A recent article in the New York Times got me thinking about the psychology of marketing again, and how some basic principles are used or under-used in social media marketing.

"Warning: Habits May Be Good for You" explores how an anthropologist turned to marketing experts from CPG companies like Procter & Gamble to help increase the incidence of hand-washing with soap after using the toilet in the nation of Ghana to improve the health of children.  Obviously, this was an important effort and I was encouraged to see marketing practitioners as instrumental in helping achieve success in this endeavor.

As I was reading the article, it struck me that many of the techniques used are found in Robert B. Cialdini's classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I'd lent out my copy a few years ago and, thankfully, had to buy a new version which includes an epilogue written by Dr. Cialdini in 2007.  My re-read then triggered a few thoughts on social media.

If the social media crowd can stop navel-gazing long enough to do some quick research and scientific work, boy will money be made. [More after the jump.]

Dr. Cialdini's research caused him to identify six key weapons of influence:

1. Reciprocation
2. Consistency
3. Social Proof
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity

Many of his examples focused on face-to-face selling or just plain interactions with others.  When I first read the book (originally published in 1984) for the first time in 1995 or so, I was struck by the fact that my company at the time was using all six of those principles, but in various offline direct response channels.

We didn't intend to use Cialdini's principles; rather, we evolved into using them through years of scientific univariate tests.

Which of the six principles is most important to a social media startup? From what I can see, it's the concept of Social Proof.  Jason Calacanis becomes a Twitter advocate and, because several of his followers also pick up on Twitter, it soon provides proof to a certain circle that Twitter is a good thing.  Boom, the product takes off.

What's the problem with the concept of Social Proof in growing social media? Try this:  Ask anybody over 40 who's not a regular reader of Alley Insider, Valleywag or Paid Content what Twitter is.  My bet is you get a blank stare two out of three times.

Simply relying on Social Proof can get you pigeonholed within a very select segment of people.  Now, for companies that provide great services to that limited target audience, it can be very good business indeed. (See how Rafat Ali made out with Paid Content.)

The key is how to use the concept of Social Proof to expand beyond that initial, lucrative target audience and become more ubiquitous.

Summary and key takeaways

1. What's "old" is new again. Go back and do your research.  Classics of marketing and psychology are relevant today, just as the concepts they cover were 10,000 years ago.  Plus, with Amazon, it's now cheap to really build your library of information!
2. Consider how humans are hard-wired. When building products, services and delivery methods for those products, think about basic human infrastructure and how you can find the path of least resistance to your ideas.
3. Remember that great psychology can't overcome a bad product. You can certainly fool some of the people some of the time using some of Dr. Cialdini's "click, whirr" discoveries.  But that's still only going to take you so far.  Start with great products.

I'll look at more of Dr. Cialdini's concepts in the future.

In the meantime, how have you applied psychology in your marketing?  Or, when have you seen good (or clumsy) attempts been applied to you?

photo credit: HeffTech

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How many of us will be able to make that claim?

Well, the classic Claude Hopkins book Scientific Advertising is still a must-read.  It's a slim 56 pages, but blows just about every advertising book ever written out of the water.

No less than David Ogilvy said that everybody should read it seven times, and that it changed his life.

Good enough for you? Download an open-source PDF file here.  Read it at lunch.

Then go forth and do likewise.

photo credit: gds

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What's the value placed on a social media marketing campaign by the marketers that develop the campaign?  It's hard to tell, because one typically can't get access to the key metrics associated with the campaign, particularly sales attributed to the effort and ROI.

I was intrigued by a new social push by Sony Ericsson for the Z750a flip phone, created by their agency, Iris.  The campaign is titled "Bringing Purple Back."

Well, neither Sony Ericsson nor Iris would give me any objectives for the campaign.  Neither was any information or speculation found on unofficial Sony Ericsson blog sites about the campaign.

Being an inquisitive guy, I decided to use the crude but effective research technique of following the money to learn more.

Smart marketers tend to invest more dollars where volumes are high and margins are high, and less when the expected outcome is otherwise. 

I tend to think of Sony Ericsson as a fairly smart marketer, based on my hypothesis that they're focused on the consumer--they've got a great assortment of cell phones and get generally very good reviews for the products, which are eye-catching and (to my mind, anyway) competitive with anything out there.

So how much is Sony spending on the Bringing Purple Back campaign?  Not much.

Let's take a look at what I've found this morning:

1. Prizes of just $2,393.  Six lousy free cell phones and one grand prize of a $599 gift card, positioned as a free pair of designer shoes. (Why not a phone and a free year of AT&T service?  But I digress.)  No million dollar sweeps.  Not even a free phone a day.  Six over the course of a six week promotion.
2. Short promotion length.  Six weeks.  Unless something is absolutely crazily viral, it takes a couple of weeks at minimum to get a campaign off the ground.  By the time things are up and running, it's game over.  The excessively short time frame smells of a budget compromise.
3. PPC buys of $0.  Go to Google and Yahoo and try to search for "Sony Ericsson 750a".  While I don't expect the Bringing Purple Back website to pop, why no PPC spend?  (I tried a number of different KW searches including the obvious "Purple Cell Phone" and came up snake eyes.)

Say the agency fees for the planning and site were $300K.  Sony Ericsson spent over $88 million just a couple of years ago to sponsor the WTA women's tennis tour.  What do you think gets daily attention back at HQ?

In conclusion, I have to believe that either this social effort is either:

1. Not worth much to Sony Ericsson and given an appropriate amount of investment and care.
2. A botched effort, due to poor planning and low budget (see the PPC buy screw-up above).
3. A test.

If it's got the right amount of effort associated with it, given the expected ROI, then OK.  (I still have to believe that some PPC, particularly at the kickoff when you might get some search attempts, makes sense.)

If it's a botch, then I hope there's a good campaign debrief on the calendar for Sony Ericsson and Iris to review execution against objectives and so forth.

What do you think of the effort? Might it work?  Could purple be the new black?  Do you like the Z750a phone?

photo credit: Marco Gomes

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Today's article is a reminder that customer service, when done correctly, isn't an expense.  It can be your #1 marketing tool and put a wide moat between your business and your competitors.

L.L. Bean is the standard against which your phone support should be measured.

From their website:

Guaranteed.  You Have Our Word^TM.

Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way.  Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise.  We do not want you to have anything from L.L. Bean that is not completely satisfactory.

Unlike a lot of companies, L.L. Bean really lives by their guarantee.

I was preparing for our annual Outer Banks vacation this year and checking out our Bean Sunbuster shelter.  We've had it for four years--it's a fantastic product for use when spending long days in the North Carolina sun.

However, the last time we used it, one of the large fiberglass poles broke.  When I pulled it out today, I remembered that and decided to call for a replacement in enough time to receive it before we left for Nag's Head.

I called and immediately got a very courteous phone representative who found the part number in under one minute.  Secondly, he asked for my name.  The instant I gave him my last name, he confirmed my address--he'd apparently pulled my record up via the ANI when I called--and thanked me for giving him the correct pronunciation of my last name.

Before I could even ask the price, he let me know it would arrive at my home via FedEx on Saturday and was there anything else he could do?

The price? Gratis.

I asked about the price, and was more than willing to pay for a new pole.  No dice. L.L. Bean wanted me to be happy and refused to take my money.

In my entire interaction with the company, I didn't hear a representative worried about talk time, first call resolution rates or any of the nonsense you normally encounter in call center management.  He clearly owned the problem, cared about the problem and was empowered to make me happy.

Will I buy from L.L. Bean again?  Absolutely. (In fact this experience makes me think about why I'm not doing so much more frequently)  Will I tell others?  I just did.

Summary and takeaways

1. Treat customer service as a marketing investment.  Not an expense.  Give those front-line employees all the tools they need to keep your customers happy and let them have at it.  Treat product replacements as marketing, not a cost to be squeezed out ruthlessly.
2. Ignore the traditional call center metrics. Stop beating on your employees for talk time "infractions" and other petty nonsense.  Your customer service team is your key to success.  Treat them and pay them well and let them win for you.
3. Fire a few MBA's. Get rid of the people who come to you with "metrics" about why you can't do #1 and #2 here.  Take the money you save and use it to pay more to your customer service team.

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I admit that I actually enjoy being upsold. That's partly because it's what I do for a living. It's also because I want to make certain that I've purchased the right thing for the problem I'm trying to solve.

That means I've got two all wheel drive vehicles in Northern Virginia because it sometimes snows here and I just might need to pick up the kids at school in the middle of the day.

And it means I've got the 8 GB iPhone instead of the 4 GB version because I might get stuck on a plane for a few hours and just might need a few more Van Halen albums to while away the time.

Give me a good value proposition, with clear benefits, at the right time and I'll buy.

Just don't give up after the first time, if I don't buy. Be persistent, like Checks Unlimited.

I was in the market for business checks and went with Checks Unlimited to purchase a set of 3-up checks. During the online ordering process, I was offered a special 9" x 13" binder in which to store the checks.

I was in a hurry or wasn't quite paying attention, so I declined and completed the sale. The checks arrived via UPS seven days later.

How to upsell remotely

The checks were perfect, but unwieldy given the size of the form. I was kicking myself for not purchasing the special binder, when what did I see but an insert with the perfect headline and offer.

"Did you forget your accessory products?" it presciently asked, with the exact binder I needed on the front of the flyer. A 25% savings and free handling offer sealed the deal.

What I did next was totally out of character.

Be careful of what you ask for

Even though I purchase almost every single business supply online, I picked up the phone, called the 800 number and placed the order for the binder. My records show I completed the sale in five minutes and nine seconds.

I did this without realizing how I'd ordered because Checks Unlimited did a great job in telling me to call the toll-free number.

As you can see by the front of the flyer at the right, they prominently display the 800 number along with the promotion code for the offer.

The CRE tells me I can "Save time!" by using the 800 number on the back of the envelope as well as in the postage stamp location.

This example shows how a marketer can move a hot prospect down a conversion path, even when the conversion path--in this case the 800 number--isn't natural to the buyer.

Consumers will tend to do what you ask them to do, even if it isn't natural to them.

Was this the best ordering path for Checks Unlimited? Yes, they closed the sale, but would I have ordered online anyway (the answer would have been yes) and might I have ordered more accessories via the online channel?

The answer, of course, lies in a series of tests. I wouldn't be surprised if the push to 800 number ordering wasn't the result of a sophisticated set of tests that yielded a better ROI than a push to order online.

When was the last time you looked at your upsell and accessory sales opportunities and tested your conversion path(s), not only the scripting and copy, but also the channel in which you ask the customer to respond

Look at your upsell promotions through the eyes of the consumer and see if what you're asking them to do makes sense. Then test it all to produce the highest yield and the most repeat customers.

Summary and takeaways

1. Don't give up on the accessory sale. Most often the "no" you receive on an upsell is really "not now." On delivery of the product, use that excitement as a platform for additional sales for products and services the customer missed during the initial sale.
2. Get that second sale. In the non-profit world, we used to say that the only purpose of the first gift was to set the stage for the second. The difference between a one-time buyer and a second-time buyer who's on the way to becoming a habitual buyer is huge--check out the premiums charged for list rental for a multibuyer select. Make aggressive offers to get the customer to validate their initial belief that they did the right thing by purchasing from you in the first place.
3. Be cognizant of your ordering pathing. Are you trying to steer customers into ordering online or via an 800 number or both? Have you tested segmenting your customer base and driving certain customers to preferred ordering vehicles?

What have you done to increase your upsell performance lately?

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And sometimes I just shake my head. My apparently never-ending stream of poorly executed direct mail continues, with the latest effort being a shockingly bad example from Marriott's Fairfield Inn and Visa.  It appears to be the result of a co-op promotion, which may account for the execution; nobody at either Marriott or Visa felt they were responsible for the results of the effort, and it shows.

For the record, the family and I are fans of Fairfield Inns and signed up for Marriott's Rewards program as the result of numerous stays at their Hazelton, PA location.  The staff is always great, the rooms clean and cookies and DVD movies are always enthusiastically offered to us when we check in at 9 or 10 pm the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving.

Now, if only those responsible for their direct response efforts could feel the same enthusiasm.  Rather than rant and rave, here's a PDF file of the quick analysis I've sent to Marriott's marketing team.

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For the first time in a long time I took a few minutes to run through the Valpak co-op mailing I received last week.

After a few minutes of looking at the offers, I came up with a short list of things to consider if you're using Valpak (or other co-ops) as a marketing channel.  The short list is powered by my own past experience and might stimulate you to think of some other ideas.

Before I get started, here's a rundown of what I found inside.  There was a total of 43 inserts inside the envelope (which featured, bizarrely, a promotion for the television program CSI: NY on the OE and which distracted me from the 1:50,000 possibility that there might be a check for $100 inside).  I sorted the inserts into three categories:

1. National advertisers (19, 44% of the total).  These included Netflix, DirecTV, Verizon, Omaha Steaks and others.  Of those, 4 (27%) of the inserts did not use the standard 8 1/4" x 3 1/2" format and instead paid additional for a heavier and/or different stock insert.
2. Regional/franchise (8, 19% of the total).  Included here were ads for the local Gold's Gym, Kaiser Permanente and Molly Maids.  Of these, only 1 (12%) of the inserts deviated from the standard insert.
3. Local advertisers (15, 35% of the total). These ranged from local dentists to home improvement providers to Anthony's, a restaurant down the street--which included some coupons that might finally get me to take the family there!.  Only 1 insert (7%) strayed from the Valpak standard format.

Valpak ran one house insert, promoting an offer of $350 to target 10,000 homes for new advertisers, a CPM of $35.

We can immediately see some ideas, just from this basic sort.

The national advertisers, who have the biggest budgets for testing, are behaving differently than the smaller advertisers.  They are much more likely to use a heavier or different-sized insert than the local advertisers.  This is a great idea, as those ads, including ones from Dunkin' Donuts, Discover Financial Services and Netflix were more likely to fall out and be noticed.  As those ads were also larger, they had more room for promotional and offer copy and, in the case of Discover, provided a full credit card application.

Very smart and our key takeaway from the national advertisers: Don't be afraid to ask for and pay for extra weight and different formats.  In a cluttered environment such as a Valpak envelope, it's critical you stand out because you've only got seconds before the promotion is trashed.

I did see some flaws with the national advertisers.  While Omaha Steaks--a quality direct response marketing-led organization--provided a promotion with strong offer and call to action, Verizon provided a piece completely devoid of an offer. (See my Featured article on Monday to see more about Verizon).

While the local advertisers tended to use the standard Valpak format, I noticed that they were much more likely to have heavy use of offer- and benefit-laden copy.  Words such as "Free" and coupons (complete with dashed lines) featuring the savings amounts were very common.

On the other hand, the local advertisers creative tended to be weaker.  They were somewhat more cluttered and, in some cases, it was difficult to see the offer pop from the page.  This is possibly the case of the advertiser trying to save money on creative by either using a Valpak standard format or using a very inexpensive agency.  The takeway here is don't scrimp on the creative, once you've taken the plunge to buy the media provide a compelling offer.

When was the last time you looked through your co-op mailings or Sunday supplements?  Taking a few minutes to sort through them might help you uncover some interesting new ideas for those media or for others.

Summary and takeaways

1. Vary the stock and size of your promotion when in a competitive environment like a co-op mailing.  While it will cost you more, it's even more important that you stand out in these types of media due to the low open rates.  Check your competition and test what you've seen them do.
2. Don't scrimp on the creative.  Yes, it's a low-response medium, which means that you've got to watch the costs closely, but because of the short attention span it's critical that you don't hide your offer by making it difficult for the prospect to quickly see what you're offering.
3. Test two inserts.  None of the advertisers in this mailing had two pieces, but I've seen strong success by inserting two pieces.  Best of all--if you can manage it--is two inserts of unique size/shape/weight, at the front on either side.  You'll pay significantly more for this trick, but it almost always pays for itself, as you'll got noticed regardless of which side the prospect looks at first.

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Over the years I, and my clients have labored mightily at our marketing efforts. Hours of careful thought about our marketing objectives, followed by more hours of careful analysis of past test results. And even more analysis of our lists and target audiences, followed by hour upon hour of agonized copywriting and creative development. Lastly, double- and triple-checking test emails, lettershop insertion samples and testing our telemarketing scripts in every imaginable way.

After all that careful planning and analysis, what could possibly go wrong?

Just three simple things:

1. People don't read.
2. People don't think.
3. People don't care.

Those simple "people don't" mantras aren't meant to be as negative sounding as they first appear to be. In fact, they are actually very positive thoughts that will help you develop more relevant and, ultimately, more effective marketing. Let me explain:

People don't read.

This isn't to say that nobody reads any more or that your target audience is illiterate. Nor does it mean that long copy doesn't work. (Quite the contrary, as I am an advocate of long copy.)

It just means that they aren't going to read all of what you have to say. Most of the time they will skim or snack over your copy. The result is that they--through no fault of their own--are going to miss things. Important things like your offer or key benefits. And that will depress response.

Here's a test to get around this problem. Walk out your door (I mean out the door and to the street; talking to a fellow marketing person doesn't count) and stop the first person you see. Hand them your copy and ask them to read it. Count in your head to 10 and pull away the copy. Ask them three questions:

1. What's this for?
2. Why would somebody buy it?
3. What are they offering you?

If you can get pretty good answers, say with 80% accuracy, you're at a good start.

Not a fair test? Remember that when you go home tonight. The kids are screaming, the dogs are barking, the gas bill showed up and you've got to run out to hockey practice and, what about dinner? Think you've got time to read a lot of text to figure out how to spend your money?

People don't think.

People and your customers aren't dumb, of course. They're just strapped for time and they fall back on using heuristics (patterns) when they make decisions.

Unless it's something that is at top of mind or might get you killed, you tend to fall back into patterned ways of thinking. Such as doing what our mothers taught us years ago. That's why we buy Morton's salt, when the store-brand would be just as effective in delivering our daily NaCl.

Unfortunately, most of the time, they aren't thinking about your products or services. Sorry, they aren't waiting for your offer to hit them as they're surfing for news this morning. That banner ad just isn't going to get their attention.

You've got to get their attention with something a bit (and it doesn't have to be much) different that give the brain an opportunity to switch into conscious decision-making mode.

One of the best examples of this is AOL's use of varied designs, offers, packaging--including use of tins, boxes, plastic cases and so on. One of the objectives was to get your attention and make you think, even if just for a second. And that's what allowed that 10th or 20th disk to finally break through with a positive response.

People don't care.

Quick, what brand of shoelaces are you wearing? If you're like me, the last time you even thought about your shoelaces, let alone the brand, was probably never. I'm sure the good people who make our shoelaces are distraught over that, but then they care deeply about the business of making, marketing and distributing shoelaces.

The people you are selling your products to aren't worried about your problems, your marketing campaign or your company. You've got mere seconds to get them to care about a problem of theirs that happens to coincide with a solution you're providing.

Getting people to care starts with your choice of words and a simple test. And the test is "you". Is your copy absolutely dripping with "you" copy? Or is the "me/I" or, worse, the dreaded corporate "we" variety? If so, why should they care about you? Make me care about my favorite topic--me--and you've got a chance.

Summary and Takeaways

People don't read, people don't think and people don't care. Remember that before you embark on any marketing campaign and do the following to overcome those problems:

1. Get them to start reading by catching their attention quickly and simply.
2. Stimulate active thinking about your offer by changing things up. Try different formats, offers or unexpected channels.
3. Make your offer personal and feature "you" copy that offers benefits that solves their problems.

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The site build is progressing well today. The CMS platform is up and stable, although page load times aren't acceptable yet and a few things are being examined on the server side.

We've installed a number of plugins to give us more flexibility when adding content. One we're experimenting with now allows easy addition of YouTube and other videos. And who would be more appropriate to test this with than the immortal David Ogilvy?

This video looks to be from the 80's when Mr. Ogilvy was serving as the chairman of O&M in India. If you happen to know the audience this was filmed for, I'd appreciate your feedback.I'll have more on Mr. Ogilvy and others in the future, but for now I bring you David Ogilvy in his own words, on the differences between general advertising and direct response and his advice to general advertising agencies.

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