I’m going to share with you 5 ways to engage, become trusted, and generate sales.

Some of these may seem obvious, but people frequently ignore them – others will need a little more thought.

We all know that sales pages, blog posts, even copy for posters and bill-boards, or magazines require the following components:

• An attention grabbing headline
• Compelling opening paragraphs
• An emphasis on customer benefits, rather than features
• A call to action, telling the reader what to do next.

Today I want to look at some of the graphic elements of your sales’ messages.

Rod Stewart famously sang “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” This is true, but just as a change of headline has been proven to increase conversions the use of appropriate images can also increase sales if the story told by the graphic makes the correct appeal to your prospects.

Here’s an advertisement I created for my wife’s business. She has clients in four continents of the world, but none in Antarctica!

“This portrait reflects the qualities of the subject. A firm gaze signifies honesty, whilst pastel tones are signs of gentleness. The browns and greens are natural colours. Brown is a serious, down-to-earth colour signifying stability, structure and support. Green is the colour of money and health giving natural goodness.

“Faces have long been important in advertising photography, especially for women’s cosmetics. . . . In our example it suggests what you see is what you get. The hair isn’t immaculately groomed, as it would be for a studio photograph. It is a disarmingly reassuring image. But, what does this face signify? The signified isn’t a therapist, or my wife, even though it is her picture, but rather an impression of how many women wish to be when relaxed at home, without make-up, unaffected by the anxieties of work and families. A smaller, thumbnail, portrait sits at the foot of the page. It also stares directly at you. Here the hair is styled, and deeper colours applied to her face. It is a public image – professional, poised, and waiting for you to make contact. The image sits next to a web site address to emphasize the point.” from: ‘Photography and Psychoanalysis’.

O.K. you say, but I really just want to emphasise my copy, how do I choose relevant images for my web pages, for example?

An image suggesting a pleasant psychological journey

An image suggesting a traumatic psychological journey

These two photographs work through allegory. They are both images of a path into the unknown, yet where one invites us for a stroll into a rural paradise, the other includes menacing shadows where danger may be lurking. If you’re writing positively about, for example, the benefits of saving for a pension you may choose the first; but if you’re wanting to warn people of the dangers of not having health, or life, insurance, you had best choose the second.

‘Tommy Hilfiger’ is one of the world’s leading premium lifestyle brands. The brand celebrates the essence of Classic American Cool with a hint of the preppy fashion genre.

‘Benetton’ and it’s famous ‘United Colors’, exploded into popular culture in a campaign created by photographer Oliviero Toscani, over 30 years ago. This connected the company’s colourful clothing to its target market, who are those who believe that cultural diversity is good.

Both Hilfiger and Benetton sell garments, yet they focus on people motivated by very different stories. Those who admire American preppiness we see Hilfiger adverts, whilst those of us who identify with cultural diversity are more likely to take notice of those of Benetton, because our minds edit out what doesn’t connect with the stories we believe about ourselves.

“In the autumn of 2010 the U.K. Chocolate manufacturer Cadbury dropped the slogan it had used for 82 years. It claimed: ‘A glass and a half of full cream milk goes into every half pound bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate’. . . . Cadbury’s decision to capitalize on the ‘healthy’ qualities of milk had enabled the British manufacturer to compete with imported brands, especially those from Switzerland.

“By equating chocolate with something as commonplace as milk Cadbury was able to move the public perception of chocolate from something luxurious, or best reserved for hiking adventures, into a daily necessity.

“At the height of milk chocolate being thought a healthy source of nourishment a remarkable thing happened. Gallaher the manufacturer of Silk Cut Cigarettes was able to imply that their brand was also a ‘healthy’ product by psychologically referring to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk advertisements using colour, and just a few tiny graphic swirls. Such manipulation would have been impossible before the advent of the mass advertising media, such as billboards, colour printing and television.” from: ‘Photography and Psychoanalysis’.

An image connecting a string bean salad, with a beverage.

The truth is that few people buy on the basis of logic, instead we buy because we feel connected to someone’s, or some product’s, story. We need to feel we belong to specific groups and sometimes will even fight to identify with them. The image of string beans with gin was created for a blog about food. By linking beans to gin the image is an unusual combination, which not only attracts attention but also suggests that such a dish may be served at the cocktail hour.

Five things to help you choose powerful images to boost your sales:

1. If you provide a service then ensure your portrait represents the qualities you provide, and people want.
2. Use dreamy images to either reinforce pain, or to provide comfort.
3. Ensure all your images reinforce the stories with which your target market identifies.
4. Use colour, and design elements, to identify your products and services, with the values of others’ marketing campaigns, but be original – don’t copy!
5. Place your product alongside objects suggesting specific ways of living, and thus connect your product to the values of those who aspire to that lifestyle.

In this short space I attempt to provide you with some hints and tips about how to think, commission, and look for suitable images to promote your business and boost your sales. There is rich background to the information here in my Kindle book, ‘Photography and Psychoanalysis: The Development of Emotional Persuasion in Image Making’. In it I discuss many more campaigns, and the psychology behind them. Go there now, read, enjoy, and learn how to take your business communications to the next level.

I’d never thought I’d write this post. I love templates and formulas when blogging. It’s all very logical to me.

photo credit: ttyS0

I love them because as you learn to write, create content and find your voice you find your own pathway. Structures, templates, formulas and blueprints are like training wheels – they help keep you steady as you learn. Sure there are other ways to learn like writing out your favourite writer’s best work over and over so you absorb their writing style…  and then there’s riffing off of other people’s content to continue the conversation.

And then there’s the dark side to using the formulas, templates etc as a blogger.

I love Erika Napoletano’s writing, I love her style and her authenticity. When I grow up I want to be her (I have no intention of growing up though, but I take it you know what I mean). I’d had another week of content theft and I was wound up to the gills when I read her post, and of course commented.

You can and should take a look at the post

- Rip me of creatively.

I then replied to a comment on a post that I’d written when I was in a more reflective and calmer mood – Blogging fears: someone will steal my content.

And then I drank half a glass of wine and watched season 4 of Sons of Anarchy. I woke up this morning with the burning desire to pull on my cut, kick-start my imaginary Harley Davidson and burn the next person who stole my content very badly…  clearly that half a glass of wine is too much for me.

Whilst mulling over content theft I realised that it’s possible that I advocate it in some way, albeit unintentionally, through the use of writing templates and formulas. I mused upon Erika’s structure with her “buy me a coffee and pick my brains” page. Then I thought about the people who’d ripped off her content – they’d copied the structure and amended the wording as they saw fit. But the structure of the original page was so distinctive it stood out a mile.

Never mind that phrases like buy me a coffee and pick my brains are common enough sayings, it was the replication of the structure that took me by surprise. I then mused upon the people that advocate writing on the same topic as a lot of other bloggers, with the advice being identical but say that’s okay because you have a different audience… and a different voice. In their essence they are the same; theft.

I am lucky, I work in several businesses and have some terrific clients. That means I can write really specific advice around blogging and what works, why it works in certain niches and not others. I have the benefit of my skills and experience. Those starting out try to emulate and model their heroes not understanding that what they are doing is theft. It’s not flattery, it’s not extra exposure, it’s not something any of us should be doing.

Yes, you read that right – any of us.

You do it when you read a blog post and think – I can write this better than the original author. Sure you can. But it’s not yours is it? It’s not your idea, your unique take or insight you are sharing. It’s someone else’s and you know it. You were inspired and you’ve dirtied that inspiration by thinking you could do better, that your content will be more awesome that no one will know or care.

The blueprint or formula format is wrong. It’s wrong because it teaches you bad habits and it stifles your creativity as a writer. Fill in the blanks content is generic and useless. Using it is not how you learn to write better. Looking at the structure of JK Rowling’s writing isn’t going to make your writing improve if you don’t understand the reasons why the structure was created. When you copy something you don’t know the reasons why, you don’t know the audience and you don’t know the backstory that makes it all special. The only way you will improve as a writer is to write more and read better books, or in my case watch more violent TV.

In the case of the people that steal my stuff they think I don’t know or care enough to call them out.

I do care. I don’t care how popular they are (one one of them think’s he’s god’s gift to blogging as he has some big name guest posts under his belt), I care enough to start writing content that will make my regular readers think What The… but if you are going to copy, you won’t look at the reason behind the post you’ll just think it’s a good idea and do the same.

Consider it my Harley delivered gift to you.

An email marketing campaign starts with getting names and emails, remember we gain permission first. But that’s not the end of  your email campaign, not by a long shot. People need to be emailed in order to read them! I know too many businesses that collect the emails but get too scared to email their customers!

Once you have your customer’s email address the next challenge is to get those people opening, reading, and taking action on your email messages. Otherwise, it’s a bigger waste of time than just sitting on the email addresses.

If you’re getting a zero or low open rate and you’re not getting your customers eyes on your email messages, here are 5 possible reasons why and how to fix it.

Your ‘From’ Line

One problem could be the ‘from’ line. Send a message to yourself and see what it looks like. If the ‘from’ line doesn’t clearly state who you are, the recipient is unlikely to open the message. In fact, your emails are probably getting relegated to the spam folder. Your ‘from’ line should be the name of your company and not an email address. It needs to be instantly recognisable as your business (in other words, the list the customers signed up for). I brand all mine Sarah Arrow / SarkeMedia.com so there’s no confusion.

Subject Line Problems

Most often, it’s the subject line that gets people to either open or ignore your messages. The subject line needs to capture the readers’ attention and do it quickly. They’re likely to give it a few short seconds of their time at most. It needs to be compelling enough to urge them to open the email in that short period of time.

Your messages also need to deliver on what the subject line promises. If you say in the subject line that you’ve got some secrets to share with them, your email had better deliver some secrets. If it doesn’t do this, the customers will quickly start tuning out your messages, no matter how compelling the subject lines. Worse than ignoring you and making your list unresponsive – they’ll unsubscribe, and you’ll be caught in the perpetual cycle of chasing subscriptions.

Boring Content

If people aren’t opening your emails, you may need a content upgrade. If you offer good, valuable content that truly helps customers out, they’ll be eagerly awaiting each email. If each email is a sales pitch or just plain boring, they’ll quit opening after a few. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes – what would you like to gain from the messages? It also helps to mix up your email messages. Don’t only offer promotions, but sometimes give helpful tips, multimedia content, or other things people can use.

Too Little or Too Much

Frequency also factors into whether or not people will open your emails. It’s hard to strike a perfect balance. If you send too many emails, people will get sick of you. If you don’t send enough, they’ll forget they signed up for your list. As a general guideline, most people recommend sending two to three messages per week maximum, but it depends on the nature of your email list. There’s also the time of day to think about. Certain times have higher open rates.

It’s All About Testing

It can be a long hard slog to figure out just where your email messages are failing, and that’s why testing is essential. If you experiment with different subject lines, message frequencies, types of content, and other factors, you’ll start to discover exactly what works. Testing gives you a realistic idea of what your subscribers like and don’t like, and when you know that –  you keep giving it to them.

So there we have it message your list, and keep them captivated, If you don’t they’ll treat you like junk mail and throw you in the bin!

What tips can you share in the comments about getting your emails opened?

Sarah

PS if you liked this post you will also like my book, instantly downloadable on Amazon – Zero to email marketing success.