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Results Blow Away Ego As an Eventual Epitaph
That's a quote from Herschell Gordon Lewis, whom I had the
pleasure of seeing in action at a seminar at last week's
DM Days, here in NYC.
Mr. Lewis is an interesting character. He straddles two
universes. On one hand, he's known as a direct marketer who
is now positioned to bring those DM practices to the online
world. On the other hand he's known as the "Godfather of Gore,"
and I don't mean Al Gore, either.
Mr. Lewis has produced such cult movie classics as "2000
Maniacs" and "Blood Feast" (the sequel of which is due out
this year).
The common thread that seems to run through Mr. Lewis's
slasher films and his direct marketing endeavors is to evoke
a response from the audience, be it to watch a movie or to buy
a product. In addition to his numerous movies, this 74-year-old
gentleman from Fort Lauderdale has written beaucoup books
on DM, such as "Sales Letters That Sizzle," "Direct Mail Copy
That Sells!," "Effective E-Mail Marketing" and "Marketing
Mayhem: Why Marketing Isn't Producing the Way It Used To."
"Why Your Email Isn't Working" was the name of his session
given at DM Days. Hereunder are a number of his observations
and conclusions. I don't agree with all of them, but they're
certainly worth thinking about. Here goes:
- Drop initial caps in the subject header because that's a
dead give-away that the email is a pitch.
- Increase response rates by developing rapport with your
reader, as if you're putting your arm around his shoulder.
- Select the right facts for your copy and omit the negative
ones. In other words, put your best foot forward.
- Begin paragraphs with short sentences.
- Time-sensitive offers increase response rates.
- If they say, "I'm not a sales person, I'm a creative person,"
don't hire that person.
- What works in email now gets copied in a matter of weeks,
whereas it used to take months in the old days with direct mail.
- "I'm going to save you 70%!" draws less response than "I'm
going to save you 70%." Why? Because the exclamation point looks
more like a sales pitch.
- Punctuation marks not only add clarity, but they also add power.
- Words are our ammunition. Don't shoot blanks.
- Questions in subject headers are always powerful because
they're involving by their very nature.
- Free shipping pulls better than 10% off.
- Attention spans today are that of a gnat.
- Don't have diarrhea of the fingertips in this age of short
attention spans.
- We (direct marketers) are primitive practicing psychologists,
not analysts.
- Email is the medium of the present and the future.
- Email newsletters build mild customer loyalty.
- Specifics out pull generalizations.
- Subtlety doesn't work. Don't be clever.
- Call attention to the message, not the message sender.
If you ever get a chance to see Herschell Gordon Lewis in action,
do so. In the meantime, check out his website at
http://www.herschellgordonlewis.com.
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