You would think after all these years exploring a trivial subject - marketing and advertising - I know the answers. But I have only learnt how little I know.
A few years ago I got a new client that sells an investment course. Their approach had worked for years. Nothing beat it, despite a meticulous testing program.
Finally, they asked me to try. What happened was as much to do with the client and her partners as with me. They were very perceptive.
Their marketing exploited something rather shocking very few people know.
Most ready-made investments do a lousy job – partly because of their charges. It is a scandal.
You would do better throwing darts, blindfold, at the Financial Pages. So why not do it yourself with expert help?
My mailing suggested that as the property boom was over your house wouldn’t make you rich - so why not try this new programme?
This beat their old mailing by 9%. Great!
Then I learned the conversion rate to sales was worse, so we were no better off.
Then the client converted the opening of my letter into an insert. It did far better than their existing one. I have no idea why. None at all.
Then I wrote another mailing, based on the lottery.
You have more chance being run over crossing the road to buy your ticket than of winning. So why not try something more reliable?
This did about 40% better – but when it was converted into an ad it did better still. Again, who knows why?
Such oddities give this business much of its interest. But sadly, few marketers test enough to know they exist.
In this case they sold the business for millions. And I mean millions.
How can I help?
Well, the best business expert of the 20th century may have been Peter Drucker who said that the first aim of business should be to avoid going broke.
I have gone broke three times.
I have never forgotten that my 10 year old daughter had to sell a pony she loved after the first of my cock-ups.
Not the end of the world, but it is these seemingly silly things that stay with you.
Going broke is a bloody miserable, depressing experience. You lose all confidence. Your relationships shatter.
And what is the difference between those who go broke and those who don’t?
Those who test don’t go broke.
Two out of my three disasters were because I didn’t test.
The other was because I trusted people and got screwed right royally.
There is no secret recipe for spotting rats or idiots.
But there is a recipe for testing, and everything I know comes from testing. And that's how I built my agency which I sold for millions to David Ogilvy.
You won’t make the same dumb mistakes I did, if I can help it. My business idiot ebook (and the two others) will point you in the right direction.
And today's the last day you can get it for this price.
You can grab your 3 ebooks here.
Best
Drayton.
Isn’t it strange that marketers still ignore two things that could save them tons of money:
Established practices
Simple tests
Go figure!
Mike Anderson
It is the height of mindless conceit to a) ignore past wisdom and b) not look before you leap – which is one kind of test and c) see what works best, which is the other.
pour répondre a la question:
c’est d’étudier ce que font les autres.
s’ inspirer d’un succé et le reproduire en mieu afin qu’il soit différent
to answer the question:
is to study what others are doing.
s inspire a success and play it better now that he is different
cordialement
ANDRE H.
Thanks!
I have been taught throughout my sales career that” we know that 50 per cent of advertising doesn’t work, knowing what 50 per cent that i, is what matters.”
How can anyone call themselves a marketer or spend money on advertising if they don’t test and measure every bit of their advertising?
It just doesn’t make sense not to and yet it would appear that a huge percentage don’t.
Incredible.
Real estate agents use to be really bad at it, not so sure about them now. But of course in so many instances they were’t spending their own money so didn’t appear to really care.
Luckily for us, most people – including very highly paid senior people, don’t have a clue.
Unluckily for us sometimes we have to educate the poor bastards, who got there by being good at climbing the ladder, not doing the job.
AIn’t that the truth! Sadly I have had to deal with too many who have been promoted to the point of incompetence during my career. Far too often the HIPPO still dictates the rules (HIPPO – HIghest Paid Person’s Opinion) – and many don’t have a clue about marketing…
I love your honesty.
I also am a real estate agent but from Australia.
We too have ponies here and its always best to keep them.
Pete
It only make sense to test and refine your marketing messages on a consistent basis.
I love these posts. I look forward to them each day.
I havent bought anything from you yet but you have my full attention!
A fan in Bristol
Love this one Drayton,
hope you managed to replace the Pony with a herd of Ponies!
But changing big corps approach to testing….I’d love to know ‘how’ you do that?
Recently I was working in Germany’s largest engineering company, in corp marketing
– the ignorance is really something to behold. But the reason’s simple perhaps, the
Marketing budget check arrives each year, so why put any doubt into the equation
by testing the ROI of your budget?: )
At the end of the day, it’s also boring not testing and celebrating after increasing results
….well that’s why I love Marketing and no longer work in that corp.
Thanks for all the advice for us young copywriters too, really love and appreciate it mate!
It is almost impossible to bang sense into people in these firms. The route top the top there is through brown-nosing, not selling. You were wise to get out.
HEY DRYTON I AM ONE OF YOUR NEW STUDENTS. I THANK THIS WILL BE VERY GOOD FOR ME TO LEARN ALL I CAN! MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO BUY SOMEONE A NEW PONY. THANKS VERY MUCH ALWAYS DEON.
i need help , i am an advisor and we need new ideas…… how to get clients in .. i phone and do cold calling
You have to tell me more about what you do and how you do it, Minnie.
Your name made me smile. I have a very good friend who is South African.
Thanks for sharing this with us Dryton and indeed it makes sense
Thank you Drayton, i’ve already learned a lot from you. You are great.
Greetings from out South Africa.
Pieter Joubert.
Baie dankie, Boet.
Drayton
Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone else alive, hes an old git now, at least 134 years old, but should be treated like a one of the last treasures of the earth, I just hope he keeps going and keeps sharing what he knows. If I had my time again, Id track this bloke down and be his biggest pain in the arse till he showed me how to do what he does. God knows we all make mistakes, but Drayton can help people to cut those out or bypass them altogether. Im not sure why , but for most humans it takes years to realise the stupid mistakes we make , I know that Drayton Bird has enough knowledge and more importantly experience to solve any direct response issue, so I strongly advise that you take advantage of Draytons expertise and skills while you can. Money spent o this sort of service will outperform almost any other form of advertising you can think of, but only if you take Draytons advice. Drayton has not paid me for this, just a long time watcher of his work and his performances, the man is really smart and well worth every penny of his service. What is he bad at? – dont ask him to write a novel, he aint JK Rowling! although in fairness that was a long time ago and he’s been round the block a few times since then!! but don’t get into a copywriting competition with him – YOU WILL LOSE! BIG TIME!
You’re right Drayton, going bust is no fun. It happened to me 6 years ago…… But, as the song says, the only was is up! I was in property and became a carpet cleaner to put food on the table for the 4 kids and pay the mortgage. Back in property as of 2015 but big lessons learned. I think i may need assistance in scripting some direct mail. Btw, seeing the post above reminded me of something. In the winter of 1993, i was supply teaching in Edinburgh and only got work maybe 2/3 days a week. Cold winter. Living in a bedsit. On days i got no work, to avoid paying big heating bills i used to have lunch in the Oasis Cafe in Haymarket. Greasy spoon. Three courses for £1.50. Watery soup, meat with 2 veg and custard with something. Buy that and you could stay as long as you like drinking tea. Same faces came most days among which was an early twenties girl, rough looking, with a toddler in a buggy. I got to know Jo well over a few months. Was a TEFL teacher, had been to Spain, boyfriend got her pregnant, when the baby was born he became abusive so she headed back to Scotland. No money and living in a 1 bed, very damp flat. Every day she had a spiral bound journalist’s notepad and wrote longhand while the nipper slept. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was trying to write a book. She would never let me read it. Almost embarrassed about admitting it. I asked her what it was about and she said ” a boy wizard”. Thought nothing of it at the time……. Crikey, did she go through some tough times and was, it turns out, suicidal at the time with her nipper keeping her going. She was tough and never gave up. Became my inspiration when i hit rock bottom.
Fascinating! And inspiring. Sorry it took me so long to reply
This is probably the best article / email I’ve ever read.
I look forward to reading the books.
The one thing I ask is, “Please could you let me know a good to set up a measuring system – I have tried over the years but have no set system, so records get lost, ignored, become irrelevant etc. I wish someone (who knows waht they are talking about, and is a good teacher – and doer!) would write a book / article or whatever, about how to set up a testing and measuring system – STEP BY STEP.
Could it be you?
POerhaps it should be me. Nothing like someone who does not get it to write the definitive work.
Anyway I’ll stop wiiering in. Anyone know a good book or whatever on this subject?
Thanks for all Drayton,
Stephen
Fascinante!