfamiliar with Gladwell that question leads to deli thoughts. Yet the question occupies a vital place in my New Campaign checklist because I often overlook the importance of the “Blink” look that so much of our marketing receives from our audience..

If you want my New Campaign Checklist, just email me at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com and I’ll be glad to send you a copy. Be warned: you’ll have to build and edit and make it your own, otherwise it might not make much sense.

Sum-Up – Learn from the masters, add your own experience, and then combine both into a marketing checklist to devastate the competition.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Here’s an image that you can use to show appreciation to customers or employees.

Photo: Istock #6039478

Headline: “Thanks to Everybody that Helped Us Make the Grade”

Alternate Headline: “Just In: Our Customer Report Card”

Got any great ideas of your own? Just reply to the 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

For those of you marketing anything “green”, check out Abraham Maslow and his famous Hierarchy of Needs. (Yes, it is a part of my New Campaign Checklist). I do think there is an enormous value in building the Esteem Needs into your green marketing. And, while you’re at it, check out what Dale Carnegie talks about in his appealing to the nobler motives. In a nutshell – see if you can influence somebody to act on something green-related because it’s the right thing to do.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Price Hike”. Wow, here’s a phrase that’s being used all the time as inflation comes racing back at all of us. In the USA, one generally hears the verb “hike” standing all by itself and used in reference to football or outdoor walking. The word “hike” as in “to lift up” is rarely used anymore, except in the over-used “price hike”.

Here’s the opportunity for you marketers. How about using the price-hike in some of your ads, such as “We refuse to participate in any price-hikes this week”. Or “Inflation? – We do our hiking outdoors, thank-you very much”.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, how do I boost my company’s legitimacy?

The FunMarketer answer is: Let the world see what others say. Here are four powerful techniques:

#1: Ratings. If you sell products, it’s hard to beat the “Five-Star” rating system. Put a rating system on your website, then setup Google Analytics on your website, and see how many visitors immediately nav to the ratings system. Why? Because consumers need to be reassured they are making the right purchase decision, and they know that everything else on your site is carefully crafted advertising.

#2: Testimonials. Let’s face it – a ratings system isn’t the best fit for many local service companies. It’s one thing to rate a product, it’s another to rate a service, like dry cleaning or tax preparation. Here about the best you can do is a testimonial.

Don’t discount the power of a testimonial. They are not as powerful as a five-star rating system, but for many small service companies they can still boost the legitimacy of your website. Also, if you are selling to business owners, then it’s vital to have the person making the testimonial person put supply the name of their business on the testimonial. You need to quickly bond the website visitor to the person who made the testimonial–and you need to do it in a “Blink“.

Obviously, if you are selling to consumers, you won’t list the name of a business but rather some other kind of title or qualification, such as “mother of two” (if you run a daycare) or “age 65″ (if you provide services for seniors) or “long-time runner” (if you are a personal trainer). This “Bonding in a Blink” is critical – because it cements your website visitor to the testimonial writer and hence to your site and your service. You want identification – that’s the first step in gathering trust, generating a quick feeling of “this person is like me”.

3. Press or News. Powerful press is great. People will listen to their peers, but they will also listen to those in authority. The media is viewed as a less-biased authority than any of your advertising. If you have specific press releases or any articles written about your company make sure you mention them or have pdfs of them or links to them on your site.

What if you don’t have much? Then a backup – not as desirable but better than nothing – is to legitimize your industry or the type of service you are providing. Sometimes your industry or your method of service can come under attack. Use the power of the press – link to positive articles about your service or the industry you are in.

4. Industry Info or Government Info. In addition to other consumers and the press, there is always authoritative information that is published by either a government agency or your industry trade group. Used properly, this can lead to additional legitimacy for your group. Also, don’t forget the BBB. If your business is in good standing, make sure you put it on your site.

Many times you are looking for the tiebreaker – that little piece of information that, in your customer’s mind, will put you ahead of your competition. Go the extra couple inches that your competitors don’t and make your site stand out in the eyes of your prospect.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Hey, if your company really goes the extra mile in providing great customer service, here’s a concept for you:

Photo: Istock #4846536

Headline: Just Another Day at Our Customer Service Center

SubHead: Because Every Customer Deserves the Royal Treatment

Got any great ideas of your own? Just reply to the 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

Build up a good backlog of ideas. Many times one client will shoot down that brilliant marketing idea you’ve had. Maybe the client is right, and \your brainstorm wasn’t the best fit for their business. However, that doesn’t mean the idea can’t ably serve in some other client’s marketing arsennal. I’ve had client A that rejected my “Brilliant Idea 1″ only to present it later to Client B who though it was an excellent fit. Industries vary, as do client’s individual tastes and their audiences.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Microhoo”. May 3 – Yes, the Microsoft/Yahoo deal is dead. May 15 – no wait, maybe it’s not. Whatever the outcome of the union, the phrase “Microhoo” was used millions of times over the past few months. It does roll off the tongue, well. However, there is an even better lesson here for marketers – both companies have easily prounouncable names. This is a huge advantage, one pointed out by Ries and Trout years ago in Positioning. Microsoft’s three syllables and Yahoo’s two both easily roll off the tongue.

Remember – if you are picking a new name for a product or service, fewer syllables is better. And, you MUST speak the name out loud; because that’s how people are going to ‘hear’ it in their head.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, what should I measure on Google AdWords Paid Search?

The FunMarketer answer is: Measure “After-Click (AC)” Behavior. There are a few powerful indicators of AC behavior:

#1: Cost per conversion – IF you can. Why? Because Cost per Conversion shows you Action; it lets you know what people are doing once they click on an ad. Some of my clients have it rather easy; they define a Sale as a conversion. If your clients order online, then you can label your sales as conversions and see what ad groups work the best for you.

If you don’t sell online, you still need to try and find something After-Click behavior that can become a conversion. Maybe it’s a sign-up for a free newsletter, or for a sample kit. Does your industry have a long sales cycle where people ask for a product sample or DVD sent to them prior to ordering? You can define one of these actions as your conversion. Then, over time – and it may take six months or a year – you will begin to see what % of your conversions actually turned into sales. Then adjust your Ad Groups accordingly.

#2: What if you just don’t have anything you can use as a conversion? The next After-Click metrics to use are:
a) Bounce Rate
b) Avg Time on Site
c) Pages Per Visit

You will find these reports in your Google Analytics account. If you didn’t sign up for Google Analytics at the same time you signed up for AdWords, please absolutely do so this week. It’s not tough.

Why Bounce Rate or Avg Time on Site or Pages Per Visit? Again, these indicators tell you what potential customers are doing after they have clicked through to your landing page (make sure you have a real landing page). This indicates behavior once they are on your site. I’ve found myself elated over keywords with a fantastic Clickthrough Rate but then dug deeper into Google Analytics and found those keywords actually had a lousy Avg Time on Site. Why? Because people were searchers were clicking on an ad or keyword they only thought was leading them toward the product they wanted. Sometimes you can adjust Average Position downward to combat this, but we’ll discuss that another day.

You may ask: “Craig, why didn’t you put Clickthrough Rate (CTR) up there at the top of the list?” Because CTR, although vital, leads more people astray than any other AdWords metric. Relying on CTR alone is like only looking at the speedometer on your car and ignoring the flashing “check engine soon” light; both can lead to financial disaster–and that’s no fun at all.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Hey, if you work for a local courier service, or if your agency is engaged by one of the big express shippers like DHL or FedEx or UPS, this week’s Funmarketer Free Campaign of the Week is for you:

Photo: Istock #4074876

Headline: Our Operators are Standing By

SubHead: Acme Courier – Just a Hare ahead of our Competition

Got any great ideas of your own? Just reply to the 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

Whenever you write a first or second draft of any piece…LET IT SIT OVERNIGHT.

Trust me on this one – your creative brain will keep on editing and recreating the piece overnight, even if you’ve had a nice cuddle with your partner. (No prying for details now; Mrs. L-P will scold Mr. L-P…)

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“All-New”. I love Ford. I have owned many Fords. But the “all-new” Fiesta press release does overwork the phrase a bit…See the Ford Press Release

I suppose Ford is trying to completely erase the image of the 70s Fiesta in the minds of those of us old enough to remember that car?

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert