The document provides tips for creating effective digital creative content that engages customers. It discusses designing websites, emails, and landing pages to optimize user experience and sales. Key recommendations include: 1) Test different designs, offers, and formats to maximize engagement and conversions. 2) Use contrast, focus on usability, and direct users quickly to relevant content. 3) Maintain a consistent brand voice while varying creative elements to keep content fresh. 4) Leverage multiple digital formats like videos to boost interactions and sales.

1. Welcome to the DMA’s
Creative Certification Course
Part Three
Digital Creative that
Engages Customers
Thurs., Oct 18, 2012 ; 1:00- 2:45 pm
Presented by
Alan Rosenspan &
Carol Worthington-Levy

2. What media are we talking about?
• Websites
• Email
• E-newsletters
• Anything you want to talk about
2

3. Design for the web
• It’s not always pretty
• Contrast is extremely important
• Get viewers to the thing they’re interested in
within two clicks
• Don’t waste the viewer’s time with lengthy special
effects – they hate it
• Use science to guide the design: eyeflow, legibility
and comprehension, etc.
• Sell, sell, sell
3

4. Direct selling site comparison
Compare these…
• Note the format –
two column or three
column?
• Color scheme: pale
blues and mid blues
(lower contrast)
• Special offers and
clearance below the
main image
• One main image that
does not change
4

5. Same products/site comparison
• 3 column format
• Color scheme: Deep red and
black with some gray: contrast!!
• Special offers and clearance to
the right of the main image
• Main image changes to 4
different products/offers
• Special offer to get signups
• Strong right hand column with
products and specials
• Use upper right corner for
closeouts.
5

6. Special offer
• Upper left for ‘signup’ offer
and
‘search our site’…. PLUS…
• OFFER TEST
(free tips vs. free knife)
• Remember: a website is just
another direct marketing
medium
6

7. Performance? Let’s compare that, too…
4 screen views/visit 7 screen views/visit
More visits
More signups for email
More returning customers/back end
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8. Consumer site:
Niman Ranch Premium meats
• Every product photo leads
to a purchase page
• More appetite appeal
through affinity with great
chefs and recipes
• Promotion with deadline:
monthly and weekly specials
• Tells unique selling
proposition: all NR meat
from small closed herds with
cruelty-free treatment
8

9. Testing told us to emphasize the taste
more than the anti-cruelty stories
The winner!
Right hand column is dedicated
Right hand column is dedicated to
selling products to stories and value-add
9

10. Navigation
Quick easy links help customer find exactly
what they want — instantly
Top section is for shopping
Middle section is for gifting, specials and
new items
Bottom section is for chefs/restaurants, the
Trade, Farmers, corporate gifting
Registration into site will give customer
access to email-only offers
10

11. Selling pages
• Quick easy links help
customer find exactly
what they want —
instantly
• Appetite appeal galore:
in the COPY as well as
the photos
• Testimonials continue to
position Niman Ranch as
the tastiest of all
• Content tells the curious
customer more about the
meat and the mission
11

12. Selling pages
One click, and they’re in their favorite Homes in on specific
category of meat and ready to buy
products
12

13. Content pages
Makes a website a ‘search magnet
• ‘Chef’ page always has a recipe
• Chefs will change out on ‘refresh’
• Recipes - a growing library
• Research told us that taste was paramount
• ‘Farmer’ Page Tells
the closed-herd
story: safer, low-
volume, cruelty free
• Positions small
farms/farmers as
heroes who work
every day for safer,
tastier meats
13

14. Nonprofit sites? Depends on goal…
• Direct donation – keep it as simple as possible (two options –
note simple messaging is for these sites)
14

15. Main nonprofit site has different goals
• Informational and lead generation
• The top section changes out every few seconds
• This site has room for many stories, including a video
• Customer involvement: get people to consider long term giving
15

16. Making extra money on a nonprofit site
• LIVESTRONG started
for
fundraising/nonprofi
t but has now
become a lifestyle
and health website
• Note they actually
sell advertising
space on their site —
it pays to do this and
visitors don’t mind
16

17. Google’s heat map study
17

18. Making Your Emails
Sizzle
Carol’s 10 quick tips for
more effective email creative
• Great copy is essential… Alan will cover this in-depth
• …but there are other things that will affect whether
anyone sees it – or reads it
• Creatives, take note — the following items are also
important to response…
18

19. 1. Know who you’re mailing to
A) Rental lists vs. your house list
• Most rental lists are not worth a dime
• (regardless of what your list broker tells you)
• Your double opt-ins are good – special messages to get them
shopping
• Your customers are the best audience!
Your task: getting their next order
19

20. B) Know your house list – and split it up
into segments
• Customers vs.. just opt-ins
• How often they’ve bought (once vs.. many times)
• What kind of product they’re buying from you (if you have a
diverse product line this is essential)
• Got a customer profile? Look it over and share it with your
creative team to develop a great offer and appropriate
creative
• Not all emails should go to every person on your mail list
• The better targeted, the more personalized you can make it,
the better response
20

21. 2. Use interesting, varied subject lines
 Market-appropriate works better than generalized
 If you only talk “sale”, keep it as interesting as possible
 Check your own email — notice what you’ve been responding to
Boring, bad… Too much of the same promo
21

22. Hint: Your offer makes a great subject line
– But if you never change the offer, you lose the offer’s “juice”
– The power of the ‘free shipping’ offer is so diminished, it’s no
longer seen as an offer or an ‘opener’
Even free
shipping can
become
boring if it’s
the only offer
you use!
22

23. Here’s how to get your email opened
 Lots of subject line variation keeps them on their toes
23

24. 3. Test. Suggest tests. Demand tests.
Otherwise, if it fails, everyone will blame the creative!
• TEST…Different offers
• Date/time limit versus offer emphasis
• Length of time they have to respond – today only;
5 hour sale; ends in two days, etc.
• Their name in the subject line vs. not
• YOUR name in the subject line vs. not
• NEW products vs.. ‘Sneak Preview’ approach
• Design: what kinds of photos or graphics work best
• MAKE SURE you test with an A-B split, and keep track
of results and long-term behavior
24

25. Offer tests: Create offers your audience can’t resist
• Knowing your audience gives you better offer ideas
• Some audiences don’t respond to discounts
• Measure the responder behavior - to determine lifetime value
• Test Different offers
– free shipping vs. a gift — discount vs. free shipping
– a gift card for both you and your friend, vs.. a higher
discount for you alone
– two different gifts (‘home made jam’ vs.. ‘ten-year spatula’)
– Deadline by which they must respond to get the gift
– A sweeps or drawing vs. a gift now
– A gift vs. an activity: customer involvement (such as writing a
story or designing something: Preston Wynne, Chico’s)
25

26. Offer testing can yield surprises!
 We offer-tested a
white paper about
their topic
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27. 4. Keep brand consistent with voice and image
• A customer recognizes you immediately – credibility!
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28. Emails can be brand-consistent, yet different
• It’s ok to use different fonts as long as the message is
consistent and you have common elements
28

29. 5. Make the majority of the message LIVE
• JPGs and PNGs turn into big
red x’s when they’re picked
up as text
• This happens more often
than you realize
• This email in an iphone:
29

30. 6. Always use a
landing page
• “Smart” click on email sends to
specific landing page
• Goal – get the customer to
what they want, quickly
• Control their action – and keep
track of it
• http://www.wineofthemonthclu
b.com/category/big-bold-petit-
sirah?r=EM912A&utm_source
=emaillist_bronto&utm_mediu
m=email&utm_campaign=EM9
12A&utm_content=labelpic
30

31. 7. Spice up email with a variety of formats
• Different formats at different times
enables you to send more often
without the customer getting bored
• Try a promotional one vs. a newsletter
one (not too long) to start
• If this works try another format that is
in line with your market,
such as an “Ask the
Experts”
31

32. Promotional or news? Use both to sell!
32

33. 8. Invite involvement by customer
 The more
opportunity for
dialogue, the more
they’ll like you!
33

34. 9. Try Email in videos
 Even if it seems like a lot of work…
 Does it need to be made with super high production
values?
 Is it expensive?
 What happens after they play the video?
34

36. A top selling email with a video twist
• If a video is
creative, and
gets to the
point, it can
work even if
it’s not slick!
• 1700 views
within 24
hours
• Many
hundreds of
cases of
wine sold.
• SEE NEXT
SLIDE TO
VIEW
VIDEO
36

37. Wine of the Month Club ‘Wines I don’t
like’ video
37

38. Video works on websites too
• See how 5.11 Tactical
uses video online to sell
professional wear for
cops and other uses –
• http://videos.511tactical.
com/videos/30/taclite-
tdu%27s
38

39. 5.11 Tactical demonstrates a fine new product
39

40. 10. Write a message that is compelling
• Do not believe that people
don’t read emails
• …but keep the message short
and succinct
• Keep the voice consistent with
the voice of your brand
• Don’t train your customer to
ignore your emails by using
an intern or non-copy pro who
will probably write a stinker!
40

41. Show them you know what they like!
• Get into the swing of the way
your customer communicates
• Share with her about what she
is interested in, in a friendly
voice she’ll like
41

42. Be yourself, but even more so —
Develop a voice and attitude!
• If your customers like your attitude, this is a chance to let it
really shine each time you reach them
42

43. P.S. Hire a proofreader
 Programmers and designers can’t spell.
 Errors like this may possibly be ignored — or they
may make you look thoughtless!
 Be classier than this. Yes, even with email.
 Need a proofreader? Ask us for recommendations
or call Bulletproof!
43

44. Back to Alan:
Writing for the Web
44

45. Writing for the Web
• Anyone can write for the web, right?
• 182,000,000 websites – as of 2007
• Netcraft
• Over 1 trillion web pages
• Over 50 million blogs – as of 2006
• Technorati State of the Blog
45

46. What’s even worse...
• There’s actually very little writing on the web
• Let’s look at the most popular websites in the world
46

47. Writing Winning
Websites

48. What do we mean by winning?
• Websites with low bounce rates
• Websites that keep people reading and engaged
• Websites with high conversion rates – that
motivate people to buy
48

49. How do People Read
Websites?
49

50. …not in the traditional way
• They scan – not just at first, but continually
• They take in “nuggets” of information
• This may be changing with iPad, Kindel and other
electronic reading devices
50

51. • Recent research gets an “F”
• They read the top bar, go down and read across for a
shorter amount
• They scan the left-hand side
• …all at lightening speed!
51

52. 52

53. So you need
to write how they read
53

54. …not in the traditional way
• You don’t have a beginning, middle and an end
• Everything you write is a beginning…with a link for
more information
• You are not developing an argument;
or telling a story;
you are creating powerful telegraphic messages
54

55. 7 Proven Techniques
55

56. 1. Be a Pied Piper
1. Highlight key words and benefits
2. Make them bold or BIGGER
3. Put them in another color to attract attention
4. Use numbered lists or bullets
56

57. 5. Use Headlines and
crossheads
6. Put benefits
and call to action
in the margin
57

58. 2. Keep it short
• Give them the benefit or main idea quickly
• Give them a lot of ideas, let them decide whether or
not to learn more
• For examples, visit www.alanrosenspan.com
• Don’t try to cram everything in
58

59. 59

60. 3. Use the hot spots
This is the area that your eye
goes to first. It should have
news, an offer, or the most
important benefit
60

61. 4. Divide and Conquer
• Use boxes, sidebars, anything that helps simplify and
organize information
• Use charts and graphs whenever possible
• Always include a caption underneath them
61

62. Put key information
To make it
In boxes Or charts
stand out
62

63. 5. Write in different ways
• Write benefits in several different ways; if one
doesn’t resonate with some people, another might
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• Write from different perspectives –
customer, CEO, engineer. It shouldn’t sound like it all
comes from just one person
63

64. 6. Be Direct
• Tell people exactly what you want them to do,
how and when
• Include multiple calls to action in multiple places
• Give people different ways to respond
• Toll-free phone number in e-mail increases
response by as much as 50%
64

65. 7. Add credibility
• Magazine advertising has an editorial umbrella;
people trust them more
• Direct mail is a tactile media – the person holds it in
their hands
• Digital is less certain. People are unclear who is
behind the information and whether a page can be
trusted
65

66. Writing exceptional
e-newsletters

67. Still the one…
• Best way to maintain customer
relationships
• Best way to add value, if done correctly
• Because of this, more and more
companies are using e-newsletters
• And fewer people are reading them
67

68. • Average time spent on newsletter
• Percentage of people who fully read it
• When you add words, how much extra time
do they spend?
68

69. • Average time spent on newsletter
• 51 seconds – less than a minute
• Percentage of people who fully read it
• 19% - less than one in 5
• When you add words, how much extra time do they
spend?
• Trick question – they spend less time
69

70. My newsletter…
• Written like a letter
• No graphics, 10-12 pages of just text
• Few links
70

71. 71

72. …but it proves a point
• 2600 people in 37 countries
• Less than 70 “opt outs” in 11 years
• Content is king
72

73. Writing effective e-mails

74. What function does each part serve?
• Top 10-20% has headline and the offer.
Objective: get people interested
• Next 30-50% has visuals, benefits, call to action
• Remaining 20-50% is probably wasted….
74

75. Three Parts of an E-mail
• Top 10-20% which will show through in a “Preview”
• Next 30-50% “above the fold”
• Remaining 20-50% below that
75

76. 1. Subject Line rules
• Even more important than a headline, or an OE
• “Clarity trumps clever”
• Needs to be instantly relevant
• Should have offer
• Could flag your market
76

77. 77

78. • Return Path research - 49 characters ideal
 They claim a 75% lift over more and less
• NO ALL CAPS!!! Or special typefaces, asterisks, $#%!@
• Try “Free” - especially in B2C
• Be Seasonal
78

79. 79

80. 3. Text matters
• Here’s why you are receiving this e-mail
 You opted in
 BORA (Based on Recent Activity)
 BOSI (Based on Searched Interest)
• Begin and end with a link
• Use a Johnson Box, with an offer and a link
80

81. Dear who?
• Dear 1st name is ideal or…
• Have the salutation put them in the mood you
want them to be…
• Dear Lover of Beautiful Things
 Antique magazine
• Dear Breadwinner
 Insurance product
81

82. …and even more text
• This isn’t a letter
• Get the offer quickly
• Specific facts and numbers
• Shorter is better; 200 + 300 words
82

83. 4. Call to action
• Multiple calls to action; Start with a link, end with a
link
• Make sure you also include an 800 number
• Make the call to action BIGGER — so people see it
when they scan
83

84. Add action icons
• Boxes
• Arrows
• + signs
• Shopping baskets
84

85. 5. Opt out/opt in
• Always end with a privacy statement and
“Opt-out” option
• But never, ever let someone just opt-out
• Just like Casablanca, “This can be the start of a
beautiful relationship” - on their terms.
85

86. Best practices in design and strategy…
• Give them a choice
• Only talk to me at these times
• Only talk to me about these topics
• Only talk to me in these ways
• 40% of all “opt-outs” will opt right back in again
• And you can talk to them in a much more targeted
and relevant way
86

87. A few parting words
about writing

88. Write. Rewrite. Repeat
• “The first draft on anything is #@&%!”
— Ernest Hemingway
• “Only ambitious non-entities and hearty mediocrities
exhibit their rough drafts. It is like passing around a
sample of your phlegm”
— Vladimir Nabokov
88

89. “Many have the talent
to become great, but
few have the energy ”
— Tom McElliot
89

90. Thank You
Visit www.AlanRosenspan.com
for 100 articles about direct marketing,
A new blog, and to ‘link in’