June 2011 - Otis Regrets... or not

Should marketers give away their “secret sauce”?

Most marketers I have met have a terror of giving away too much information in their lead generation contacts. As a result they are constantly trying to get me to write “info copy” which is really a thinly disguised sales pitch. They’re afraid that once the reader has their perspective on their business or industry, the marketer becomes irrelevant and the customer will just go out and do it themselves.

Not going to happen. Properly written information will overwhelm and impress the reader. Rather than taking the nuggets and running with them, they will think, “these people sure are smart. Why would I want to do this myself, when I can just hire them?”

The secret sauce of my youth — Brockles... the secret sauce of my youth.

Think about how hard it is to get anybody to pay attention to anything these days. People poring over what is after all marketing copy is a very nice problem to have. In writing my BMA talk, as usual I went to the web and found all kinds of useful research and insight which people are giving away for free such as this great post on how to put on a webinar (something else I will be talking about). Maybe they don’t care about money, maybe they have some kind of hidden agenda. But they can’t all be going out of business because they are giving information away instead of selling it.

Nobody wants to give away their “secret sauce”…. or do they? Sure the recipe should remain a secret. But as far as free samples, the more the better.

How to look at a copywriter’s samples

This article is written for the people who hire and critique copywriters… the hallowed “client”.

You’ve got an ad, website or direct mail package to be written and you’ve got a slew of samples, emails and letters from copywriters in response to your LinkedIn or Craigslist post. How do you separate the real candidates from the posers? Here are a few tips:

1. Realize that the samples in front of you are the best work you’re ever going to see from these writers. If they care about the job at all, they will have hand-selected an assortment of work for your eyes. If a writer doesn’t show you anything that knocks your socks off, pass.

2. Look for work that’s a good fit with your own project. Legitimate experience with your major competitor is ideal. At the very least, the copywriter should provide work that has a parallel to your own project, pointed out by the writer. For example, an insurance writer can probably make the transition to selling financial products since both are about security and money. And a writer in one highly regulated industry, such as banking, can probably make the transition to another, such as pharma. Once again, if the copywriter doesn’t provide anything that is a match then they are disinterested or else they truly have no relevant experience.

3. Look for work that shows how they can handle a project from beginning to end. Copywriting isn’t just about a great headline or “I wish I’d thought of that” entry point. It’s also unfolding a product’s benefits in a clear and methodical way. It’s about a call to action that is specific and motivating. The best samples to demonstrate this are a classic “long form” direct mail package or else a digital campaign that includes landing pages. In these examples you’re not looking for brilliance, but follow-through.

4. Look for a broad fit to your corporate personality. If you’re a stolid B-to-B marketer and all the writer can show you is edgy gen-y work, there’s something wrong. Not with them, but with the matchup. If they had more relevant examples, you’d be seeing them.

5. Evaluate the query letter or email as its own example of copywriting. Selling is selling, and if they don’t make a persuasive argument that is relevant to your needs then you should be suspicious. And especially if their are typos, grammatical errors or misspellings in the document, pass.

6. After you’ve reviewed the samples, if they are in physical vs. electronic form, RETURN THEM TO THE WRITER. This holds true even if it’s a stack of color copies; the writer spent time and money to prepare them. Keep in mind that there is a special circle in hell, right next to Leona Helmsley’s dog Trouble, reserved for marketing managers who “misplace” a copywriter’s last sample of a prized work.

Regional differences, revisited

In an earlier post I talked about regional differences as demonstrated by the way people talk about food on social media. Here is another example. These two gas station price signs are directly opposite each other on Route 50 in Ballston Spa NY, just north of the Highway 67 intersection. Hess is selling regular for $3.729 a gallon and Sunoco for $3.859 a gallon. Down the road past the stoplight, an independent has regular for $3.709. Seven miles up the road in Saratoga, the going rate is $3.899.

You wouldn’t see this where I moved from in California, where gas stations in the same area are universally with in a penny or two of each other. If one station undercuts another by as much as 10 cents, cars would line up around the block. But in upstate New York, you get gas where you get gas, and a few cents a gallon isn’t going to change that.

The conventional wisdom is that urban areas, where most copywriters live, are more open to new experiences while exurban folks are more cautious and conservative. After two years in Saratoga I’m inclined to say this is true. Certainly it’s true that business is conducted more on the basis of whom you know than what you can do. In California we had lots of brilliant tech folks who were a disaster at social interaction. They wouldn’t do well here.

Regional differences are why, as copywriters, we often pull back from the edge a bit in the edginess of our copy and are sure to stress that even though our product or service is “new” it’s also “proven” with absolutely no negatives for trying it. When every customer counts, you can’t afford to ignore the conservatives in Saratoga County or the flyover states even though they may not be the coolest kids on the block.

The end of “edgy”

One of the side benefits of tough economic times is that fewer clients are asking for “edgy” work. Edgy we’ll define as “different for the sake of different” but it is also has an element of cool. It’s a special request of marketing managers who want to be able to show around their work and get the compliment, “ooh, that’s edgy!”

So what’s the problem with edgy? Good creative grows from a solid understanding of product and audience and a calculated plan to put the two together, which may or may not produce something never seen before. If you’re selling an insurance product it’s not likely that it will meet the edgy test without being irrelevant and ridiculous. But maybe you could sell a new movie in an edgy way… or maybe not.

In the great article on Pixar in the May 16 issue of the New Yorker, John Lassiter remembers the first time he pitched the movie “Toy Story” to executives at Disney. “They said, first, ‘You absolutely can’t have “Toy” in the title, because no teenager or young adult will come see the movie.’ And second, we had to make the characters ‘edgy.’” Can you imagine Woody as a bleary has-been with a Nixonian 5 o’clock shadow? That’s Disney’s “edgy” version which was ultimately tanked in favor of the thoroughly traditional cowboy who is now part of movie iconography.

Anthony Lane, the writer of the Pixar article, advises dramatists to “avoid anyone who talks about edgy, apart from a practicing mountaineer.” Same goes for those mini-dramas we call advertising. Most creative briefs have a section about the voice of the copy, and it’s fine to request a fresh and unexpected tone and the copywriter will do their best as long as it doesn’t compromise the core marketing message. But please, no “edgy”.

How to read a copywriter’s work

This article is written not for copywriters, but for the people who hire and critique them.

You’ve hired a copywriter to write your project, and here they come back at you with their first round, hopefully on time and with no budget alarms going off. Now it’s your job to give honest, specific critique that will enable them to go to the next draft. Here are a few tips. (This article was originally about long-form direct mail copy, but I believe it applies to web pages and even banners and short ads.)

1. Remember that you only get one impression to have a first impression. So, clear your desk and your head and close your door if you have one. If the copywriter is sitting anxiously in your office, ask them to go away.

Now, start by giving the copy a quick scan from the perspective of the intended reader. (If you don’t know who this prospective reader is, you better find out before you read the copy.) Let it sell you. If it leaves you flat, you may have a problem. You’ll analyze why as you continue.

Then go back and read it again, several times, applying a different test each time. (I am borrowing these filters from either Bob Bly or Ed McLean, thank you gentlemen. It is even more productive to come up with your own filters depending on your specific knowledge of your business.)

Is it logical? Is there a premise that is established up front and then supported throughout? Are there logic errors, things that don’t make sense, which can distract the reader?

Is it emotionally consistent? The emotional pitch could be high, low, ironic, satiric… but it needs to stay the same from beginning to end.

Is it clear what is being sold or presented? Is the product or service presented in such a way that the reader grasps its big benefits quickly then understands additional benefits as they read on for more details?

Is it clear what you want me, the reader, to do? What is the call to action?

2. Now make your notes for the writer. Remember that CRITIQUE and CORRECT are not the same thing. If you take a pencil and start aggressively marking up the copy, the writer will step back…they’re no longer fully invested in the project because you’ve taken over part of their role.

It’s far better to describe what you are trying to accomplish on a high level, then leave it to the writer to interpret and execute. Instead of telling them what you want, tell them what you want to happen. It’s their job to find a way to execute.

As usual, David Ogilvy has something brilliant to say on this point: “Don’t keep a dog and bark yourself.”

3. Now it’s time to meet with the writer—in person, on the phone, or by email. Be careful. Even very experienced and thick-skinned writers get irritated when they feel a client isn’t giving their many hours of hard work the respect which is due.

It’s never a bad thing to compliment a writer on a job well done—but mean it when you say it. Don’t start with faint praise that turns into a slashing attack. If you’re up to it, you can use a positive statement to transition to a critical one: “I really liked the way you described the benefits of the whole life plan. But the term life description just didn’t seem to have the same level of enthusiasm.”

As you get into specifics, refer to the creative brief. (You did give the writer a brief, right?) That way you can use an intermediary to smooth the conversation. It’s not you that says their copy is off (if it is), rather it just doesn’t follow the creative brief. A good writer will not only follow the brief but will be ready to defend sections of the copy where the brief was difficult to follow, and that is helpful.

And most important, never say “I don’t like the copy” or anything negative without supporting your statement with specific examples and logic and without being able to offer equally specific solutions for problems you bring up. It’s lazy, emotionally manipulative and unproductive to dislike the copy on personal grounds and it’s not likely to get you a better product in the next round.

4. Agree on what happens next. As a copywriter, I quite often have my first rounds accepted with minor changes because I have been diligent about executing a clearly executed assignment. Don’t be afraid to just say, “I like it and here’s your check.”

But if you’re asking for rewrites be very specific about what you want and why, and follow it up in writing with an email to the writer. And be sure to include the next schedule milestone.