We could learn a lot from you “dinosaurs”, in fact I have and continue to do so and I owe a lot of what I learned about copy writing from reading Mr. Bly’s books.

I do understand the importance of keywords for search engines but I also understand that it’s just as important for the copy to actually convert. If the spiders love it the human that’s directed to it must love it as well. How many times have you went to a search engine and found a site that had plenty of keyword density but the copy just didn’t speak to you? Too many times I’m sure.

To answer your question, “Is Direct Response Dead?” I would have to say NO WAY!

Look around, most people settle for a 2% conversion rate and say it’s okay because it’s average. I don’t want average, I want my copy to speak to the reader whether it’s a squeeze page, online video or a direct mail piece.

Direct response will never become extinct as long as people want to convert more.

Unfortunately, that’s what the majority of them are looking for right now. They give you a phrase or two, though I’ve had as many as 40 for one article, and the keyword density and that’s all they’re interested in. I do have clients who care about more than that, and those are the ones worth sticking in the game for. I have some that want both keywords and substance and even a few that don’t care about keywords. But, those are extremely hard to find online.

the internet approach of giving it all away and then somehow sometime making some money later on is like flipping burgers after shipping the manufacturing jobs somewhere else

you can make a little money for a while with the free internet model, but when all the folks whose manufacturing jobs got shipped to india are broke then the burger flippers wont be needed either

love of money is the root of all evil but there is nothing evil about producing and selling products that help society. how people are treated and how the money is made can be evil but total rebellion against making money at all is silly.

Thanks for touching upon a HUGE pet peeve of mine!

I don’t know how many “SEO copywriters” I’ve talked with who believe that it’s all about shoving keyphrases into copy. They don’t know how to write a compelling headline. They don’t think in terms of “benefit statements.” Heck, many folks don’t even know what direct response writing *is.* Instead, these writers are repeating the same words over and over to gain (or game) keyphrase relevancy.

What’s worse is that clients are paying top dollar for this content thinking that SEO copywriting is supposed to sound like a laundry list of keyphrases.

It drives me nuts.

Thanks for your email earlier today and letting me post my own rant…

http://www.seocopywriting.com/commentary/why-direct-reponse-writing-skills-are-so-damn-important/

Cheers!
Heather

What’s the key to relevancy? Usually it’s the offers/messaging you make/use.

My experience in not either/or, it’s using the right channel with the right message and usually involves adjusting such to each segment based on THEIR channel preference, not mine as a marketer.

Both old and new need to apply correct testing — sadly that’s still done infrequently.

I have experienced the impact a well executed direct campaign can have for customers….but that was eight years ago.

I do not want to be argumentative or emotional. I had a mentor teach me a long time ago when faced with emotion, work with facts.

The proponents of direct marketing make their living selling it, and I hope they have better statistics than what I found as I really want to learn more.

We used to sell clients “our creative and data base tools create an interruption for the right buyer at the right time” and we had case studies to prove it. (just the ones that worked)

Today I would like to ask company doing direct marketing a single question;

“how’s that working for you?”

I don’t mean the creative, or the customer service you receive from your direct mail partners, or the number of leads, but what impact is your investment in direct marketing having on your bottom line? Do you know?

I was having a conversation about traditional verse new rules of marketing with the guy who wrote the New Rules of Marketing and PR book, David Meerman Scott and he very quickly helped me understand the new rules and their implications with some very quick questions;

“When was the last time I received a piece of direct mail in the last 90 days that identified a perfect solution to a problem I have, and I acted on it?”

“When was the last time, in the last year I went to a trade show searching for a solution to a problem I have?”

“Have I seen a print ad in the last month that was a perfect solution for a problem and I acted on it?”

Then he asked me the following;

“Have I used a search engine in the last week to find a solution to a problem I have?” …and he sold me.

I think every CEO needs to be asked these questions from their investors. What I found was I did not know what I did not know.

It bothered me so much I did some surface research. I found an ROI report and benchmark Guide by NCM very informative. They studied brands in 2005 through 2007 and here is what I gathered from their report;

• For every $1 dollar spent in direct mail we should experience a return of approximately $11.49

• For every dollar spent on other forms of traditional marketing we should expect to see a return of $2.24 to $1.93

• For every $1 spent in social media we should expect to realize $63.07 return, and if I continue over a number of years as some of the brands studied I will see a return of $112.

• 94.94 % of consumers surveyed are very satisfied or satisfied with social media

• 97% of consumers said there is a good chance or better they will refer a great social site to a friend or family member.

So how’s that working for you?

Are you receiving a strong return on your investment? Keep up the good work! However if you are like the small and large business owners asking us what should they do different in such difficult economic times I have to recommend social media as an important tool.Measure your results, and adapt.

Mark Allen Roberts http://www.tunedinblog.com/blog/pragmatic-marketing.html