Learning From Dummies.

Today's Marketing Cookie is for dummies.

I've often said that people are not as smart as they may look. It's true. We once sent a direct mail piece to help a company generate more leads. We couldn't agree on whether to say "Call Now" or just "Call". So, as a test, we split the mailing list in half and planned to send out the same exact piece to both lists, except for that one minor difference. Half of the recipients would see "Call 1-800 (phone number)" while the other half would see "Call Now 1-800 (phone number)". The list that received the piece with the words "Call Now" produced four times as many calls as the list that had just the word "Call". It may not be a surprise, but that single word of urgency made all the difference, and we were smart enough to learn what works.

How smart were we really? If a message of urgency didn't work, you wouldn't see these types of commands everywhere you look:

"Buy Now"

"Act now"

"Click Here"

"Stay Tuned"

"Start A Trial"

"Subscribe Today"

The fact is, people must be told what to do and when to do it.

Over the years, I've learned that if you have to explain "why" or "how" to take an action, the results will decrease by a factor of ten. This is why QR codes or SnapTags in the way they work today aren't very successful—because you can't just say "Snap Now". 

No, you have to tell people to enter a URL with their fat fingers and go download an app. Then, tell them to hold their phone over an ugly black square. Finally, you have to tell them to take an action on their phone after waiting for it all to load. By then, you could have just said, "call now" or "text us now", which would probably work better because they already have their mobile phone in their hands. We have to be smart enough to learn what people are willing to do.

As marketers, we often have the temptation to make programs, contests, and campaigns that are overly complicated. When you make a call to action too complicated, I've learned that prospects simply won't do it. I've also learned that complex campaign failures are often not a reflection of the intelligence of the prospects, but rather a reflection of the marketer's IQ. Always remember to keep it simple. Always remember to tell prospects what to do, and always remember that even the smartest person can learn something from the dumbest.