Yet the most frustrating thing for me is the use of ‘templates’ by online marketers.

In one article I read recently, I was confronted with 9 easily adaptable headlines that have been used – over and over again – for the last 40+ years – I know since the 1960’s! And the most worrying aspect to this article was how prevalent all these headlines still are.

Take a look and you’ll see what I mean: http://www.infomarketingblog.com/9-headline-templates-that-have-a-prayer – you can find any one of these ‘headline templates’ on the internet, being used and modified for a variety of different markets.

Now I understand the reasons behind why the man who created this article did this. His ultimate goal was to show online marketers – like you and me – what type of headlines work, and how they can easily be adapted to every niche available.

And also, I cannot deny that these headlines do, do their job – they grab you hook, line and sinker, and make you want to keep reading.

I suppose what bothered me most about this article is the whole lack of creativity. For me, personally, I love playing around with headlines and experimenting, and with these 9 templates there is none of that. If anything they are highly repetitious.

Take the following example he provided.

Original: ‘For golfers who are almost (but not quite) satisfied with their game – and can’t figure out what they’re doing wrong:’

Examples provided:

• ‘For Internet Marketers who are almost (but not quite) satisfied with their conversions – and can’t figure out what they’re doing wrong:’
• ‘For mutual fund investors who are almost (but not quite) satisfied with their portfolios – and can’t figure out what’s missing:’

See what I mean? Now obviously this headline is more suitable for offline publications, but the impact is still the same. It is the same headline being recycled over and over again.

Now maybe I am looking into this too much. But this article does get you thinking about all the different headlines which are currently being used – and recycled – across the market. It is surprising how little variance there is.

Recently we have been re-designing our email marketing strategy for one of our clients – Property Mentor – and as part of our reformatting I have been able to play around with Photoshop, which has been great for helping me learn how to modify graphics.

You see, for one of my emails, I needed to modify a flow diagram which had previously been used on one of our landing pages. But before I could use it I first needed to alter the copy within the flow diagram to make it appropriate to the subject matter of the email, and also change its colour to make it distinctly different to the landing page it originated from.

In the past this kind of job would have gone to design, but in order to ensure that the email went out on time, I needed to make these changes myself.

And I did it!

Borrowing the advice of the design team, I learnt how to copy this flow diagram through a screen shot, modify its colour scheme using Photoshop and Ctrl + U, and re-insert it back into an email – Something in the past that I would have needed help on!

The satisfaction of being able to make these modifications myself plus enhance my Photoshop skills is incredible. I now have got access to a readily made template that I can use over and over again within my email marketing strategies.

I can’t wait to apply these new marketing tools to other email campaigns.

Rowena xx

In the last 2 months we have launched a number of campaigns for our clients, utilising a variety of different techniques to help them become a success. Yet the most surprising element to these campaigns was how the simplest techniques bought the greatest results.

Beyond adding benefits to every feature, the introduction of the following techniques made a huge difference to the leads/conversions we generated.

One: Establishing a deadline

Possibly one of the oldest tricks in the book, introducing a deadline to your offering is notably the most powerful as it creates such a sense of urgency.

In one sentence you are telling consumers that they need to make a decision, otherwise they will be missing out on a great deal.

Of course the deal needs to be worth accepting, but let’s say for examples sake that you choose to add a fee to a service that was previously free. For those who have been pondering this offer for a while, this sudden deadline will leave them in a situation whereby they must either accept whilst it is still free or pay a fee at a later date.

Two: Making it personal

Adding a face to a business can do wonders in boosting the confidence of consumers. For every service, solution or product that you provide, by adding a name to the offer you can give them the reassurance they need to know that they are not being conned.

The technique is purely psychological, but it does create the right reaction.

Think about it a moment… a scientist for example wouldn’t recommend a weight loss product unless he/she thought it would work. By backing it, they are putting their own name at stake.

This is the same when promoting a product online. If Jo Bloggs says ‘the course can increase your cash flow by £500+’, the consumer instantly thinks ‘they wouldn’t say that unless they really believed it.‘

Obviously a scientist has more standing than the average person, but have enough people say ‘this product is incredible‘ and soon consumers will begin to believe it.

Now I won’t go into all the details of what we used, but I think you can see what I mean when I say even the simplest of changes to your copy can make a substantial difference to your results.

It is all a matter of releasing them at the right moment.

Rowena xx