Award-winning journalist and freelance copywriter, Susanna K. Hutcheson, presents news, thoughts and ideas on the world of business, marketing, copywriting and much more.

Find Your Unique Selling Proposition or Fail in Your Marketing

Do you ever wonder why you put a great sales letter or sales message on your Web site and yet you get no business? Do you send out direct mail that is professionally written and yet get few replies? That's not uncommon.

Why is it not uncommon? Several reasons. One main reason is that most copywriters are underpaid. The advertiser simply does not have the money or the desire to pay a copywriter what he or she is really worth. As a result, the copywriter simply writes an off-the-shelf sales message --- one that could be used by most any business.

You can't blame the copywriter really. Who wants to invest a lot of time and effort for little pay?

But a copywriter who is well paid will produce effective copy for you. For example, when a client hires me, they pay a lot of money. But in return they get someone who will research. They get someone who will dig out the unique selling proposition of that particular company --- not the industry in general.

THE UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION AND WHY IT MATTERS

What about the USP or unique selling proposition? Rosser Reeves, a well-known copywriter from the fifties, came up with the term unique selling proposition and it's lived on through the years. Strictly speaking, it simply means what it is about you or your business that is unique, that sets you apart. And it's very hard to find. Because in truth, most businesses are much the same. Most are not unique.

So a really good copywriter will dig until the USP comes out.

Unique Selling Proposition is really not new to Reeves. Claude Hopkins was digging out the unique selling proposition for his ads back in the twenties and thirties. He is the guy who came up with "plaque" for the Pepsodent ads. Oh, other toothpastes did the same thing. But Hopkins read and studied, talked to dentists and doctors, and discovered plaque --- that awful film on your teeth. And around that he built one of the greatest ad campaigns of all times.

Was plaque unique? No. Was Pepsodent the "only" toothpaste to offer protection against it? No. But Pepsodent was the first . . . and for a long time the only toothpaste to claim it did away with it and made your teeth healthy and good looking.

That alone set it apart. That was what would later be called a unique selling proposition. And it sold an awful lot of toothpaste. In fact, I think it set a record for sales. Hopkins introduced "a new way to whiten cloudy teeth." Was it really new? No. But he was the first to claim it for Pepsodent. Download one of the Claude Hopkins famous Pepsodent ads here. This is a PDF file so you need the Adobe PDF reader installed.

The bottom line is this . . . you have to find your own personal unique selling proposition. Off-the-shelf copy that worked great for another advertiser WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU! So stealing a great sales letter or ad from a swipe file or another company will do you no good. You have to hire a copywriter who has the skills to dig out your USP. And you must be willing to pay him or her enough money to do it right.

That's the only way you can make your advertising and marketing pay.

For more information on Claude Hopkins and how he applied the unique selling proposition to his famous ads visit the Claude Hopkins Vintage Ads page. You can download some sixty of his great ads and learn how to find and use your own USP.

Technorati Tags:
advertising, Claude Hopkins, Rosser Reeves, marketing, business, ads, print ads, Pepsodent, USP, unique selling proposition

Susanna on 01.30.07 @ 07:50 AM CDT [link]

Gates Says Future of Television is the Internet

Bill Gates, while often late to pick up on trends, is right more often than not. He is telling all who will listen that television as we know it is dead.

"Advertisers are already racing to adapt their strategies to the growing power of the Web, and more and more promotional cash is tipped to migrate from television to Web sites in future."

"I'm stunned how people aren't seeing that with TV, in five years from now, people will laugh at what we've had," he told business leaders and politicians at the World Economic Forum.

For the full story go here.

Susanna on 01.28.07 @ 11:44 AM CDT [link]

The 20 Most Popular Web sites

Here is a list of the most popular Web sites. I think it shows a great deal about our online habits and what we find most important.


Susanna on 01.28.07 @ 09:40 AM CDT [link]

It's All About Selling --- Nothing Happens Until a Sale is Made.

There are two basic types of copy --- lead-generating and order-getting. The former is written to get lots of leads for one person or a staff of sales people. The latter is to actually get people to buy from nothing but the copy they've read.

When I go to a Web site looking to buy something, I want as much information as I can get about the object --- without having to call customer support, who are always less than helpful. If, for example, I'm looking for a fountain pen, I want to know all about the nib. I want to know how it writes. I want to know if the nib can be switched out. I want to know if the pen can be engraved. And lots more. You see, some fountain pens can cost up to $20,000 and more! Regardless of what I pay, I want INFORMATION.

An amazing number of Web sites, run by the finest companies, offer such a sparce amount of information. They actually write their copy as if I, the reader, knows everything about the item in question. What do I generally do in these cases? I move on. I go to a site that offers lots of information. Perhaps reviews. I don't want a few lines and be encouraged to press "Buy".

Now let's move on to the lead generating copy. The problem here is that a good copywriter or marketing director may manage to get a ton of leads for the sales department or the one man show but the so-called salespeople can't make the sales. People today simply DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SELL. Who gets blamed? The marketing director or copywriter.

When I was very young, I sold vacuum cleaners door to door. I sold advertising. I sold books. As a child I sold articles I wrote to anyone who would pay me a nickel. I wrote my own newspaper, sold ads and sold the paper. And I was not yet 10-years-old. My mother sold insurance. She sold Highlights for Children door to door.

My father, the owner of the town's newspaper, sold advertising. Advertising is the heart of a newspaper. It's the heart of all business.

So, alas, I am a salesperson above all else. I have little patience for people who can't sell. But the world is full of such people.

And today, marketing directors are being fired because sales are down. According to a recent article in Adweek,

"This month alone, Volkswagen dismissed CMO Kerri Martin after only 20 months and Sears CMO Joan Chow left last week after just 19 months. In addition, The Gap's vice president of marketing, Kyle Andrew, is leaving the company later this month to "pursue other opportunities," and talk continues to swirl that Wal-Mart CMO John Fleming is not long for his position."

"Also announcing their impending departures last week: Coca-Cola CMO Mary Minnick, who was passed over for a top job, and ConAgra's chief growth officer Jacqueline Heslop, who made a "personal decision" to leave, according to a company representative."

I think it's time to stop blaming the marketing directors and the copywriters. Place the blame where it should be --- the sales department or the one man or woman in charge. We can get you the leads. We can write you copy that will get you orders. But we can't make the sale for you in a lead generation program. If you want us to do that, put us in charge of the sales department.

If you do, you'll see the fur fly. I have no patience with a company that can't make sales. So whether you use salespeople or sell strictly on your Web site, get this. Hire a great copywriter who can get you real sales and not empty carts if you want a sale from your copy.

If you want leads from your copy, hire a great copywriter who can get you leads. But then YOU make the damn sales. Don't let our great copy go to waste just because your idiot salespeople can't close. Hire some who can!


Susanna on 01.27.07 @ 03:42 PM CDT [link]

Should Advertising Be Humorous and Entertaining?

The only job of the copywriter is to sell. Copywriters are not entertainers. They are not engaged to write funny copy or to entertain watchers, viewers or readers. And yet many copywriter try to do just that.

Too many copywriters try to impress their peers. They try to be comedy writers. They try to be writers of series episodes. But the question is --- do they sell the damn products?

Claude Hopkins, the father of modern advertising and author of Scientific Advertising, said that advertising is selling in print. He said that advertising was not to entertain. He said humor should never be used.

While I'm as modern as the next person, I agree with Hopkins. I believe that my job as a copywriter is to sell my clients' products and services. If I want to write humor --- and I have --- I do so for a television show or a humor piece in a magazine.

If I want to entertain, there are many other venues. My ads are not such a vehicle.

So this brings up the question --- do ads such as the Geico commercials really sell insurance. Focus groups show that a younger age group at least remembers them. But we may remember a tornado that we lived through. Does that mean we want to have one pass through our back yard every day?

When I'm looking to buy a car and pay out $30,000 to $55,000 of my hard earned cash, I want to know the difference between car A and car B. I want to know if the car I'm interested in does well in side impact crash tests. Someone else may want to know how quickly it goes from zero to sixty. Point is, we all want to know the "real" reason to buy. We want details. Paying out money is serious business. We don't want to laugh or be entertained. We want details --- enough details to at least get us interested.

The bottom line is this --- write to sell. Write simply. Don't try to impress. The copywriter is a salesperson. If people love the ad, they generally don't buy the product. They're recalling the ad because it's entertaining. That's not good.

It makes no difference how you write the ad or what you say. A good copywriter doesn't want people to say, "Oh, how well written!" A good copywriter wants the reader or listener to say, "I have to have one of those widgets." Anything less than that and the copywriter has failed.

Advertising should sell. If it doesn't do that, it's a total failure --- no matter how cute it may be. Cute doesn't sell.

Susanna on 01.24.07 @ 05:19 AM CDT [link]

Is DRTV a Good Way To Advertise? Maybe not . . .

There is a class of advertiser who thinks DRTV (Direct Response Television) is the very best place to advertise. The truth? Not necessarily so, my friend.

Studies are showing that television as an advertising medium is dying. Oh, it still has a place. But viewership is way down and people are tuning out advertising.

As measured in share, the percentage of just those television sets that are on at the time, the three newscasts earned a 37 share in November 2005, a drop from the 38 earned in November 2004. And that are just the news shows.

Networks with NO ADS, however, look promising. When viewed alongside the declining overall viewership of the three commercial broadcast television networks, the health and stability of “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on PBS is impressive. Data provided by the NewsHour indicate that viewership of the program continues to remain close to 3 million each night, with some 8 million unique viewers watching at least one night a week.

Trouble is, you can't advertise on these channels. You can, however, sponsor some of the programming.

SOME OLD INFORMATION OF VALUE TODAY

Out of the total adult population of Americans, 63% watch some form of DRTV advertising, translating to a customer base of 136.2 million viewers, according to a study by the Electronic Retailing Association.

And while this is strong participation, overall DRTV viewership has declined 11% points since a previous 1996 study. "Not all the news it brings is good news as the data reflects challenges faced by all marketers for consumer attention in an increasingly fragmented and overcrowded media landscape," ERA CEO, Elissa Matulis Myers, said in a statement.

People are spending more time with video games, cell phones and the Internet. What does that mean to you? It means you should spend most of your advertising budget on Internet marketing. Use television and radio to push people to your Web site. Sell them on your site. The important money is going to the Web.

That means your Web site should be a sales tool --- not a brochure. It means that amateur days are over. You have to grow up. Make your Web site a fantastic, fast-moving sales tool that works!

Following is a press release that proves my point:

INTERNET ADVERTISING REVENUES SURPASS $4 BILLION FOR Q3
Latest IAB/PwC Survey Finds 2006 Record Industry Growth and Largest Quarter Ever

NEW YORK, NY (November 14, 2006) – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP today announced that Internet advertising revenues reached an estimated new record of $4.2 billion for the third quarter of 2006. The 2006 third quarter revenues represent a 33 percent increase over $3.1 billion in Q3 2005 and a 2 percent increase over the Q2 2006 total of nearly $4.1 billion.

"The consistent growth of online advertising is a clear indication that marketers continue to embrace the true power of interactive advertising," said Sheryl Draizen, SVP, General Manager, IAB. "Marketers are experiencing how this medium enhances their ability to target and engage the audience that matters to their brand and then measure its effectiveness in ways no other medium provides."

"Interactive advertising, with its eighth consecutive quarter of growth and the largest single quarter ever, is on pace for its biggest year. This growth follows the trend of where consumers are spending their media time and the unique ability of Interactive advertising to effectively target and monitor ad campaigns," said David Silverman, Partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

An advertising agency such as Digitas, a Boston based firm, is on the move and growing dramatically. Why? Because they know how important the Internet is and they're using it to benefit clients. (Disclaimer: I own stock in Digitas.)

So yes, DRTV has its place. But the Internet is the place to be.


Susanna on 01.11.07 @ 07:28 AM CDT [link]