How Copywriters Can Bounce Back After A Client Messes Up A Direct Marketing Campaign
Keywords: copywriting, freelance, direct marketing
Recently a copywriter named Chris asked me what she should do when a direct marketing campaign fails. “How do you bounce back in your freelance business after a client royally screws up a DM campaign?”
The short answer is that no copywriter wins all the time. The law of averages in the business of marketing won’t support it.
Many factors must combine properly to make a winning campaign, and the degree of your success will depend on the degree to which EACH element is “right on.”
Marketers depend on the copywriter to guide them in the creation of the campaign. So the copywriter should first have her pulse on the two most important aspects of any mailing:
1. The list
2. The offer
The list is the most important element of any campaign because if there’s anything wrong with it (poorly targeted, old and dirty, etc.), it won’t matter how great your offer is or how masterful your copywriting. The campaign will probably do poorly, or fail.
The offer is the second most important element of a direct response campaign. An expert copywriter will make sure the offer is extremely appealing to the target audience before he ever starts copy. In fact, there are many copywriters (myself included), who consider exceptional offer development to be the “secret weapon” behind their winning campaigns.
So setting yourself up for success is the number one rule for creating winners.
But of course, that’s only half the battle. Chris said that the venerable Dan Kennedy once told her face-to-face that if anyone was going to screw up a direct marketing campaign, it’s the client.
And while one can’t lay 100 percent of the blame on the client all of the time, clients do have a way of monkey-wrenching the best laid plans.
In my opinion, many direct response campaigns fall short of their potential because the marketing team is constrained by time and/or budget. Often times they agree with the copywriter’s vision for the campaign, but substitute poor offers for good offers, or push copy too fast, or other types of “corner cutting” to meet time or money pressures.
Other less obvious elements may be at play as well. Years ago when I was senior writer for Rosen/Brown Direct, a well-known direct response agency, we were baffled by a syndrome that emerged.
Our unique selling proposition what that we could get the client blockbuster response rates. On that basis we won lots of clients. But when it came time to execute their campaigns, the marketing directors would often put roadblocks in the way of our success. Richard Rosen and I were puzzled as to why.
Years later Richard told me he’d figured it out: Everyone wants high response rates initially, but if you get high response rates, it raises the bar for future campaigns.
It was his hypothesis that ultimately, the marketing director wanted good but not phenomenal success. This would maintain their job security without setting them up for super-high expectations in future campaigns.
What does this all means to the copywriter who has suffered a failed campaign?
First, all copywriters suffer failed campaigns. (You just don’t want it to become the norm.) In fact, if you’re doing it right, you’re encouraging your client to test lists, offers, headlines, and more. Sometimes these tests will fail.
When I promote myself I pretty much offer “guaranteed” success. But that’s only if the client allows me to run the whole show…and that means having a hand in list selection, and in creating the all-important offer.
These are the two most important elements of a direct response campaign…unless you’re a mature marketer who’s exhausted the available lists to test and tested enough offers to know what works best.
Then, and only then, is copy the sole star of the show. So when making promises, make sure you base your expected success on the confidence you have in the three crucial elements of any on- or offline mail campaign: the list, the offer, and the copy, in that order.
But if everything falls apart, how do you pick up the pieces?
In agencies, and more sophisticated marketing departments, a meeting will sometimes be called to discuss the results of a campaign. If anyone ever tells you there will be a “post-mortem,” that’s what they’re talking about. It’s a negative term, for sure, and I’ll be glad when it’s no longer trendy marketing language as I think it implies an expected negative result.
If the client doesn’t call a post-mortem, and the results were dismal, then I’ll call a meeting to go over every element of the campaign, and offer a write up as to why I think the campaign failed.
This is a very smart step to take, and for lots of reasons. First, you may uncover a “buried” influence. I recall one client who came to me and said “We don’t want any response, we just want them to know we exist.” To which I replied, “If we’re making the effort, why not see what we can get? It doesn’t cost us anything more.”
When the campaign pulled a 0.7% response rate, the marketing director was disappointed. But when I reviewed the campaign from beginning to end and wrote up my analysis, we were all reminded that the number one objective of the campaign was awareness; any response would be gravy. On that basis, the campaign was then seen as a success.
A post-mortem analysis will uncover weak offers, reveal poor targeting, and sometimes lead to market intelligence you can use in subsequent campaigns. For instance, a back-end analysis of a recent campaign for the client I just spoke about revealed that the extra cost of personalizing does NOT pay off for a segment of their target audience.
By calling a post-mortem and by offering a written analysis of the campaign results, you show your client that you’re not a fly-by-nighter. That you believe in your work. And that you’re still their “partner.”
I’ve found that the client is usually willing to work with you to make the next campaign more successful, by learning from past mistakes. Slinking away with your tail between your legs tells them that you were in it only for the paycheck.
Stand up to the situation and see what you (and your client) can gain from it. Not only is it the professional thing to do, but it can turn a failure into a learning experience, and provide value for future campaigns.
Master copywriter and coach Chris Marlow publishes a free ezine for copywriters who want to quickly build a profitable business. Visit:
www.FreelancersBusinessBulletin.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Discover Your Powerful Secret To Make Money From Your Blog (1)
In the long run, a great idea just isn't enough to rocket your blog to success. You will need to execute a marketing plan in order to draw readers to your site.
Things You Need To Know In Order To Find The Best Web Hosting (2)
Control Panel Most control panels are very easy to use since they are developed with a user friendly interface browser for the everyday user. Linux is a bit more complicated to use than Windows but has other advantages, Linux also offers up some perks like changeable code and free use.
Online Marketing: Show Customers Your Expertise (3)
Tiva Kelly is an expert at article marketing and offers advice to authors at www.articlemarketer.com, a highly popular article distribution service. Learn how to market your small business when you submit articles through Article Marketer.
3 Simple Tips To Help Explode Your Membership Site Results (4)
Membership Site Tactic #3 - Leverage membership to sell more One last thing the best membership sites do is market other things to their members. This may appear obvious to some readers, but surprisingly enough, no more than 1 in 10 membership programs have a systematic approach to 'pitching' other relevant, helpful products and services to their clients.
Why Should You Listen To Julia Roberts? (5)
So it really does pay to maintain your relationship with your customers because they are, without exception, your best business asset. Protect them as you would money in the bank.
Earn Free Money Online With SEO (6)
The first step in your SEO campaign is keyword research. Grab a pen and paper and write down all the keyword phrases you can think of, that visitors might type into a search engine to get information on your niche.
How To Use Adswaps To Build Your List (7)
The best part about this is that it costs considerably less. Using list members to make list members is a new concept to many of us but it has been proven to work in many situations..
Make Huge Profits From Your Stay At Home Mom Business Ideas And Say Goodbye To Your Boss (8)
Go fish in the forums and blogs to see what troubles your niche. Alain Tanguay is a home business entrepreneur that gets hundreds of targeted visitors each months. Subscribe to his free newsletter packed with useful tips at www.flashnetbiz.com
How An Affiliate Program Can Help Your Business (9)
To get money for advertising, you could take on a business partner who is willing to fund the company to get your marketing campaign going, or perhaps you could turn to venture capital to get started.
How To Get 50% Of Your Freelance Fee Up Front -And A Whole Lot More! (10)
When you work with the proper forms you are telling your client that you are a professional, and your client will then treat you with the respect you deserve. Much of the success of the freelancer/client relationship is built upon how you conduct yourself in your financial transactions.
How To Start Making Money By Taking And Selling Online Surveys (11)
This is a much easier and quicker way to start making money online than by taking the time to fill out the surveys themselves and wait for cash results, or other prizes - That is if you know how to promote your links!
Article Marketing Is All About Titles (12)
One of the most common misconceptions about articles online is that people will just read them at random just like they do with books or any printed materials they see offline.
Using Public Domain Content For Your Online Business (13)
This is where things get a little fuzzy and hard to keep track of. Let's start with the easy one first. Any work that was published before 1923 is considered public domain.
Web Site Tracking Software (14)
There are several ways to track the traffic on your site and each has its own pros and cons. It will fully depend on what you need at the time and how much you are willing to invest.
How Do I Get Hold Of Stock? (15)
Once you find their website they will usually have a section listing the suppliers they use for their products, failing that you can email them and ask, they will be happy to tell you who their appointed supplier is for your area.
The Top Internet Business (16)
They key to making money on this type of operation is to become affiliated with companies that provide products or services that people need and want and pay a decent commission.
Things You Need To Know Upfront When Looking For A Web Hosting Company (17)
Webhosting companies make it possible for people to get their information on the internet for other people to access. If you are looking for a webhosting company there are some things you will want to keep in mind.
Ezine Articles Provides You With The Freshest Content On The Internet (18)
Once you click on the category, you will find a plethora of sub-categories to narrow your search down even more. This is necessary because of the extremely large database that is within their article directory.
Be Correctly Equipped - The Tools For Videoconferencing (19)
In the integrated videoconferencing room there is a variety of multimedia equipment and peripherals. There are multiple monitors or large screens used to display the video as well as multiple microphones.
Why It's Dangerous To Offer Free Work To Entice A New Client (20)
So offering a money-savings (e.g., free analysis, price reduction, etc.), is not the best entry strategy. However, it CAN work under certain circumstances. Here's how to use this tactic, if you use it at all: If your potential client is willing to take you up on your offer, she MUST do some work too.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
The Dark Side Of SEO: Black Hat SEO (1)
Google has taken an active role to combat against spamdexing. From January 25, 2005 it went after websites that specialized in Google bombing. Jeff Casmer is an internet marketing consultant and work at home business owner.
Four Ways To Use Niche Marketing (2)
Niche marketing solves that problem. It is a way to focus your attention on a single group of customers that is most likely to buy your product or service.
What Is Your Unique Selling Proposition? You're Leaving Money On The Table If You Don't Have One... (3)
And we brainstormed common products and services that are commonly sold via direct mail, ads, or ecommerce. It turned out that there was a link to the seven motivators for every product or service, which allowed us to say that my student had a deeper level of empathy for people (and prospects), than most copywriters.
Some Of The Factors To Consider When Choosing The Best Web Host For Your Website (4)
Do not be pressurized into taking a more expensive offer if your needs are simple and basic just because the web hosting company wants to make better profits. You need more than a seller in this case.
Directory Marketing Is Still Alive In 2007 (5)
Anthony Stai is a proud contributing author and writes articles on several internet marketing related topics including directory marketing. You can see more of Anthony's articles and personally created software on his web site at www.directorysitesubmitter.com.
The Growth Of Affiliate Marketing Software (6)
For example, each site will have a different extension number it refers the caller to, which identifies which affiliate will get credit for any sale. Pay per call affiliates will likely be limited to those companies for which an appointment may be needed, such as carpet or vacuum sales, it could conceivably be used for virtually any business for customers to contact offline.
Learning The Basics Of RSS (7)
Syndic8 provides a directory of websites that support RSS. 3. Paste the code (which contains the URL of the website) in your aggregator. There is a space provided for pasting the code.
Become An SEO Expert In 3 Easy Steps (8)
Try not to put it more than two times and make it sound natural and not like your trying to stuff keywords in. Doing this will make your page more relevant in the search engines eyes.
Why The Availabilty Of Multiple SQL Databases Can Influence Your Choice Of Web Hosts (9)
A database is the basic foundation of the Information Technology world. Every single communication, innovation and information is soft stored globally through numerous databases, which are reliable and dedicated.
The 3 Best Options For Profiting From PLR Products (10)
This helps you build a website effortlessly, and grow it constantly purely by adding PLR content to the site on a regular basis. Because the PLR content is directly relevant to the subject matter of your website and contains keywords and phrases important to people looking for information on your niche, your website is likely to get higher rankings on search engines simply by becoming an authority website on the topic.
6 Free Ways To Make Money Online (11)
Free ways to make money online usually involve more time and effort. But if you work these methods on a consistent basis, the long term results are often better than the paid methods.
Generating An Income With A Home Business (12)
You should not expect that the same people who ordered from your site or from your link will do so again, so you will have to find others that are interested.
How To Use Traffic Exchanges Effectively (13)
That is, you must encourage other people to join a traffic exchange from your promotional link to that exchange. This is important because most traffic exchanges give you credits that allow your pages to be displayed when members of your downline surf.
How To Advertise Your Internet Business And Drive Traffic And Sales For Pennies (14)
Pens with your internet business imprinted on them work great as free giveaways at fairs and events. You can get embossed pens for as little as $.10 each and they work great.
How To Start A Home Business With A Minimum Budget (15)
Many people start this on free hosts such as Blogger.com, then move on to paid hosting as they earn enough money. Affiliate programs are generally free to join, and you figure out how to get people to buy through your links.
A Guide To Marketing (16)
housewives and discovering what the want/need that you can provide. Then you start taking decisions. You should also aim to give customers a favourable view of your business when compared to others; this is achieved in part through the right kind of promotion.
Benefits Of Being An Affiliate Marketer (17)
Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant and a website owner. The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant's products by linking to the merchant's website.
Advertising Your Small Business On A Limited Budget (18)
Keywords: advertising, small business, pay per click, newspaper, publisher, ad, buy, eBay, craigslist, article, business The best advertising, whether for a small business or large, is advertising that works. The price a small business owner pays for advertising would not be an issue if the outcome of the ad was known.
A Question Of Scroll Bars (19)
Whatever you do, though, keep your scrolling vertical. Left-to-right scrolling on the web is an absolute abomination. Users aren't expecting it, mouse wheels can't do it, and web browsers aren't designed for it.
Traits You Need To Succeed As An Internet Marketer (20)
Focus or else. Working at your own pace at your own time does have its advantages but working at home will have its distractions. If you have kids or a family, set time and space boundaries.
Permalink to How Copywriters Can Bounce Back After A Client Messes Up A Direct Marketing Campaign