When it was first tested, this direct mail package for our client Assurity Life Insurance lifted response 35% over the control. On that strength, it became the new control and was mailed every month for three years, ultimately sent to over 21 million
consumers.

This instructional video explains our process to convert this direct mail package to a short, but fully produced promotional video (under 3 minutes), scripting, voice-over persona, design elements, along with commentary about specific choices and plans we made while developing the video.

So while we’re light on words for you to read, you can digest this post in this in-depth video.

In this blog, we cover reasons 7-12 of why direct marketers should integrate video in their marketing mix. We invite you to read and comment.

Specifically, it was the story of the blockbuster direct mail advertising package I had a part in creating for Collin Street Bakery a few years ago.

Much can, and deserves, to be said about research, customer interface, talking in meetings, and much more to identify a unique selling proposition for a product.

In this case, the product was fruitcake. A lot of people won’t even try a fruitcake. They’ll say they don’t like the product even though they’ve never tasted it.

But for CSB, in focus groups what we found is that almost everyone liked the product. Some raved about it and were surprised a fruitcake could taste so good.

One day, over lunch, my client and I were talking about this continual problem of how to get someone to try fruitcake. Since CSB is a food marketer, we made it a practice to eat at a variety of restaurants. This particular day we were at one of my favorite spots. After lunch, I remarked how much I loved this restaurant’s pecan pie. After all, fruitcake contains an abundance of pecans, and my client also makes an outstanding pecan pie.

So we ordered the pecan pie. When it was served, my client remarked how just by looking at the pecans he could see they were “commercially grown.” CSB’s pecans, he said in an almost snobbish tone, were “native pecans.”

Interesting, I thought. So I asked him more about native pecans. Mostly, he told me, native pecans are smaller, but they are more flavorful than commerically grown pecans. Unfortunately, because native pecans are smaller, the presentation isn’t so great. Over lunch, we came up with a name to test: native Texas pecan cakes.

I returned to my office and researched native pecans. I discovered they grow along rivers and streams in Texas and the south. They require certain soil, water, and climate conditions. They live as long as 150 or more years (meaning they were planted as long ago as the Civil War), and soar to amazing heights.

What a story! So with that story, we tested direct mail creative with the name “Native Texas Pecan Cakes” and response shot up 60%. We tested it again just to make sure we weren’t misreading something in the results.

My package became a new control, mailed to millions and millions of consumers and businesses, later translated into German, Spanish, and Japanese.

Moral of the story: always eat dessert.

The inaugural post is now online. Please come by and take a look, and leave a comment. Thanks! http://bit.ly/IlEnkk

Perhaps the two disciplines need to get better acquainted. Neither are new. But perhaps they are new to each other. You see, there seems to be a lot of video these days, but they are missing the elements of successful direct marketing.

Consider this comparison with direct mail.

Any good writer knows that the outer envelope has one job: to get itself opened.

Any good DM video starts with a still image on YouTube or other hosting services. And you want that “grabber” to be viewable. Maybe it’s a few words. Maybe an show-stopper image. Probably both.

Once the video starts, you have a crucial few seconds to arouse curiosity or interest. It’s your headline in the direct mail world. And much as a letter builds the message, so does a successful video.

And just like a letter might have a false close, so can a video. Then, of course, a strong call-to-action.

With video, you have the added benefit of both auditory and visual effects. With printed direct mail, you just have visual. Sure, in print the reader can pace as fast as they want, but in video you can add audio inflections to voice-over to emphasize certain words.

Let’s face it, the consumers’ attention span is shorter than ever, and it’s not likely to increase. People will give you a few seconds to watch a video. Engage them quickly, and they’ll stick with you long enough to get your message across and prompt enough curiosity to check you out more.

Early adopters have been using video with streaming words and voice-over, interviews and product demonstrations. But the next stage of successful video uses proven direct marketing copywriting techniques and call-to-action in video script writing, and uses DM design techniques that will move production values to a higher level.

The online video marketing statistics are compelling:

- In just one recent month, 181 million U.S. Internet users watched 43.5 billion videos averaging over 22 hours per viewer.

- Over 84% of internet users watched an online video.

- Americans watched over 5.6 billion online video ads. In fact, online video ads are 38%
more memorable than TV ads.

Online video viewing was up 43% from Dec. 2010 to Dec. 2011 (comScore “Future of Online Video”).

The video marketing statistics support the production of more video on websites. It seems to be only beginning!

Video marketing examples include an opt-in video, followed by two educational videos and a conversion to sale video for a health product. Another example will be video we created to raise funds for a non-profit. I’ll also share stats and another cool video marketing example.

The event is free. I’m on at 2:40 pm Eastern. If you miss it, you can go back and listen to the recording later on. Register here: http://virtualshow.directmarketingiq.com/

Witness what happened with the introduction of http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/. These folks have taken a commodity – razor blades – and turned it into a continuity program. The premise is that you can get your razor blades monthly for a buck (plus S&H). Or pay a little more for better quality razor ($6 or $9).

Let’s face it: the economics of marketing this program online make sense. You’d be hard pressed to make this work if you have to spend money on direct mail, space ads, or other offline media.

The video is a mere 1:34. It’s engaging, fun, and has a great selling message. The first day it was released (about March 5) they had 5,000 subscribers. So if the average order is $5, that feels like about $25K a month on the first day.

But wait. Now they have around 12,000 subscribers. My math suggests $60K a month and growing.

All from a 1:34 very well done video that cost about $4,500 to produce. You can read the interview here:

http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/dollar-shave-clubs-4500-video-broke-its-site_b10217.

Oh, and did I mention that as of today the video has been viewed nearly 3 million times? How’s that for viral video marketing? I’d say a great case study, and proof that video works.

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting perspective, for the world to see, on email marketing.

The premise of this article is that retailers have worn out their welcome with sending too much email. On the surface, I’d agree. But the problem isn’t so much that any one retailer sends too much email. It’s that when combined, in a day it adds up to a big number for any of us individually.

For example, I have an aggressive email spam filter that catches from 80 to 140 spam emails every day. Every day!! With most of this sent during business hours, that averages one about every 5 minutes. It’s ubsurd. And I’ve given up on trying to keep up. So they go into the spam filter and while I scan the list daily, rarely do I give any the permission to be delivered.

Email marketers need to circle around and reconsider email marketing best practice. If you have permission, you should ask how often your recipient wants to hear from you. There are some consumers who do want the daily (or multiple times daily) email. Fine. Put them in a separate database.

Some think a couple of times a week is good. Fine. Then create a Tuesday and Friday promotional calendar. Or once a week on Wednesdays. Maybe even once a month. When the customer can make those decisions with your best practices, then the email might have a better chance of leaping from the spam filter to the read box.

And while at it, the landing page needs to be spot on to the topic. Videos are working more and more.

Here’s the full article if you’re interested:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204571404577253102978140364.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_business

Having recently completed a series of videos for a nutritional health supplement maker, I can tell you that done right, it’s a lot of work.

In the case of this client, we created a series of videos with the first video being an opt-in video. In the first video, email and social media will drive traffic to a landing page where the viewer can watch a short (in this case 3:30) video. Our goal is for the reader to “opt-in” to the next video with more detailed information (which they get access to immediately). Then a few days later we email the viewer, invite them to watch the next segment, and a few days later the viewer is emailed yet again inviting them to watch the final segment.

In this marketing program, we are educating the viewer about a particular health-related situation (when it’s available to the public I’ll share the link). During our course of videos, we educate the viewer, give them more information, and importantly, the viewer will be able to comment on the landing page using their Facebook account.

Obviously, the goal is that after watching the series of videos the viewer will be enlightened, trust the marketer, and by that point be comfortable making the purchase.

Here are a few of my pointers on how to write a video script like this series described:

1. Research is vital. Often times you will have find your own research – that is, the client won’t spoon feed it to you. In this example, our research took us down a couple of paths for content that the client ultimately didn’t want to pursue. But the time and research was worth the investment so I could get a better depth of understanding about writing the video script.

2. Identify the persona. In this case, two personas: first, the person will be watching the video. Second, create a persona of the person delivering the voice over (which in this case, was me). As it turned out, as the video script writer, I was exactly the target market for this product.

3. Overview the story. For the opt-in video, we had to structure enough information in the script to entice the viewer to stick with us while watching over 3 minutes of content. But we also had to withhold enough information so there would be something left in the subsequent videos for them to want to watch.

4. Sequence the story. After the opt-in video, we created three more videos. We call them value videos. They are valuable because of the content and education delivered. In the first two of the three, the product name wasn’t mentioned. All we said is that a new product would be available soon.

5. Pace the story. We couldn’t give away too much information in the story. Yet there needed to be enough so the viewer would stick with us.

6. Golden thread. A tactic used when writing direct mail is to include a golden thread in the copy. Something that brings the reader back to a common theme. This is important when planning how to write a video script. Chances are, the golden thread won’t surface until after you’ve written a fair amount of copy. But look for it!

7. It’s in the voice over delivery! A good script can become a great script with the right voice over. The voice has to be authoritative, yet approachable. As I continue recording these scripts, I’ll post here soon about how to voice over a video. Stay tuned!