39 days to success – or Death by Video

This may interest and delight you – or fill you with dread, but I have spent the last 24 hours filming videos in the Devon sunshine, where I’ ve been visiting my partner Al.




They’re mostly about 2 minutes long, and they deal with just about every aspect of marketing – online and off.


I’m going to put one up every working day- in no particular order. I hope you like them: they’re a labour of love, but more to the point, every one aims to give you practical advice based on my years in this hellish business.

As ever, your comments are all gratefully received.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

16 Comments

  1. Mark

    Thanks Drayton. As ever, succinct.

    You remind us all of what we know we should be doing, but more often forget to do. Keep it on message – Show benefits early

    Reply
  2. Brian

    Love tips that are short, simple and straight to the point..just like this video.

    Reply
  3. Jay

    I compare the warming up to the way a pet gets comfortable. They circle around, adjust, shift and then they are all set. I tell my people that writing copy is the same way. Just start writing, get comfortable, simply throw the first stuff and you'll often be left with masterful headlines, subheads, and lead paragraphs. The current generation of online writers needs to think about this.

    Reply
  4. Steve

    I guess that gets this series off straight to the point! Looking forward to them. Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Anita Saran

    I hope I don't waffle. Especially since I'm about to teach some how to write copy! Thanks for making me look at my copy afresh.

    Reply
  6. Eugenie

    Wise words, as always. Looking forward to the next one…

    Reply
  7. Marc

    Great tip and, if I may, add what I feel is fair explanation for this behavior. Most copywriters don't do enough research. They flat don't dig out every available feature and benefit in the quest of finding the most important one(s). This leads writers to affect a short (or longish) clumsy dance before getting down to the serious footwork of selling.

    Reply
  8. Drayton

    I have another bit about that coming up, Marc.

    Reply
  9. Drayton

    Nobody as beautiful as you could waffle (what a creep I am!) I like the beginnings to your stories, by the way.

    Reply
  10. Gary K

    Yep wise words (as always) Drayton. In fact the modern day equivalent of this waffling is the video, certainly in the Internet Marketing niche there seems to be an abundance of information now imparted via video. Why? perhaps the perceived value is higher, my experience is without exception you end up watching a 45 minute video that could be condensed into a few paragraphs of text!

    Reply
  11. Paul Hawkes

    Like it a lot … short to the point and very relevant. Two lessons there … one on how we often know 'stuff' and don't apply it and two … get to the point and slap those benefits in right away.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  12. Drayton

    You may be relieved to know that the longest video I did was 23 minutes – it's called AdWords for Idiots. No prizes for guessing that I'm the idiot in question:-). I believe only two of the others are longer than 3 minutes.

    Reply
  13. Simon Thurston

    I know other have said it Drayton, but great to have these videos in bite size chunks. Plus, you practiced what you preach too … by getting to the point quickly!

    Looking forward to the others.

    Thanks

    Simon

    Reply
  14. David Flood

    Thanks for posting this Drayton. Short & sweet!
    Best
    David Flood

    Reply
  15. jacqueline

    Love it. Short sharp and straight to the pont

    Reply
  16. Virginia Doty

    Retweeting this as a gentle reminder to some copywriters who shall remain nameless. Thanks, Drayton.

    Reply

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