I just got an email from Salesforce.com for a seminar/webinar even and was delighted by the tagline that was burried beneath the graphics on the page. It was actually an image tag that doesn’t even show on the graphical version of the email. It says, “Salesforce.com – Success. Not Software.”

I’ve been writing taglines for companies lately, so I know how difficult it is to come up with good ones (especially good ones that big, “too many cooks” corporate marketing teams can agree on).

I’ll repeat it again. Salesforce.com – Success. Not Software. So pure, yet so complex. Heck, I don’t even know it it’s new. It just jumped out at me this morning.

If you don’t know what Salesforce does, here’s a quick run-down. They offer sales pipeline and CRM/contact management software in the “cloud.” What does that mean? Basically, you don’t have to buy boxed software and install it on client machines as a stand-alone program like Microsoft Office or ACT! You log in to your Web account and have a ton of software functionality available due to the latest Web software/services technologies like AJAX, Javascript, .NET, Silverlight and so forth.

So Salesforce does still sell software, but they’ve made it much easier. You log in to the site and do everything in the cloud, so back-up, losing contacts and maintenance/management tasks are effectively outsourced. You don’t have any software on client machines to mess with, which means no IT staff, no helpdesk calls, no hassles.

The tagline captures the benefits of CRM and sales/prospect/customer management — essentially “success.” That’s the bottom line for sales people. You need software to stay out of the way so you can continue to develop relationships with people and solve their problems. “Not software” captures the cloud computing angle and this desire to have things work without hassles.

So simple. So elegant. So all-encompasing. I love it. Good job to whoever Salesforce’s ad agency is.

Who’s Paying Attention to Marketing Basics When Buying Halloween AdWords Ads?

If you do a simple search of Google for the word Halloween, you’ll notice that plenty of companies are throwing down big bucks for positioning. How much, you ask? According to the tools in AdWords, the one word “Halloween” will cost you $0.33 to $0.50/click. Your clicks will run from 1,388 to 1,743 per day, so that’s going to run $470-880 during the Halloween season run-up. For a month of ads in positions 1-3, you might spend $14,000 to $27,000 on ads.

So position #1 in my sample search goes to Universal Studios (see image above.. this is not an actual AdWords ad for this page – fake out! It was real when I originally searched, though). They’re advertising their Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios in Los Angeles (or El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula – which is the original name of the city… which interestingly can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A… but I digress).

The audience is probably teenagers, college kids, wild adults and brave youngsters dragged in by their older siblings, no doubt.

The ad leads with an economic benefit and a promise of being the “most terrifying” event in the area.

That’s kinda good. I would expect it to be scary, but there are probably some better benefits/dreams/visions lurking just below the surface that could have been used in the ad. As I recall, Halloween, theme parks and thrill rides were all about cuddling up to the girls (at a certain age). I’m guessing that this demo fits that profile. If they could insert a teen dream twist in there, it would be even more provoking or compelling. Something like “Defend your sweetie from the most ghoulish thugs in Southern Calif”… or even something Freudian, like “a night that will make you want to run home to Mama.”

The savings pitch could come after that. Here’s the landing page that the Universal Halloween horror nights link ends up at. Let me know what you think of the effort there by posting comments below. I like the testimonial at the end, but I’m not sure the main body text is so motivating.

Position #2 goes to BuyCostumes.com. I like the fast shipping benefit. We all know how last minute costume shopping goes. Selection benefit is good, too. Simple but strong.

OrientalTrading.com is in position #3. Selection and discount are the benefits they’re touting. I’m betting that their ad changed to “fast shipping” as the 31^st approaches. A better approach might describe the end-result benefit and combine that with the economical/discount factor. Something like, “Delight the little ones with discount Halloween treats. Rapid, one-click check-out.” They could also put in a low price guarantee. That’s always reassuring. The last sentence I suggested is something I like to see, because we all know how tedious and slow shopping cart processes are.  It would be a good differentiator when competing for Web business with the likes of Target.com and SamsClub.com.

Target’s in spot #4. It’s weak, but a lot of their branding comes pre-loaded, anyway. What I mean by that is that their benefits are well known by most. You can drive there and find supplies and costumes in stock. They have great prices. You know what you’re getting… etc. You’d think they might have some fun with their ad, though.

The next two – for fairplex.com and SamsClub.com – don’t really bring anything new to the party.

What do you think? Are these companies using AdWords to their fullest potential? Should their ad agencies be fired for “phoning in” the copywriting? Your comments are welcome below.

Yes, times are tight. However, as marketing managers, creative directors and sales people, you still have to sell. I’ve detailed this in other posts and showed you how the smart companies actually gain market share during recessions or depressions. So I won’t belabor that point any further.

Here are the important issues:

How do you connect with customers when they’re so resistant to new spending initiatives? How do you generate better leads when customer budgets are shrinking?

Here a quick, high-level run-down of the pertinent answers:

• Show them how your solution saves them money.
• Show them how your solution helps them make money.
• Show them new ways to make money.
• Show them how your solution helps simplify their business.
• Show them how your solution helps them reduce head count (painful as that subject may be).
• Show them how to eliminate wasteful activity.
• Show them real life customers you’ve helped do all of the above (as case studies)

The next question you should be asking is: How do I find people that are interested in these topics (with respect to my solutions/products/services)?

I have about 10 different approaches to this last question. Some are social media related, some involve emailing people, some use good old-fashioned direct mail, some utilize Google Adwords and Facebook ads.

If you’d like to explore these topics in more detail and create a marketing campaign that gets immediate results, please give me a call at 949-515-3510 or email me at dunn@qualitywriter.com.

P.S. I can help you start figuring out what your prospects are looking for in just a few simple steps. And, conveniently, I’m a marketing writer that can help you develop content that drives sales.

P.P.S. I have a really efficient system for carrying out these types of direct marketing plans. Please give me a call or email and I’ll tell you how I automate direct response campaigns with my assistant. You, too, can do big things with very few people.

If you haven’t tried advertising in Facebook yet, it might be worth a shot. Facebook is the social network site that brings friends together according to interests, existing connections, networks and groups.

You can place ads and display them to anyone on Facebook based on demographics, interests, hobbies and so forth. It’s a good way to reach very targeted audiences. User information is current, updated often, and accurate.. unlike a lot of direct mail lists, which can be outdated, inaccurate and expensive.

Since Facebook doesn’t tie results to exact searches, your ads are not as granularly exact as something like Google AdWords. However, you can reach really targeted audiences for very little money. If you’re selling archery gear on eBay, for example, you can run ads that only display to people who list archery in their profiles.

Barbara Boser writes more about Facebook advertising pros and cons here.