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Abstract Presents Communication Measurement Formula

By Richard Becker

I've been working, on and off, to refine a measurement formula for the better part of two years. My hypothesis was simple: the return on investment is related to the intent of the communication and the outcome it produces. For anyone interested in communication measurement, you can find a link to the abstract, Measure: I | O = ROC, a.k.a. The ROC, on my company's blog.

Sometimes Skill Sets Don't Translate

By Richard Becker

Adweek recently challenged several creative directors to sell the next president of the United States. According to the special report, several declined and some took to tongue-in-cheek humor.

After the fine folks at The Rosen Group brought the special report to our attention, my team thought it might be fun to review some of these faux campaign concepts (here). After all, I've often felt that not all advertising agencies are cut out for political campaigns — the work sometimes leans too creative to really resonate with voters. Am I right? Let's find out.

Talent Drive Commercial

At What Point Do We Overthink Thinking?

By Richard Becker

At what point does advertising stop being communication? An article in Adweek seems to beg the question as Eleftheria Parpis mentions that more agencies and companies are considering advances in neuroscience to be the final frontier in convincing consumers to buy products and politicians.

Neuroscience is amazing, especially as a tool in post-analysis research. It’s the reason we understand why Coca-Cola is a brand champ or why certain Super Bowl ads, despite what consumers said, outperformed others during the 2006 Super Bowl.

Making Connections & Divides: Social Media Relations

By Richard Becker

Yesterday, Steve Rubel, author of Micro Persuasion, pointed to a pair of surveys that may be significant to public relations professionals. While both surveys include too few respondents to be considered an accurate measure on their own, they do mirror conversations I've read about the subjects.

Does their public relations firm do a good job identifying the specific interest of individual bloggers and sending them relevant information?

Long Headlines Are Good Sometimes

Short headlines are easy to scan and 60% of the most effective headlines used in the direct mail industry are eight words or less. But these figures mean that longer headlines work, too.

Web pages are scanned in a “F” pattern, moving across the headline then back across the subheadline, then down the left hand side of the page to see if there is anything of interest.

So you might want to include more than 8 words in your headline to provide something of interest as the reader scans the page.

Source Copyblogger

How To Write a Job Posting

Based on info from The Ladders via Venus de Micro.

Format
- Killer headline to grab attention.
- Company Description (be honest and modest beats arrogant and inflated)
- Detailed Job Description (leave out the crap words like efficient and effective)
- List of Requirements
- List of Preferred Qualities (leave out this subjective garbage)
- List of Deal-Breakers (qualifications to buzz off)

Use Proven Words To Persuade

Don't write well. Use words that sell.

Some words have been proven to persuade.

A “swipe file” is a collection of presentations, headlines, websites, etc that have been successfully used by others. They proven persuasive value. Copy them but not blindly. Make sure that they can be transplanted to your use.

A Road Map For Writing

Source: Brian Clark

1. Your main goal is to get the first sentence read
2. Goal number two is to get the next sentence read.
3. Use simple writing for simple people.
4. Have a killer headline

5. Make an offer. Tell the reader what you are going to give her if she takes the time to read your piece. This is your promise to the reader. This is the hook you place in your reader's mind. And you have to be very explicit about it.

6. Each part of your piece should have a main idea that supports your promise. Stay focused. Don’t ramble.

7. Support your ideas with evidence or solid logic. If you tell someone there's a good fairy watching over him, you'd better prove it with statistics, expert statements and other interesting testimonies.

8. Restate your promise, your hook, your offer.

How To Sell In Print

Don't leave persuasion till the punch line. You've got to hook them step by step along the way.

You want to get your blog posting or networking email read? Your main goal should be to get the first sentence read. That's what the Joe Sugarman taught. “And the purpose of the first sentence is to get the second sentence read.” And so on.

Here are the rules:
- a strong headline is critical;
- focus on the benefit to the reader immediately
- make a promise you can fulfill
- back up everything you say with proof

Source: Copyblogger