[epub] Re: Is this why ezine advertising will die out?

["Paul Myers" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mani,

> ... it's time ezine publishers begin concentrating on
> building even stronger bonds with readers - to the extent
> that *anything* they recommend will pull better than 2%
> response rates.
> 
> It's possible - though not easy :)

It's *not* possible, for most types of publications.

The specific style of work and the amount of effort needed to 
approach these levels of response on a regular basis are 
beyond what most people prefer to do.

And that's fine.

Ezine publishers are individualists, each with their own 
goals, styles, and resources. They will all choose to allot 
those according to their preferences. It's not "time" for 
them, as a group, to start doing anything the same way across 
the board.

Some folks have the ability and desire to operate in the way 
that's necessary to get those kinds of response, but it has to 
be planned for from the beginning. And it has to be absolutely 
consistent.


> But should they (or not) have to be able to say, with
> numbers to back them up, that their list is responsive to a
> certain kind of ad or announcement?

It's one thing to say, "This type of ad did well for one 
advertiser." It's something entirely different to even suggest 
that it will do the same for another. There are too many 
factors involved for them to honestly make anything resembling 
performance warranties beyond "If you don't get X 
clickthroughs, you get your money back."

Considering the abysmal copy in most ezine ads, even that 
would be dangerous. Keep in mind that most publishers aren't 
practiced copywriters, so they're not going to be qualified to 
tell a good ad from a bad one.

Hell, even professionals can't always tell what will work and 
what won't. That's why we test so much.


> I was quite surprised when many of the ezine owners I first
> contacted were not able to say, with any kind of confidence,
> how many of their readers responded to an ad, on average.

There's a more than fair chance that they don't know because 
the ads link directly to the advertisers' sites, rather than 
through redirects.


> Can a well-written ad sent out to a lukewarm list pull
> better than a poor ad to a better targeted readership? 
> Anyone else with numbers or experience to back up either
> point of view?

The order of importance is:

    Offer/market match.
    Context.
    Copy.

Too many people put the copy before the horse, so to speak.


Paul



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