COLUMNIST – COPY CLASS
Clichés in both directions
HERSCHELLGORDONLEWISiskicking
outthechaffandfertilisingthewheat.
Ican’tfindanyonewho Inthesamenewsletteras when–head-to-headorinmass
disagreeswiththestatement thepreviousquote: media–yousee‘advice’that
Themost
thatemailhasbecomethe “Segmentingbasedonrecency, actuallyisasalespitch,
valuableadvice
dominantforce-communication frequencyandmonetaryvalue publiciseyourrejection.(Oh,I
medium,andfortheforeseeable hasservedthedirectmarketing knowyouwon’t,andexceptfor
isadviceyou
futurewillcontinuetobethe industrywell,andRFM annoyedoutburstssuchasthis
dominantforce-communication segmentationcanbeappliedto oneIseldomdo,butit’sa
alreadyhavein
medium(notthatI’mlooking email,aswell,withpowerful happyphilosophy.)
fordissent). impact.” Then,compileyourownlist
yourownbrain:
Theresultofthis Wehavetoagree,that’s ofwhatworksandwhatdoesn’t
Test,then
much-deservedattentionis startlingandvaluable workandeveryquarterorso
predictable:Wehaveahostof information. updatethatlist,kickingoutthe
analysetest
‘experts’whoofferadviceand Thisoneismyfavouriteof chaffandfertilisingthewheat.
opinionsthat,analysedbyany theday:“Agoodsalesperson Themostvaluableadviceis
results.
seasonedpractitionerofthe payscloseattentionandlearns adviceyoudon’tneedbecause
communicativearts,areclichés. abouthiscustomer,becomes youalreadyhaveitinyour
What’sbothersomeisthat familiarwiththem,understands ownbrain:Test,thenanalyse
‘Eureka!’revelationsshouldbe theirneedsand,overtime, testresults.
revelatory,notjustconfirmation developsarelationship Amediumthatmatureswith
ofwhatwealreadyknow. withthem.” therocketspeedthattypifies
Whenamarketershares Hey,myfriend,I’lltellyou onlinemarketingisn’tsitting
results,that’spuregold.When whatelse:Agoodsalesperson unmovingonitshaunches,and
anobserversharestruisms, knowsthedifferencebetween neithershouldyou.
that’spurebrass.Whena singularandpluralanddoesn’t Oops.Ijustblatheredouta
pusherpitcheswhatheorshe intermix‘customer’and‘them’. chunkofcliché-advice.
hastosell,representingitas An‘Asktheexperts’column
help,that’spurechutzpah. inaperipheralpublicationhas
thisquotefromtheproduct
Afewexamples marketingdirectorofanemail
Herearesomeofthe‘expert’ marketingcompany:“Itall
commentsthathavecomemy comesdowntohowyoucan
way(andpossiblyyours,since leverageemailtodelivermore
theyappearedinprintand timelyandrelevantmessagesto
online)overthepastfewweeks: yourprimaryaudience.”
“Tocombatoverstuffed Iwon’tquotemorefrom
emailboxesandrecipient thatcolumnbecauseevery
HerschellGordonLewisisthe
principalofLewisEnterprises,
fatigue,emailfrequencydoes otherassertionisa PompanoBeach,Florida,
notnecessarilyneedtobe thinly-maskedpitchonbehalfof
throughwhichheisavailable
reduced,butrelevancemustbe whatthatindividual’s
ascopywriter,consultantand
speaker.MrLewis’latestbook
increased.” professionalorganisationdoes.
ishis31st.Phonehim:+1954
Now,thatratesasolid,‘Huh?’ 7821750,orvisithiswebsite:
Howaboutthisone:“Email Sowhatisusefuladvice?
www.herschellgordonlewis.com
segmentationisveryeffective Possiblyoutofchauvinismor
andcaneasilyincreaseopen becauseIknowtheeditorial
rates,clickthroughsand teamatthispublication,Ican
conversionbytento20per suggestthatDMIisahappy
cent.Butdon’tletthethought oasisinthecliché-sandsofan
ofsegmentingyouremail informationaldesert.Butyou
overwhelmyouifyou’rejust needneithermenorany
startingout.” outsidertoseparatewheat
Gee,thanksforthe fromchaff.
profoundadvice. Soforstarters,
20 June2009
www.dmi-news.com
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