Yearly Archives: 2016

    Did you catch RMR’s recent column in Washington SmartCEO Magazine? If not, the article can be found below. You can also find all of RMR’s articles from the magazine here.   There are some simple steps that can make your writing more readable and your Press Release more likely to be noticed by a Reporter.   1.  Writing is all about strategy. Think of the evening news anchor who drops hints before a commercial break about the weather forecast without giving away the goods. Or a really good movie trailer intended to get you to pony up your $10 to see the film. The approach is no different than for any other professional writing, particularly for a Press Release. It's all about strategy.   You want an editor, reporter or potential customer to pay attention to you, right? Then every word you write should answer this reader's question: "What's in it for me?" That's the question that media consumers subconsciously ask themselves when they look over your VNR, radio spot or Press Release to determine whether to do the work and keep going. All the Spam we filter out these days means that you have less time to [...]

Did you catch RMR’s recent column in Washington SmartCEO Magazine?  If not, the article can be found below.  You can also find all of RMR’s articles from the magazine here. Direct marketing can be a huge asset to any organization. Whether online or printed, unlike advertising, it can be sent to a carefully selected audience. Unlike public relations, you have total control over the message and the delivery. Unfortunately, it can also be tricky. In a medium where a 3% response rate is considered a success, you want to be sure to leverage every tool you can. The best way to do that is to pay attention to three basic components of your campaign: the list, the offer and the creative.   1.) The list The list alone is responsible for 60% of your campaign’s success or failure. You may have a compelling offer and great creative, but if it’s going to the wrong people, you’re wasting your time and money. If you operate an ice cream parlor in Germantown, MD, but are sending direct mail to people in San Francisco, it’s fairly certain that you won’t see a big response. Choose lists that pre-qualify your targets as being interested. [...]

Did you catch RMR’s recent column in Washington SmartCEO Magazine?  If not, the article can be found below.  You can also find all of RMR’s articles from the magazine here. There’s no question that advertising and public relations – when done well – are essential, effective methods for reaching large groups of people, some of whom will become your customers.  But to be noticed, heard and remembered, nothing beats the power of 1:1 marketing. Now hold on just a second…I’m not suggesting you go door-to-door armed with your business cards and literature like an eager politician – though that is a type of 1:1 marketing.  And a powerful one at that!  Voters are far more likely to choose a candidate after they’ve met in person.  Why else would politicians go to such lengths to shake thousands of strange hands and cuddle scores of unknown babies? Networking at meetings and events. Why do you attend meetings and events?  If it were just to get and give information, email and the Internet are much less costly and time consuming.  You make the time and commit to the expense of attending meetings and events to be seen.  To meet face-to-face.  To be heard.  [...]

Someone has asked for more information about your company, product, or service. This opportunity calls for good sales collateral. Forget the "nobody reads them" myth. Truth is a customer with a problem to solve will read your brochure to see if you can help. Sure, it takes a salesperson to close the deal on a big-ticket item or customized service. But powerful collateral keeps you in the running. Like websites, a weak one can eliminate you before the first cut.   So here are eight techniques guaranteed to put more selling power into your sales collateral: Start selling on the cover. A marketing brochure must answer the prospect's number one question: "What's in this for me?" Waste no time getting to the answer. Put a marketing message on the cover. If you can clearly and creatively express the main benefit, so much the better. Sell benefits, not features. Why should anyone buy what you sell? Copy with selling power focuses on benefits to the customer, not features of the product or service. Of course, customers need to know your product's features. Just be sure to describe them in terms of the benefits users derive. For example:   Feature: Benefit: Fewer [...]

Did you catch RMR’s recent column in Washington SmartCEO Magazine? If not, the article can be found below. You can also find all of RMR’s articles from the magazine here.   Finish this sentence: "Certs with Retsyn gives you ___, ____, _____ ______ ___ ____."   If you were able to supply the missing words "two, two, two mints in one," you are a living, breathing example of the effectiveness of advertising creative. This Certs breath mint ad ran decades ago, yet most people can still spout it off as if they had just viewed it this morning. This creative scored well because the message was concise, memorable, benefit-orientated, frequent and distinctly unique.   Of those five attributes, being distinctly unique is the most important.  “We're fighting for attention in a noisy world,” says RMR President Robyn Sachs.  “Surveys show that readers, viewers and listeners give you only two-seconds to gain their attention. If you can't stop the reader, viewer or listener, you've wasted your investment and you've communicated nothing.”   Before you start crafting jingles or designing creative, it's best to clearly define exactly what advertising truly is. Advertising is controlled communications designed to increase profits.  Properly done, good [...]

  Did you catch RMR’s recent column in Washington SmartCEO Magazine? If not, the article can be found below. You can also find all of RMR’s articles from the magazine here. Does Your Brand Match Your Culture? There has been a lot of talk recently about a company’s “brand.” As in: What’s your brand? And what if you want to change your brand? How do you go about doing that?   Before you can change your company’s brand or culture, you have to know what it is. In order to change your company’s brand, you have to first understand what it is and how you got it. Your company’s brand is its image, or how people perceive the company. A brand isn’t something you give yourself or your company. It isn’t necessarily what management wants it to be. It’s given to you by other people based on how they feel about you.   A CEO or marketing team can define what they want the company’s brand to be. They can try to affect it through marketing materials, ads, and tag lines. But, if people still don’t believe in or agree with what you say or put out there, it won’t [...]