More advertising secrets – Branding vs. Direct Response Advertising

By Jerry Bellune

We always need to market our publications.
So we met with an ad agency to discuss ideas.
The first words from their mouths turned us off.
“You need a branding campaign,” they said.
We heard them out — patiently but not convinced.
We wanted to learn what they meant by branding.
Was it what we feared? Was it what we needed?
It wasn’t. We did not need to establish our brand.
We needed to sell subscriptions and advertising.
A branding campaign wouldn’t do it.

In case you aren’t familiar with branding:
• It is designed to increase name recognition.
This is what Coke, Pepsi, Ford and Chevvy do.
• Its goal is to plant your brand in people’s minds.
They want a cold drink? They think of you.
They need a new car or truck? Same reaction.

What we needed was a direct response campaign.
These campaigns are what you see in junk mail.
By that, I mean well-crafted junk mail.
The mailing looks more like a letter from a friend.
The copy is aimed at you as their ideal prospect.
It identifies a pain you suffer or a long-held dream.
The pain may be physical, mental or emotional.
It may be a stiff neck or a child doing poorly in school.
The dream may be a worry-free retirement one day.
A world trip. A home at the beach or mountains.
Your children’s educations at expensive colleges.

We’ve crafted many direct response campaigns.
We craft them to attract readers and advertisers.
We design them to help our advertisers sell more.
This carries a punch list of things that must be done.
It is both science and art. And it works.
It will sell more to more people more often.
And it will grow your bottom line like nothing else.
I’ll tell you about that punch list next week.

Know what’s the least expensive advertising?
It’s favorable publicity for your business.
Want to know how to get editors interested?
Sign up for our free seminar Thursday, April 14.
Call 794-6504 for details and to reserve your seat.

Next: Your Direct Response Punch List

Want to share this with a friend? Be my guest.
We only ask that you tell them where it came from.
Invite them to send me their email address.
They can reach me at [email protected]
I’ll email this strategy letter to them each week.
©2016 The Bellune Company, Inc.
Neither MidlandsBiz.com nor The Bellune Company, Inc. makes any warranty as to the results that may be achieved from using this information. ©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reprint or circulate may be obtained by emailing [email protected]