Have you noticed how much more customer service matters these days? Social media has given consumers their biggest voice yet and companies are noticing. They understand that a few tweets and a status update can send their brand on a downward spiral. Companies are responding with campaigns to show they “care” about customers, which seems great right? “I’m finally getting the respect I deserve!” Maybe so, but there’s still something wrong with this picture…
ShareYou know the ol’ saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime?” If we put ourselves in the position of the teacher (which we usually do because we are all so wise), we see a philosophy on charity and how we can best help others. If we put ourselves in the position of the fisherman, we see something quite different.
ShareIn this last video, I take all the information from the previous videos and identify the big-picture takeaway.
Here are a few questions I answer:
Here’s a few resources if you’re interested in learning more about persuasion and writing copy:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy
Scientific Advertising (pdf download)
Has anything in your mailbox jumped out at you lately? Or is this direct-mail campaign an anomaly?
In this video I summarize what Harvard Business Review did well in their sales letter and what they could have done to improve.
The last piece of the direct mail campaign: the reinforcer.
Two weeks ago I threw a contest to gain traffic for our newly launched blog. I’ve seen it done many times before and have even entered contests myself. In fact, one time I even won. However, this contest was not what I expected. No one entered.
I offered $75 ($50 for you, $25 for your favorite Charity) and some recognition. Apparently, it was not enough. Had I done it over, I would’ve contacted other businesses to contribute prizes.
I have friends who said they were going to enter but didn’t want to “take my money.” I’m guessing that if the prize was donated by another business and wasn’t coming out of my pocket they would have entered.
Don’t ask for more than one thing. There should not be a “Part A” and “Part B” for entering a contest. Make it dead-beat simple. The more entries the better. The goal is to create buzz in your target market.
Before I launched the blog (I probably shouldn’t be telling you this) I asked a few trusted friends to comment on some of the posts. I was banking on “the law of social proof” that people would be more likely to comment if they saw other people had commented as well.
I could have made a similar request for the contest but would have asked a different group of friends.
We have so much appreciation for everyone who supports what we are trying to do. At the same time…
ShareThis summer I got the chance to interview Mike Egan, Microsoft’s Director of Corporate Affairs. In addition to being just about the nicest guy you’ve ever met, Mike travels the world, giving people the inside scoop on what’s next for Microsoft.
In part one of the interview, Mike gives some advice for tech startups.
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