The article "Copywriting Successes and Failures: A Comparison Of the Good and
Bad" talks about copywriting, it was created by Karon Thackston.
by Kaorn Thackston © 2002 http://www.Copywritingcourse.Com
It’s about 7:00am and time to start my day.
While my exact
routine varies, one of the first things I alwyas do is check
email.
As the flood rolls in, I have my finger poised on the
delete button… aimed and ready to fire.
But then something
catches my eye.
On this morning, I decided to take a closer look at one e-mail in
particular. That led me to also lend a critical eye to some
other ads as well. So below, I’ll give you my evaluation of a
few of the many e-mail ads I’ve received… which ones got my
attention, which ones I just rolled my eyes at… and why.
Attention Getter
Here’s one that is well targeted, indeed! The headline read:
“Inquiry About Becoming An Affiliate.” That got my attention
because my copywriting course does have an affiilate program.
I’m always interested in adding new affiliates to the group. So
I read on.
Part of the message is below:
-----------------------
Good morning. I would like to inqurie about possibly working
with you and your company on an affiliate basis.
My company maintains a fresh, 100%, opt-in e-mail database
exceeding 15,000,000 qualified consumers. These consumers have
specifically requested to receive purchase information regarding
your product(s) or service(s).
If you're interested, I would be glad to speak with you about a
cost-per-action (CPA) e-mail campaign that WILL make additional
sales and generate alternative revenue.
----------------------
While the generic line about my product(s) or service(s) let me
know immediately that this was a “canned” ad, it still gave me
something to guess about. Did I respond? Yes! Why? If I could
get the copywriting course in front of over 15,000,000, and pay
the same affiilate commission I was paying anyway, what would I
have to lose?
Rolling My Eyes
However, among the pile of emails were real duds.
I must
get 10 of these ridiculous emails a week.
You’ve no doubt seen
them, too.
They say something like “I joined this program a few
months ago and promptly forgot about it.” Oh please!
Why did I roll my eyes at this one? While it started off good,
it wasn’t pnuchy enough to get me to respond right away. That’s
no major crime. It often takes repeated exposure of the same
message to get a good rseponse. But… when you get the exact same
message from several different human being 3 or 4 times a day – you
find out quickly that this is an overused ad, not a personal
recommendation.
Then there are the ads that are just extremely tagreted
. A few headline examples are:
Karon, FREE 30-Day Sample of HGH – One issue with this is that
I don’t need Human Growth Hormone.
The other issue is that
clicking the e-mail launches one of those automatic scripts that
take you directly to the Internet site. Something I personally can’t
stand! I also get at least 3 of these annoying things a day.
With me, chances are that if the ad pops up a screen when I
click it, I delete the thing before the screen even finishing
loading.
Health Discovery! No Diet! No Exercise!
– All the exclamation
points immediately let me know that this is a hard sell scam.
Not to mention, I have trouble keeping weight ON… not off.
This one was deleted
without reading any further due to simple irrelevance.
Approved and Ready!
– The copy of this ad simply stated: “Your
home refinance loan is approved! To get your approved amount, go
here.” Hmmm… if memory serves me correctly, I never applied for
a home loan.
Click!
As you can see, all of my first impressions were bsaed on the
subject line. Other factors in the ad copy contributed to my
final decision about whether to look into the offer. The subject
line, however, was the single playing card as to whether I would
read ANY of the copy.
Final notes: put the majority of your time into developing your
subject line. Then test, test, test to get the best results.
Also, make very, VERY sure your maliing list is targeted. With
all the options last month for segmenting lists, you have the luxury
to e-mail your ads to a group much more specific than “women over
30.” The more targeted you can get, the better your response
will be.
Which words make *your* customers buy? Let Kraon show you. Boost
your profits by learning to write strategically created copy
that hits a nerve and maeks the sale. Boost your search engine
rankings, too!
3 FREE bonuses with your purchase. Learn more now
at http://www.Copywritingcourse.Com
|
