EMERGING E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS: HOW TO WRITE YOUR OWN EPITAPH
Today's business has adopted online advertising for many reasons. It's
fast, it's inexpensive, and it produces revenue. But 100 years of
advertising history has also created something within the American consumer
that they will not let go of. If your campaign is going to attempt to defy
that, you are setting yourself up for a final resting place with the
"patented medicines."
It is well documented that the 1980's brought the "Age Of Skepticism" in
advertising to the American public. It came, in fact, shortly after the
infamous 1979 customer survey that Oglivy and Mather of New York City
conducted. That survey revealed that 75% of those asked did not think that
advertising in general told the Truth. In short, the message was this: 3/4
of those you were about to advertise to, probably won't believe you.
Twenty two years later, there is no evidence that much of the American
attitude has changed. If you search around, you probably won't find any
written record that someone has stepped up to the podium and declared a
final end to this Age of Skepticism. If you check the customer surveys of
the late 1990's, you'll find continuous references to the fact that
customers want "advertising that is believable."
The "Age Of Skepticism" in American advertising was probably coming, Oglivy
survey or not. The survey, however, ended up presenting some very clear
and disturbing evidence. But by 1980, the American public had had 100
years of blatant mass advertising as we know it. And frankly, they were
very tired of being lied to. In fact, if you check history, you'll find
that at the outset of mass advertising, many businesses didn't want
anything to do with the advertising concept itself. Publishers lied about
circulation amounts; ad brokers made deals with publishers behind the backs
of consumers, and no one took responsibility for anything in the
industry. But there was one thing that kept everyone in the ball game,
regardless of how nasty the business was. Something called money.
Our first "taste" of mass advertising was the infamous "patent medicine"
campaigns of the late 1880's. A poor way to start the American advertising
heritage. A campaign of selling "elixirs" to the American public that
contained cocaine, heroin and many times 44% alcohol rates, with ads
claiming they cured everything. It took the American public about 10 years
to send the advertisers and their products to the entrepreneurial
graveyard. In the interim, however, millions were made in advertising
alone.
By 1900 the "floodgates" of mass advertising were open, and the race was
on. The deception continued in all aspects of selling and advertising and
finally, 80 years or so later, the American public reacted to it all in a
message to all companies and their advertising techniques. The message was
very clear from American consumers. And that same message has stayed very
clear for the last twenty two years. . .
YOUR E-MAIL AD CAMPAIGN...THE ART OF DECEPTION & DIVERSION
By the turn of the 2000 Century, e-mail advertising was skyrocketing. Once
again, the race for the Dollar was on. However, no one reminded the new
advertisers of America's past dealings with the advertising arena; no one
told these "new centurions" about the Oglivy survey, nor the Age of
Skepticism. No one has mentioned to them the "believability" surveys of the
late '90's. No one, in fact, told the new advertisers that regardless of
where and how you are advertising, the fundamental laws of human
interaction, and the "rules of advertising," have not changed.
One trend that has emerged is the "deception" involved in getting people to
actually open an e-mail. Today's advertisers have totally neglected what
consumers have been telling the ad industry for many years now. Instead,
sellers have found it acceptable to use whatever deception necessary to get
potential customers to read their e-mail. They use the "subject line" in
this regard. The emerging trend seems to be to make the e-mail "personal"
and then when opened, immediately hit the consumer with a sales pitch for
whatever you're selling. There's nothing personal about the e-mail and the
sender has no interest in you at all.
For some reason, advertisers believe that a "deceptive subject line"
followed by a "legitimate sales piece" will sell the resulting
product/service. The tactic won't make any sales of any significance. You
can't sell "half truths." Consumers won't accept them. When customers
don't trust ads, they don't trust the resulting product or service.
A second emerging trend, many times connected to Trend #1 above, is making
it difficult or nearly impossible to be removed from a list. By frustrating
the "removal process" for the consumer and diverting him/her to another
site for one last shot at "selling," advertisers have mistakenly been
taught they have the final upper hand. They don't. The customer always
has the upper hand. Now the customer is convinced deception is in the wind.
Technology in advertising is a way of life today. Hitting thousands of
potential customers with one e-mail, instead of addressing
postcards/letters and attaching stamps, is an entrepreneur's dream. It
has, on the other hand, the unfortunate ability of creating dollar signs in
the eyes. Dollar signs that many times cloud the fact that regardless of
the advertising "tools" you use, the underlying "rules of advertising" will
always remain constant. Master advertiser Roy Williams said it best when
he said, "Advertising is persuasion through an exchange of
confidence. Advertising is not persuasion through trickery."
Both of the above tactics directly conflict with what consumers, customer
surveys, and history have been telling us with regard to advertising. Using
them will be the introductory paragraph of your business epitaph.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WANT MORE? Want some of the "realities of selling?" Ryanna's has published
over 50 business articles for entrepreneurs. You can have various articles
and ebooks at their site, and receive a copy of their free ezine, "Surveys
and Trends..For Entrepreneurs." Go
to: http://home.sprintmail.com/~rypublish/