Traditional Marketing - Sandstorm Media

Remembering What Worked in the Past

Have you ever received return address labels in a direct-response mailer? Most of us have, and most of us slap the things on the correspondences that we actually still ship through the old-fashioned P.O.

Why do you keep getting these things, especially if you’ve never contributed to Amnesty International, the NRA, the IRA or whoever is soliciting you?

The answer is the “rule of reciprocity.” A tried-and-true sales formula is the idea that when you give someone something of value, they feel a strong need to reciprocate.

That doesn’t mean everyone will pony up the dough for those labels. We’re bombarded with so many pitches each day that our reciprocity feelers have become numb.

But the labels still work. They boost response rates. They lure in new prospects. They help convert prospects who’ve been on the fence, and they remind existing contributors that it’s time to write out that monthly or yearly check.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

If you haven’t learned the lessons of old-fashioned copywriting and marketing, new media isn’t going to bail you out.

Whether it’s direct-response mailings, long-form “advertorials,” or new-media landing pages, ages-old copywriting principles still apply.

When you work with Sandstorm Media, you’ll learn:

* Why empathizing with your prospects’ emotions is even more important than understanding their needs.

* Why being able to articulate your prospects’ problems concretely is even more important still – and helps convince them to trust you.

* How to craft content that attracts prospects to you.

* Why scolding your prospects sometimes works . . . but only in very specific instances.

* Why your business niche, whatever it is, must adhere to principles like appealing to emotions and concisely articulating problems (technology companies, for instance, are the hardest to convince of this, yet they’re the ones who could benefit the most).

* Why the Sales Funnel is still important, even if you have only a single target customer (say a government contract or a major semiconductor company).