Coming soon to a website near you: giant ads!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 3:57 PM
Interesting news from MediaPost today. There are some pretty giant banner ads about to hit the Internet, and chances are, you're bound to start seeing them everywhere.
37 members of the Online Publishers Association (sites like CNN, NYTimes, and ESPN, who collectively reach about 132 million visitors -- or roughly 68% of the total U.S. Internet population) have signed on to implement three jumbo-sized ad units for their sites.
The three ad units (quoted from MediaPost) are:
-- The Fixed Panel (336 wide x 700 tall), which remains in view as a user scrolls up or down the page.
-- The XXL Box (468 x 648), the extra wide side-of-page ad that expands to 936 x 648 and includes page-turn and video capability.
-- The Pushdown (970 x 418), which opens big to display the ad, and then after seven seconds rolls up to the top of the page (collapsing to 970 x 66).
Now, keep in mind that these ads are designed for branding purposes as much as they are for response. We're not huge fans of giant ads that take up our entire screens and stop us from reaching the real content we want to see. But occasionally, we stumble across sites that are done really well, branded from top to bottom, and are integrated seamlessly with the site's primary content. Sometimes, it just looks cool.
We're hoping advertisers who choose to use these ads will implement them just as well by attracting our attention, rather than stealing it.
Click here to read the full article from MediaPost, or the press release from OPA.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 3:57 PM
Interesting news from MediaPost today. There are some pretty giant banner ads about to hit the Internet, and chances are, you're bound to start seeing them everywhere.
37 members of the Online Publishers Association (sites like CNN, NYTimes, and ESPN, who collectively reach about 132 million visitors -- or roughly 68% of the total U.S. Internet population) have signed on to implement three jumbo-sized ad units for their sites.
The three ad units (quoted from MediaPost) are:
-- The Fixed Panel (336 wide x 700 tall), which remains in view as a user scrolls up or down the page.
-- The XXL Box (468 x 648), the extra wide side-of-page ad that expands to 936 x 648 and includes page-turn and video capability.
-- The Pushdown (970 x 418), which opens big to display the ad, and then after seven seconds rolls up to the top of the page (collapsing to 970 x 66).
Now, keep in mind that these ads are designed for branding purposes as much as they are for response. We're not huge fans of giant ads that take up our entire screens and stop us from reaching the real content we want to see. But occasionally, we stumble across sites that are done really well, branded from top to bottom, and are integrated seamlessly with the site's primary content. Sometimes, it just looks cool.
We're hoping advertisers who choose to use these ads will implement them just as well by attracting our attention, rather than stealing it.
Click here to read the full article from MediaPost, or the press release from OPA.
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When no copy = great copy
Friday, June 26, 2009, 7:38 PM
We tweeted yesterday about a new Pepsi commercial that is extremely powerful (in both branding and direct response), even though it has very little copy.
The ad was created by BBDO Moscow and Yessian Music. For those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy:
Now, we did say that there was very little copy. Just a few lines of on-screen text at the very end, right? But in reality, there is plenty of copy that went into the making of this ad. Someone wrote the scenes, one by one. Someone penned, "Woman's jacket being upzipped. Basketball shoelaces being tied. Coin flipping. Car racing. Man screaming," and so on.
Behind the scenes, some really smart copy made this one of the most powerful no-copy ads we've seen in a while. Props to the people at BBDO and Yessian!
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Friday, June 26, 2009, 7:38 PM
We tweeted yesterday about a new Pepsi commercial that is extremely powerful (in both branding and direct response), even though it has very little copy.
The ad was created by BBDO Moscow and Yessian Music. For those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy:
Now, we did say that there was very little copy. Just a few lines of on-screen text at the very end, right? But in reality, there is plenty of copy that went into the making of this ad. Someone wrote the scenes, one by one. Someone penned, "Woman's jacket being upzipped. Basketball shoelaces being tied. Coin flipping. Car racing. Man screaming," and so on.
Behind the scenes, some really smart copy made this one of the most powerful no-copy ads we've seen in a while. Props to the people at BBDO and Yessian!
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Using the 4U technique in subject lines
Monday, June 22, 2009, 3:00 PM
One of the first things you learn as a new copywriter is how to use the "4U" technique. There's some debate about where this neat little copy trick originated, but most point to Michael Masterson, who described it in his Accelerated Program for 6-Figure Copywriting as "the four critical parts that can supercharge any direct mail bullet, any subhead and any headline."
Sounds pretty good, but what the heck are the Four U's?
As Masterson describes it, the Four U's represent the elements you must include to make your headline more powerful:
Without 4U: Increase Your Bottom Line By Installing a Miscrosoft Server
With 4U: Save $12,00+ Per Year With A Microsoft Server That Streamlines Your Business And Lets You Work On The Go
See the difference? The 4U copywriting technique certainly says more and makes you want to keep reading.
But now, years after this Four-U copywriting trick first appeared, there seems to be some debate about it, namely in regard to email subject lines.
Many marketers and copywriting services now say that the 4U technique is also critical to getting more email "opens" from your subject lines. But in our experience, this isn't always true. In fact, with email subjects, less is (almost always) more.
Let's take a look at 2 different email subject lines, but for the same email.
Which would you open?
1) Subject: How's your grammar today?
2) Subject: This week only: Free English course improves your grammar by 300%
Chances are, #1 would get more opens, simply because of the curiosity factory. And to us, that curiosity factor nearly always outweighs the 4U system in subject lines. Now, this doesn't mean that the curiosity factor works for every type of email. But in our experience, if you can get your email to stand out and look original -- without saying too much -- more people will open it to see what it's about.
Of course, another thing to consider here is the conversion rate. Let's say that only 1% of recipients open email #2. But if 100% of those people actually click and buy, then the 4U version just might be more appropriate after all in this case.
The trick is finding a way to make that subject line intriguing and relevant to the content inside, without giving everything away. (If the messages are too dissimilar, recipients will be surprised by the the content of the email and likely ignore it. If the subject is too specific, people will immediately think "Oh, I don't need that," and delete the email before every seeing your great sales copy inside.)
If you're not sure what kinds of subject lines will work best for what you're offering, the best way to find out is to test, test, test. Run A-B tests on your subject lines, and be sure to look at your conversion rates in addition to your opens.
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Monday, June 22, 2009, 3:00 PM
One of the first things you learn as a new copywriter is how to use the "4U" technique. There's some debate about where this neat little copy trick originated, but most point to Michael Masterson, who described it in his Accelerated Program for 6-Figure Copywriting as "the four critical parts that can supercharge any direct mail bullet, any subhead and any headline."
Sounds pretty good, but what the heck are the Four U's?
As Masterson describes it, the Four U's represent the elements you must include to make your headline more powerful:
- Urgency
- Usefulness
- Uniqueness
- Ultra-specificity
Without 4U: Increase Your Bottom Line By Installing a Miscrosoft Server
With 4U: Save $12,00+ Per Year With A Microsoft Server That Streamlines Your Business And Lets You Work On The Go
See the difference? The 4U copywriting technique certainly says more and makes you want to keep reading.
But now, years after this Four-U copywriting trick first appeared, there seems to be some debate about it, namely in regard to email subject lines.
Many marketers and copywriting services now say that the 4U technique is also critical to getting more email "opens" from your subject lines. But in our experience, this isn't always true. In fact, with email subjects, less is (almost always) more.
Let's take a look at 2 different email subject lines, but for the same email.
Which would you open?
1) Subject: How's your grammar today?
2) Subject: This week only: Free English course improves your grammar by 300%
Chances are, #1 would get more opens, simply because of the curiosity factory. And to us, that curiosity factor nearly always outweighs the 4U system in subject lines. Now, this doesn't mean that the curiosity factor works for every type of email. But in our experience, if you can get your email to stand out and look original -- without saying too much -- more people will open it to see what it's about.
Of course, another thing to consider here is the conversion rate. Let's say that only 1% of recipients open email #2. But if 100% of those people actually click and buy, then the 4U version just might be more appropriate after all in this case.
The trick is finding a way to make that subject line intriguing and relevant to the content inside, without giving everything away. (If the messages are too dissimilar, recipients will be surprised by the the content of the email and likely ignore it. If the subject is too specific, people will immediately think "Oh, I don't need that," and delete the email before every seeing your great sales copy inside.)
If you're not sure what kinds of subject lines will work best for what you're offering, the best way to find out is to test, test, test. Run A-B tests on your subject lines, and be sure to look at your conversion rates in addition to your opens.
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Introducing the new Copy Army
Saturday, June 6, 2009, 4:04 PM
And just like that, Copy Army is born.
About a year in the making (about 11 months too long, if you ask some of us), our new company website was launched today. And although we've "officially" been bringing our (awesome) copywriting services to businesses since September 2008, today's launch really marks the start of a new beginning for us.
So, what do you think?
A lot of thought went into the design and functionality of this site. Sure, it may look like any other website -- homepage, list of services, and a contact us page. But in designing the site, we had to ask ourselves a lot of questions (kinda like we do whenever we begin copywriting for a client) ...
- Who's going to be visiting the site? Businesses? Agencies?
- What will they be expecting before the page loads?
- How do we present our image and what we do on in a matter of seconds?
- Do we go for fun and playful? Sleek and professional?
- "Why not put a tank?!?"
Our new website represents the answers to these questions and so many more. We did our best to get across our fun, creative energy, along with our professional, knowledgeable expertise and determination to make our clients' marketing more profitable, unique, memorable and powerful.
Yeah, it's a work in progress.
But this is just the beginning of things to come. We have a lot of exciting updates planned for the site, as well as helpful copywriting tips and critiques that you'll find here, in our copywriting blog. And believe it not, we're already starting plans on the next design of the website, tentatively scheduled to go live in late 2010.
So, take a look around. Get to know us. Let us know what you think. If everything goes according to plan, you'll soon see we're so much more than a copywriting service.
Share this on:
0 comments
Saturday, June 6, 2009, 4:04 PM
And just like that, Copy Army is born.
About a year in the making (about 11 months too long, if you ask some of us), our new company website was launched today. And although we've "officially" been bringing our (awesome) copywriting services to businesses since September 2008, today's launch really marks the start of a new beginning for us.
So, what do you think?
A lot of thought went into the design and functionality of this site. Sure, it may look like any other website -- homepage, list of services, and a contact us page. But in designing the site, we had to ask ourselves a lot of questions (kinda like we do whenever we begin copywriting for a client) ...
- Who's going to be visiting the site? Businesses? Agencies?
- What will they be expecting before the page loads?
- How do we present our image and what we do on in a matter of seconds?
- Do we go for fun and playful? Sleek and professional?
- "Why not put a tank?!?"
Our new website represents the answers to these questions and so many more. We did our best to get across our fun, creative energy, along with our professional, knowledgeable expertise and determination to make our clients' marketing more profitable, unique, memorable and powerful.
Yeah, it's a work in progress.
But this is just the beginning of things to come. We have a lot of exciting updates planned for the site, as well as helpful copywriting tips and critiques that you'll find here, in our copywriting blog. And believe it not, we're already starting plans on the next design of the website, tentatively scheduled to go live in late 2010.
So, take a look around. Get to know us. Let us know what you think. If everything goes according to plan, you'll soon see we're so much more than a copywriting service.
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