Conrad Winter Copywriter

Welcome to part 3 of my series on creating a customer-centric website.

In this interaction-packed post, I’m going to tell you how to get visitors to act – we’re talking “engagement” – as in give you their email or agree meet with you.

So. You got them to your site. Good job. Now what? You’re not just going to hand them a brochure and invite them to look around. No.

You’re going to lead them down a well-thought-out path that fulfills their needs as well as your own. This post provides you with tips on the elements that ease visitors’ journey and lead to conversions. Let’s start with the basics.

KISSIN (Keep It Simple In Navigation?)

Opt for navigation that doesn’t make visitors think. (Have you read that book yet? Don’t Make Me Think) Avoid clever and punchy nav terms that might confuse visitors. I know, we’re all sick of the standard terms and I’m all for creativity, but it’s silly to ignore the data: intuitive terms work.

Get the good neighbor award.

Be considerate of visitors’ needs. Give them the information they need for their business and where they are in the buyers’ journey. Make it easy for them to find their own path: are they in the awareness stage or the consideration stage? You’re not going to sell a newbie who’s just browsin’ so offer them an informational piece. As for visitors in the consideration phase, offer them a demo or a comparison piece that guides them as they research their options.  And be sure and put these offers prominently and repeatedly throughout your site so visitors don’t have to search for them.

Don’t leave them hanging.

Suggest the next step—always and on every page. Provide relevant links to posts or other pages in your site that enable visitors to go deeper into a topic. And never-ever link them away from your site—at least not before they give you something, namely their email.

Don’t make visitors invite themselves to your party.

It’s your job to invite visitors to connect. So make it easy for them. Make it clear and don’t be shy about it. Visitors need to be urged along. Your priority is to make a sale. In business-to-business, it may be rare that someone is going to buy without any personal interaction, but you have to try. If they want to buy, you want to be able to sell. So have a clear and prominent “Get Started” call-to-action (CTA). Put it in the main nav and also in the footer.

Let’s take this relationship to the next level.

Most likely, your visitors are going to need to take an intermediary step, like a demo, before they pull the trigger, so offer that at least as prominently, or maybe more prominently, than your get-started CTA.

Consider a bribe.

The majority of your visitors who are in the consideration phase are seeking information. Don’t let this group get away without giving you their information. Offer them a high-value piece of content like an article or exclusive access to research. This “lead enticer” moves prospects closer to a sales conversation. It also puts prospects who are in the education phase on your radar to check back with them later on.  And if they’re in the comparing options phase, it enables you to follow up with a sales piece, case study or checklist–content relevant to them in their stage of the buyers’ journey.

No one leaves your site without giving you their email.

No one. So if they’re not ready for a demo and don’t need your content, get them on your email list. But don’t just make the mistake of saying “sign up for our newsletter.” Instead, tell them the value they’ll receive by allowing you to contact them occasionally. Here are some examples:

• Yes, keep me on the leading edge of what’s happening.
• Want to receive exclusive insights from industry leaders?
•  Be first to hear about our latest innovations and newest services.

For shy visitors, try being more social.

Some visitors just won’t give it up. For them, a less intimate means of connecting may be social.  Are you tweeting? Posting articles on LinkedIn? Invite visitors to follow you there. Any opportunity to stay connected and in front of visitors to your site is worthwhile. That’s how relationships are formed. It’s how they get to know, like and trust you over time. But that won’t happen if you don’t invite them. So do it!

Ready, Action.

Like the customer-focused tips you just read? Get even more by reading Part 1 for general guidelines or Part 2 for pointers on increasing the persona-appeal of specific web pages.

And if your website copy is high on your list of action items, then now’s the perfect time for us to talk. Contact me to set up a short phone call. I’ll get back with some times and you tell me what works.

(Part 2 of my 3-part guide to writing genuinely customer-focused website copy.)

Are you talking to yourself? 

I feel like I should interrupt, but I don’t want to be rude. It’s an easy trap to fall into when it comes to the copy on your website. We spend so much time defining a mission and identifying the ideal niche. All that strategic stuff, the inwardly-focused stuff, takes time and effort. Once it’s time to move to the actual pages of your site, you want to use it. I get it.

But you’ve got to put it aside and get customer-focused on every single page. Otherwise, you could end up with a website that suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder. Welcome to Part 2 of my 3-part guide to writing genuinely customer-focused website copy. Read on to learn how to bring visitor-centricity to the web pages that matter most.

Home Page: Wemember the weader.

The success of your home page hinges on how well you express the 3Ws (what you do, for whom and why you’re different). Be clear, as in stick to your key message and the big benefit it brings. Be creative, as in not strategic-sounding. And be empathetic, as in address your customers’ pain points and help them to envision themselves using your product or service.

(Insider tip: To ensure every word you write is relevant to your readers, tape your buyer persona to the wall right in front of you. Look at it before, during and after you write. (And if you haven’t done a buyer persona, just visualize your ideal customer, and write to them.)

The About Page: Make it all about them.

There are many ways to spin the story of your company. The best is the one that imparts the biggest benefit to visitors. Yes, accentuate your positives, tell a personal story (not just a timeline) and find an interesting angle—but most importantly, make your “about us” actually “about them.”

Services Page: It’s better to lose them than confuse them.

Your website plays an important role in bringing you qualified leads—ones who know what you’re selling and are interested in buying. So be clear in explaining what you offer, even if it means alienating the visitors who aren’t a good match—it will save you the expense of following up on unqualified leads. You can’t be all things to all visitors, so be the best candidate for your ideal customers.

Direct visitors to the information they need in a quick scan or in the least number of clicks possible. But remember: being clear doesn’t mean being generic. Your job isn’t to make yourself dismissible; it’s to make sure the value of your unique features comes through loud and clear. So market to your visitors. If you feel the need to expand on points or offer substantiation (e.g. testimonials, case studies or research) provide a link.

Why Me Page: Don’t be afraid to sell.

There are times when prospects need (nay, want!) to be sold; they need you to tell them your service rocks, that it will most definitely work for them and no other option they’re looking out will deliver the results you can. Your Why Me Page provides you the opportunity to inspire confidence and excitement.

But be careful not to let narcissism grab the wheel and turn visitors off. All of the information you provide should address prospects’ hot points – just telling them you’re an award-winning service provider isn’t enough. For everything about you that’s great, tell them why it matters to them.

Careers Page: Let them in.

People pick jobs for a lot of reasons other than the compensation package and company’s prestige. Think of the best job you ever landed. What was it that made you fall in love with the company in the first place? If you’re like most people, it was some personal connection you made, whether it was with a person you gelled with, a workplace feature that felt like home or the opportunity you saw to make a difference. In short, the clincher is often something that you connected with. It wasn’t, “This place is so vanilla. I know I’ll love it here.”

No, somewhere in the recruitment process, the organization let you in by letting its guard down. Whether it was some character that you met, some kooky tradition you learned about or that peanut butter machine they put in the breakroom. So be bold and let your company’s credentials shine, but also let them see your company’s humanity.

Other pages: show how well you know them.

Visitors want to know you “get” them. With the myriad other options out there, they won’t have it any other way. Know your market and write to them at the risk of losing people who aren’t in your market. Seth Godin refers to it as reaching the weird outliers who make super fans and brand advocates. Those are the people you want. Talk to them.

Want more pointers for sharpening the customer focus of your website copy? Read Part 1 of my series for general tips, or read Part 3 to see how to write CTAs, navigation terms and more with genuine persona-appeal.

Want to talk website copy? I’m all ears.

Contact me to set up a webside chat. We’ll talk about your goals and see if I can help. Just reach out and I’ll suggest some times.

Part 1 of my guide for ensuring your website content is genuinely customer-focused.

There’s an anecdote in How to Win Friends and Influence People, where author, Dale Carnegie recounts the story of meeting someone at a party who talked nonstop about themselves. Carnegie hardly said a word, but after the party the person recounted to a mutual friend what a joy it was speaking with Carnegie and what a great conversationalist he was.

We all love it when it’s all about us, and we love people who make it all about us.

That’s important to remember when it comes to your website copy.

Visitors care less about your ace credentials, unparalleled product features and level of expertise than you think. But they’ll remember if you can show that you “get” them and understand their needs, concerns and joys.

I realize that’s way easier said than done even for the most empathetic marketers. So I’ve written a little 3-part series to help you ensure your website copy is genuinely customer-focused.

• Part 1 presents general guidelines
• Part 2 provides tips for your high-value web pages
• Part 3 goes into action items like your navigation, CTAs (calls-to-action) and more

Ready for part 1? Grab your buyer persona by the hand and let’s get customer-focused:

Less is more helpful.
You have a full course to feed visitors to your site, but remember, prospects like to nibble. If they like something, they’ll dig in. But that will never happen if you present too much text. Opt for short paragraphs with bold subheads. Avoid dense, lengthy copy chunks that require reader effort.

If there’s simply too much to say, create a separate page or blog post with the information. (Hint: don’t worry about having to add another section to your already-crowded navigation bar. It can be hidden like this page. Just as long as people who want more information can click a link and get it, you’re good.)

David Ogilvy told me to tell you to “Be interesting.”
The father of advertising would want me to remind you that you’re always selling to a human being. And humans like things that are different, unexpected, intriguing and entertaining. Concision is critical in writing for the web (see above), but not if means you have to resort to jargon and cryptic shorthand. Strive to address customers’ challenges and needs – and don’t be afraid to bubble a bit.

Ask yourself, “Do people really speak like that?”
Keyword-stuffed messaging is a turnoff to readers. It comes off as overly strategic and jargony. Keywords are for attracting the robots and getting ranked high on the page. But robots don’t purchase your product or service. Write conversationally, like humans speak…if you want to attract humans.

Reveal yourself.
Give prospects something unique to remember you by: “Oh, they’re the ones who donated their trucks to deliver aid after the hurricane, “Oh, that’s the logistics company with the female CEO.” Business buyers make decisions for emotional reasons, too. So have an about page that lets people in by letting your guard down.

Excuse me, but your strategy is showing.
Your strategies, mission statement and value prop are important…to you, but not to your prospects. The words that provide powerful motivation to your team internally can have the opposite effect on prospects. To them, those elements just come off as B.S., no matter how sincere you are about them.

Showing beats saying.
Ironically, the same consumers who want it short and sweet today also want proof. Here are a few ways to provide it:

• Back up your claims with case studies (a.k.a. social proof).
• Demonstrate how much you value your employees by featuring them on your about section.
• Show how you treasure your customers by addressing every complaint you receive on social media.
• Prove your commitment to the community by pasting your sustainability certificate on your home page.

Make a difference by making it all about them.
If your bounce rate is a virtual super ball or your conversion rates are barely bouncing along, hopefully these tips will help. Want more pointers? Check out Part 2 to learn how to make your high-value web pages more customer-centric or Part 3 to see how to write CTAs, navigation terms and more with persona-appeal. And if an outside perspective would speed things up for you, just reach out. I’d love to assist.

One of the best things about freelancing at this one company was the copious snack collection offered free to all workers. Granola bars, fruit, juice, chips, artisan coffee—and yes, fresh peanut butter right from the machine.

So when it fell upon me to write a career page that portrayed the company’s outstanding opportunities as well as its personality, naturally the peanut butter machine had to play a role.

Peanut butter to me is the ultimate comfort food, sustaining while treating—an incomparable combo with bananas, granola, yogurt and more. And the fact that they had this machine: I mean it was this beast, a real commercial model with a stainless flip switch. When you turned it on, the floor shook as ribbons of gooey goodness swirled into your awaiting cup.

It was a natural metaphor for a company that knew a quirky-but-good idea when they saw one. And it said so much about the wholesomeness of the culture and the company’s extravagant generosity toward its employees.

Don’t take the usual route on your company’s employment or culture pages. Every company wants to portray itself to recruits as a work-hard-play-hard innovator that cares about its people, but if you don’t back it up, your words won’t ring true. You have to dig into the details and “personal” aspects of your company that you may take for granted. The little things can say a lot about you.

So take a chance. Prospective employees make decisions for a lot of reasons outside of company name and compensation. They look for cues. They want to know how they’ll fit into your culture and big plan. They’re human after all. That’s why the human stuff matters…like a peanut butter machine.

When you’re writing your company’s culture page or “work for us” text, are you shining a light on your company’s unique personality as well as your growth plans, mission and values?

Stand out by letting the real you out.

And if you’re having a hard time looking at yourself from the outside in, contact me. I’ll be happy to help you find your own personal peanut butter machine.

(Former NYT ad journalist Stuart Elliott shared sage advice for United and YouTube advertisers during The NJ Ad Club’s recent town hall.)

During my formative years in advertising, there were these three guys I looked to for “the way.” Three uncles, each one distinctly different.

One was the omnipresent advertising gossip columnist: George Lazarus of the Chicago Tribune.

Another, Bob Garfield was the acerbic critic from AdAge who had a way of backhanding ad campaigns that struck fear into ad people everywhere.

The last, Stuart Elliott, was the gentleman of the bunch. The uncle you always felt lucky to be around because even though he was a big shot, he’d take the time to share everything he knew with you. His column in The New York Times provided rare insights, and in-depth exposés into the otherworldly strategy and thinking of CMOs and ECDs working on the world’s top brands.

So the New Jersey Ad Club’s April 25th town hall featuring the renowned ad journalist Stuart Elliott felt a lot like home for at least one of us in the audience. Those of us lucky enough to spend the evening with Stuart Elliott were treated to great stories and generous lessons that were both enlightening and grounding—kind of like you’d expect from your cool uncle. NJ Ad Club Board Member and Executive Creative Director at Coyne PR, Rob Schnapp’s informed questions set the tone for a revealing and intimate town hall that kept the content current and electric.

Throughout the evening, Elliott spoke like the sage who’s followed the advertising, marketing and media beat with more than the determination of a journalist—but with an undying passion that anyone in the biz can relate to. The conversation arced from earned media to burned airline passengers. He touched on social, Apple and the very-much-alive New York Times. He didn’t make predictions—he swore off that temptation long ago after the dot-com bust of 2001. What he did talk about left all of us wanting more. In the end, his hour and a half seemed much too short. So what did he talk about?

On branding your enemy. Elliott believes the repetition of negative zingers like Trump’s “The failing New York Times” Tweets can be an effective way of communicating. But you run the risk of the person you’re attacking seizing the nickname and throwing it back at you in a nasty way. Elliott said, “It might serve to actually raise them up—from the people that don’t feel it’s fair that they’re under attack.”

Don’t believe the 3 AM Tweets. “The failing New York Times” is not. According to Elliott, they’re now selling more subscriptions per month than they usually sell in a year. Elliott said, “That’s in direct response to these attacks by people who feel their alternative facts are more valid than the facts that journalists come up with.”

It may actually be a smart move to get your brand involved in politics. Conventional wisdom says it’s smart for brands to avoid politics because of the potential of negative backlash. But Elliott brought up an interesting point: while political comments can be polarizing, the benefits of appealing to one group while alienating another can be a smart strategy—especially when the party you’re appealing to represents a large and lucrative market.

Uncle Stuart’s advice for United Airlines: Having made it through the essential mea culpa phase, like many disgraced brands, United is probably thinking about advertising its way back into the hearts of the coach class. Elliott counsels against doing anything too advertisy like Wells Fargo’s current effort which he described as, “Every round is more pathetic as they try to pull at the heartstrings.” In contrast, he recommends following Firestone’s historic example. The tire manufacturer hired  Jimmy Stewart as spokesperson to help the company navigate around the bad publicity they received after a series of tire-shredding incidents. Elliott’s suggestions for UAL: Sully or a retired Supreme Court justice.

Great things about social media Part 1: coalition building. Elliott sees this as an amazing phenomenon. Not only are people using social media to share news and information instantaneously, they are joining forces and springing to action immediately by arranging boycotts and circulating de facto petitions. The power and potential for organizing the masses is unprecedented and being used to great effect.

Limitations of social media—no long game. Elliott sees the weakness of most social media creative as its lack of longevity. Campaigns are short lived, not really the type of work that builds the foundation of a brand. They light up the Internet and fizzle. One example: Oreo’s 2013 Super Bowl Tweet “You can still dunk in the dark” Tweet was a hard act to follow.

“’Twas Madison Avenue that killed the beast” Elliott’s Tweet weeks ago was a commentary on advertisers’ role in removing O’Reilly from his post at Fox News. Elliott sees it as part of a bigger trend. He co-credits social media and the ease with which people were able to instigate coalitions against O’Reilly online. And he co-co-credits the trend of companies increasingly being pressured to make a stand on important issues. These days staying neutral can be riskier than picking a side.

Advertisers are going back to the 30s. Turns out branded content, branded entertainment and content marketing are nothing new. Elliott points out that modern advertisers are employing tactics used in radio in the 30s and TV in the 50s to overcome today’s ad-blocking tendencies and technologies. Some examples he mentioned:

• Sponsored pre or during-show skits on programs like Jimmy Kimmel
• Programs like FX Channel’s “The Americas” or “Fargo” presented by one main sponsor and featuring limited commercial interruptions
• Cast commercials where the actors in the show come out and deliver the commercials during the show. For example, Tina Fey spoke for Snapple on 30 Rock.
• Online advertisers on sites like nytimes.com are running elaborate short films that are high in artistic value and low on promotional content.

Half of my analytics are wasted; I just don’t know which half. We still haven’t reached Shangri-La in advertising: that mythical ability to pinpoint consumers who actually want to see your ad and are actually in the market for what you’re selling. Elliott said, “The good news is we now have all these ways of doing that. The flip side is that it’s not foolproof. Everyone talks about metrics and data. Because it’s online, it should be easy to measure or good or the data should help you figure out what to do. But in a lot of cases, there’s too much data or people don’t know how to interpret the data or the data might conflict.”

Why is my commercial running on that weird porno or white nationalist video? Maybe this whole idea of turning it over the robots is a little premature. Elliott found irony in the revelation by The Guardian and The Times of London that ads from some of the world’s most respected brands had appeared in some rather unexpected videos on YouTube. These are brands that strain over the proper placement of their ads in traditional paid media, after all. Elliott thinks the fallibility of the algorithms means advertisers will start having to use humans (gasp) to verify potential placements going forward.

The great marketing and advertising are timeless. It’s good to be reminded that boldly authentic advertising that taps universal human truths in clear and compelling ways stands the test of time. The Apple 1984 ad will give viewers goosebumps today the same way it did during the Super Bowl of 1984. And the subversive-sensibility of the original VW beetle ads from the 60s is just as irresistible today as it was then.

What’s the meaning of it all? Or rather, what’s the deal with Super Bowl advertising? Elliott talked extensively about marketers’ undying obsession with Super Bowl advertising. Companies pay millions to run a 15-second spot that will be judged and scrutinized by millions of hungry, ad-savvy unforgiving viewers all at once. Failure to entertain has dire consequences. Elliott referenced the example of shoe retailer, Just for Feet. Their Super Bowl spot was panned as racist and ultimately led to their going out of business shortly after their fail. Yet, the obsession continues. In an era where advertising can be more targeted and cost efficient than ever, why are so many marketers willing to spin the wheel on this ultimate spray-and-pray tactic?

After an inimitable and indelible run at The New York Times, Elliott continues to ponder this and many of life’s other great questions. Follow him here: @stuartenyt, @MediaVillageCom and @cbswatchmag

To Super Bowl or not to Super Bowl? If you’re looking for a spot for the next big game—or you need an awesome case study or campaign—remember I’m here to help. Reach out.

I remember my first official freelance assignment like a dream that never was.

I was working from my kitchen table. Framing my computer screen was a pretty view of the apartment cluster’s courtyard. The smell of coffee mixed nicely with the scent of salt air from the beach a block away. I remember sighing and thinking “this is the life” as I wrote my sell sheet copy for an incontinence product.

There I was typing, revising, sighing and sipping coffee—I was deep in the zone…and then the phone rang.

It was my client.

That was the first of a career’s worth of reminders that there is a lot more to writing than writing. Over the years I’ve embraced the ethic that copywriting is a service, and success depends on how well you serve your clients.

More often than not, that means attending faithfully to the non-writing parts of the job: the picking up the phone and promptly getting back as well as the planning, proofreading, strategizing, discussing, brand-emmersing, presenting, revising, listening, sharing, meeting, researching and reminding.

It’s hard to believe just how much service is wrapped around a little 60-second video script, copy deck, case study or ad concept. The details may seem trivial, but they determine the positive flow of projects, make clients’ lives easier and protect the quality of the writing.

Service determines the success of projects. To me, it’s really just a synonym for good communication—a clear delineation of goals and roles, which promotes efficiency. It also translates to alignment, which ensures the copy syncs with the design, media choices and more.

Service is much more than a nice to have in this business. Besides, who wants to work with a grumpy hermit writer anyway? Have fun. Do good work. Demand great service.

I’m here if you need me: Reach out here.

You really couldn’t ask for a better panel for a 2017 outlook discussion. The NJ Ad Club’s panel was lively and their views were all over the place. The candid descriptions of the ways their outfits are operating and the projects and mindsets driving them were pure gold. Bunch of people at the top of the game, kind of telling it like it is. What more could you ask for? I’ve provided a wrap-up of the key points and opinions shared. (Scroll down if you want to get right to the good stuff.) Here’s a little context on the panel.

Starting with Irene Chang Britt who is the consummate client and marketer. She currently sits on a bunch of boards for big companies—Dunkin’ Brands being the largest—but in a past life ran the marketing for brands like Pepperidge Farms’ Goldfish and clearly was a close collaborator with the people on her agency teams. She had an enlightening take on the qualities and capabilities agencies need to bring to the table now—not what you’d expect in today’s world.

Dave Edwards represented R/GA, the foremost creative agency today. Per Dave, R/GA reinvents itself every 9 years. I think it’s more like every single year. They innovate, they change, they test creative boundaries, and Dave was very candid about what they’ve learned from the experience. If I hadn’t just witnessed Trump being elected, I’d say these guys were running the world.

There’s no agency like VaynerMedia. One of the things their COO, James Orsini, explained to Wednesday’s audience was that Gary Vaynerchuk, the agency’s always-on leader, believes there is no distinction between social and the Internet. It’s all one and the same. Also, in this day, each and every one of us is a broadcaster and personal media outlet. That sounds wacked, doesn’t it? But to do the things they do, grow the way they’ve grown and just reinvent the game as they go along…I think you have to be plain wacked. James told us come pretty cool stuff.

Hafeez Saheed, Head of Production at Nickelodeon Creative Advertising, demonstrated the potential of a nimble, versatile and entrepreneurial in-house creative Seal Team like Nickelodeon’s. In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk among marketers and leaders of in-house agencies about the chargeback model, where in-house agencies restructure to become profit centers. Hafeez’s outfit provides a stellar example of how that might work. Legacy brands like Popsicle that have gone dormant have been special beneficiaries of their work.

The four panelists’ diverse viewpoints took the discussion in flurry of directions. Key insights seemed to be flying in every direction. Here are my takeaways from what they said:

Stop whining about ad-blocking already. “Produce better content” was the consensus from the people in the high chairs. James Orsini said that today’s short attention-span set will willingly and wantonly watch 3-minute sponsored videos if they’re good enough. User-created advertising is block-proof advertising, according to Irene Chang Britt. She gave the example of a campaign she led for Pepperidge Farms’ Goldfish that was based on goldfish-inspired stories submitted by consumers. The campaign ran for 7 years. She never worried about ad blocking because, “they’d be blocking their own stories.”

Agencies bringing clients in-house. Through an accelerator program hosted on their properties, R/GA is attracting clients like never before. Their 3-month mentoring program for startups takes 10 at a time. Part of the arrangement is that R/GA receives an equity stake in the companies, which number 70 at this point.

And vice-versa. R/GA is also taking on a deeper consulting role with established companies. Through their Business Transformation arm, they go deep with the C-Suite much like a McKinsey or Deloitte would, “To help companies with what is their biggest struggle, how they innovate,” per agency founder Bob Greenberg.

Gary Vaynerchuk is going to get you hooked on cool free stuff then figure out a way to monetize it. You already knew this, right? But did you ever wonder what really makes people pay for something they were previously getting for free? VaynerMedia’s James Orsini gave three reasons:

1. Velvet ropes
2. Better experience
3. The opportunity to co-create the content

Skip the shiny objects, agencies. That advice from Irene Chang Britt who advises agencies to bring consumer insight and understanding to the table, not shallow stunts, technology tricks and clever-for-the-sake-of-being-clever work. When pressed by an audience member, Irene explained she doesn’t expect agency partners to bring data. Rather, a deeper understanding of her consumer’s passion-points, who they really are and how best to reach them.

Who’s embedding in the flyover states? VaynerMedia, that’s who. They just opened an office in Chattanooga, TN. They moved dozens of creative people from their NYC offices to staff it. James Orsini said their reasoning was simple, “Most of the consumers are in Middle America.”

The TV spot still matters. You’d think that VaynerMedia, gods of all things social, would distain the 15 and 30-second TV spot. Not Orsini. In fact, he thought a recent client made a big mistake betting it all on social video. Sure, they saved on media, but their messages were hidden from a core client segment.

Because, yes, people still watch TV. That from our R/GA panelist, Dave Edwards, who believes more people are watching more TV than ever. For proof, he cited the popularity of shows like the Crown, and coming enhancements by Nielsen that expand consumer tracking beyond the cable box.

Improvements in programmatic will continue to sharpen effectiveness (and creepiness.) Don’t worry, or do worry, Dave Edwards assures us Facebook and Alexa will make sure we get the right ads for the things we want.

Depth beats reach. Getting a few white bread consumers (hopefully influencers) to engage deeply and passionately about your brand of bread and their favorite sandwich is way more valuable than spraying your message out to the masses, according to Irene Chang Britt. An authentic brand story supported by a social campaign that engages the passionate few goes a long way today.

The irrefutable advantage of bringing the studio inside. VaynerMedia’s new partnership with Vimeo gives Vayner access to over 4,000 award-winning directors. The relationship gives them a huge advantage in creating episodic work for clients and in reducing the hurdles and time it takes to create campaigns. In contrast, R/GA started in film production and grew from there. The integrated full stack of production, media and creative that gives R/GA their advantage today has been evolving for decades. According to Dave Edwards, this fusion of services enables them to succeed on high-speed creative projects like one they did for Beats after the VMAs several years ago.

Clients want one-stop shops but…With so many service providers and specialties to manage, marketers appreciate working with a big AOR that spares them from managing relationships. Irene Chang Britt questions whether companies are receiving the most innovative work under such arrangements. She explained that the way agencies grow to become 1-stop shops offering traditional, digital, social, etc. is by buying smaller agencies that specialize in those disciplines. The problem is that they don’t always buy companies at the top of the game, often settling for a #2 or 3.

Trend: publishers want to get into the agency space. And you thought it was the other way around. That according to James Orsini.

Facebook is for Boomers. As they retire, they have lots of time to figure things out. Irene Chang Britt believes it’s an ideal way for grandparents to follow their grandkids.

The agency model is still the one to beat. “Agencies bring more to clients by cross-pollinating ideas,” Irene Chang Britt said. Largely because they work in multiple industries.

Leveraging little events to reach large audiences. James Orsini said that VaynerMedia is injecting influencers into 2,000-person conferences with the real payback of reaching millions through the compelling content produced.

Predictive and R/GA’s AdWords hack. Those darn AdWords can get so expensive these days. Dave Edwards said that for client McCormick Spices, rather than throwing down for pricey picks like “food,” “spice,” “seasoning” or “cooking”, they just bought “Ryan Gosling.” For many women, I guess they’re sort of the same thing.

Enough already. Speaking of predictive, Dave Edwards hopes they come up with an “Okay, I bought that” button on banner ads that cookie you mercilessly long after your searched for that 5-pack of printer ink, Disney package or whatever.

Interested in attending the New Jersey Ad Club’s next event? Look here. And be sure and check out upcoming events from the New Jersey Art Directors Club while you’re at it.

My house backs up to a cemetery and fronts up to a small but busy cul-de-sac maintained and plowed by our town.

During a snowstorm, the cemetery side is where all the action is. Without exception, the guy who plows their roads has theirs cleared and salted hours, sometimes days, before the city sends someone to dig me and my neighbors out.

My reason for telling you this isn’t to get you to sign a petition. Rather, it’s to illustrate an important point when it comes to contracting for freelance copywriting services: the city’s snowplow operators are paid hourly, while the cemetery’s is not.

What’s true in the snow business is true in other areas, too. Whether you’re paying for snowplowing or copywriting services, project fees—or fixed fees as some like to call them—work best for clients in every case. My city’s snowplow drivers provide a classic example why, and it’s only the beginning of the reasons to favor fixed fees.

Paying hourly actually rewards inefficiency.

It’s twisted, but true—the longer our city’s snowmen take to clear our streets, the more money they make. Conversely, the faster they go, the less money they make. That’s the main problem with paying hourly. On the other hand, paying a project fee rewards freelancers for working hard, smart and fast because the emphasis is on doing the job, not the hours.

When you go project fee, the freelancer carries the risk, not you.

With hourly, you never really know what your final bill will be. Sure, it could be less than you expect. But it could also be more than your budget. With a project fee arrangement, it’s up to the copywriter to manage their hours; if they go over their estimate, it’s on them—not you. And you don’t have the risk of running out of hours because fixed fee projects are all-inclusive.

You get what you pay for with a project fee.

With fixed fee assignments, all the details are laid out in the contract, which sets the expectations for all parties. It establishes deliverables and deadlines for both the client in terms of approvals and provision of source materials, and for the copywriter in terms of when the copy is due. The contract supports an orderly revision process and delineates how services over and above the agreed-upon scope will be handled.

Fixed fees inspire efficiency.

With their clear details and parameters, fixed fee contracts help clients stick to their own timelines and provide a framework that ensures success. In essence, there are rules that guide everyone to do what they agreed to do, which encourages the project to go the way it’s supposed to go. In contrast, hourly agreements don’t usually have contracts. The lack of defined parameters can lead to loosey-goosey workflows, false starts and unrealized project objectives.

Hourly creates a psychological disconnect from value.

Hourly arrangements lead to hourly mindsets that can distract you from the big picture and the value of the project to your business. That may lead you to treat the project with less care than it deserves. Let me put it this way, is it “just an email that will take a few hours of work” or is it really a message that’s going to thousands of prospects that could net you millions in sales?

Hourly rates defy logic and cause discomfort.

Let’s be honest. It is impossible to look at someone’s hourly rate and not compare it to other, completely unrelated rates—be it your lawyer’s, your plumber’s or even your own. It is best not to go there. What difference does it make, anyway? With project fee, the focus is on the value of the work to your organization—as it should be.

Negotiating a project fee keeps you in the driver’s seat.

With project fee, you control the cost and the deliverable. But with hourly, the cost can vary. It’s just the nature of creative work. Sure, you can try and impose a cap on the number of hours a copywriter can use, but that can lead to varied results. Every creative person has their own process and pace. When you mess with their way of doing things, you do so at your own risk. It’s better to just agree on a price you’re comfortable with and let the copywriter deal with how much time it takes.

Project fee relationships bring unexpected value-adds.

With project fee, when an hourly copywriter exceeds the expectations of the project, it’s an unexpected gift, and it’s free—as it should be. Not so with hourly. When your copywriter goes over and above the call of duty, they’re exceeding the project scope. That means you the client end up paying for something that you didn’t ask for, budget for or really even think you needed.

Fixed fees work on any project you can imagine.

It’s possible to propose project fees for everything from the biggest jobs to the most piecemeal ones. That includes projects like website prompts, headline projects, tagline explorations or amorphous copy editing jobs. That said, it’s true that working on a project fee requires more work up front for the copywriter in estimating. It’s also more work for clients because they have to articulate their needs clearly. But I’ve found the extra planning to be well worth it in the end because it helps ensure clients get what they need without going over budget.

Remember the tale of two snowplow drivers on your next project.

One was fixed-fee driven and focused—the other was last seen texting his girlfriend in front of the Bulldog Deli.

And don’t forget, if you need help digging yourself out from a mountain of work, I’m here to help. Email me anytime to set up your free consultation.

On the morning of November 9th, I found myself searching the faces of my neighbors as they drove by. “Friend or foe?” I worried. I wondered if my sprinkler contractor was going to show up—or anyone was going to show up to work for that matter. People who rode the morning train into Manhattan described railcars so quiet you could hear an election pin drop.

I think that I, and many, many other people on both sides of the election just didn’t think that we knew the other side…that we were just too different to even coexist.

Research supports this. A recent poll published in the Times Union indicates that political prejudice is now more prevalent than racial prejudice in the United States.

So here we are all looking at the other side as “the other.”

With the holidays closing in all around me, I realized I had a problem. Not only was I massively distracted, I needed to get my head straight or there was going to be war around the dinner table.

I searched for a mental trick to get me out of this negative frame of mind. Would the old rubber band around the wrist that I snap whenever my thoughts go acid work? Probably not. I’d probably break it; furthermore, I couldn’t think of a single affirmation I could use to mantra my way to peace-of-mind.

Salvation came to me in the form of a Ted talk with Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. After a brainy explanation of the three things that have led to our society’s bitter division, he concluded with a truism that was so simple and common-sensical that I knew it would work. It goes like this:

The key to breaking a personal stereotype is personal.
If you want to smash your beliefs that “they’re all the same”, find an exception to the rule. In other words, listen to one person from the other side with the aim of understanding.

We people in advertising and marketing should be good at this. Understanding customer insights and acting upon them is perhaps the greatest trick of our trade.

So I decided to give it a try with my neighbor, Mark—one of the millions I’d previously decided I simply couldn’t and wouldn’t ever relate to. But unlike the other “others” like him on Twitter and TV, I made an effort to listen to Mark without judging whether he was right or wrong. His perspective surprised me. I have to say the experience did a great job short-circuiting my whole stereotyping machine.

It reminded me that we face this challenge all the time in marketing. It’s our job to listen for insights and to strive to achieve true understanding—not just hear the things that support our preconceived notions.

Having been in this business for however many years, I think we people in marketing are more open to seeing other people’s perspectives than just about any other group. I really do. So perhaps it’s up to us to lead the way out there by showing the world how to be a little more understanding.

Just so you know, my sprinkler guy showed up late in the afternoon on November 9th. He blew air through my pipes so they won’t explode this winter. Maybe that’s our job, too, as marketers—to just show up. In doing so, we may just prevent the world from blowing a gasket.

Wishing you peace, love and unsterotyping this holiday season,
Conrad

I woke up in a panic a few Sundays ago. My daughter had a travel soccer game and we’d way overslept. The maps app said it would take 50 minutes but we only had 45.

I reassured myself that those estimates only applied to little old ladies and snow plows. If I was driving, it would only take me 40—maybe less if my wife didn’t get mad at me for speeding.

So, I bum-rushed my 12 year-old daughter and sleepy wife out the door, completely focused on obeying the voice of my map app and getting my daughter to her soccer game on time. I did a fast-and-furious reverse down the driveway and whipped onto the street. In a minute, I was on Main Street and before the app could say “interstate” I was pulling onto the 287 and into the fast lane.

60, 70, and then 80 mph. Things were looking good. No cops. No traffic studies.

We pulled up to the edge of the field with minutes to spare. I felt like a definitive dad-hero. I sat back as all the stress rushed over and out of me. Life was good. My daughter opened the door to jump out…and shrieked.

She had forgotten her cleats.

In our rush to make it to the game on time, we had forgotten the most important thing: a basic equipment check. It would have taken a minute. Instead we flew out of the house without a second to spare.

When we’re in a rush, we often forget the basics…like the creative brief.

It’s ironic to me that confirming, at the very least, these essentials of a brief—key message, objective and support points—is often deemed a waste of time under a tight deadline.

The truth is, taking the time to lay down the purpose and important points of a project at the onset can speed the work immeasurably, and help you avoid misdirection that makes you miss your deadline.

On your next hot, or not so hot, project, don’t be afraid to be the bad guy or gal—the momentary momentum killer—who asks:

1. What are we trying to do here?
2. Whom are we talking to?
3. What do we want them to do?
4. And what is our simple, single-minded key message?

Write the answers down and remind your team of them often—it will surely save you in the long run.

As for my daughter, she ended up borrowing a mom’s sneakers, so everything worked out okay in the end.

Need a driver for your upcoming ad, website refresh or inbound program? I’m here to help. Just email.