But even if not, this might help if digital marketing matters to you
A new edition of Commonsense Direct and Digital Market has just come out in Bulgaria – a country I like and have spoken in a few times.
I believe it is selling well, though this will hardly have you hopping up and down with glee. Nor me, as a year’s royalties from my publisher will probably just about pay for a lamb pilaff.
But you may be interested in my replies to a series of questions from Manager, the leading Bulgarian business magazine, which were all about digital and (what a surprise) social media.
- Mr. Bird, in what way do we read and perceive digital content in comparison with hard copy?
The human eye and brain do not suddenly behave in a totally different way when faced with a new medium. But they do adapt.
They are attracted by things that stand out – such as faces – and things that move or flash, just as they are when walking down the street or in commercials and advertisements.
But there are important things to remember:
Because the “page” can be as long as you like, you must try to make sure people’s eyes keep going down. For instance, by only showing the top half of a picture so they have to scroll down to see the other half.
This is exactly what you should do in hard copy – though many people don’t realize it; you should end a page or column halfway through a sentence to keep people reading.
It is just like a TV serial or a novel where you end an episode or chapter just as something interesting is about to happen.
One chief difference as a medium is that people are impatient online. If you don’t give them something interesting within two or three seconds, you lose them.
- What should the messages of digital marketing be? Which are the proven tactics and techniques in articulating these messages?
The same as in all media.
Offer a clear, precise and credible benefit. Show very quickly that you can solve a problem that matters to people.
Don’t talk about yourself. Nobody cares. Talk about the prospect and how you can help more than your competitors.
Make an offer of something free for which people must give their email address.
Keep sending helpful information till they buy – or tell you to stop. Never give up.
My first sale comes after 344 days on average.
- Can you point out the three basic rules regarding online texts? What should social media writing style be?
Use text emails to new prospects as they look more personal. After they have signed up for what you offer, HTML works well.
“Use simple words everyone knows then everyone will understand” – Churchill.
Write as though you were talking to someone at home, in the office or in a bar. Don’t use fancy business language. Everyone hates it.
Use subject lines that arouse curiosity, surprise people, suggest a benefit and make them want to read on.
If possible they should make people smile.
I started an entirely new business with one line:
“Grab a fit young bird going cheap”.
People wondered what a fit young bird was (it usually means an attractive girl). They liked the idea of something being cheap.
I was actually introducing a service by my young copywriters. Now we have a constant flow of work
- What is the right balance between text and visuals (images, graphics, video…) in digital marketing?
There is no right balance. It depends what you are selling. People love pictures; and if you are selling fashion they matter more than words; but as a rule the copy does the real selling.
Long copy works better than short, but generally not in your email which should send people to a long landing page.
Don’t use posed or library pictures; they look false.
- Which techniques attract most attention in digital marketing? Which are the magic words that hold the attention? What else would draw people to our site and keep them reading all the content?
Videos, which must be informal, not official looking or expensive.
Videos which use a hand drawing a cartoon are particularly effective.
The same words work in this area as in all others. Emotional words and words that promise, such as:
Love, hate, mother, fear, frighten, win, now, new, at last – and so on.
- Which staff members of a company should build and manage the corporate website? In what cases outsourcing is the better option and what kind of experts should we hire?
Most corporate websites are rubbish because:
Senior managers interfere too much even though they usually know nothing about persuasion.
They are almost always keen to boast about the company – a big mistake.
Technical people blind people with expressions nobody else understands – but are afraid to admit it.
When you hire experts, make sure they understand and love selling and marketing, not just technical stuff.
Ask them about the sales their work has got. Ignore all awards. Ask to speak to their former clients.
I do very well from online marketing although I know nothing about technique.
I use almost exactly the same approaches as I have always done, because I am still talking to human beings.
- What advice would you provide regarding fonts, size, colours?
There is a lot of research about colours. I am not an expert, but in regard to your other questions:
Make sure the type is big enough to read.
NEVER reverse out a lot of text
NEVER set type to more than 50 characters wide, maybe less.
The nature of the screen means that whereas serif faces work better on paper certain other typefaces – Verdana, for instance – work very well on screen.
I guess this is not relevant to Cyrillic!
