http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2023/06/189-times-lttrs.html

#189 BlogPost - Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Posted byDenny Hatch

The N.Y. TimesSent Me 10 Emails in Drag One
Afternoon — Clickbaits and Dazzling Follow-ons.

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: "Clickbaits and Follow-ons."
Noneof these 10 emails contained any breaking news, hard news or interesting 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 Selection? Ads! 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.

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!

Quite simply these little ads are far more exciting and compelling than the dreary contents of the Times' stories.

Here’s theLink to the 200 Amsterdam's Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait 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 quintessential discovery: 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 Personal Swipe File
Of Dazzling Follow-ons to Little Clickbait Ads.

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

 

Link to AmEx's Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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' Dazzling 

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

Link to Leak Dynamics' Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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

Link toSpecialty Metals' Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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

Link toEpson Pigments' Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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

Link toCharleston New Homes' Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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

Link toQuality Health Care's Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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' Dazzling Follow-on  to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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's Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

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

Link to Custom,Handmade Rugs' Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

https://www.perennialsfabrics.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuqOumb2p_wIVD_KzCh3CkAZnEAEYASAAEgI9V_D_BwE

Link to Saks Fifth Avenue's Dazzling Follow-on to This Little Clickbait Ad:

https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/c/custom/editorial-events/seasonal-fashion-trends/summer-fashion/men-s-summer-fashion?PA=TRUE&site_refer=DFA_BEH_S5_360I_NYT+SP23+Q2+MENS+BRANDING+DESKTOP+MESSAGING+HHI+150+BOREDOM_364815533_190410730

Takeaways toConsider

 •I confess this little swipe file of follow-ons is a helluva lot more fun and action-packed than my 14 clunky WHO'S MAILING WHAT! file cabinets stuffed with many hundreds of junkmail samples.

 •This Dazzling 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 an attention-grabbing outer envelope (OSE).

• Also always included was a personal letter"you copy") describing the benefits, benefits, benefits to you of the product or service being offered.

• Plus a brochure or circular ("it" copy all about "it") — the product or service.

• Often a short, pithy little lift note designed to "lift" response. (Example: "Frankly, I'm puzzled..." first used by Paul Michael of Greystone Press).

• Then you invite the customer to have his or her say with an order device using "me" copy. ("Yes, please send me the such-and-such. Enclosed is my check, money order or credit card number, blah, blah, blah.) 

• The final element was the BRE — prepaid business reply envelope — that brings the order home.

• All these impedimenta were always writtenin a folksy, down-to-earth style. “One writer whispering directly intothe earof one reader,” is how copywriter Harry Walsh phrased it. 

• Dazzling follow-ons are totally non-personal. They are more like interactive infomercials or videos. 

• Theextraordinary advantage of e-commerce v. direct mail is the providing the ease and convenience of 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.

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Word count: 1189

6" x 9"  292pp
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Amazon

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