In today’s always-on world, the need for speed is greater than ever
When was the last time you read a novel? A big, chunky, doorstep of a novel? Hundreds and hundreds of pages of densely packed text, which kept you enthralled for hours at a time?
OK, maybe that was a bit ambitious.
How about a really long article – I’m thinking New Yorker-length, or perhaps Standpoint? One where the journalist takes several thousand words to give a vast, panoramic overview of the topic, scrupulously presents both sides of the argument, and reaches a balanced, thoughtful conclusion?
OK. Ambitious again.
How about a full-page article in a Sunday newspaper? A broadsheet, I mean, not one of the tabs, with their half-page photos and big, brassy headlines that squeeze the column inches.
OK. Let’s stop there, and I’ll just take a shortcut.
To the point.
Short and tweet
Getting your message across in as few words as possible has always been the guiding principle of marketing copy. But in the internet era, the approach is even more relevant.
You don’t have the luxury of rambling. Not that you ever did, mind you. It’s just that now, people are only ever a click (or a swipe) away from another screen, message, tweet, page, app, clip or game.
The way we consume information is changing. Even the way we talk about it is changing – who ‘consumed’ information in the 70s, 80s or even the early 90s?
We’re voracious info-animals, and we can’t get enough of it. Trouble is, we don’t do detail anymore. Or length.
Just last week, I caught up with a friend of mine whom I haven’t spoken to for long while. He was always a big reader, and had at least two books on the go at any one time.
So what was he reading?
“Er, nothing – I mean nothing big. Not at the moment,” he said falteringly. “In fact, I haven’t actually read a book – I mean a book book, not an e-book – for over two years.”
The long and the short of it
It’s something that Nicholas Carr knows only too well. He’s a technology writer and author of the boat-rocking article in The Atlantic magazine in summer 2008, Is Google making us stupid?
His thesis is that the sheer volume of information available to us is changing the way we read, as is the number of devices we have it served up to us on. He’s noticed that he’s no longer able to do ‘deep reading’ in the same way he used to, as his brain is remapped to skim, skip and hyperlink.
I know exactly how he feels.
And that’s partly why I printed out his article (seven A4 pages, by the way – breaking out in a sweat yet?) to read offline. I just knew that I’d flit about if I read it online, and its subject matter made me want to really concentrate on what I was reading.
Cut it down, spice it up
And my point is? The point I’ve spent all these paragraphs building up to?
Brevity is king.
(If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, by the way. )
It’s not that people don’t want detail – they do. It’s just that you need to serve it up in bite-sized chunks, so they can digest it.
We don’t do long anymore. Short is the new long – and here’s what to do to fit in with the fashion:
Get organised. Don’t just throw your facts in a pile, like some Swedish self-assembly bed. Instead, put them together so they make sense, they’re ordered logically and are easy to understand.
Reach for the red pen. No, you don’t need 500 words. Yes, you can cut it down. No, you don’t need to say everything. Yes, you do need to select. No, you probably don’t need that last point. Yes, it was a mistake having 12 bullets.
Chunk it, like good old Dan Brown did in his blockbuster The Da Vinci Code (short chapters, cliffhanger at the end of each). Small sections work better, as people don’t feel so intimidated by them. Keep them turning those pages.
Summarise your key points in a box: the quick, two-second elevator pitch that makes people want to find out more.
Write for both types of reader – the skimmer and the deep-reader. OK, the latter are in short supply these days, but they’re still around. So give a quick summary, list the highlights, and let them choose whether they want to plunge into the deep waters of detail. Don’t just chuck ‘em in (they probably can’t swim).
Minimise temptation. Don’t have too many hyperlinks in your body copy – you’re just making it easier for people to go elsewhere. Instead, put them at the end (just look below).
Know the end point before you begin, so you can lead the reader quickly and effectively to their destination. Want them to sign up? To purchase? To fill in a form? To call for more information? This way please…
The internet may be changing how we think, but we still want information. It’s just a matter of how it’s packaged that’s changed. We may not be chunky-novel readers any more, but we still want a good story.
As long as it’s a short story.
Find out more:
Deep throat. Is Google making us stupid? by Nicholas Carr at The Atlantic magazine (seven pages if you print it out).
Don’t avoid them like the plague – instead, ride the wave of recognition.
Do you want to be different? Yes, of course you do. We all crave novelty and want to stand out from the crowd.
Trouble is, your clients/readers/prospects often think in clichés. And so do you. In fact, we all do.
Arab Spring? Good. Democracy? Good. Microsoft? Bad. Apple? Good. Capitalism? Bad, rapacious, greedy. Steve Jobs? Latter-day saint.
A ship sinks? It’s a tragedy. Earthquake? Tragedy. Economic collapse? Tragedy, and if it happens in Athens, it’s a Greek tragedy.
All of these neatly-packaged ideas save us time. We don’t really analyse the facts, but instead fall back on preconceived ideas.
And stories.
It’s been said that there are only seven story lines (Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Rebirth, Comedy, and Tragedy) on which all novels are based.
And yet we never tire of reading them.
There are endless variations on the themes, of course, which adds interest and keeps us turning the pages. But deep down we know that the boy will get the girl, the search will end in success, and the poor little orphan will discover a long-lost relative who makes them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
In other words, we broadly know what to expect. A big part of this expectation is set by the publishers, in their potted blurbs on the back of the book.
I get it, we say to ourselves, it’s one of those books.
And we buy it.
Tell me a (marketing) story
If you’ve come up with a great new idea, one that’s truly new, then you have a job on your hands. As it’s new, nobody knows what it is, how it works, or how it fits in with what they’ve currently got.
So you have a lot of explaining to do.
If, on the other hand, you draw a comparison (“it’s a bit like X, only…”) then people can latch on to something, and relate it to their experience.
And it’s not just ideas. It also applies to you, your company, your service and your approach to business.
As an example, which of these are you:
The staid, solid reliable company that nobody ever got fired for hiring – boring but predictable?
The funky, left-of-field, creative company that consistently comes up with crazy ideas that pay off?
The long-term partner that’s aiming for a business relationship where both parties win?
The cheap, value-for-money, no-nonsense company that sells on price above all else?
The reassuringly expensive organisation that knows what it’s worth and will never budge on price?
The professional company that uses formal language, knowing that it’s what your target audience expects?
The informal, slangy, friendly company that wants to be everybody’s friend?
The joker, who puts people at ease, but can grate a little in the long term?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t consciously set out to fit into one of these, or the many other stereotypes that people have in their heads. You will fall into a category whether you like it or not.
Making a virtue of a necessity
These prepackaged ideas may be lazy assumptions. They may be clichés. They may be inaccurate, or even wrong.
But they exist. And you can and should harness their power – because just like brands, they have immediate recognition.
So don’t leave it to chance, and let other people decide which profile you fit. Decide on a strategy, pick a corporate personality, and run with it.
And don’t send out mixed signals (the fun company that has a sense of humour failure, the serious company that tries to get on down with the kids, the creative company that turns all blue-suitish).
Be consistent, be predictable, and do your thing the same way every time. You’ll win new clients, who click with your approach, and keep current ones happy because they know what to expect.
Think all clichés are bad? Sounds a bit like clichéd thinking to me.
Because they can also be a powerful weapon in your marketing armoury. Use them wisely, and you’ll hit the target fast and accurately.
I’ve seen the future – and it’s coffee-bean shaped.
A big metal coffee bean that’s been sliced in two. Smooth, shiny, pleasingly heavy. This bean has magical properties, and will transform your drinking experience.
Simply put it in to your tea, coffee or other hot drink, and hey presto! It drops to a drinkable temperature three times faster than normal, and remains there twice as long.
It sounds like the stuff of fantasy – like the Lost in Space washing machine that washed, dried and vacuum-packed clothes in seconds (I still want one).
But no, it’s reality. And it’s available now.
It’s not normally the sort of thing I’d go for. But then, I wasn’t buying the bean – I was buying into the story .
The heat is on
They’re called Joulies (from joule – a unit of heat) and when I heard about them, they were still an idea on the drawing board, without funding to make the leap to reality.
Which is where I came in – and thousands of others. Through the Kickstarter website, we pre-purchased these miracle beans so they could go into production.
Why? I’ve never done anything like this before. Let’s face it – there are lots of far-fetched ideas that never make it off the drawing board. So why this one?
Emotion.
The Kickstarter angle appealed to me. What a novel way of providing startup capital. Help the inventors bypass the greedy VCs, and be part of something different and slightly off-the-wall.
The name made me smile. Clever, but not cutesy, and one I wish I’d thought of.
The founders won me over. They’re called Dave and Dave (one on the East Coast of the US, one on the West) and they’re two down-to-earth guys trying to make a dream come true. They send folksy emails and updates, and post photos of the production process, so you feel involved.
The metal beans looked really nice, so even if they didn’t work, I could turn one round and round in my pocket like a worry bead, or use it as a paperweight, or just let it catch the sunlight streaming into my office.
And lastly, the The Lost in Space weirdness appealed to me. Sorry, but it did.
And the business case? The cost-benefit analysis? The opportunity cost (what else I could have done with the $48 I spent on five chunks of metal)?
Forget it. I wasn’t using my head when I made this purchase. It was 100% heart, and I never regretted it for a second.
Or even for the six months between the time I shelled out my money and the day the Joulies finally arrived, nestled in a custom-made jute bag with a drawstring.
Do they work? Yes, they do.
Do I use them? Yes, sometimes, though it’s a bit of a hassle avoiding them when you get to the end of your drink, and they still need to be rinsed afterwards.
Did I suffer from buyer’s remorse? Never.
It was fun being part of the adventure, even if I did pay over the odds (the retail price will obviously be lower than the pre-production price). It wasn’t about the cost – it was about the experience.
Emotional intelligence
It’s not just metal coffee beans that cause us to disregard our logical brain. We do it all the time, whether we realise it or not.
We buy from people we like. We shop at a supermarket that chimes with our values, status and approach to life. We wear designer labels that tell people who we are. And we don’t always buy on price – if we did, why do luxury brands exist?
The common thread is emotion. We all respond to it, whether consciously or not. And the good news is that your customers do too.
So don’t do a logical sell, do an emotional one. Don’t run a logical marketing campaign, run an emotional one.
And don’t hide behind logic in your copy, online or offline. Show some emotion, even if it feels a bit uncomfortable at first. The flip-side is that it’ll make your prospects feel more comfortable. And that’s always a good thing.
Right – time for a cup of coffee. With a big metal bean, naturally.
Happy New Year.
Find out more:
Drinker’s delight. Want coffee that’s cooler faster and hotter longer? Grab a bag of Joulies today.
Enjoy the ride. Help big ideas get off the ground, with Kickstarter.com.
Missing the target, the power of scarcity and the sound of silence
OK, OK – I know you’re busy so I’ll keep this brief.
Let me guess – we’re hurtling towards Christmas and you still haven’t got a present for Auntie Beryl? Been there.
If you’re considering an e-reader, by the way, perhaps you might think about why I’m not buying one (maybe Beryl will agree with me):
When I’ve finished reading a book I love, I can’t give it to a friend.
When I’m on a plane, I’ll have to turn off my e-reader for climb and descent (when I’m invariably reading).
I lost my super-duper smartphone (or had it stolen) on the Tube three weeks ago, and I don’t want to re-Kindle the memory.
Scrooge – me? Perish the thought.
But back to you. Three quick presents for your marketing Christmas stocking.
1. Gladwell tidings
If you enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s 2004 TED talk on spaghetti sauce, you’re in for a treat. It took seven years, but he’s back for seconds.
This time, he’s in a more sombre mood, but his message, as ever, has a direct link with sales, marketing, copywriting – and just about any other activity you undertake.
It’s all about unintended consequence. And how we can devote enormous amounts of time, money and effort to projects that are doomed – if only we had eyes to see.
With over 400,000 views in just two months, The strange tale of the Norden bombsight is well on the way to Spaghetti Sauce’s 2m in seven years. As ever, it’s intelligent, entertaining and enlightening.
Last week, my favourite magazine didn’t arrive on the usual day of the week.
Now the older I get, the more a creature of habit I become. I like things to happen when they’re supposed to – and I tailor my behaviour accordingly.
It’s all a case of managing expectations. In this instance, my own.
So I read at a certain pace, knowing that I don’t want to finish too early or too late. As a tidy-desk person, I don’t like two magazines at once, so they mustn’t overlap.
But when the new issue didn’t arrive, I had to go back to the old one and make a second pass.
And you know what? I discovered really interesting articles and wondered how I’d missed them first time around.
How did that happen?
Like this: I had a limited amount of time on the first pass (which I thought was the only pass) so I meted it out sparingly. But when the new magazine didn’t arrive, I suddenly had more. So not-so-interesting articles became interesting. And in one case, absolutely fascinating.
And the lesson for all of us on Planet Marketing?
Scarcity increases value. From paintings to wine, from stamps to antiques, it works every time.
The same principle holds true when it comes to communication.
If you write a blog post every day, instead of every week, each one is worth just a little bit less. Even if you’ve poured everything you’ve got into it, the perception is that quantity is inversely related to quality.
More means less, in other words.
So space out your posts, rein in your tweets, and make that newsletter a little less regular. People will attach more value it.
3. Beyond saying
Which leads me on to my last stocking-filler: a neat illustration of the power or brand, crossed with the sound of silence.
Amidst the celeb chatter on Twitter, there’s one star who remains resolutely mute. And yet she has an enormous following, thanks to her huge global appeal.
It’s Beyonce, of course. Not at tweet in sight, but over 2 million followers.
Next time you wonder about the power of brand, remember Beyonce.
Merry Christmas.
Find out more:
Buon appetito. Malcolm Gladwell’s 2004 TED talk on spaghetti sauce (and other tasty topics).
Silent treatment. 2 million and counting: Beyonce does her stuff (or rather, she doesn’t).
Be careful not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
“You are joking?” said my client. “At least I assume you are – I mean, how can a campaign be too successful?”
Very easily. I should know.
Back when I was a software bod, we loved running special offers. What better way to boost sales? You didn’t have to rack your brains to think of inventive, creative, eye-catching marketing campaigns.
All you had to do was play with price, and the sales followed.
Buy one, get one free (which revels in the delightful acronym BOGOF), Free upgrade if you buy in the next 30 days, and the ever-popular software bundles (software + keyboard/mouse/training/printer).
It almost reached the point where special offers weren’t that special – they were the norm. To the point where they virtually – until we reined them in – killed regular sales.
And on one memorable occasion, we had a runaway success that almost ran away on us.
Thank heaven we had a success-recovery plan: the device that enables you to slam on the brakes when your promotion becomes unstoppable.
And uneconomical.
Recipe for disaster
It’s a scenario that Rachel Brown is all too familiar with.
Rachel owns the Need a Cake bakery in Reading, west of London, and she decided to run a promotion on Groupon.
As you may know, Groupon brings together sellers with special offers, and buyers, hungry for great deals. You make the offer, they find the punters, and they take a cut. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Or so you’d think.
And Rachel did win – at first. Her offer of 12 cupcakes at 75% off (£6.50, instead of the usual £26) brought the orders flooding in.
And in. And in.
In all, over 8,500 people subscribed to the offer. And just in case you can’t quickly multiply that by 12, let me save you the trouble: it’s 102,000 cupcakes.
The offer was so ‘successful’ that Rachel ended up losing £2.50 to £3 on each batch. She also had to pay her staff £12,500 in extra costs to bake the cakes.
“It’s been a nightmare,” she said.
In fact, it almost put her business out of business. In the end, she had to call a halt to the offer.
Hope for the best, but…
When you plan a marketing campaign that involves a special offer, it’s always good to imagine what you’ll do if it’s wildly successful.
Will you have the staff to cope? If not, can you call on temporary help?
Is there a limit? What is it? Can you exceed that if you want to? If you have to? And what’s the absolute cut-off point? When and why will you bring the offer to an end?
A special offer has to work for you and your prospects. And remember, each one acts individually, so they have no collective sense of what they’re doing. They just see a good deal, and grab it.
But the frenzy can cost you dear, and in more ways than one.
Trony, the oddly-named Italian electrical store with the catchy tagline Non ci sono paragoni (There’s nothing like it), recently opened a store in Rome.
To create an Apple-esque sense of anticipation, they announced never-to-be-repeated offers that would bring the shoppers in.
They had iPhones at €399 (£340/$535), washing machines at €79 (£68/$105), PCs and flat-screen TVs at just €99 (£85/$132) and mobile phones at €9 (£8/$12).
The opening was on a Friday.
On Thursday evening, people were already in their sleeping bags in a long line outside the store. At 8am the following morning, there were 25,000 people waiting for the doors to open.
It took 250 policemen and 100 security guards to keep them under control. A monster traffic jam gridlocked Rome, and 28 bus lines had to be rerouted.
Inside the store, there was a tw0-hour wait to get to the tills – even after the special offers had sold out.
Trony raked in €2.5m (£2.15m/$3.35m) in just one day, but they weren’t laughing all the way to the bank. Extensive damage was caused to the area, and local residents were left shaking their heads in disbelief.
“It reminded me of the first distribution of bread after the war,” said one old lady.
To try to make amends, Trony dug deep in its decidedly full pockets, and forked out €110,000 (£95,000/$147,000) to pay for the policing and the damage caused.
So it was a commercial success, but a PR failure. A good idea, but one that quickly spun out of control and did damage the company’s image.
…expect the worst (or at least plan for it)
Before rushing headlong into a promotion, it’s always a good idea to stop and think about the downside.
Promotions can have a seriously negative impact on you business:
Cannibalising your regular sales, so you’re making low margins on high volumes across the board.
Pushing up your costs, as you draft in extra help to cope with the workload.
Causing brand damage, as you struggle to fulfil orders, with longer lead times, slower response and lower levels of customer service.
Alienating regular customers, who don’t see why bargain hunters should be rewarded when they’re the ones who are loyal.
So special offers can be ‘special’ in a way you didn’t expect and don’t want.
So don’t just think about disaster-recovery plans. Make sure you also have a success-recovery plan up your sleeve.
It’ll stop your wildest dreams turning into your worst nightmare: the Curse of the Cupcakes.
Find out more:
If you can’t stand the heat: 102,000 and counting, as Need a Cake’s Groupon offer bakes up a storm.
For a FREE, no-obligation chat, call me now on (01223) 241749.
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