#189 BlogPost

Posted byDenny Hatch

The N.Y. TimesSent Me 10 Tedious Emails in One
Afternoon — What in the World Were They Thinking?

I subscribeto the digital edition of The New York Times. Times’ management doesn’t knowsquat about me — age, career, interests, hobbies, finances, travel, family,education or income. All theTimes knows about me is I spend $104 a year for the digital edition.

HowProfitable is the Digital New York Times? Very!
Cost-of-goods-soldis zip, zero, nada, niente. It’s digital. No paper, no ink, no printing,nodelivery costs, no returns. Almost pure profit. With 7.1 million paid subscribers that’s a juicy $700+ million a year in revenue at virtually zerocost. Add to that $523 million advertising income and we’re talking $1.2+ billion dollars a year — seriousmoney.

Let’s callthis Times’ Direct Marketing Scheme: The "Dynamic Follow-onCampaign."
Noneof these 10 emails contained any breaking news or hard news à la, say,Politico, Punch Bowl News or Vox. All were bantam-weight, so-so stories, featuresor columns —  basically, boring stuff for this news junkie. The 10 subjectlines of the emails:

  • What to watch this weekend.

  • Book Review: New Biography of Martin Luther King.

  • The Great Read: A Novel About Video Games... 

  • It Happened Online: Bama Rush is back…

   • NYT Cooking: Pasta salad with crispy cheese…

      • Movies Update: Cannes Controversies…

   • Paul Krugman: The Inflation Debate…

    • The Interpreter: The Snob Summer continu….

      • The Amplifier: Tina Turner Queen…

   • Take Our Weekly News Quiz…

Why Did TheTimes Bother Me with This Fatuous Stuff?
Ads! Ads! Ads! And Especially the Eye-popping Follow-ons!
Everyarticle, news story, opinion piece, editorial and sports column in the digitalNew York Times arrives with several small mini-ads sprinkled here-‘n’-there inthe text. Go back to a specific email and the ads can be different. No doubt hundreds of ads in the bank in a system of random rotations.

Example: Belowis a mini ad from one of The New York Times' ten emails — an upmarket pitchfor condos in the luxurious 200 Amsterdam building in New York City’s tonyLincoln Center area. 

If thismini ad surrounded by text were to spark your interest, you could click on it in the Timesemail story. Suddenly your entire computer screen is magically transformed into adazzling world of billionaires and spectacular photographs — sublimearchitecture, stunning interiors, and condos that will take your breath away.Guaranteed!

Here’s theLink to the 200 Amsterdam Dynamic Follow-on to This Little Ad:
https://200amsterdam.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyO2sjLip_wIVfwuICR0eNAhHEAEYASAAEgL1G_D_BwE

NOTE: Be sure to go to the bottom of this screen and click on:
NEIGHBORHOOD  RESIDENCES  PENTHOUSES  AMENITIES  ETC. 

What I seemto have stumbled on is an exquisite marketing concept whereby an advertiser canpay the Times to send an article containing a mini ad for his product orservice. It came to me under the Times’ aegis. Many of these little ads end withactionable words to click on, such as:

        LEARN MORE >
     OPEN >
     DISCOVER >
     GET 60% OFF NOW! >
     SUBSCRIBE >
     SHOP NOW >
     FREE GIFT >
     READ MORE >
     SIGN UP NOW >

Or you cansimply click on the ad, and you’ll be instantly transported to a humongouslanding page that magically pulls you into an exciting new world that offersyou irresistible sights, sounds, products and/or services.

 The 39Words That Changed My Life
Longtimereaders of this cranky marketing blog know how I launched the iconic newsletterand archive service in 1984 for direct marketers. WHO’S MAILING WHAT!was triggered at a New York City copywriter's club luncheon speech by US News and World Reportcirculation director Dorothy Kerr. Her exact words:

“If you wantto be successful in direct mail, watch your mailbox, see who's mailing what and save those mailings thatkeep coming in over and over again (which means they are successful and hugelyprofitable). Then STEAL SMART!”

Over its20-year lifespan WHO’S MAILNG WHAT! built up an archive (a.k.a. SwipeFile) of 1671 direct mail “Grand Controls,” These were mailed over three ormore (often many more!) consecutive years — an invaluable source of proven successful creative copy and design ideas.

The prime example: a two-page letter (775 words) that was mailed for 18 consecutiveyears and brought in over $2 billion in subscription revenue for the WallStreet Journal. It was (and still is!) the most successful advertisement in thehistory of the world.

(Blog Post) http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2019/01/37-most-successful-advertisement-in.html

Below Is the Start of Your Dynamic
Follow-on Campaign Swipe File.

(With Thanksto The New York Times for sending me 10 emails in a single afternoon in Maywith all these nifty mini ads.)

 

Link to AmExDynamic Follow-on:

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/blueprint/business-line-of-credit/?utm_source=DV360&utm_campaign=P2-BLOC-DV360-April-2023&utm_medium=cpm&refid=amex_p2_LOC_p2-bloc-dv360-april-2023_1200x627_DV360

Link to OoniPizza Ovens Dynamic Follow-on:

https://ooni.com/?utm_gcmpgn_typ=us-display&utm_content=general&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI85TnqLWq_wIVxw-ICR3M9wt3EAEYASAAEgJabPD_BwE

Link to LeakDetection Dynamic Follow-on Dynamic Follow-on:

https://www.americanleakdetection.com/savannah/

Link toSpecialty Metals Dynamic Follow-on:

https://www.flightmetals.com/products/titanium/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIldim2byp_wIVkpuzCh2ejQNEEAEYASAAEgIC8fD_BwE

Link toEpson Pigments Dynamic Follow-on:

https://ecorushink.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxdf5_b6p_wIVXAaICR3JrQB6EAEYASAAEgLMmPD_BwE

Link toCharleston New Homes Dynamic Follow-on:

https://www.newhomesguidecharleston.com/Homes/Charleston-Area-Open-Houses?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzNrhrLmp_wIVCZGzCh1h-QKYEAEYASAAEgKXkPD_BwE

Link toQuality Health Care Dynamic Follow-on

https://fastpacehealth.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BP%20%7C%20Display%20%7C%20Prospecting%20%7C%20TN&utm_content=124276227299&utm_term&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlrS85rep_wIVLhSICR3LpwDsEAEYASAAEgJ2KPD_BwE

Link to LemurVanilla Products Dynamic Follow-on:
https://www.knowde.com/stores/lemur-international?utm_source=google&utm_medium=display_cpc&utm_campaign=gdn_store_lemur&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-abx5b2p_wIV1fOzCh3QYQxNEAEYASAAEgKCrPD_BwE

Link to Ultra Fab& Machine Dynamic Follow-on:

https://www.ufmachine.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlLW-qrSp_wIV4Q2ICR2DugfXEAEYASAAEgKju_D_BwE

Link to Custom,Handmade Rugs Dynamic Follow-on:

Takeaways toConsider

 •I confess this little swipe file of lively Dynamic Follow-on's is a helluva lot more fun and action-packed than my tedious WHO'S MAILING WHAT! file cabinets stuffed with hundreds of junkmail samples.

 •This Dynamic Follow-on technique is non-traditional direct marketing. Forexample...

• In thegood ole days (sigh) of direct marketing, the linchpin was direct mail. Directmail is personal — always, always, containing a personal letterdescribing the benefits, benefits, benefits of the product or service being offered. Almost always writtenin a folksy, down-to-earth style. “One writer whispering directly int the earof one reader,” is how copywriter Harry Walsh phrased it. Dynamic follow-on's are totally non-personal. They are more like interactive infomercials or videos. 

• Theextraordinary advantage of e-commerce is the convenience of having the threeessentials for instantly consummating the sale right then and there: 1) placingthe order, 2) arranging for payment and 3) delivering the order to the vendorby simply clicking SEND.

• The buyer — excited by theoffer — has no time for agonizing second thoughts or reconsidering. It's a donedeal.

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