Category Archives: Copywriting

2 Email Campaigns Show How (and How Not) to “Sell” Content

Two email campaigns that arrived in my inbox recently serve as useful illustrations of how best to promote informational content. One, a white paper offer from sales tax automation company Avalara, is a plodding recitation of facts that does little to grab the reader. The other, from email marketing software… Read More

Email Marketing 101: No-One Cares About Your Product

An effective email campaign has one goal and one goal only: getting the reader to respond. This means that, in order to succeed, every word of copy should be focused on selling the offer, i.e. the primary reason why any individual would want to respond. Unless your offer and product… Read More

How Much Copy Do I Need On My Landing Page?

An effective landing page does two things, I would argue: 1) it validates the viewer’s decision to click on whatever ad it was that led him or her to the page in the first place, and 2) it closes the deal. The amount of copy that it takes to accomplish… Read More

How Big is Too Big? One Email Offer That’s Tough to Ignore.

As any regular reader of this space will know, I am a fierce evangelist for the “sell the offer, not the product” approach to B2B email creative. That approach rests on the assumption that by selling the value of whatever it is you’re offering the reader (a white paper, a… Read More

Should I Remove Offer Content from My Website During a Campaign?

A client asks: “If we’re planning on using a particular white paper as part of a lead generation campaign, or even for lead nurturing, is it a good idea to remove that same content asset from our main Website? I’m concerned about people bypassing the campaign and just downloading the… Read More

Radian6 Email Campaign Hits the Mark

There’s a lot to like about the email below received last week from Radian6, makers of social media monitoring tools (and recently acquired by Salesforce.com.) Most notable: not once in the entire copy is the company or product mentioned. This is content marketing, pure and simple. What I like: 1…. Read More

Is “Please Have a Rep Contact Me” a Good Idea?

A client asks: “On every registration form, we give prospects the option to request contact from a sales rep. Is that even worthwhile when we’re going to call everyone anyway? If it is a good idea, what should the verbiage be? Currently the form reads: [Yes/No radio button] I would… Read More